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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-08-23; Encina Joint Advisory Committee Ad Hoc; Minutes>•• ' •.*.o ENCINA JOINT POWERS MINUTES OF THE JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1978 AT THE ENCINA WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY CONFERENCE ROOM Ed Stiles, Chairman Stanley Mahr, Vice Chairman 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairman Stanley Mahr called the meeting to order at 9:06 A.M. ROLL CALL Present; Vista Sanitation District City of Carlsbad Buena Sanitation District San Marcos County Water District Leucadia County Water District Encinitas Sanitary District County of San Diego JAC Administrator Encina Joint Powers Absent: Buena Sanitation District Encinitas Sanitary District JAC Counsel Guests: Leucadia County Water District C M Engineering Associates League of Women Voters Carlsbad Journal Joe Zapotocky, Dan Carr Mary Casler, A. J. Skotnicki Bill Dominguez Jim McKay, Stanley Mahr Dick Hanson, Stan Van Sickle Mark Schneider, Jack Kubota Jim Frandsen Ron Beckman lies Evans, Mary Taylor Ed Stiles Jack Filanc Roy H. Gann, Eric Elliott John Murk Ruth Honnold Jan Stevens Esq. JOINT ADVISORY COPKITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST T*J, 1978 2. MINUTES OF JULY 26, 1978 Chairman Mahr asked for the approval of the July 26, 1978 min- utes as submitted. Mr. Zapotocky moved that the minutes be approved as submitted. Seconded by Mr. McKay, the motion unanimously carried. 3. MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL JAC MEETING OF AUGUST 2, 1978 Chairman Mahr asked for the approval of the Special JAC minutes of August 2, 1978. Mr. Zapotocky moved that the minutes be approved as submitted. Seconded by Mr. Skotnicki, the motion unanimously carried. INFORMATION 4. PROPOSED EPA CLEAN DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS Chairman Mahr asked Mr. Evans for his comments on the proposed EPA discharge requirements. Mr. Evans stated that it might be interesting for the JAC to be aware that lurking in the background is the possibility that the EPA is going to implement new guidelines for NPDES permits for discharge into the ocean. Buried in the Clean Water Act is a sentence or two or a paragraph that says there is not much known about the ocean environment or how discharges to the ocean of treated sewage affects the marine environment and, because of that, some investigations need to be done both by the EPA and the discharging agencies to insure that the marine environment is pro- tected. It is very likely that, in the future, when we apply for a NPDES permit, we are going to have to make substantially the same case as we're making now for our application for modifica- tion of secondary treatment requirements just to get a NPDES per- mit to discharge to the ocean. This would include a permit for -- a. secondary discharge as well as a permit for a primary discharge. The regulations have not been implemented but the information, which is being gathered for the application for modification of secondary treatment requirements, can also be used for the NPDES permit application. In fact, we may have to develop a continuous monitoring program in order to keep the information up to date. 5. RECLAMATION SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING OF AUGUST 10, 1978 Chairman Mahr asked Mr. Evans for his comments on the Reclamation - 2 - JOINT ADVISOR|*IISDMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGOUg 2B, 1978 Subcommittee meeting of August 10, 1978. Mr. Evans stated that a proposal was considered for a pilot pro- ject utilizing worms for the digesting of sludge. The Subcom- mittee decided that we did not have the expertise to provide a scientific evaluation of this proposed project nor did we have the approximate funding of $73,000. Mr. Evans continued that he had written Bert Elkins of the San Diego Region Reclamation Agency but, as yet, has received no answer. Mr. Frandsen stated that Mr. Elkins had retired from the County on August 21, 1978. The other item on the Reclamation Subcommittee agenda was the Leucadia County Water District's proposal to utilize the ocean outfall as a failsafe and also to discharge increased solids from the reactivation of their plant. The Subcommittee agreed to recommend to the JAC the utilization of the ocean outfall as failsafe as long as it was within the ownership rights of an agency to be approved. However, the idea of Encina having additional solids was a con- cept that the Subcommittee felt should be brought back to the JAC and discussed in the context of the Encina facility being developed as a regional solids handling facility rather than just considering one agency at a time. The recommendation of the Subcommittee that the ocean outfall be utilized as a failsafe to the extent of each agency's ownership in the outfall should be considered by the JAC at this time and the solids handling concept later in the meeting. Mr. Schneider