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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/24/01 . . . Water Board Agenda Regular Meeting September 24, 200t 7:00 PM 1. Call to Order 2. Approve Agenda 3. Approve Minutes -regular, August 27, 2001 4. Introduction of new City Administrator 5. Continued Discussion Items a) Water Use Restrictions b) Wellhead Protection Plan - update 6. New Business a) Award Contracts for Wells 6 & 7 - Supplemental b) SCADA system frequency modifications 7. Approve Bills 8. Financial Report 9. Open Forum to.Adjourn . . . City of Farmington 325 Oak Street, Farmington, MN 55024 (651) 463-7111 Fax (651) 463-2591 www.ci.farminJton.mn.us Tuesday, August 28,2001 IMPORTANT NOTICE Farmington residents have done a terrific job of being conscientious about their water use throughout this summer of high temperatures and minimal rainfall. Weather conditions experienced locally this summer are unusual, and the public safety and essential needs of the citizens are always the City's first priority. With the absence of the extreme heat and dry conditions, the Water Board has updated the City's Odd/Even Water Use Restrictions as follows: . Permits for daily watering of new sod or seed are again being issued. . No lawn or garden sprinkling or other irrigation is allowed between lOam and 6pm. . Properties with sod permits are still not allowed to water between lOam and 6pm. . Other non-irrigating outside water uses such as vehicle washing are not restricted at this time. . Hand watering (with an anended hose) of flowers and plants is not restricted at this time. Because water is a natural resource, it is essential that citizens always conserve water indoors and outdoors as much as possible. Ifweather conditions require a complete or revised ban in the future, up-to-date information will be posted on the City's website at www.ci.farmin1!ton.mn.us and the City's cable information channel 16. Should you receive an administrative citation for failure to comply with the City's water use restrictions policy, the initial penalty is $25 and subsequent fines for violations within the same calendar year are $50 for each occurrence. Please call 651-463-1610 with any questions. Your cooperation in this matter is very much appreciated. ~ . Northem Environmenta/,M Hydrologists . Engineers . Geologists 372 West County Road D New Brighton, Minnesota 55112 Phone: (651) 635-9100 Fax: (651) 635-0643 TO: Lee Mann, City of Farmington DATE: 09/17/01 FROM: Mark Janovec SUBJECT: Schedule of Phase 1 Wellhead Protection Activities, City of Farmington At your request, we have prepared this memo for you and the Water Board, to update our schedule for the completion of Phase 1 wellhead protection planning activities. . At the present, we have completed an aquifer-pumping test at Well 3 and are submitting that data to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for their review. We suspect there won't be any problems with the test submitted, since the data appears to be of high quality. Also, we are in the process of updating and revising the existing computer groundwater flow model to meet the expectations set by the MDH in their scoping letter. In addition to updating the model, some additional geologic data will need to be required to satisfy the conditions of the scoping letter. It is anticipated that the majority of that data will be collected in the upcoming weeks. The following is a summary of remaining activities for Phase 1 wellhead protection planning: 1. September 2001 - Submit aquifer test data to MDH staff. 2. October and November 2001 - Complete updates to groundwater model and complete data collection. 3. Mid-to-Iate November 2001 - Hold pre-submittal meeting with MDH staff. As required in the scoping letter, the MDH wants to review the Phase 1 plan in a meeting before the submittal is made. This helps to reduce the number of comments the MDH will have after the plan in submitted. 4. December 2001 - Make updates to plan based on pre-submittal meeting. Submit draft plan to MDH. Following the submittal of the draft plan, the MDH has approximately 30 days to issue a response. If the plan meets their approval, a second scoping meeting will be set up prior to Phase II of the wellhead protection process. If the MDH requests additional data, that will need to completed before Phase II planning can begin. With the majority of plans submitted, there are usually a few minor additions made, but it usually doesn't slow down the process by more than a couple of weeks. One possible delay to the schedule outlined above is the chance that State employees may go on strike beginning October 1. The strike would include MDH staff and could affect the overall timeframe of all of their current wellhead protection projects, depending on the length of the strike. . If you have any further questions, please call Mark Janovec at (651) 635-9100. C:IWINDOWSITEMPlUPDATE_SCHEDULE<DOC , . . . City of Farmington 325 Oak Street, Farmington, MN 55024 (651) 463-7111 Fax (651) 463-2591 www.ci.farmington.mn.us TO: Water Board FROM: Lee M. Mann, P.E., Director of Public Works/City Engineer SUBJECT: SCADA system frequency modifications DATE: September 24,2001 INTRODUCTION The radio frequency for the City's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System needs to be modified. DISCUSSION The City's SCADA system serves as the computer control and alarm system for the City's water facilities and sewer lift stations. When the SCADA system was put on line in 2000, the FCC granted a radio frequency license for the system. Each facility communicates with the SCADA system via radio. Shortly after the system was up and operational, it was determined that our radio frequency was interfering with the bus company's radio frequency in Prior Lake. In theory, the license we received and the frequency we were assigned by the FCC should have insured that our system would not interfere with any other frequency. At the time, several solutions were possible, the quickest and most cost effective being to set the SCADA system to collect data at five minute intervals, rather than continuously. Staff opted to do this, with the realization that if this solution at some point no longer met needs, that the frequency would need to be changed. It is recommended at this time to apply to the FCC for modification of the frequency. The concern has been raised in relation to the security of the well houses. Our alarm system is set to go off thirty seconds after a door is opened, if the alarm is not shut off. However, with the five-minute interval for data collection we are currently working with, the emergency pager is not being alerted for an additional five to ten minutes. This concern along with the timing of sewer lift station alarms indicates that a new frequency should be obtained that will allow continuous data collection. A new frequency can be obtained by re-applying to the FCC. It is staff's goal to have this process expedited quickly by the FCC in light of the fact that the original frequency provided by the FCC is interfering with another system. The purpose of obtaining a license and frequency from the FCC to is insure non-interference between systems. 1 . . . BUDGET IMPACT The City's consultant is determining the cost to accomplish the frequency modification. The cost information is scheduled to be available at the meeting. ACTION REOUESTED Authorize the expenditure ofthe Water Board's share of the costs for the frequency modification. Respectfully submitted, ~mm~ Lee M. Mann, P .E. Director of Public Works/City Engineer cc: file 2