HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995.0228.TCWSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE WORK/STUDY SESSION OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 28, 1995
A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30
P.M.,Tuesday,February 28, 1995,in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers,located at 16836 E.Palisades
Blvd., Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona.
In attendance were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor
Frank Clark, and Councilmembers Don Lawrence, Peg Tibbetts, Wally Hudson, Bill O'Brien and Marianne
Wiggishoff. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell and Town Clerk Cassie
Hansen.
AGENDA ITEM#2-DISCUSSION/PRESENTATION ON THE EFFLUENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS SANITARY DISTRICT AND MCO PROPERTIES, INC. DISCUSSION WILL
INCLUDE INFORMATION PRESENTED BY DISTRICT ATTORNEY ANIS MITCHELL AND DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT RON HUBER.
Town Manager Paul Nordin introduced Ron Huber, the District Manager, and Anis Mitchell, the District Attorney
of the Fountain Hills Sanitary District.
District Attorney Mitchell reported on the history of the Sanitary District. He talked about Mrs.Jeffries,one of the
original commissioners of the sanitary district,and her knowledge regarding wastewater treatment. He said she had
realized in the early stages of Fountain Hills' development that the District would have problems with the disposal
of excess wastewater. She had formulated an agreement(Special Warranty Deed) with MCO for the use of excess
effluent in return for a deed granting 4.5 acres of land located at the Sanitary District site. In 1981, Mrs. Jeffries
viewed this agreement as a means of eliminating the liability of excess wastewater. In 1984 the District entered into
another agreement with MCO as a means of insuring that MCO would put the effluent to commercial uses and secure
appropriate government permits. In return,the District would meet all the requirements of treating the excess water.
In 1991 the District negotiated two new agreements. One dealt with reclaimed wastewater as an amendment to the
original wastewater agreement revising the definition of commercial uses of the effluent and establishing usage
charges. The second agreement was a supplement which defined effluent water quality and determined that MCO
would be allowed to take 1.25 million gallons daily with an option for additional amounts. The Sanitary District
would have the responsibility to handle the excess effluent should MCO decide not to exercise its option for
additional usage. This excess wastewater was the problem being currently considered.
Mr. Mitchell stated that the present capacity of the treatment plant is at 1.2 million gallons per day. Improvements
at the plant would allow up to 2.6 million gallons to be treated each day. The population of Fountain Hills,
estimated to double in the next ten years,dictated that continued improvements to the sanitary district be instituted.
He reported that all outstanding bonds would be paid up by the year 2001 and the District still had authority to sell
up to $5 million of bonds.
Mr. Huber spoke to the Council regarding the changes in environmental laws during the period between the
agreements, their revisions and amendments. In 1985 the Sanitary District applied for a Notice of Disposal then
applied for a Re-use Permit which to date had not been received. The ADEQ required the Sanitary District to
Minutes of the Work/Study Session of the Town Council 02/28/95
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determine the quantity available to MCO as effluent. The figure of 1.2 million gallons per day was chosen because
that number represented the capacity of the plant at that time. A Re-use Permit at that time for additonal quantities
would not be allowed because it exceeded the plant capacity. The treatment of effluent at that time did not meet
the standards that are currently required to be met.
Attorney Mitchell stated the plant was equipped to perform biological nitrogen removal, if necessary, in order to
allow discharge into a river. He pointed out the options currently being considered. Studies indicated additional
measures had to be considered for the excess effluent other than disposal onto vacant lands. These results should
be reported within the next month. One option would be discharging effluent to the Salt River basin. Another would
be an aquifer recharge project which would require a site twice the size of Fountain Lake,about 70 acres,with no
bottom liner. The required quality of the effluent would have to be clearer than the plant could produce. He stated
that when Fountain Hills would be built out and include five golf courses, the amount of effluent would still be a
problem. He stated that considerably more effluent would be used during the summertime. In the wintertime,
storage of effluent would be required.
Jim Jenkins,MCO Properties,stated that the new Sunridge Canyon golf course would pay for;cage of effluent under
separate agreements. He talked about the location of pipelines that had been developed for pumping effluent. He
said that at build out effluent in the amount of 3.6 million gallons per day could be used during the summertime.
The existing golf course water requirements are provided by direct pumping from Chaparral City Water Company.
There is no booster pump system and to build a system would be monetarily unfeasible.
Thomas Leininger asked about the use of the Salt River Project as a means of disposing effluent. He was informed
that SRP had rejected requests to use their canal for effluent as the canal water was presently being used for drinking
water at some points downstream. No discharge of effluent would be allowed into the CAP canal for the same
reason.
AGENDA ITEM#3 - ADJOURNMENT.
The meeting adjourned at 7:31 P.M.
Minutes of the Work/Study Session of the Town Council 02/28/95
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TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
41111,
By:
M. Cutillo, Mayor
A 1'thST: CAL44.4A—
Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk
PREPARED BY: :2( r,( '",�/ t
m Linda D. LemAdministrative Assistant
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Work/Study Session
Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 28th day of February, 1995. I further certify that the
meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 16th day of March, 1995.
Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk
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Minutes of the Work/Study Session of the Town Council 02/28/95
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