COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Department of Public Works

 

DATE:

September 10, 2010

BOARD MEETING DATE:

September 28, 2010

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

James C. Porter, Director of Public Works

SUBJECT:

Crystal Springs / El Cerrito Trunk Sewer Transmission Line Improvement Project

 

RECOMMENDATION:

Acting as the County of San Mateo and the Governing Board of the Crystal Springs County Sanitation District, adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute an amendment to the Sanitary Sewage Agreement among the Town of Hillsborough, City of San Mateo, Crystal Springs County Sanitation District, and the County of San Mateo for the environmental study and design costs associated with improvements to the Crystal Springs/El Cerrito Trunk Sewer transmission lines.

 

BACKGROUND:

On July 18, 1989, acting as the County of San Mateo (County) and the Governing Board of the Crystal Springs County Sanitation District (District), your Board entered into a Sanitary Sewage Agreement (1989 Agreement) with the Town of Hillsborough (Hillsborough), and the City of San Mateo (San Mateo). This agreement set forth the parties’ respective rights and obligations for to the use and ownership of sewage conveyance and treatment facilities jointly used by the four agencies.

 

In 2009, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued Cease and Desist Order R2-2009-0020 (CDO) to Hillsborough, San Mateo, and the District due to sewage overflows from, among other places, the Crystal Springs/El Cerrito Trunk Sewer (Trunk Sewer). The CDO requires that the three parties improve performance and capacity of the sewer facilities within their jurisdictions. Some of the sewer facilities identified in the CDO are subject to the 1989 Agreement; specifically, the Trunk Sewer.

 

On July 27, 2010 your Board adopted sewer service rates for FY 2010-11 for the District to support the operation and maintenance of the District facilities and the anticipated costs associated with the Trunk Sewer Improvements project.

 

DISCUSSION:

The Trunk Sewer is a jointly used facility, as defined in the 1989 Agreement, which carries sewage collected from the District, the County’s Tower Road facilities, portions of Hillsborough, and the De Anza Boulevard area in San Mateo to the San Mateo Wastewater Treatment Plant. Hillsborough, San Mateo, the District, and the County recently jointly commissioned a Sewer System Flow Monitoring and Hydraulic Modeling Study (Study) to determine the proportional share of sewage flows generated from each agency’s sewage area during dry and wet weather. The wet weather percentages will serve as the basis for allocating the costs associated with the environmental study and design work for the Trunk Sewer Improvements necessary to comply with the CDO. The Department has reviewed the Study and recommends that the wet weather percentages be used as the basis for the proposed cost allocations.

 

Hillsborough and San Mateo will manage the environmental study and design work for the Trunk Sewer Improvements within their respective jurisdictions. The District and County will be required to reimburse Hillsborough on a “pay as you go” basis for their incurred costs, while San Mateo is requiring advance funding before its portion of the work begins. The District and County will participate in the review process throughout the environmental study and design work. The parties have negotiated an Amendment to the 1989 Agreement that sets forth each party’s proportional responsibility for the environmental review and design work for the Trunk Sewer Improvements mandated by the CDO.

 

Through the sewer service rate setting process, the District communicated the District’s financial obligations for sewer system improvements in two property owner letters and a public meeting held on May 4, 2010.

 

County Counsel has reviewed and approved the Resolution and Agreement as to form.

 

Approval of this Amendment contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Collaborative Community by continuing the partnership with other agencies to provide for effective sewage transmission lines for our communities.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The anticipated cost of the environmental study and design for the Trunk Sewer Improvements is $1,400,000 and will be funded as follows:

 
 

County (Tower Road Facilities) (6%)

$84,000

 

District (37%)

$518,000

 

City of San Mateo (6%)

$84,000

 

Town of Hillsborough (51%)

$714,000

 

The District’s share of the cost will be funded through the sewer service charges collected from the property owners within the District. The County’s share of the cost will be paid from the Facilities Services operating budget.

 

The estimated cost to construct the Trunk Sewer Improvements is $21,000,000 and both the Town and City are seeking State Revolving Fund Loans to finance the construction, which would include financing the District and County’s proportionate share of the construction costs. There may be future impacts to the General Fund associated with the County’s use of the sewage facilities from the Tower Road Campus, as the County’s share of the cost will be paid for through Facilities Services operating budget.