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01-22-1980 Combined Meeting e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR AND TOWN HALL MEETING A combined Regular City Council Meeting and Town Hall Meeting was held in the Jenkins Auditorium on Tuesday, January 22, 1980. Prior to formal opening of the meeting, Mayor Smoak announced the presence of State Representative Everette Kelly, who had stopped by briefly on his way to address a group in Lake Panasoffkee. Mayor Smoak prefaced his introduction of the Representative by advising that without his very strong help, and in conjunction with that of Senator Vince Fechtel, we would not have been able to delete from the Green Swamp Designated Area of Critical State Concern, those lands which were re- moved. Representative Kelly responded that Mayor Smoak was indeed a champion in fighting government bureaucracy. He apologized for the brief stop, but ad- vised he desired to apprise all present of his open door and cooperative office and staff in Tavares, and to urge that they be contacted if they could be of any help to the citizenry. Mayor Smoak formally opened the meeting at 7:40 P.M. with the following members present: Councilmen Thomas, Byrd, Meginley, and Cole. Other officials present were: City Manager Forbes, City Attorney Baird, City Clerk Carroll, and Finance Director Saunders. The invocation was offered by Councilman Byrd, followed by repeating of the Pledge of Allegiance in unison by all present. The Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on January 8, 1980 were approved as written. Mayor Smoak advised of the various public offices and regulatory agencies who have been so very cooperative and helpful in the City's quest to resolve its water and sewer system problems, and he recognized the following officials who were present: Mr. Richard Kinney, Executive Assistant to Senator Lawton Chiles; Mr. J.P.Mayer, Executive Assistant to Representative Richard Kelly; Messrs. Glenn Middleton, Glen Burhans, and Jim Carson of the Lake County Commission; Chairman Al Marshall,and member Mr. Bob Ray, of the Lake County Water Authority; Mr. Gil Sands of the Lake County Pollution Control Board; and, Mr. Chris Ford, Attorney for the Lake County Commission. PURPOSE OF THE MEETING Mayor Smoak announced the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the 80-17 extensive water and sewer system improvements with which the City is faced, and the proposed methods for financing. He advised that one of the major contributing factors necessitating such improvements had been the fast growth rate in the community; That the City had increased in population since 1970 from 3400 to just under 6000; That for the first seven years of this decade, the population had increased at an average compounded annual growth rate of 5%, the last two years at a rate of 7% and 8%, a growth much faster than anyone had anticipated; Mayor Smoak announced that the first topic to be discussed was that of the City's water system, and he advised that over the past several years the City had lost three water wells due to their high coliform bacteria level that was caused from contamination seeping into the upper levels of the Floridan Aquifer; That this problem was not unique to the City, but rather was delineated geographically from Lady Lake on the north to Haines City on the south; That certain areas in the City were experiencing cloudy, rusty, sandy, and just generally not acceptable Clermont type water; That the City was below the minimum fire requirements for water flow; and, That following a comprehensive study of the City's water system, the City's Engineers had proposed improvements to alleviate these problems in a five stage construction project with an immediate need for additional water producing capacity, increased storage facilities, and additional larger transmission lines. e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PROPOSED WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS Hr. Hud Sampson of Springstead & Associates, the City'S Consulting Engineers, presented an oral and slide review of the proposed im- provements to the City's water system. Mr. Sampson advised that for the past year they had been involved in making a study of the City's water system, which was concluded and a report submitted in October; That as a result of their study, it was determined that.the City has an adequate supply of good potable water in the Floridan Aquifer; That the City has two good working wells, each in a range of 1500 gallons per minute, and an additional three wells that are not being utilized as tests had proven them to be in the so called polluted upland; That the distribution system is badly in need of updating as there are approximately 47 miles of pipe in the City with 21 miles of it being 2" or less in size, it being a well known fact that 2" water mains are almost unaccountable for a City, for a water system; That these smaller lines have helped in creating the turbidity and dirty and rusty water problems that are prevalent throughout many areas of the City, the reason for that being, that with the use of the water up to practically the capacity of the supply of the present wells to supply them, the velocities in these small lines are so high that they scour off the pieces of rust, dirt, etc. that may be clinging to them thereby causing a discoloration of the water; That some of the pipes in the distribution system are 50 years old, which is not