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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000.0501.TCSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL MAY 1,2000 Mayor Morgan called the Special Session of the Town Council to order with a roll call taken. ROLL CALL - Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Sharon Morgan, and Councilmembers John Wyman, Pen Mower, John Kavanagh, and Sharon Hutcheson. Vice Mayor Sid Apps and Councilman Poma were absent. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell, Director of Administration/Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, Acting Town Engineer Tom Ward, Director of Parks and Recreation Robin Goodman,and Director of Community Development Jeff Valder. AGENDA ITEM #1 — PRESENTATION BY STAFF AND BLACK AND VEATCH ON THE LAKE LINER PROJECT. Town Manager Paul Nordin introduced Mr. Doug Cobrick and Bryan Rhodes, engineers with Black and Veatch. Mr. Nordin stated this was a very important project to the community and recognized that the Bruce Hansen, Chairman of the Sanitary Board and the Sanitary Engineer Ron Huber were in the audience. He said they would be available to answer questions that the Council might have. Mr. Cobrick distributed an updated project outline. Mr. Cobrick briefly gave an overview of the areas he would be discussing: • Project Purpose and Scope • Investigation/Data Collection Results • Recommendation • Implementation Plan/Schedule • Preliminary Opinion of Cost Mr. Cobrick reviewed the scope of their engineering contract. He said the purpose was to provide a liner that would prevent leakage over a long service life. He said the current lake liner had reached the end of its service Name life. Mr. Cobrick explained the scope of their work. He said the lake currently played a key role in the balancing of the effluent water supply. He explained that in the winter months the demand was less than the supply of effluent and the lake was used as a key storage point for that water. That meant there was a limited period of time when construction could be happen in the lake because the other part of the time the lake was needed for storage. He stated they had a plan to dewater the lake. He said it would be necessary to characterize the lake sediment and come up with a plan of disposal. They had evaluated the liner condition and design of the replacement of the liner. He noted that there were permits that would need to be acquired. He acknowledged that this was specialized work, which would involve a prequalification step for the contractors. He said they would then begin the bid and construction phase services as they worked with the Town to get the project brought to reality in the field. He said that the lake was constructed about 1973 by McCullough Properties and was about 30 years old. He said the original purpose of the lake had been to be decorative. Over the years the lake had become a very important source of seasonal effluent storage. He said the lake had a significant volume of water in it. It held 100 million gallon of water when full and had a surface area of 30.8 acres with and a maximum depth of 15 feet. He explained that the lake was actually formed by a dam located at the East End of the lake and incurred by damming up some washes that flowed through the area. He said they had confirmed that the lake was currently lined with 30-mil PVC material. The lake's shoreline was made up of concrete wrapping over the PVC liner holding it in place. Mr. Cobrick said their firm had performed a significant amount of data collection on the existing lake. He stated that they had been interested in four things: the liner material and its condition, the concrete shoreline condition, characterizing and quantifying the amount of sediment at the bottom of the lake, and gaining information on the aquatic vertebrates in the lake. He said samples of the liner had been taken at three different locations: shallow Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 1 of 7 water depth, deep-water depth, and under the concrete shoreline. This was done to find out what affect sunlight had on the liner since UV radiation and sunlight degraded PVC over time. The results were that none of the liner material was in good condition as the liner material had lost most of its plasticizer and had become brittle and dried out. He explained plasticizer was what made the material flexible. He noted that there were various tears, cracks, and gaps in the liner material, which were visible from the shore and at various depths. He said an L. evaluation had been done to see if the lake liner could be patched. He stated that after testing they had concluded that the current liner material itself did not have the ability to be patched and a new liner was needed. He talked about the new liner and the various liner materials they had evaluated and that were available. He recommended replacing it with UV resistant high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane, 60-mil thickness. He said it was their opinion that this material would have a long life. He explained that this material was not available in 1973. Due to technologically advancements, this new material would not degrade from exposure to sunlight. Mr. Nordin confirmed that Black and Veatch had been instructed to look at all options for replacement of the lake liner. He said what Mr. Cobrick was describing to the Council was the result of their extensive analysis. Mr. Nordin said Black and Veatch felt this material would be the most cost effective and best liner material to use. Mr. Cobrick passed the Council samples of the proposed materials: a textured backed HDPE material and one with a smooth white surface. He also provided a sample of the geotextile fabric that would be used which would underlay the HDPE liner material. He described