said that he felt everybody should be able to use their share of the ocean outfall but it also has to be understood that they have to meet whatever requirements that Encina has for discharging influents into that outfall. Ms. Casler asked if he meant to use it as a failsafe. Mr. Schneider answered to the affirmative. Mr. Skotnicki asked if, when the outfall is used as a failsafe, is there any way of measuring the quantity or how do we know when we're exceeding capacity. Mr. Zapotocky said that the term "failsafe" could mean flows in excess of normal flows for a shock-loading period rather than oh a revolving flow basis. He said that Vista had a proposal to go into a reclamation plant by a developer and he's thinking of on-site use of the water but as a failsafe provision, he wants access to it. He asked if we were talking about continuous flows up to nominal capacity or are we talking about something in excess of nominal ca- pacity? - 3 - JOINT ADVISORY C^IITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUSTUS?, 1978 Mr. Evans said that the peak capacity of the ocean outfall, which we all agreed on in the Seventh Supplement, is 38 MGD peak wet weather flow. Whether this is capacity or not, it is what everybody agreed to and wrote down. Each agency has a specific ownership right of that 38 MGD peak wet weather capacity. All agencies, with the exception of Carlsbad, have pumps which limit their discharge to the plant. Except for the City of Carlsbad, which is in the middle, we probably have a built-in system for determining whether or not an agency is exceeding its peak wet weather flow right. Mr. McKay said that the outfall isn't utilized at the off peak hours. With treated effluent, you could store and you could discharge during off peak hours. There are a lot of ways to work around this peaking problem but it would mean storage, which would be a good way, and it wouldn't be utilizing other agency's capacity. Chairman Mahr said that what Mr. Evans would like to know today is whether the JAC would look with favor on by-passing the treat- ment plant as a failsafe system. Mr. Skotnicki said that, from the standpoint of a superficial look at it, the fact that you own certain capacity in that out- fall and, therefore, you should be able to use it looked to him as something you can't refute. However, nowhere in that Basic Agreement can you find any consideration for that kind of con- nection since that outfall was designed to take care of this plant. He said that, at that point, no one considered a failsafe and this would obviously come up again. His concern was that we did not give this a superficial treatment now in considering it and then, in 5 or 10 years, we build in a set of problems for whoever sits here. Mr. Zapotocky said that there was one thing that was not quite consistent with what Mr. Skotnicki was saying. The upstream reclamation plants are going to preserve capacity in the plant so that plant capacity isn't going to match the pipe capacity presumably. The more of us who go to reclamation upstream, the less treatment that is going to be required here but the flows in the outfall are going to be increased. That's a considera- tion that he felt also had to be made as to how far we can ex- tend the capacity of that pipe beyond the capacity of the plant either through the addition of pumps or whatever. Mr. Carr asked how the outfall figure of 38 MGD was arrived which he thought everyone had agreed on. - 4 - JOINT ADVISOR^%MMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST 23, 1978 Mr. Evans said it was hard to tell exactly what the capacity of an outfall like that is because it's all done on paper. When it was originally designed or when the agreement was written, Brown and Caldwell evidently provided information that said the gravity flow capacity of the ocean outfall was 38 MGD. We know that, by adding pumps to the outfall, the pipe was actually de- signed to withstand the pressure that goes along with forcing up to 60 MGD through the pipe. Mr. Schneider asked if any agency, which had plenty of outfall capacity, would be required to share in the expense of putting in the pumps. Mr. Evans said that it was something that would have to be worked out. If some agencies want more capacity in the ocean outfall and other agencies want to stand fast, then we have the same prob- lem we had in Phase II A. By not asking for additional capacity, an agency's ownership capacity in the outfall is diminished. How this will be treated will be through a series of negotiations. Mr. Kubota made a comment, as one of the people involved in the original Encina system, that if you take a textbook approach you realize that there is a sewerage collection system, a treatment system and a disposal system. If one of the member agencies de- cides that they want to use their rightful share of the disposal system and bypass the treatment system, there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, several years ago, when Burroughs was having