an advanced age for some types, but which is old age for galvanized iron that much of the City's 2" or less lines are. Mr. Sampson advised their study had revealed an immediate need for three major items, these being storage, a new well, and new transmission mains; That for the storage, they are recommending construction of a 500,000 gallon elevated tank which would be set at the same level as the existing 100,000 tank; That for the well, they are recommending a new 1500 gallon per minute well immediately, with a future recommendation of another like well, and, for the transmission mains, they are re- commending larger size mains to be tied together with existing mains to create a single system for the entire City; That presently the City is on two pressure systems that are interconnected yet act independ- ently of each other,whereas with a single system all of the water wells would be pumping into the same system providing a much need flexibility in the event of a well breakdown or natural disaster; That major con- sideration is taken with the design size of the pipe lines, the supply, and the storage, to obtain what is considered a good fire flow; That the system that is being proposed will supply a fire flow in excess of the domestic flow, a flow of 2000 gallons per minute in commercial, industrial, and school areas, and 600 gallons per minute in the rest of the City. Via a slide presentation of schematic diagrams of the City's existing system, Mr. Sampson pointed out the two pressure systems in the City, the low pressure area being the western part of the City from Lake Avenue westward, the elevated tank being located at the Lake Avenue well site and the well being the Seminole well on 12th Street, and, the other pressure area being the eastern portion of the City with the elevated tank at the Highland Avenue well site and the well being the Grand Highway well. He explained the problem with that type of system is that inter-connections between it are difficult and have to be manual due to a 27' difference between the over-flow elevations of the two tanks. Inquiry was made by Mr. Paul Hobensack as to installation of pressure reducers to take care of the problem, to which Mr. Sampson re- sponded that it would be very difficult as it would require complicated controls and altitude valves in conjunction with the pressure reducers, and would result in over-flowing tanks. -2- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES Mr. Sampson explained that good engineering practice in fire flow requires that a desired fire flow is obtained with the best producing well out of service; That with the two existing systems, there is one well on each one, another well on each one that is in the polluted area so that if the best well on each system is knocked out of service, the result would be almost nil as the other two wells are approximately only 750 gallons per minute; That by hooking the two systems together, all the sources of supply will meet anyplace within the City, and they thereby propose to install a new tank at the same elevation of the Highland Avenue tank in order that both tanks would flow on the line; That with the addition of another well to the system that would serve the whole of the City, a demand of 2000 gallons per minute fire flow could be satisfied for 5 hours with the best producing well out of service. He advised that the aforementioned is a general schematic of the proposed first construction that is required; That he would also say that the proposed deeper pipe lines would not necessarily, at this point, answer all the problems in the City, but rather are major trans- mission pipe lines which are necessary to convey the water at the same rate allover the City. Mr. Sampson further advised that in Phase I, the new elevated tank is proposed to be located on Highland Avenue just east of Bloxam, such location having been picked from topographical maps rather than from specific pieces of land, and that a 12" line would be installed to connect that tank into the present 12" line at Bloxam and Highland that comes down from the Grand Highway well; That a 12" line to be installed crossing Highway 50 at 12th Street was also included in Phase I in order to have it completed prior to a proposed configuration of that intersection by DOT, but since the timing of DOT's proposed con- struction had been changed since their report was concluded, this portion mayor may not be included in Phase I; That Phase II basically is a 12" transmission main from the Seminole Well to the Highland tank, and a new well in the general area of between Sunnyside and Lake Winona which would be tied into the existing system; and, That proposed in Phase III are 8" lines which form a main transmission system through the business area north of Highway 50, and between the transmission line south of Highway 50 to the existing main on Lake Shore Drive. He concluded his presentation by opining that with the monies Council felt could be made available at this time, that considerable improvements to the kind of water, the amount of water, and the fire flow desired, could be realized. Inquiry was made from the floor as to whether or not a decision had been made for instigation of the water improvements, or if they were still being considered as a proposal. Mayor Smoak advised that City Council had'voted to try to secure funding to implement Phases I, II, and III, and it is their intent to move forward with the improvements as