the subgrade preparation. He noted that time was spent looking at what type of foundation on which the liner would be placed. They concluded that rather than import sand and try to compact it, they felt the existing underlying soil could be retained for the base of the liner. He explained that the underlying soil was primarily a sandy granule material, a little rocky but was basically good material. He said they would first remove the existing liner, roll out and smooth out the underlying soil, compact it, and then put down the geotextile fabric before installing the HDPE material on top. The textured side of the membrane would tend to stick to the fabric and it would stay in place. The fabric would provide some insulation for the membrane from any rocks or objects sticking up and give it a nice surface that won't puncture. Mr. Cobrick said they also needed to make sure that the liner stayed in place. He explained that currently it was buried in the concrete shoreline. He said they did not have that luxury. They had looked at completely removing the shoreline and replacing it with the new liner pinned inside. He stated that would be considerably more expensive than what they were recommending, which was to bolt the new liner onto the shoreline. He said the concrete on the shoreline was in good condition. He explained that what they proposed to do was sawcut the concrete to create a flat surface, drill and install anchor studs, and then pin the liner to the edge with a batten bar bolted to the studs around the perimeter of the lake. He said that was cheaper than trying to redo the entire shore of the lake. He acknowledged they had taken core samples of the concrete shoreline. It was discovered that it had some cracks varying in thickness. Overall they felt the concrete shoreline was in good condition. He said his firm had investigated the sediment at the bottom of the lake. He said there was anywhere from 9"to 16" of material, which had settled to the bottom of the lake. Mr. Cobrick noted that the average depth was one foot and the solid content was 8 to 10 percent by weight. He explained that the likely sources were algae, the ducks, and effluent from the wastewater treatment plant(which from 1986 was not filtered and allowed for more solids than there were now). He said they had concluded from tests that this sediment did not contain hazardous material. It was found to be non-toxic and could be sent to a conventional landfill. Mr. Cobrick said these results were consistent with results obtained by MCO Properties back around 1995 in terms of the depth of the sediment and composition. He said they had been concerned there might be high levels of copper from the copper sulfate used to control algae and it wasn't there. He noted that the sediment was not accumulating very rapidly and hadn't shown any measurable signs of increasing. He felt that was because the effluent going into the lake from the Sanitary District was a higher quality of water and did not have a lot of suspended material in it to settle to the bottom of the lake. They determined from this information that the sediment situation was stable. He explained that the only reason the sediment had to be removed was because it was in the way of Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 2 of 7 construction. He stated there was always the caveat,that although they had run the tests and felt reasonably sure of what was in the sediment,they would not know for sure until they got in there. Mr. Cobrick addressed the aquatic life issue. Option #1 would be to harvest them and remove them from the lake. He estimated the number of fish at 2300 and several hundred turtles. Option #2 would be to hire someone to relocate the fish and turtles. He said this was probably the most expensive approach. He reminded the Council they would also have to find someone who wanted them. Option #3 was to enlist the help of Arizona Fish and Game Department. He said their personnel could help with the removal operation and hopefully get some of the fish adopted. He recommended this option because it would be least costly and the simplest. He reminded the Council that if it were intended to save the fish, they would still need to find somewhere to put them. He discussed the water balance of the lake and how the water flow complicated the construction schedule. He said the main source of water for the lake was the effluent, which came from the water treatment plant. Rainfall also contributed to the lake's volume, as did the run off from the park. He said the lake lost a fair amount of water due to evaporation. He stated the lake was approximately 30 acres and could lose 5 to 6 feet of water to evaporation in a year, which translated to 180-acre feet of water. He noted that effluent moved out of the lake to go for reuse. He acknowledged that when MCO had the lake, they had spent a considerable amount of time and effort developing a scientific model, with the help from an ASU professor, as to how much water evaporated from the fountain. MCO had reasoned that 11% water evaporation was lost just from the water spray. He noted the fountain served many purposes and varied seasonally. He reminded the Council that in the winter there was more effluent than demand and so the lake filled. The reverse was true in the summer, as there was more demand than water so the lake would recede. Typically, he said, the lake operated within a range of 4 feet elevation. He explained that meant the project construction must happen in the period of time where the lake was not needed for storage. Mr. Cobrick presented the water management issues. He said that right now the lake was crucial to Fountain Hills' effluent water balance. Because of that, the lake could not be lowered until April, when effluent reuse demand became greater than supply. He explained that