problems, one of the proposals was that they build their own in- dustrial waste treatment facility at the plant, run a line along the railroad tracks and dispose of treated industrial waste into the ocean outfall. He felt that we should treat this thing in the light of what our individual needs are so long as out individ- ual enterprises are not jeopardized. Mr. Hanson said that he hoped JAC would give conceptual approval to the use of the outfall. Mr. Evans stated that an agency who wants to use some of its ex- cess capacity in the ocean outfall now is going to have to remem- ber that they might be encroaching into Phase III. Some agencies have a lot of excess capacity in the ocean outfall and would not be encroaching into Phase III. Other agencies, by providing up- stream storage or something and equalizing their flow, might also never exceed it. . __.... Mr. Schneider said that, even though an agency goes into the re- clamation business, they still pay for 0 & M in the plant. He asked Mr. Beckman if this was what was said. - 5 - JOINT ADVISORY CQ&LTTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST 23, 1978 Mr. Beckman said he was making reference to a clause in our Basic Agreement which says something of that general nature that you should share the O & M costs based on your flow even if you were reclaiming. Mr. Zapotocky said there was more to the question than what we were discussing at present. He felt that the focus was the solids handling. Mr. Evans said he had treated the solids handling as another agenda item because the Subcommittee asked that it be discussed in a larger context. Mr. Zapotocky asked if if it wasn't everybody's intent, at the present time, to send the solids down here. Mr. Evans said that he understood that Daon was going to do it upstream. Mr. Zapotocky asked Mr. Hanson if this wasn't his proposal to send untreated solids to Encina. Mr. Hanson replied to the affirmative. Mr. Skotnicki asked Leucadia if they were not going to be dump- ing the sewage during wet weather. Mr. Hanson answered that, initially, they would have the ability to control the amount before it goes through the plant. There- fore, even though there might be a 3 or 4 month extended wet weather period during the year, rather than operate the plant at capacity, we will be putting enough through it to keep it alive biologically. Mr. Schneider asked whether they would be separating the treated effluent from the raw sewage so that the failsafe line would be for treated effluent and not raw sewage. Mr. Hanson answered to the affirmative. Mr. Hanson continued that, once Leucadia had committed itself to the capacity of the plant and the flow was actually being con- tributed, they would have to treat capacity flows at that plant. Also, Leucadia is exploring other uses for the reclaimed water other than the initial use of putting it on the La Costa golf course. •"-'"""" Mr. Beckman stressed Mr. Schneider's point in that the thing we are responsible for, in the final analysis, is what comes out that pipe. If we use it as a failsafe system, we have to have - 6 - JOINT ADVIOSRtf^pMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST-23, 1978 some reliable reporting method as to what agencies are putting into the failsafe system with regard to constituent parts. Ms. Casler asked for a clarification of the physical method of getting out into the ocean. Mr. Evans said that Leucadia is building a new line but they would have to make a new connection to the outfall. They would go to where the plant discharges into the outfall directly in- stead of going through the whole plant. They would not be using the capacity of this plant except for their solids. They would also provide effluent testing the same as San Elijo. In addition to the testing, the quantity would be measured. Chairman Mahr felt there was one advantage to by-passing the plant and that was that, any agency, in order to go into reclamation, is going to have to have a certain amount of holding capacity or they won't be able to control a steady flow to the outfall. This would be an advantage to everybody because they wouldn't neces- sarily be hitting this outfall at the peak flow at Encina which would generate a better use of our outfall. Mr. Schneider said it seems that Carlsbad, Buena and San Marcos ought to get together and have one line going down there. Mr. Zapotocky said it seemed to him that we should encourage rec- lamation and make it as easy to facilitate as we can. If it re- quires a failsafe, then that ought to be encouraged. He said that Vista raised their water rates 30% this last week and, if we're going to keep agriculture in this area, there is no way unless we get into the reclamation business. Mr. Kubota said that if you are a fresh water agency and have concerns of meeting your customer needs, particularly agricul- tural water, you're out looking right now to bringing in sources of reclaimed water. Mr. Schneider made a motion to use the outfall as a failsafe sys- tem with the proper restrictions. Seconded by Mr. Dominguez, the motion unanimously carried. ROUTINE REPORTS 6. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE REPORT Chairman Mahr asked Mr. Evans to comment on the Operations and Maintenance Report. JOINT ADVISORY C<%/£TTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST 23, 1978 Mr. Zapotocky asked about the Manager's meeting with PERS rep- resentatives. Mr. Evans said that the changeover of retirement system would be about 4 months. PERS requires an actuarial study and we have to file a resolution of intention. Technically, the employees would have to vote as to whether they want Social Se- curity, etc. a. Application for Modification Mr. Evans continued with the application for modification. He said that he had spoken with the marine biologist consultant who informed him that the final regulations would be out the first week of September. At this point, we are still preparing the application utilizing some pre- liminary draft regulations. Brown and Caldwell have nearly concluded the physical analysis of our ocean outfall. The marine biologist is completing her work. The clinical samples have been taken and are out for testing. In-house, we are completing the recreational part of our applica- tion and the County is developing the industrial waste monitoring section. b. Digester Cleaning Mr. Evans said the contractor was moving in equipment the week of August 21 and draining of Digester No. 2 will begin on August 28. Fabrication of the mixing system is nearly complete and will be inspected this afternoon. The blowers should be received within the next 2 weeks. Piping and electrical materials have been ordered. By the next JAC meeting, everything should be pretty well completed. c. Phase III Design The Design Review Committee has been very active with Brown and Caldwell and preliminary decisions have been made. Brown and Caldwell is starting to let sub-contracts now for the geotechnical work, the surveying and the architectural work. We are starting to receive requests to approve sub-contracts which, for the most part, will be minority firms as required by Federal regulations. We anticipate that the design review will be complete by early October. Then we will be into the^design phase, which is scheduled to last approximately one year. This puts construction approximately a year and a half away. d. Bird Centrifuge Mr. Skotnicki asked if the Bird centrifuge was back in operation. Mr. Waters said that our centrifuge should be back in service within two weeks. Mr. Evans said that we have had a leaner centrifuge for the past two weeks and we are supposed to have another leaner centrifuge coming in as part of our testing program. e. Normality of Digester No. 1 Mr. Evans explained to Mr. Skot- nicki that the measuring stick for an operating digester is the - 8 - JOINT ADVISOR^<1)MMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST 23, 1978 relationship between two chemical tests; a test for alkalinity and a test for volatile acids. Hopefully, when we start feeding Digester No. 1 everything, because No. 2 will be down for clean- ing and installation of the mixing system, we'll start off with Digester No. 1 in good shape. Mr. Skotnicki asked if there was any investigation on the caustic soda which Mr. Carr had suggested might be a possible cause of our digester troubles. Mr. Evans said that it had been investi- gated and we found that we couldn't identify any users who were using that type of cleaning compound to any great extent. Caustic soda is so reactive that, almost immediately upon entering the sewer, it would change into something else and would be impossible for us to identify. Mr. Schneider said it looked as though Burroughs is giving us a lot of trash waste material. Mr. Evans agreed and said that they have not been able to get their own treatment system into operation. Mr. Frandsen said that Burroughs was trying to put in their zero discharge into operation and, because of that, they have upset their own system. The County will be sending a letter to Carlsbad because he felt that there was no reason, with proper planning, that Burroughs couldn't prevent this sort of thing from happening. Mr. Beckman said that there was a 24 hour sampler on the line at Burroughs. Mr. Beckman was asked what measures were available to the City to make Burroughs comply with the City's request. Mr. Beckman said they were working with them on two fronts; the first front is to make sure that they comply with discharge standards and secondly, to reduce water use. Mr. Hanson asked Mr. Murk if the problems, which we are experi- encing with the digesters, could be attributable to problems at Burroughs. Mr. Murk answered to the affirmative adding that the miniature digesters were operating with no stress whatever dur- ing the last 60 days. f. Septage Haulers Mr. Zapotocky noted that the haulers were dumping less. Mr. Evans said that the haulers found it cheaper to dump at the two locations free of charge than to dump at Encina. He said that, at the present time before a hauler can dump, a sam- ple has to be drawn which is a deterent to dumping. 