City Council Meetings

CITY OF GREEN RIVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 14, 2014 The Governing Body of the City of Green River met in workshop session at 6:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Castillon called the meeting to order. The following Council Members were present: Mark Peterson, Tom McCullough, Brett Stokes, Gary Killpack, and Lisa Maes. The following were present representing the City: City Administrator Marty Black, Director of Public Works Mike Nelson, Engineer/Utility Manager Mark Westenskow, Utility Superintendent Jason Palmer, Police Chief Chris Steffen, and Parks and Recreation Director Allan Wilson. Simplot Phosphates Expansion Project Eric Schillie said they are reaching out to the local governments and the county in hopes they can get community involvement in the project. There will be a public open house on February 6, 2014, from 4 to 8 pm, at the Fire District #1 conference room, in Rock Springs. The JR Simplot Company has approved preliminary engineering and permitting for an anhydrous ammonia productions plant and related utilities to be constructed on Simplot property, adjacent to the existing Simplot Phosphates Fertilizer Complex, located 4.5 miles south of Rock Springs, Wyoming. The new plant would allow Simplot to produce anhydrous ammonia instead of importing the process feed material. They will have to put in a new natural gas line and upgrade the electrical services to support the project. Permitting with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Equality‘s Industrial Siting and Air Quality Division is in progress. This project will not increase the production of fertilizer, but will simply allow them to produce anhydrous ammonia instead of importing the process feed material. They pay 40% freight on every rail of ammonia they receive. The costs have gone way up, and they purchase the ammonia from a competitor which isn’t the best business practice. Construction is anticipated from June 2014 through early 2016. Construction manpower is anticipated to peak around 440 workers during the second quarter of 2015. After the construction is completed, an estimated 25 additional full time positions will be necessary to operate and support the new facilities. The Mayor asked how safe it is to work with ammonia. Mr. Schillie said it is a dangerous material and that is one of the reasons the freight is so high. They added more rail track so the cars aren’t sitting on the tracks in the cities. It will be better when this project is completed because the material won’t have to be shipped to them. Council Member McCullough thanked him for his presentation. Mr. Shillie asked if the city would send them a letter of support for the project to them. The Mayor asked when they needed the letter of support by. Mr. Shillie said by April or May. Rock Springs 20” Alternate Water Pipeline Project Rock Springs Mayor Demshar thanked the council for giving them the opportunity to present their water pipeline project. He introduced members of the Rock Springs City Council in attendance: Billy Shalata, Tim Savage, Rob Zotti, Glennise Wendorf, and Rose Mosbey. He also introduced Leon Kjellgren consultant from Nelson Engineering, and Brian Seppie from the Joint Powers Water Board. He said the project will consist of approximately 18,000 feet of 30 inch diameter water line from the Joint Powers Water Board plant to the neighborhood of the west Kanda area. From the west Kanda area to Rock Springs there are two water lines. There is redundancy to the east but from the west Kanda area to the Joint Powers Board plant there is only one line. Having one line is a concern because a line break would leave the City of Rock Springs without water. City Council Workshop Proceedings January 14, 2014 Page 1 of 4 The Mayor said he understood that the water line going in is a 20 inch line not a 30 inch line. Mr. Kjellgren said the 30inch line they are proposing replaces an existing 20-inch line. The name of the project is 20-inch, because at the beginning, they weren’t sure what size they were going to use, but they think it will be a 30-inch line. The purpose of this project is to correct the problem of the single line between the water treatment plant and the west Kanda area. The preliminary design shows reasonable alternatives that will have the least impact on the residents of Green River. The first alternate route is going up Riverview Drive. There are congested utilities in this area, moist soils, and it would be a huge impact on residents in that area. This is not suggested as the right route to take. The second alternate route utilizes existing casing across the river and goes up 4th West until it gets to 2nd North, and then cuts up to the interstate and runs along it on the south side, and then drops down to tie into the same area as the other line. They will need to relocate some utilities so that the new line and the redundant line are not too close to each other. This line would have a significant impact to the residents and businesses in the area. The third alternate route probably won’t be allowed by the Union Pacific Railroad. On the east end where it would tie into the other alternatives there is a significant horizontal bore under the tracks of the railroad. The UP will not want a large number of tracks being affected. The line in a casing that is around 1000 foot long would be extremely hard to repair if there are any issues. The UP doesn’t want then in the area between Uinta Drive and where it crosses the tracts, because it is a high traffic area. The UP has not said no, but they have said they would not recommend it. There are ties and concrete structures that would make this route difficult. They knew they couldn’t go down Railroad Avenue because there are so many utilities and existing lines already. Knowing this, they met with staff and came up with another route. The fourth alternate runs to the south of Railroad Avenue. It will run on the city leased land from the UP along with the proposed land exchange that the city is working on with the UP. Going with this route allows them to use the existing casing that runs to the south of Railroad Avenue and doesn’t run under Railroad Avenue. When placing the line they would pick locations that will stay away from the fiber optic lines but doing so may require the removal of four trees. They will have to remove some of the concrete parking lot but it will be replaced. All of the alternate routes will impact the city, but this route will have the least impact. This is the route that he will be