now the lake would continue to recede until empty. itikw Another thing that effected this project was that the pump station located at the lake that delivered water to the pump house for reuse could only lower the water in the lake to about 6 feet. He said that was 2 feet above the normal operating range of the lake and the pump station could not suck all the water out of the lake. So another way must be found to get the remaining water out of the lake. He reminded the Council that the lake must be ready for the winter water surplus, which meant the project must be completed by November 151. He said they must also have the Sanitary District's aquifer storage recovery project on line by November. He noted that they were not using either project to provide any schedule relief for the other and concluded the schedule was doable. Mr. Cobrick reviewed the project construction schedule activities. May 10—June 15 Dewatering lake May 10—June 1 Aquatic life removal June 15—September 1 Sediment removal July 1 —October 31 HDPE Liner replacement November 1 —February 1 Lake refilling He reviewed that there would be other projects who they would need to coordinate with. • Fountain Hills Sanitary District (FHSD) Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project: ASR wells and pipelines • Town's park improvement project • Fountainview Plaza project Councilman Mower asked if there would be an odor from the exposed sediment. Mr. Cobrick responded odor would be a concern. He explained that the matter was organic and that there might be some odor. He felt lime could be added and mixed with the sediment. He suggested that the sediment might be fairly inert by now. He said the samples taken showed a lot of granular material. Mr. Cobrick acknowledged that the odor would have to be managed as the project progressed. Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 3 of 7 Mr. Cobrick stated that the liner work was a specialized field. He said Tom Knox, a geotechnical engineer and liner expert would be assisting with the quality controls as the liner was put into place. He stated Bryan Rhodes would be in the field continuously during the installation of the liner as the resident engineer. Mr. Cobrick said the liner would go down under supervised conditions. He said the quality control process was continuous while the liner was being installed. He explained that the seams were the keys to proper installation. Mr. Cobrick displayed an illustration of the HDPE liner. He said the Town's liner would be white, which had been chosen for its reflective properties in order to keep it as cool as possible. He covered that once the liner was down, the lake could be refilled and that would require the Sanitary District resuming their deliveries to the lake. Once the Sanitary District had their ASR project on line (by the November 1st), the lake would no longer be an effluent storage facility. He stated the lake would again become the decorative lake as it had been in the beginning. He explained that the lake would be refilled to keep up with evaporative losses and to irrigate the park. He said they would make the park restoration the primary responsibility of the liner contractor, as they would be last ones in the lake area. He stated that was a standard requirement contained in their contracts. He noted that land areas would need to set aside for material storage and sediment stock piling. He did not want to minimize the disruption that would be caused to the park by the work. Mr. Cobrick reviewed the construction costs. Total cost$2,030,000 • Dewatering the lake $20,000 • Aquatic life removal $10,000 • Sediment removal $600,000 • Liner replacement $1.4 million • Lake refilling N/A He concluded his presentation by reiterating the following key points: • The liner cannot be repaired and must be replaced. • Dewatering and sediment removal were key activities that would affect schedule and cost. • The work must be completed by November ls` which had been concluded was a sufficient amount of time to complete the work. • Coordination would be needed with the other projects in the park during the summer months. • The cost would be $2.03 million • The new liner would provide a much longer service life. Councilman Mower asked what was the expected service life of the new liner. Mr. Cobrick responded the material itself was warranted for 30 years but the liner's service life was expected to exceed 100 years. Councilman Mower inquired why concrete was not considered viable. Mr. Cobrick stated that to concrete the entire lake would be more expensive. It would also be more susceptible to cracking and leaking than the proposed liner. Councilwoman Hutcheson asked what type of warranty there was on the work itself. Mr. Cobrick said that typically a construction contract had a one-year warranty period. He pointed out that the Council could ask for longer warranty period as part of the bid documents. Councilwoman Hutcheson asked if the bolting system had been used anywhere else. Mr. Cobrick assured her that it had and was a standard method of attachment in the industry. Councilwoman Hutcheson questioned if their firm was proposing a Plan B in case there were unexpected situations during the construction period. Mr. Cobrick said, in the case of the sediment, it would have to be held to the side and dealt with appropriately. He did not foresee any other contingencies. Councilman Kavanagh asked why they ruled out rolling the dried sediment over the old liner and installing the new material on top. Mr. Cobrick explained that the existing liner would become torn up in the process of doing the preparation work. If large chunks of liner remained down there, it would not create a good surface for the new fabric and the new liner, as it would tend to slip. Councilman Kavanagh asked if there enough companies that do this