7. SULFIDE CONDITION REPORT Mr. Evans said that this was the usual type of report for this time of the year and there were no major problems of any sort. - 9 - JOINT ADVISORY C^JITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST?3, 1978 8. EXPENDITURE REPORT .Mr. Evans said that this report was the final report from the County for the operation of the plant during the past fiscal year and all of which was within budget. He continued that the flows were shown on the second page of the Expenditure Report and overall flows seem to be up about 17% over the year. Mr. Evans said that we have been testing the meter. This month, Ron and his operators are draining each of the sedimentation tanks and doing routine maintenance. So far this month, we have tested the flows twice. Everytime we fill a sedimentation tank, we test the flows. This morning at 5 A.M., the flows were tested and were about 39,000 gallons/minute and the meter tested 8.7% low. On August 16, the flows were about 10,800 gallons/minute and the meter tested 5.3% low. A factor of 7% is being used. He felt confident that the meter was plus or minus 2% so whatever is wrong with the flows, he didn't believe it was the propeller meter. ACTION 9. LIABILITY Mr. Evans said that, in the Basic Agreement, the question of Liability was not really addressed and Roy Gann proposed a Li- ability clause in the Draft Agreement for Reorganization. Sev- eral agencies have indicated that they would feel more comfortable if such a Supplement would be adopted. Mr. McKay moved that counsel be authorized to prepare an Eighth Supplement to the Basic Agreement to apportion liability among the six agencies according to ownership. Seconded by Mr. Schneider, the motion unanimously carried. 10. INDUSTRIAL WASTE STUDY PLAN Mr. Evans said the Industrial Waste Study Plan has to be sub- mitted to the Regional Board by the end of August. He has spent some time with the County Industrial Waste Section and, with their advice and assistance, worked out eight tasks which he feels are reasonable. The RWQCB staff also agrees that this is a reasonable study plan. Mr. Evans said he had contacted each agency by letter describing the work involved in tasks 1, 2 and 3 and, essentially, he asked ~ 10 T* JOINT ADVISOR]f"V>MMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGOTf 2^3, 1978 each agency to perform Task 1. Task 1 is going to mean a different level of effort for the dif- ferent agencies. He asked that the agencies, who needed help, either contact Jack Thomas or himself immediately. This information is required by October 15 and Jack Thomas and Bob Maynard agreed that with the information from Task 1, they could perform the other tasks by our deadline of December 15. Mr. Evans explained that a Class II discharger was someone dis- charging something into the sewer which was industrial waste; i.e., a Class II discharger would not necessarilly be a gas sta- tion that just pumps gas. However, a gas station that pumped gas and had a garage which performed repairs, change oil, etc. would be a Class II discharger because it has a potential of discharging things that could reach our sewer and would be un- desireable. What we're looking for in Task 1 is an inventory of these Class II users. Jack Thomas will evaluate that inventory and do the inspections as necessary. Hopefully, each of our agencies have a pretty good idea of their problem areas. Mr. Hanson moved approval of the Industrial Waste Study Plan. Seconded by Mr. Skotnicki, the motion unanimously carried. Mr. Dominguez said that, it seemed to him, there should be a Task 9 which would include a schedule of sanctions, notices, fines or whatever to put some teeth into what we're going to do. Mr. Evans said that at least five of our six agencies have indus- trial waste ordinances which call for punitive action for vio- lating discharge regulations. In fact, if each of our agencies were enforcing the ordinances the way they were written, he felt sure that we wouldn't be having any problems. Mr. Dominguez said that perhaps the ordinances weren't working or were being under-utilized. Perhaps, as a Task 9 plan, we ought to review the ordinances as they stand right now. They probably are sufficient but the utilization should be reviewed. Mr. McKay suggested that there was noting in the Draft Plan which compelled the agencies to perform. Mr. Evans suggested the best thing to do would be to turn over enforcement to the County. Mr. McKay asked if there have been any problems where an agency has failed to back Jack Thomas. Mr. Evans answered that Burroughs has been in violation many times and is in violation right now. - 11 - JOINT ADVISORY Cq^CTTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST^??, 1978 Carlsbad is working with Burroughs but, if Jack Thomas were the enforcing officer and had the authority, he felt that Bur- roughs