01-30-89 v MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OF A lANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION WHICH WAS HELD AT CITY HALL JANUARY 30, 1989, AT 7:15 PM
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gulliford. Present were Mayor
William I. Gulliford, Jr. , and Commissioners Robert B. Cook, Sr. , Glenn
A. Edwards, Alan C. Jensen, and Adelaide R. Tucker. Also present were
City Manager Richard Fellows and City Clerk Maureen King.
The Mayor explained the meeting had been called for the purpose of
discussing the consolidation of the Buccaneer sewage treatment plant and
the Atlantic Beach treatment plant. A letter from Smith and Gillespie
Engineers, Inc. , outlining factors to be considered, along with their
recommendations was furnished to each Commissioner. Also presented to
each Commissioner was a plan of the existing Atlantic Beach site showing
a possible configuration of a facility which included two 2.5 MGD
carrousel aeration tanks.
Mayor Gulliford expressed concerns relative to the amount of land
available for expansion of the Atlantic Beach facility and future
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requirements the EPA or DER might mandate which could require more land
area than the City currently had available. The City had already
expended a considerable amount of funds on the current facility and is
anxious to look at the subject from a long range prospective and explore
every option available and come up with the most practical plan to meet
the projected needs of the City.
The Mayor asked Mr. Avery, in the event of mandates by the DER and EPA
relative to specific treatment methods to be used, what would be the
worst possible situation the City could anticipate in regards to
additional land requirements, etc.
Mr. Avery explained the current recommendations of his company were based
on the present land area available. Since the City did not have
sufficient land at the Buccaneer site, and the DER appears to be moving
toward requiring regional plants, he felt the City might want to see if
additional property could be purchased adjacent to the current Atlantic
Beach plant. He felt an additional four acres, plus whatever amount of
land the City would wish for a buffer zone, would be adequate to provide
a comfortable margin for long range planning.
At Commissioner Cook's request, Mr. Avery explained briefly the carrousel
treatment process and stated he felt it was superior and provided better
treatment than the process currently used by the City. In the event the
City wished to convert to tertiary treatment this could be accomplished
relatively simply.
Commissioner Edwards stated his recommendation would be to leave
Buccaneer as is for the present time and add on to the Atlantic Beach
plant and in the event Buccaneer became overloaded, the overload could be
re-directed to Atlantic Beach. The City Manager stated some additional
land is available adjacent to the Buccaneer plant but the price is very
high.
Public Services Director, Don Ford, said he and the sewer department
personnel have discussed the possibility of re-directing some of the
Buccaneer flow to Atlantic Beach and from an operational and maintenance
point of view, this would not present a problem. However, he stated he
did not know the legal or accounting problems this may present.
In summary, it was felt the City would need to plan for 6.5 MGD capacity
and it was the general consensus the City should plan to increase the
Atlantic Beach plant to 6.5 MGD, and also to keep the Buccaneer plant on
line as a safety feature. The expansion could be done in two phases,
which after the first phase would represent a total of 5.3 MGD. It was
the feeling of the engineers this would provide adequate treatment
facilities until the year 2010.
Buccaneer Plant Chief, Harry McNally reminded the Commission the
Buccaneer plant was nearing capacity and he was asked to get some figures
on the volume generated from North Seminole Beach and Oceanwalk with a
view to re-directing the flow to Atlantic Beach.
The City Manager was requested to check into the possibility of acquiring
additional property in the vicinity of the existing plants, and Mr. Avery
was requested to recheck the land requirements and determine if his
estimate of needing an additional four acres was accurate. Mr. Avery
offered to arrange visits to carrousel plants for any City officials who
were interested in seeing that type treatment facility in operation.
However, he mentioned that while his company had recommended the
carrousel plant, he did not wish to imply that this was the only option
open to the City.
When this information had been compiled, the subject could be brought
before the Commission, and the next step would appear to be to examine
the financial aspect of the project.
Atlantic Beach Plant Chief, Tim Townsend, pointed out the current Davco
plant was highly recommended when it was constructed but, while it
provided excellent treatment, it was expensive to maintain and had
frequent breakdowns. At 5.0 MGD, the City would be classified as a Class
"A" plant which must be maintained 24 hours per day, seven days per week
with certified personnel.
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The City Manager announced Smith and Gillespie had completed a study on
drainage canal improvements. He said he had contacted the City of
Jacksonville to work out an arrangement whereby they would close in the
Seminole Road drainage canal and in exchange they could hook the Hanna
Park facility to the Buccaneer sewer system. The City of Jacksonville
indicated the hydraulic impact of the improvements had not been analyzed
by the engineers in their report. Before the canal could be closed in a
hydraulic study would be necessary to determine the impact upstream and
downstream, and it was their feeling the pipe at Saturiba would not be
large enough to handle the flow of water if the canal were to be closed
in.
Jim Jacques of Smith and Gillespie Engineers indicated their instruction
from the City for the study did not include this drainage canal. He
outlined the drainage system in some detail, explaining there are many
inter-connects with other drainage canals, some of which are state
maintained.
Further discussion ensued relative to the Seminole Road canal and the
dangerous situation which exists, and when the study was done this was
felt to be a priority. However, with the many other areas which could
ultimately be affected by the closing in of the Seminole Road canal, it
was his opinion a complete study of the entire drainage system would be
necessary. He felt the drainage canals which are affected by tidal flow
would continue to be a maintenance problem.
Mayor Gulliford inquired whether the possibility of installing pervious
concrete bottoms to closed in ditches had been considered and Mr. Jacques
responded that the St. Johns River Water Management District had advised
his firm on the Skate Road drainage canal, that they would have to
provide an area equal to the land surface lost to pavement, and transfer
that area to another location in the drainage basin. In some instances
this could be an effective way to stabilize a drainage ditch and provide
a hard surface to get equipment into the area for maintenance and this
had been their recommendation on Skate Road could be used on Seminole
Road.
Mayor Gulliford asked the City Manager to attempt to get a tentative
agreement from the City of Jacksonville relative to their willingness
to close in the Seminole Road ditch in exchange for the Hanna Park
campground being allowed to connect to the City's sewer system, subject
to meeting the requirements which have been indicated.
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The City Manager announced that Sixteenth Street beach access was
withdrawn from the original Invitation to Bid for beach access overwalks.
He indicated he had received a proposal from the contractor to construct
an overwalk at Sixteenth Street and asked whether, in the opinion of the
Commission, it would be necessary to go out to bid as a separate project,
or whether the proposal of the contractor could be accepted as a Change
Order.
After brief discussion the City Manager was instructed to prepare an
Invitation to Bid and proceed with the bidding process.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Mayor Gulliford announced that within the next week he would be mailing
to each Commissioner for study some information relative to fees for
professional services, and would seek their thoughts at the meeting of
February 27, 1989.
Mauree King, City Clerk