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1976-02-24 CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING MEETING MINUTES� P - HEARING RECORD OF PUBLIC HEARING HELD BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, ON FEBRUARY 24, 1976 AT 7:40 P. M. IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE CITY HALL, 2335 NORTH TEXAS AVENUE, PEARLAND, TEXAS. Call to Order: Mayor McComb called the Hearing to order at 7:40 P. M. with the following City Officials present: Councilman Cecil W. Griffin, Councilman Harry Farley, Council- man Tom Reid, Councilman Benny J. Frank, City Secretary Dorothy L. Cook, and City Tax Assessor -Collector James 0. DeShazer. Others present: City Engineer Malcolm Collins of Coenco, Inc. and Ms. Mary Harris, of the Pearland-Friendswood Journal. Purpose of Hearing: To discuss the City's proposed plans for upgrading their three existing Wastewater Treatment Plants to bring them in compliance with latest standards by the Texas Water Quality Board and the Environmental Protection Agency. One of the purposes of this Hearing is to discuss the potential environmental impacts of the project and alternatives to it. OATH: Mayor McComb asked that all present who wished to testify stand and be administered the Oath. The following Oath was administered by Dorothy L. Cook, Notary Public in and for Brazoria County, to Malcolm Collins: "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Mr. Collins' reply: "I do." TESTIMONY• Malcolm Collins, City Engineer "Honorable Mayor, City Council and other interested parties present. I am Malcolm A. Collins, a Registered Professional Engineer, President of COENCO, INC., Consulting Engineers and also retained as City Engineer for the City of Pearland, Texas. It has been the responsibility of our firm to prepare the Facility Plan and the Environmental Assessment that are under consideration at this time. These documents have been prepared in accordance with the Guidelines of the Environmental Protection Agency covering projects that are jointly funded by municipalities and the Federal Government under Public Law 92-500. I will briefly outline the proposed project for which this Facility Plan and Environmental Assessment has been prepared. Then I will give you our evaluation of the Environmental impact of the proposed project. This project has been brought about by Texas Water Quality Board Order 69-9A and subsequent updatings of said Board Order. Essentially this Board Order requires any effluent that is discharged into the Clear Creek Water Shed to come up to certain standards, namely: 5 parts per million BOD, 12 parts per million suspended solids, 5 parts per million ammonia nitrogen, 2 parts per million phosphorous and 2 parts per million chlorine residual after 1 hour contact time. This means that the effluent from Pearland Wastewater Treatment Plants must be upgraded, as the previous permit parameters only require 20 parts per million BOD, 20 parts per million suspended solids, and 1 part per million chlorine residual after 20 minutes contact time. Pearland's Wastewater Treatment Plants have been meeting the previous parameters of the old permit, and a good majority of the time have been producing a much better effluent than the parameters call for. In order to meet the new, lower, more stringent parameters set out in the latest Board Order the treatment facilities for the City of Pearland must be upgraded and advanced waste treatment added. The Facility Plan prepared by our firm proposes that Plant No. 2 be enlarged by 1 million gallons per day, and advanced waste treatment in the form of chemical addition and sand filtration be added for the total 2 million gallons per day. This chemical addition will precipitate phosphorous out of the wastewater and thereby reduce the amount of phosphorous in the effluent to the 2 parts per million as stated in the Board Order. It is pro- posed that an automatic back -wash filter be the final polishing treatment to the effluent in order to remove additional BOD and suspended solids and final percent- age of phosphorous necessary to obtain the 2 parts per million required. At Treatment Plant No. 3, the Longwood Park Treatment Plant, no additional secondary treatment capacity is necessary at this time. At this plant only the advanced waste treatment will be added. it will be the same as at Plant No. 2, namely, the add- ition of facilities to add chemicals into the wastewater to precipitate out the phosphorous and the addition of an automatic back -wash sand filter to polish the final effluent. In each case additional chlorine contact chambers will be necessary to get the increased chlorine residual and the length of time required. The most northern plant in Pearland, Plant No. 4, will be eliminated as a wastewater treat- ment plant. The Facility Plan proposes that Plant No. 4 be turned into a lift station only and a force main from Plant No. 4 to Plant No. 2 be constructed in order to take the flow at Plant No. 4 and transport it to Plant No. 2, where it will be treated with the flow of Plant No. 2. This saves the addition of advance wastewater treatment at Plant No. 4. The Facility Plan also calls for rehabilita- tion work to be done in the gravity sewer lines throughout the Pearland system in 104 order to reduce infiltration/inflow into the sewer system. A sewer system eval- uation survey will be conducted in order to determine the most effective means to rehabilitate these lines, and also the various sections that need rehabilitation and ones that do not. It is proposed that this rehabilitation work will eliminate 70 to 750 of the infiltration and inflow into the sewer system. The Environmental Impact of the proposed project has for the majority positive impacts on the area. Of course, the short term impact of construction noise and dust cannot be completely overcome, but can certainly be held to a minimum. The short term adverse effects caused by Project Construction should not be any greater than other construction being done in the area. The Plant Sites are existing, so there is no need for acquiring of any additional land for Plant expansion or building. The only land that is proposed to be acquired will be in the form of an easement for the force line from Plant No. 4 to Plant No. 2. This line does not need to be constructed in any straight line, and it can be put in at a nominal depth and does not need to follow any set grade, so there should be no adverse impact due to this force line. As stated in the Environmental Assessment, the natural or present character of the area will not be changed on a long term basis. The Project should have no adverse effect on wildlife, birdlife, or aquatic habitats. Quite the opposite, the upgrading of the effluent from these plants should have a positive impact on any aquatic habitat from this point on down stream and into Clear Lake. In reality there appears to be only positive long term impacts due to the proposed project, and the short term impacts as discussed due to construction are far outweighed by the long term positive impacts. Therefore, it is our findings, that the environment should be enhanced over the long range by the implementation of the proposed project. Thank You." OTHER TESTIMONY: Mayor McComb asked three times whether or not anyone else had testimony to give at this Hearing. No other person present gave testimony at this Hearing. QUESTIONS: The following question was asked by the Mayor: "Do you have any idea on how much capacity we have left in the Longwood Plant?" Malcolm Collins' reply: "According to the population projection and the proposed elimination of the infiltration/inflow of the amount we feel we can elimin- ate, the capacity of that plant should be good until about 1985." 105 Mayor McComb: "Then the problem at the Longwood Plant is infiltration?" Malcolm Collins: "Yes sir. At this time." ADJOURN: The Mayor adjourned the Hearing at 7:54 P. M. Minutes approved as submitted and/or corrected this day of A. D. 1976. Mayor ATTEST: 914 41L "AS, /- ;,Q Z12i Ci AQ City Secretary