would be shut down. Mr. McKay said that he though what Mr. Dominguez was suggesting then was that perhaps, when a violation of this type occurs, it would be to the benefit of the member agencies of Encina to find out from the agency in which the violation occurs what they're doing about it. He didn't think it was fair that the other agencies be subject to a cease and desist because of one violator within a particular agency's area. Mr. Skotnicki asked if Burroughs was in violation of the City's ordinance, what does the ordinance require the City of Carlsbad to do or what does it allow the City of Carlsbad to do. Also, has the City of Carlsbad done what their own code says. He is going to look into it. Mr. Kubota said that he agreed that a Task 9 should be implemented to evaluate the administrative arrangement, and the ordinances and the interpretation of them and then.commence to say in a positive way "from now on, we're going to do it a little bit differently". He felt that we had to respond with some courage and some dignity and in a forthright manner. Mr. Evans said "it's questionable whether the ordinances have been enforced uniformly. It would be more desireable for the six agen- cies to have a single enforcement agency." Mr. McKay referred to the single enforcement officer and felt re- luctant to have such an outsider come up basically uninvited. He felt that the City of Carlsbad has to make a decision that they can only dump so much in heavy metals and if they want to allocate that total batch dump to one organization, then that's Carlsbad's prerogative. In San Marcos, we limit to our limit down here. We're only allowed to dump two ppm total heavy metals to this plant. We only let a single discharger dump two ppm into our system so that we can reserve capacity for other heavy metal dumpers. If we want to take the total volume of heavy metals and give it to one industry, I think that's our prerogative. Mr. Dominguez said he felt that Jack Thomas should attend one of the JAC meetings and tell us what he feels the problems are because that's his field of expertise. Mr. Evans said that he had spoken to Jack Thomas who felt he couldn't speak to the whole system. He could speak to Buena, Vista and Carlsbad because he is actually involved in their process but as for Leucadia, Encinitas and San Marcos, he is not involved. He's not sure of what is happening there. - 12 - JOINT ADVISOR'j^pMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGCTBT 23, 1978 Mr. Carr asked if, after this Industrial Waste Study Plan is put together and these different tasks are performed by the agencies, would Jack Thomas be in a better position to speak to the total problem. Mr. Evans answered to the affirmative. Mr. Schneider asked if we ran a sample of the heavy metals. Mr. Evans asked Mr. Waters to set up the sampler at the in- fluent and get Keith Boger to do the heavy metals series on it. Mr. Schneider felt that we should have a series of tests so that we could show the RWQCB the effluent we're getting into the plant. If we have a record of what has been coming into the plant over a period of time, then we're not going to have such a big hassle over these industrial waste problems. Mr. Hanson moved that we add a Task 9 to the Plan. The Task would be "review existing ordinances, resolutions and policies of each member agency, which establishes Industrial Waste Pol- icy, to determine if they are adequate and update as necessary". Motion seconded by Mr. Skotnicki and passed unanimously. Mr. Dominguez began a discussion of operator staff. He said the time frame in which we are getting replacements, we're losing personnel constantly out of the plant, the replacement through the County personnel system is slow and there are sev- eral things that are impeding that replacement schedule. He made a suggestion to the JAC that the Manager write a letter to the Board of Supervisors asking that certain personnel changes be made as it relates to providing personnel for the plant. We're asking the plant operator to complete more and more tasks and he is doing it with fewer personnel with the replacement schedule the way it is. He felt that we could work out some kind of waiver if we could spell out the critical need that we have for replacement personnel at this plant. Mr. Zapotocky asked why the freeze should affect this plant be- cause the member agencies are paying the bill and not the County. Mr. Dominguez agreed but it was an administrative policy. Mr. Zapotocky said it was all the more reason to go independent. Mr. Zapotocky said the County wouldn't affect a freeze on them for law enforcement as a contract City so why should the County freeze hiring on the Encina contract considering we're picking up the total costs including all the overhead and administrative costs. Mr. Dominguez pointed out that Proposition 13 excluded safety - 13 - JOINT ADVISORY CO^JTTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST 2?, 1978 personnel hiring so there isn't that kind of problem that we have in safety service people. He thought that the Board would comply if we requested that they provide us with some waivers for expedient personnel replacement. Mr. Frandsen said that there wasn't an actual freeze but agreed with Mr. Dominguez that a letter from this agency would provide us with employees in short order. Mr. Dominguez moved that a letter be written to the Board of Supervisors by the Manger. Seconded by Mr. Hanson, the motion passed. 