McKinleyville Community Services District

Board Agenda Background

AGENDA ITEM:                        E.4.

AGENDA TITLE:            Waste Water Maintenance Facility Report

MEETING DATE:                        April 16, 2008

PRESENTED BY:                  Tom Marking

TYPE OF ITEM:                        Receive and File

BACKGROUND:  The Board has requested the Staff make a presentation of the Treatment Marsh, the waste water maintenance facility and various ongoing projects about the District.  Greg Orsini, the Operations Director, has prepared a power-point presentation for your viewing enjoyment.  You may want to take a few notes if your have any particular questions after the presentation we expect to last about 15 minutes. 

Treatment Marsh:  The District started the concept of the treatment marsh in 2001 as a backup plant to bring the treatment plant back into compliance.  We had been experiencing sporadic failures in some of our process regarding, biochemical oxidation (BOD), non-filterable residue  (NFR) and fish bioassays. We were successful in obtaining grant funding for up to 87% of the projects costs of $750,000. The two marsh projects ultimately cost about $775,000.00.  These funds were obtained through the non-point source pollution funds to enhance the Mad River Estuary and reduce or remove pollutants in excess of our discharge standards prior to discharge.  Greg will review the problems we were having and the results since the marsh was constructed in fall of 2005.  While we experience some bulrush loss the first year due to wildfowl and heavy storms, the subsequent efforts by Greg and the crew have mitigated those losses with very good results.  While some feel criticize our efforts, we stand by our recent monitoring results on all three parameters. 

Other Projects:  The District is in the process of upgrading our SCADA systems and those efforts will also be covered in the presentation.  For those who walk the loop trail, the field crew has replaced all the old wire fencing with new vinyl coated fencing that look really terrific.  This saved the district approximately $50,000 to do this job in house.  The new marsh has trails and benches that combined with the new fencing, makes this a very pleasant hike around the perimeter of the ponds and marsh.

FISCAL EFFECT:  Treatment Marsh and plant upgrade cost $775,000; SCADA project costs are budgeted at $20,000 for this fiscal year, Fencing Project budget of $25,000.

RECOMMENDATIONS:  Review and Comment; Receive and File. 

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      DISTRICT MANAGER