SKF Consultants: $7.2 Million Upgrade

SKF Consultants: $7.2 Million Upgrade Concerned citizens, developers and city leaders turned out in large numbers for the Selma-Kingsburg-Fowler County Sanitation District meeting on Thursday. The reason: A presentation on the preliminary findings from the private consultants who were brought in to assess the facility's capacity and make recommendations. Because of the inability of the SKF board and staff members to come to an agreement in recent months as to the waste water treatment facility's actual capacity and its ability to serve future growth, the board voted to bring in a team of private consultants. On April 26-27, Paul Eisenhardt with the Eisenhardt Group Inc. (EGI) and three of his staff members conducted an on-site assessment tour of SKF's facilities. For many months now, the actual capacity of SKF has been in question, and a frequent topic of discussion at board meetings is always whether or not the current capacity will be able to accommodate the future growth of the three communities the plant serves. For years, it has been believed that SKF's capacity was 8.0 mgd (million gallons per day), but it has been functioning at about half that. At Thursday's meeting, Paul Eisenhardt presented his staff's findings to the board.He said that while the plant was originally designed to treat and dispose of an average flow of 4.0 mgd, District Engineer Bob Whitley now believes that the current facilities can treat up to 4.8 mgd on an annual average basis. As long as annual average flows do not exceed 4.8 mgd, there is no evidence to show that the plant is not currently capable of treating 8.0 mgd on a peak monthly basis. Because of future growth projections, EGI recommended that SKF move forward as quickly as possible on projects to construct a minimum of 6.3 mgd of average annual capacity, and that they should be fast-tracked with completion targeted for 18 months. The five projects proposed to increase capacity will allow the plant to serve existing users and currently identified proposed developments known to SKF. While the board seemed to accept the notion that a 6.3 mgd improvement plan was necessary, the real issue of how to fund the $7.2 million project was left up in the air. A major point of dissent with Selma's city manager D.B. Heusser, who appeared at April's board meeting, was SKF's failure to issue will-serve letters to new-home developers, which has caused delays in some of Selma's proposed subdivisions. EGI proposed that before SKF will issue will-serve letters, the developer must pay a 75 percent non-refundable deposit on hook-up fees at the earliest possible point in the development approval process. The deposit would be credited toward the parcel, not the current owner. The connection charge at the time the project plans are signed by SKF would be the applicable fee, or at the time the district issues a connection permit, whichever occurs first. This project would allow SKF to collect the funds needed to expand the plant, while reducing the need to borrow money to finance the expansion. Heusser was not able to attend the meeting, but he sent a letter voicing his opposition to the 75 percent deposit and questioning the legality of such a move. SKF Director and Selma Mayor Don Tow shared Heusser's concerns, and again questioned why they are now being told that the plant's capacity is 4.8, when the board has been told for quite some time that it is 8.0. "There's perhaps an unfortunate misunderstanding about terminology," Eisenhardt said, and tried to explain the discrepancy.He said that in the original site drawings of the 25-year-old plant, capacity was listed as 3.8 mgd. Because the plant would be serving agricultural needs, it was designed to handle 8.0 mgd during harvest time, but not on a continual, year-round basis. Had the plant been built with an 8.0 capacity, it would have been overbuilt for their needs during most of the year.When Tow questioned Eisenhardt as to how many new homes the plant would be able to serve in addition to its current customers, Eisenhardt estimated about 3,000. Tow said that in that case, there is no need for the 75 percent deposit, because it will be some time down the road before 3,000 homes are built."We [the city of Selma] believe there is capacity to serve for another eight to 10 years," Tow said. "Collecting in advance is just not the normal procedure. I just don't feel good about that." If new homeowners aren't made to pick up the tab for the expansion, that responsibility will fall to current users, and many voiced opposition to that."I would prefer our existing residents pay ongoing costs, but not have to pay for new users," said SKF Chairwoman Judith Case.Several developers addressed their opposition to the proposed fee.Glen Pace with the Wellington Corporation is working on Selma's Amberwood development, and said that should the fee be implemented, it would cost them $6.4 million."I'm not sure that we or any other developer could afford to do this," he said. He suggested that the district start spending the $7.2 million it has in reserve to fund the expansion rather than passing the cost on to developers.David Elias, Fowler's city manager, disagreed."I find it interesting that all these developers are so anxious to see them [SKF] deplete their reserves," Elias said. "Maybe they [the developers] should use their own reserves to cover the cost. For the district to deplete its reserves is not good business." District Engineer Bob Whitley said that even if the board were willing to expend all their reserves, they would still come up $1.7 million short of what is needed for the expansion. Tow and SKF Director Leland Bergstrom both left the meeting early, leaving the board members still present reluctant to make any major decisions without them present. In the end, the board directed SKF staff and EGI to meet with developers regarding policies for an up-front deposit and what it will take for SKF to begin issuing will-serve letters. On May 21 at 1:30 p.m., a meeting will be held with SKF staff, EGI, planning directors from the three cities and members of the development community in an effort to reach some sort of consensus. The results of that meeting will come before the SKF board meets again on June 14.