suggesting. The benefits of this route are: there is a current line that exists and is being used to service the depot. The UP said they would allow the line to be abandoned because they won’t need it anymore. If they are provided with another tie on off of Railroad Avenue to service their depot they would install a backflow preventer. A part of the 20-inch line is still being utilized to irrigate the interchange grass area. There are some residents and businesses that are hooked to the line. This line is so large that there is minimum flow going through it which could cause poor water quality. This line could be abandoned by Rock Springs and used as a casing pipe to hold a smaller pipe to serve the residents and businesses. He said if everyone joined together and went to Union Pacific with one deal it could help both. Mr. Black said he appreciates the fact that the Joint Powers Board and the Rock Springs City staff and engineers have worked with the city through this component. The city had plans to build a structure and park area on the leased land from the UP. If the line is run through this area the city couldn’t build the planned structure. The tree board has asked that the trees not be removed. If they are damaged or impacted in any way, there should be a full multiplier on the tree replacement to mitigate from any impacts. There are three structures over a multiyear period on the depot so there would be three separate utility connections. City Council Workshop Proceedings January 14, 2014 Page 2 of 4 The Riverview Drive route is not the best way to go because of the utility conflicts along with the impact to the residents. When you get to the east side there would be impact to some of the horse corrals. Mr. Westenskow said there is no perfect alignment through town. Another consideration is the city has projects along some of these alignments and some that would impact recently improved infrastructure. Timing could also be a problem. Mr. Black asked what is the most reasonable way to run the line from the Joint Powers water plant, what impacts may occur, and how can they be mitigated during the construction process by the City of Rock Springs. Brian Seppie, Director of Engineering and Planning for the Joint Powers Water Board, said the primary thing to focus on is the board provides service to both entities. In their master plan they prioritized the high priority items that needed to be done. This was one of the top five priorities. The Mayor said the city has worked hard to improve the relationship with the Union Pacific Railroad and he would like to keep it moving forward. They have been working on the land exchange for 3 or 4 years. The land does have some requirements from previous grants. Mr. Black said the UP has requested that any lines crossing under the rails go at a ninety degree angle. Last night there was a water break in Granger, under the rail yard, so that could cause some issues with moving forward with the UP approval. The UP folks will be looking into all of these issues. The Mayor said the city is working with the UP and the Joint Powers Water Board on cleaning up the old water treatment facility area. Council Member McCullough thanked Mr. Kjellgren for his presentation, and recommended going with the third or fourth route. The other routes seem to be more expensive. Council Member Killpack said he would go with Nelson Engineering and city staff recommendation for the fourth route since it seems to be the best way. The trees would be impacted but the impact to the residents and businesses would be minimal. Council Member McCullough asked how long it would take them to dig the line and if it would be done in pieces. Mr. Kjellgren said they are in the preliminary design so those decisions haven’t been made yet. There is a final design that will be completed. He does not see any problem with having any contract requirements listed for the project as long as they are listed before they receive a final price bid. The city is going to want the concrete parking lot portion completed as quickly as possible so the contract will limit it to 300 foot lengths at a time. The Mayor said the city has an EPA study on the contaminated grounds in the area and they would give them access to the study if they needed it. There are three monitoring wells that are being looked at in the vicinity. Mr. Kjellgren said they asked the DEQ to check the wells in the area of Railroad Avenue. They have been testing wells south of 4th East because there is a leaking underground storage tank site on Flaming Gorge Way, and one at the Uinta Drive interchange. The remediation has been successful in both areas because they didn’t find a lot of contamination. Council Member Stokes thanked him for his presentation and he agreed the fourth route was the best. Council Member Maes said she feels bad about the trees and they should be remediated. She asked how deep the line will be. Mr. Kjellgren said around thirty feet deep. City Council Workshop Proceedings January 14, 2014 Page 3 of 4 Council Member Killpack asked if they could go around the trees. Mr. Kjellgren said no, not without hitting the fiber optics line. Council Member Peterson said he thinks they all can work together to accomplish their needs. He asked if the route they are recommending was cost driven because some routes would impact less people but would be very expensive. Mr. Kjellgren said they have not priced any of the routes. The cost does not drive any decision on the route at this point. They are making an intuitive judgment on what they see on the drawings. Mayor Demshar said there are several options but some of them will be at a higher expense. The fourth option is the best route with the third route as second choice. Killpack said cost will make a difference. If the project comes in higher than the funds collected on the 6th Penny, then they can’t move forward with the project. The Mayor thanked Mr. Kjellgren and the Rock Springs City Council for attending the meeting and working with the city staff to better serve both parties. Mr. Black said the next steps involve drafting a memorandum of understanding, and moving forward jointly with the Union Pacific Railroad. City Administrator’s Report Mr. Black had nothing to report. Mayor and Council Reports All council members had nothing to report. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:18 pm. ______________________________ H. Castillon, Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ Jeffrey V. Nieters, City Clerk City Council Workshop Proceedings January 14, 2014 Page 4 of 4