proposed. PROPOSED SEWER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS Mayor Smoak gave a brief review of the City's sanitary sewer system advising that the treatment plant was constructed in 1972, the plant was located at its present site, the polishing ponds were dug to handle the effluent, based on an engineering study by the most imminent soils people in Central Florida, but by December of 1972, it was recognized and realized that the polishing ponds were not going to adequately handle it; That consequently from that time, the City had been investi- gating many things in an attempt to solve the ultimate problem of effluent disposal. -3- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES Mayor Smoak thereupon introduced Dr. John Zoltek from the University of Florida Wetlands Research Center in order to tell what he has done in Clermont trying to address the problem of effluent disposal. In order to give a brief background as to how he got involved in wetland research, Dr. Zoltek related that he had graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree, went on to Pasadena, California where he obtained a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering, worked for a number of years then went back to school and graduated in 1972 with a Doctorate in Environmental Engineering, specializing in Aquatic Chemistry and Wastewater Treatment, and has been associated with the Dep~rtment of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida ever since. Dr. Zoltek advised of a call from Mayor Smoak about four and one-half years ago at which time he said he had read a report on some work that he had done at the University through the Wetlands Center concerning wetlands disposal for the City of Wildwood. Dr. Zoltek explained that the situation in Wildwood was that they had a trickling filter plant, which is a pile of rocks with a rotating arm, and the arm had rusted out and the wastewater,after primary settling,was going through the rocks and being dumped into an open ditch where it meandered hither and fro and eventually worked its way into a wetlands area which was a swamp of trees; That the State Department of Environmental Regulation was concerned because only five miles away was Lake Panasoffkee, the lowest part of land where this water eventually worked its way, and they wanted Wildwood to go to advanced waste treatment for their new treatment system, which would mean doubling in cost. He advised his research team went out into the wetlands area and examined the treat- ment capability of the area, and their findings had shown rather con- clusively that in a relative short distance, depending on the time of year, that the wastewater reached background levels; and, That it was their published report on that study that Mayor Smoak had read. He said that Mayor Smoak expressed an interest in a similar type of study for the City of Clermont except that the wetlands was not a wetlands with trees, but rather a swamp with weeds, a marsh area. Dr.Zoltek re- lated that it took about 17 months to go through the necessary regula- tory agencies to get the permits in order to do the marshland study, and about 3 years ago to the day, the study was begun completely with local funding. Dr. Zoltek advised that the research marsh is located at approximately the NW part of town near a small dug-out stream that connects Lake Palatlakaha with Lake Hiawatha, and in close proximity with the treatment plant and the polishing ponds; That they built a walkway of some 1000 plus feet from the percolation ponds and installed four one-half acre plots that were constructed in such a way with fiber glass panels glued together that the water could not leave, and had a pipe running down the center where the very high quality secondary effluent was sprayed out onto the surace of the peat or in the sandy water; That the first year of the study, which unfortunately was one of the driest years in Central Florida, but which turned out to be fortunate in that the study was extended, but had also given them the worst possible condition that could be expected in the future; That they took a chance and decided to continue the study another 15 months hoping that the water levels would rise, which they did; That what actually happens is that whether there is standing water or not, the panels do a very effective job in isolating the marsh so that the water sprayed on the surface percolated down vertically through the peat,which is about 5' in depth, into a saturated -4- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES sand layer, and the sand layer, one way or another connected with the existing ground water in the lakes; That exactly how this happened is not known, but it is known that this was the sand layer that was intended to carry away the water from the percolation ponds; That it was known from past experience that peat does a very good job on ab- sorbing quite a lot of material, so they were relatively certain of a very good median on which to absorb most of the phosphorus that was in the wastewater; That the plots had a number of wells in them, the reason for wells was because it was known the water was being forced down vertically, and they wanted to know what the concentrations would be, both in the bottom of the peat and in the sand, so with medium depth and also deep wells both inside the test plots and outside in the background areas, they knew what was going on in the general area; That the major conclusion