City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 20, 2018
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution Establishing the Combined Sewer Outfall Project Review Team Workgroup as a City Council Subcommittee. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
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ISSUE: Establishing a Combined Sewer Outfall Project Review Team Workgroup as a Subcommittee of City Council.
RECOMMENDATION: The City Council:
(1) Adopt the Resolution to establish the CSO Project Review Team Workgroup (“Workgroup”) as a Subcommittee of City Council (Attachment 1); and
(2) Appoint two (2) members of City Council to serve on the Workgroup.
BACKGROUND: The City owns four Combined Sewer Outfalls (CSOs) which are operated under a permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ). In 2017, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law which requires the City to bring the four CSOs into compliance with State and Federal laws on an accelerated schedule using specific provisions of these laws, with completion required by 2025. The City and Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew) agree that transferring ownership of the CSOs to AlexRenew will result in the identification of the optimal solution to bring the CSOs into compliance within the exceedingly tight statutory deadline.
On April 24, 2018, City Council approved a Draft Long Term Control Plan Update (LTCPU) outlining the technical approach to meeting the General Assembly enacted law and authorized the City Manager to enter into an Outfall Transfer Agreement with AlexRenew outlining the process and terms by which the City will transfer ownership of the CSOs to AlexRenew. On June 23, 2018, City Council will consider an Ordinance to effectuate the transfer of ownership.
Land use approvals such as Development Special Use Permits and Building Permits will be required for the anticipated projects and the City will continue to have this regulatory review authority over the project. The Outfall Transfer Agreement includes a requirement for AlexRenew to continue community engagement during implementation of the project.
The Agreement includes mechanisms to continue collaboration between the City and AlexRenew throughout the process. A “Team Approach” has been established to recognize the partnership between these two agencies and facilitate approvals and implementation. This approach includes a regulatory team to expedite the City’s regulatory approval process and a project coordination team to enable the City to provide input on the project development. Additionally, the agreement establishes an advisory Workgroup made up of two members of City Council and two members of the AlexRenew Board of Directors. The Workgroup will review and guide the plans, implementation, costs and financing to minimize community impacts and maximize overall community benefits. This advisory group is similar to the City-ARHA Redevelopment Workgroup, and to the City-Schools Subcommittee in overall purpose of coordination of mutual interests.
DISCUSSION: The Workgroup will provide a forum for the City Council and AlexRenew Board of Directors to receive project updates from City and AlexRenew staff. These updates will include discussions of potential community impacts and how to mitigate them, overviews of land use approvals, updates on project schedule, budget and financing.
The Workgroup will meet as determined necessary by the members of the Workgroup. Staff anticipates that the first Workgroup meeting will be held in the Summer of 2018.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with the Workgroup. The planning level capital cost (i.e., early, but not yet engineered cost estimates) for the LTCPU is estimated to be $356 million. The cost estimates are preliminary based on conceptual level planning, and could possibly be as high as an additional 50%. It is anticipated that this infrastructure will be financed through AlexRenew through their sanitary sewer rates. It is estimated that the average household sanitary sewer bill will increase by approximately $20 to $30 per month over the implementation period compared to the current average sanitary sewer bill of approximately $50 per month.
ATTACHMENT: Resolution
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
Joanna Anderson, Assistant City Attorney
Yon Lambert, Director, Department of Transportation and Environmental Services
Mitchell Bernstein, Director, Department of Project Implementation