type of work so that the Town could expect to get competitive bids. Mr. Cobrick said there were many companies that do installation. He stated although it was specialized work, and basically there were six companies that manufacturer the HDPE material, each of manufacturer had a group of approved installers. He Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 4 of 7 explained that these companies traveled all over the country to do these types of jobs. He acknowledged that this project was not an insignificant project and was big enough to attract their attention. He said they had received calls from all over the country regarding this project and he had no doubt there were a number of interested installers. He pointed out that in terms of the manufactures, there were only two that made the white finish HDPE liner but he felt they would compete with each other for this job. Councilman Kavanagh asked if the 4th of July fireworks celebration was out of the question due to the extent of the work. Mr. Cobrick stated that it was his understanding that the park, for a number of reasons, would be closed all summer and the fireworks were off. Councilman Kavanagh asked if there had been any consideration to increase the depth of the lake for more effluent storage. Mr. Cobrick responded that the bottom of the lake was not used for effluent storage so to make the lake 20' deeper would not create any additional effluent storage. He said the effluent storage was at the top and the only way to increase the working volume of the lake would be to raise the banks of the lake, increase the footprint of the lake, or completely rearrange the pump station. He explained that the pump station only lowered the lake to about 6' below the working level. The only way to get more storage out of the lake would be to create a pump station that could pump from deeper in the lake and rebuilding the pump station could do that. Councilman Kavanagh asked if rebuilding the pump station was a reasonable suggestion. Mr. Cobrick said that would require revamping the existing pump station and the end result was to take the lake out of active effluent storage for the Town. He noted that the Sanitary District, by proceeding with their ASR project, would accomplish this. Councilman Kavanagh pointed out there was no money included for restocking the lake and asked if it was better to have the lake totally devoid of fish and turtles. He then asked if the fish and turtles were needed for algae control. Mr. Cobrick acknowledged that he was not an aquatic expert but he felt whatever was in the lake now was not doing a very good job of algae control. He pointed out that the turtles might come back to the lake. He said the if a new home was found for the fish, he did not know if they would be retrievable. He said they were working with Game and Fish to work out the details. Councilman Kavanagh asked if there were any benefits to having a darker liner installed over a white liner as the dark liner would allow for more evaporation. Mr. Cobrick said the reason for the white liner was to reduce the amount of thermal expansion. A roll of this material could expand by 4' in length. He noted it was important to control the expansion and shrinkage of the material during installation. He stated that the manufacturer had guidelines as to how warm the material could get when being installed. He thought the temperature maximum temperature was 140°. He said that if the darker liner were installed when the outside temperature was 110°, the temperature of the material could be well over the 140°. He pointed out that a lot of the liner work would be done at night when the temperature was cooler. Councilman Wyman asked how far under the surface would the flanging and bolting be installed. Mr. Cobrick said it would be off the edge of the shoreline 2' to 3'. Councilman Wyman asked if the coloring of the flanges and bolts would blend in with the concrete. Mr. Cobrick stated they were made out of stainless steel and he did not know how they could be colored. He did not know how noticeable those flanges and bolts would be to the public at that depth. Councilman Mower asked if the lake could be stocked with fish since the water in the lake was to be replaced by purified water. Mr. Cobrick stated that idea had been suggested but he did not know if that was a feasible option. Councilman Mower questioned what would happen to the blue herons. Mr. Cobrick suggested that once the work was underway the birds might find a temporary home somewhere else, as there wasn't much that could be done about the birds. Mr. Nordin addressed the financial end of the project. He recommended to the Council that the Town pay cash for this work. He referred to a 5-year financial plan he had prepared to show where he expected the money to come from and what effect it would have on the Town's overall finances. He reminded the Council that the contractual arrangement with MCO provided that the Town would receive 18% of the costs from MCO. He acknowledged that MCO had committed to this in writing so the Town would be responsible for 88% of the cost. He stated that MCO would pay 12% of the engineering costs involved (Mr. Cobrick's fees). He asked the Council to refer the 5-year plan. He noted that audited carry over funds reflected additional monies available that had not been anticipated in this fiscal year. He also pointed out that the Town had budgeted to receive $9.4 Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 5 of 7 million and now expected to receive over $1 million more primarily from building permits and local sales tax. If audited funds carried forward were to be added to the amount of additional money generated from the permits and sales tax, the Town would almost have enough to take care of the $1.8 million dollar obligation. He stated that the