found from the study was that the nitrogen is almost completely removed to background levels in this enclosed type of marsh, but that they also feel very strongly that if it were not enclosed, the nitrogen removal would be very high and create no problem; That the phosphorus at that time was 8.72 milligrams per liter, forcing it through the peat and getting a very good absorption and re- moval, and that this was in the high loading plot that was being sprayed with 4" per week; That in their study, they were recommending 1 1/2" per week which would cut down the surface water concentration very markedly; That in addition to this phosphorus removal, the City had recently undertaken the use of iron sulphate to control sulphide odors in sewers and remove phosphorus from the treatment plant which had re- sulted in a drop to between 1 and 1 1/2 parts per million, but which he felt could be dropped even further to below 1 part per million with a closer control and a spray of 1 1/2" per week; That their examination of a 1 1/2" per week plot had concluded there would be very minimal ecological changes inside the marsh, and would do a very good nitrogen removal job and also a reasonably good phosphorus removal job. Dr. Zoltek concluded his presentation by advising that marshlands for wastewater treatment is a viable alternative that can be looked into as it is the most economical way; That they had wanted to examine the best way for removing nitrogen and phosphorus, and had concluded that forcing them through the peat layer is undoubtedly the best way to do it. Inquiry was made by ~tr. Bob Johnstone if the peat removal process was an on-going operation for 25 or 30 years, or would it become over- loaded and no longer effective. Dr. Zoltek responded that, in terms of nitrogen,they show conclusively that the nitrogen is first oxidized to nitrates and then de-nitrified to nitrogen gas, a small portion of it taken up in the plant tissues that stay in the peat, the majority of it leaving as nitrogen gas which would create no pollution problem whatsoever; That over the 30 months of testing they found no decrease in uptake of phosphorus through the peat; and, That it was his personal belief that it would be effective up to 15 years with a spray of 1 1/2" per week as recommended so as not to overload it. Inquiry was made by Mr. Bob Markland as to the area size that would be necessary to take care of the City's effluent by this method. Dr.Zoltek responded that it would depend on the loading rate and how it would be distributed, but for a .6 mgd disposal, approximately 103 acres would be necessary. Inquiry was made by Mr. Paul Line as to a forseeable virus problem with this type of disposal, and Dr. Zoltek responded that his researchers had been exposed to it daily over the 30 months of study with no health problems whatsoever, and he did not feel that would be a concern at all. -5- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES Further inquiry was made by Mr. Line if the proposed marshland area lying south of Highway 50 that is being considered for use is owned by the City or would always be controlled by the City. Mayor Smoak responded that it is owned by Lake County; That Lake County will not make a decision based on the City's request to lease the property for $1 per year until such time as the regulatory agencies have made a firm decision on whether or not the alternative which has been discussed will be permitted. Mr. Line then inquired if Mayor Smoak felt the County would keep it from future development, and he responded that he did not believe that the marsh would ever be drained for development, that it would always remain as a marsh. Referring to a recent newspaper article stating that the proposed marshland area would be diked, Mrs. Rosemary Young inquired as to the necessity for that. Mayor Smoak advised that one of the parameters of the report is to force the effluent down through the peat to effect the highest phosphorus removal, and in order to meet that parameter in the design concept, a dike would be constructed to prevent free flow and interchange of surface water between the treated effluent and the standing water outside the treated area to force it if it got out of the impounded area to go through the muck. Mrs. Young queried the advisability of thus restricting some 100 plus acres of marsh which ecologists feel is very valuable. Mayor Smoak inquired of Dr. Zoltek that if the area is diked, would it in fact destroy that 100 plus acres from the standpoint of it no longer being a functional marsh, to which he responded that it definitely would not, that it would still be a marsh and probably would look more like a marsh than the rest of the area, particulary during dry years because there would constantly be water put out there. He further explained that in diking 100 plus acres of marsh, the ecology would be changed slightly, but any time a new house or street is constructed the ecology is changed slightly. Mayor Smoak inquired that if the area is delineated with a dike and the eff- luent is forced through the peat to the sand layer, could the nutrients surface somewhere underneath that dike in another place, and Dr. Zoltek replied he could not see this as a problem at all due to the deep sand layer and its high capability of absorption. Mayor Smoak inquired as to the effect on the standing water and the ecology of the marsh in the event of exceedlingly high water coming into the area such as a