Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-12-2012 Fairhope Environmental Advisory BoardFEAB MEETING MINUTES December 12 , 2 01 2 9:00am FEAB Member Attendees: Jim Horner, Gary Gover, Elaine Snyder-Conn, Garland Sims City Representativ es: Nancy Milford, Kim Burmeister, David Powell City Council Members: Rich Mueller Honored Guests : John Peterson (Speaker), Jackie Wavrunek, Paul Ripp, Mike Shelton, Ron Heveran and Jeanine Normand Jim Horner called the meeting to order at 9:00am. Garland moved to accept the minutes for November 's meeting and Gary seconded the motion. The minutes stand as approved. Fecal Issue: Jim redistributed to the City Council and the Mayor a letter for action requesting funding for addressing the fecal issue. The City Council passed the budget in October. Jim at first thought the basic opportunity passed, but the budget was for operations and not other community items . The letter Jim sent was for work on a Phase II project for funding to determine the cause of the fecal problem. Elaine commented that it was good to hav e Rich attending the meeting to ask questions and get a handle on the situation. She explained that in 2007 the Wade study found that 23% of the population swimming on the main beach got an upper GI problem after swimming. She further explained that the study purposely excluded any people interviewed that had previous GI problems . The study was conducted as a part of a larger study. They related the problems to potential bacterial infection of sorts. Both Gary Gov er and Jim Horner contributed that the Auburn Study found the problem was not human but a point source issue and the main beach had the largest problem . Phase I data did not support the cows as a potential contributor to the problem. Elaine said that there is potential over flow under severe events . However, she felt the problem is upstream off of pet waste and septic systems, possibly. Nancy said that in one of Gary's discussions , he commented that the Public Health Department did not have record of septic systems in the area of concern. Elaine commented that just because there is no record does not mean the y don 't exist. Jim commented that Phase II will be to see the effects since the geese have been removed . Jim and Gary both commented that they suspected that storm water is a big contributor to the problem. Rich said he was particularly interested in the fecal contribution in the whole of the bay and what other areas are ex periencing problems and are other communities looking at the issue . Jim commented that Fairhope has had a bigger problem for a longer time. Jim and Elaine are confident that the problem is local. Gary commented that Dog River has also had some problems. One member questioned whether normal tidal flow is a problem? Gary also confirmed that he thought the data showed it a local problem. Garland commented that the seagulls land on the piers and make a mess. Elaine said that Auburn was going to trace for seagulls. Elaine also commented that open dumpsters and the landfills contribute to the huge populations of gulls . Recycling Committee : Ron Heveran gave a report of the recycling status. Ron said that he met with Dale Linder. Ron pro vided some general information on the the recycling status. Ron gave the general recycling prices as follows : • Glass-picked up by the City at a cost to the City of $20/ton. There is no market for it but it does save the $31/ton tipping fee for landfill diposal. • Tire-Cost to the City of $5/tire. Tires are very difficult to dispose. • Cooking Oil-is not being recycled at this time. • Scrap Metal-payback to the City of $25/ton (plus tipping fees saved). • Paper/Cardboard-payback to the City $58-98/ton plus $31/ton for landfill savings. • Aluminum-payback to the City of $150-175/ton, plus tipping fee saved. • Yard Waste-composted (large items go in the C&D landfill • Electronics-need to access where the electronics go. Collected for amnesty day. Ron said the primary objective of FEAB should be an intelligible brochure regarding recycling . There was some general discussion about the handling of appliances but nothing was resolved. Ron said that Dale indicated that appliances are still being picked up but Ron will check the status of appliances with Dale. Hatch Mott McDonald Presentation/John Peterson speaker: Jim introduced John Peterson with Hatch Mott McDonald. Jim explained that Hatch Mott McDonald was the conducting the City of Fairhope outfall inventory. John began by stating that the scope was a limited study to do the following: 1. Review the Storm Water Management Program 2. Conduct the outfall inventory assessment and mapping. John also gave a brief description of his firm , Hatch Mott McDonald. They are a firm of 2000 employees and have offices in Daphne, Mobile, and the Pan Handle. There disciplines include engineering, architecture, and surveying services. They are a full service company that handles all types of projects from environmental services to infrastructure. John said that their firm looked at the Storm Water Management Program they City prepared and made some minor adjustments . The Program report was completed, sent to ADEM in a timely manner. The next step was to review and prepare the inventory of the outfalls that go into state waters. This included locating structural BMP's, Rip Rap , check dams, detention and retention ponds and structures and create a map of them . They also assessed some general conditions of the identified structures. Each dot on the map indicates infrastructure collected in the process. They did not evaluate the detention ponds in subdivisions, however, they did locate privately owned storm water (such as detention ponds) and made general notes of conditions. John showed various pictures of structures found during the assessment and discussed some of their findings. Some of those being the following: • Headcutting at Taturnville Gully exposing a gravity sewer service line • Submerged discharge to wetlands , Fly Creek , and Rock Creek. They looked at visible discharge or potential discharges to the shoreline. These are known locations . This mapping may be beneficial to see where there is an influx of coliform. They could be easily sampled during rain events. Elaine said that maybe some Restore Alabama funds can be used for sample collection and monitoring in these areas. John said that a lot more could be done , but the information collected so far is good as a starting point. The goal was to collect information for ADEM for the MS4 permit. There was some general discussion regarding the methods of data collection and the use of GPS . John said that the data was collected using a Trimble 6000 GPS with a built in camera device. They were not collecting inverts of elevations and can look at gathering this data down the road , if the City chooses to pursue it. There was some general discussion about watershed mapping. Gary had defined the watersheds earlier this year and there was some discussion about his methods and how the two maps related. Elaine asked if the City has a method of maintaining this inventory. David said that Hatch Mott McDonald has collected the data and that is where we are now. If there are some repairs , then updates would have to be done. The City of Fairhope MS4 permit requires that this outfall inventory and map be updated at least annually. Rich asked the general cost of equipment necessary to add the maintenance GPS information. John said that Ashley Campbell bought their GPS unit for between $15,000 to 18 ,000. The members asked for 8-10 copies from GIS for distribution among the members. John said during the course of the survey , he alerted the City to emergency situations identified. Some of these issues involved private retention/detention ponds in which some of the property owners associations have dissolved. John said the best solution for this issue would be to hold up future phases for Phased development. John went on to say that two sewer clean outs are in wetlands. He said one street near Big Mouth Gully had an 8" pipe out of a sidewalk appeared to be from a manhole. John communicated with Dan McCrory on the pipe but he said it had long since been terminated. John advised Dan to have the pipe removed to clear up any confusion. Jeanine asked about a pipe exposed at the end of Gayfer Court. John was aware of the pipe but said he did not notice any evidence of leaks. Jim Homer said the inventory is a great start as a project. He would like to see an entire inventory of Fairhope's storm water infrastructure as a final product. Jim said that the City recently had the Volanta Watershed project which was also a good job and could be used as a model solution for storm water problems in other areas. John mentioned that surface water discharges testing program would be more apt to located sources of fecal contamination (ie. test the water at the 13 major outfalls indicated on the inventory map). John presented to the City Council and afterward , Jack Burrell asked Jonathan Smith to get a list of the top 15 list of the outfalls/storm water facilities most in need ofrepairs. Jim said that at North Mobile Street detention outfall feeds to the duck pond. Elaine said the storm water there needs to be re-routed. The meeting adjourned at 10 :25 am.