money would be budgeted for the coming fiscal year in the $3.6 million dollar figure under capital outlay. This figure included the $1.8 million dollars, which would need to be paid out for this project. While he projected a good cash balance for the Town with these numbers, he reminded the Council of a potential difficulty. He explained the budget process the Town needed to follow. First, the Town must have the dollars in the bank (no deficit spending allowed for municipalities in Arizona). Second, in order to spend the dollars, the Town needed permission to spend it. He said the Town accrued or generated permission by adopting the annual budget. He said the State of Arizona imposes an expenditure limitation that would limit the municipality's ability to adopt permission to spend. He reminded the Council that while the Town would have the money to spend, the Town might not have all of the permission to spend the monies needed given all of the other desires,for example the$1.5 million down payment expenditure on the Community Center. He had asked the Town Accountant Julie Ghetti, to complete a detailed analysis, which would be completed in conjunction with the Town's budget preparation. He said he would include in his presentation next month, where the Town was with the expenditure limitation this year. He would also project what expenditures the Town would have in the next budget year. He said staff would take a hard look at increasing or maximizing the use of the Town's expenditure limitation this year. He noted staff would also look at credits the Town had accumulated from prior years and never used. He said staff would examine the expenditure limitation for the next budget year to be sure that the Town had sufficient permission to spend for this project and all of the other projects next year. He said that while he was raising the issue and investigating possible solutions it was not a definite concern. He stated in the worst case scenario, the Town would have to take full advantage of the past credits never taken. He suggested there were a couple of debt mechanisms that the Town could utilize to lower the expenditure under the limit. He explained that if it came to that point, he would again come to the Council with those presentations. He said he was not anticipating a problem at this time, but acknowledged that it would be close and he wanted the Council to be aware. In terms of this presentation, he said it was his opinion that the bottom line remained at acceptable levels even with those expenditures. He also included sizable expenditures for some of the other priorities, such as Parks and Recreation, the $1 million dollar amount for mountain acquisition, and $320,000 for each of the next budget years for that same purpose. He said those expenditures could a cash accumulation, but he had shown it as a bond issue. He said the Council could actually issue $4 million worth of additional debt if desired for that $320,000. In looking at the Town's budget he could recommend and show the Council that the Town would not suffer if the lake liner project was paid for by cash. He stated if the $1 million was received from the Los Arcos project,it would also be additional revenue. He stated that the Town would be studying the implementation of impact fees in the near future and those revenues had not been figured into the projections. He said that he had not figured sales tax generated revenues from the proposed shopping center. He reiterated that staff recommended the Council approve the expenditure for the lake liner project. Councilman Wyman asked if the $645,000 expenditure for Golden Eagle Dam was included in this projection. Mr. Nordin stated staff had anticipated receiving some grant money on that project. Mr. Nordin stated staff would need to verify the numbers as Mr. Ward has thought the figure was$345,000. Councilman Mower asked if the $1 million from the Los Arcos project, if received, would be placed into the Town's general fund to be used to offset the proposed liner expenditure. Mr. Nordin said yes. AGENDA ITEM #2 — CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZING AN AMOUNT OF UP TO $2.2 MILLION FOR THE FOUNTAIN PARK LAKE LINER PROJECT AND DIRECTING STAFF TO IMPLEMENT THE LINER RENOVATION. Councilman Wyman MOVED that the Council authorize the expenditure of funds up to$2.2 million dollars for the replacement of the Lake Liner and direct staff to proceed. Councilwoman Hutcheson SECONDED the motion. Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 6 of 7 Councilman Mower asked for clarification on the Town's financial obligation for this work. Mr. Nordin stated staff anticipated an expenditure of$1.8 million. He explained that the$2.2 million was the entire cost of the project and the Town would probably be able to take a budget credit for the amount that MCO would be reimbursing the Town. Councilman Wyman asked if the anticipated contribution from MCO on this project was included in the projection presented. Mr. Nordin said no that it was not calculated into his revenue projections. Mr. Wyman asked if it would be a wash. Mr. Nordin responded yes. The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#3—CALL TO THE PUBLIC. No one came forward from the public. AGENDA ITEM#4—ADJOURNMENT. Councilman Mower MOVED to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Wyman SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m. TOWN OF F UNTAIN HILLS By: Sharon Morgan,Mayor ATTEST: C1114.AA—Kb Cassie B.Hansen,Town Clerk PREPARED BY: . /`'�' 4.4(164('� 1/ Bev Bender,Executive Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Special Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 15t day of May 2000. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 18th day of May 2000. \\Z Cassie B. Hansen,Town Clerk Town Council Special Session 5/1/00 7 of 7