back- to-back hurricane and the dike were to be destroyed, and Dr. Zoltek opined that such occurrence would not affect the marsh anymore than what the rest of the marsh would be affected, that there would be no health problem resulting from the dike being destroyed. Mayor Smoak then inquired if it could potentially adversely affect the water quality in the lakes, and Dr. Zoltek opined that in the event of such a hurri- cane where there would be an awfully large run-off from streets, trees knocked down, etc. that would more than over-balance the effect of the small amount of nutrients coming from the wastewater. Mayor Smoak in- quired of Dr.Zoltek's opinion as to this system working in such a way as to not jeopardize the lake system, the public health, and the eco- logical inter-actions in the marsh, and Dr. Zoltek advised his pro- fessional judgement would be a 90 to 95 per cent chance of it working successfully, the only hesitation being in case he had over-looked something in the research. o.__~Mayor Smoak advised that the five parameters that were set by the research study which would encompass 103 acres west of the City and south of Highway 50, was presented to the Lake County Pollution Control Board on January 14th at which time no action was taken in order that further communication might be made with the researchers. -6- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PROPOSED FUNDING City Manager Forbes advised that the estimated cost for the pro- posed first three phases of the water improvements at $1.5 million which would require an annual payment of $89,000; That a pre- liminary application for a loan from Farmers Home Administration had been approved for $1.5 million over a 40 year period at 5% interest; That if the loan is accepted, the utility rate for water would be increased $1 per month, and the sewer rate would be in- creased approximately $2.20 per month to account for the loss of subsidy to the sewer system from the General Fund, which would be utilized in the $89,000 annual payment for the water improvements. Mr. Forbes advised of the difficulty in discussing the sewer system improvement costs inasmuch as the final method had not been determined, but he advised of the following costs for comparison of the three alternatives: Marshland Treatment: Construction Costs @ $800,000 Operating Costs @ $3.10 per day Landspreading: Construction Costs @ $1,400,00 Operating Costs @ $29.00 per day Advanced Waste Treatment: Construction Costs @ $2,500,000 Operating Costs @ $89.90 per day He further advised that in addition to the $2.20 per month increase in the sewer rate due to the water improvements, it would be necessary to additionally increase the monthly sewer rate by $1.45 for the marshland alternative, $2.50 for landspreading, and $4.52 for advanced waste treatment. He explained however, of an excellent chance in ob- taining federal grant fund monies for such improvements, and if these were received, these increases would be reduced. Inquiry was made by Mr. Arthur Everly as to the annual cost today of operating the existing sewer system, and Mr. Forbes advised it is approximately $362,000 for the entire system. Mayor Smoak advised that every effort has, and is, being made to re- ceive any funding that is available; That help has been solicited from Senators Stone and Chiles and Congressman Kelly, and he thereupon recognized Messrs. Kinney and Mayer who have been actively involved in assisting the City with FMHA funding and EPA grant funding. Mr. Kinney advised that he was present recently when Mayor Smoak had met with Senator Chiles to discuss FMHA and EPA funding, and that the Senator did commit to assisting the City where he could with that ad- ministrative process. He further advised that his presence at this meet- ing was to listen to the presentations on the proposed improvements, which he felt had been very impressive, and that he felt the Senator would be very interested in his report on them. Mr.Mayer related that ~1ayor Smoak had written Congressman Kelly several weeks prior regarding the studies and the presentations that were to be given, and after having listened to them, he was very much impressed with the answers as offered in treating somewhat mundane problems; That he felt Mayor Smoak is to be commended for discovering such an approach and bring- ing it to the attention of the people in the area, which it undoubtedly, will lead to great savings and efficiency over the years; That Mayor Smoak, being a very energetic and agressive fellow, had asked Congressman Kelly what he had done for the City of Clermont lately, and an astonish- ing fact was revealed from a search of their records that the City of -7- e . . e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES Clermont had hardly ever asked them to do anything, certainly a great compliment to the City; That over the years the City has had the resolve and internal resources to get along on their own without governmental assistance, but that in this particular case it is evi- dent and manifest that the City needs governmental assistance because of the various changes that have happened to the well systems in the City etc., and, That Congressman Kelly is doing in every way what he can to help. Mayor Smoak extended appreciation for the excellent presentations and the large number of interested citizens in attendance, and thereupon adjourned the meeting to a refreshment period served by members of a local Sorority. -8-