11. REGIONAL SOLIDS HANDLING FACILITIES Mr. Evans said that the Reclamation Subcommittee began to dis- cuss solids handling and felt that it was a policy matter that should be discussed at the JAC level and asked him to put it on the Agenda with advantages and disadvantages. Mr. Zapotocky felt that, if it was going to be a policy decision, we should be allowed to get imput from the respective boards be- fore we get into this discussion. Mr. Schneider said that his Board had discussed this last week and they felt that we need to know what agencies are going to be sending solids down to the plant. Also, what about the RWQCB? Are they in favor of having this system here on the coast? His Board felt that no decision should be made without a study on how it will affect the plant and the various agencies that reg- ulate us. Mr. Hanson said that information gathering process would have to be done before each individual agency or council can make a de- cision as to the concept of using this plant as a regional solids handling facility. Maybe the Subcommittee or another Committee could be asked to put together that information which would tell us what facilities might be required and the cost of those facil- ities. Also the RWQCB reaction to it, etc. It could be done by a Committee which should be heavily loaded with engineering type people. Mr. Schneider said that his Board indicated that sludge is the problem we're having right now causing our cease and desist. Mr. Zapotocky agreed with Mr. Hanson that a lot more study must be done. Mr. Evans said that, before any Committee can decide anything on what a facility is going to cost or approach the Regional Board, - 14 - JOINT ADVISOR^"*»pMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGuW 23, 1978 they must know if there is a demand for it. We know only that Leucadia would like to discharge 770 Ibs./day. Mr. McKay said he had no numbers to state but he felt that they would be desireous of that opportunity to discharge solids. Mr. Beckman said that now the options are still open but there were some considerations that would have to be made. If you're looking to encourage reclamation, he felt the way to do it was with satellite plant but satellite plants create their own prob- lems. People are concerned about the odors and the odors are almost always related to the solids handling. So, if we want to have solids handling systems at the satellite plants, we will have some degree of opposition. It's a decision that each agency will have to make for itself. Mr. Hanson addressed Mr. Murk. He asked if there were any in- herent problems, which can't be overcome, with having upstream satellite plants and shipping solids downstream. Mr. Murk said that the most significant problem is that we trans- port the solids through the sewers and that tends to grind them up and we get finer solids at the regional facility.' The real problem comes in with what difference does it really make in terms of how much more it costs to treat a unit of solids here after it's been chopped up rolling around in sewers for X number of hours. Mr. Schneider asked about the odors of the sludge handling plants and the location. Mr. Murk said that the problems are of an industrial nature be- cause they have all the refineries there primarily and, secondarily, because the community moved in on the plant. Chairman Mahr suggested that the Engineering Committee work with Mr. Evans and see what they come up with. Mr. Zapotocky moved that this be referred to the Engineering Com- mittee and that they meet as quickly as they can. Seconded by Mr. McKay, the motion carried. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Evans said that he had received a call from Don Brown of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce and he had made arrangements with Paul DeFalco, Region 9 EPA, to have Alan Abrams, Chief of Divi- sion of Water Quality, speak for the Chamber luncheon on•Septem- ber 27. Each of the JAC members will be receiving invitations - 15 - JOINT ADVISORY CQ^UTTEE MEETING MINUTES - AUGUST S», 1978 to that luncheon. Mr. Abrams would prefer questions in advance in writing. If any of the JAC have questions, please contact Mr. Evans or Mr. Brown. Interest Rate on VSD Fund The fund is invested with the County portfolio and the interest rate varies between 6-7%. The Auditor Controller's office didn't know exactly what the rate was last year but thought it was about 63s%. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:25 A.M. Respectfully submitted, Taylor - 16 -