Amador County – The Jackson City Council recently OK’d more spending for repair of the filter system of the city wastewater treatment plant, which would put another $44,000 into the project, but still keep it under its expected cost.
City Manager Mike Daly said the council approved a contract for the filter improvement project in August, and the contractor has been tearing into the filters and found problems.
City Wastewater Plant Chief Operator Eric Neuschmid said the filter improvement project has been digging into an aluminum frame that houses all four sand filter cells at the plant, and the aluminum frame was found to have extensive deterioration. He said it was installed in 1985, and by replacing it, the city will have new filters.
Daly said another $44,000 for filter work would bring the total project cost to $112,000, which still “is within our budget.”
The council approved the increase to the contract with a 4-0 vote, at their early October meeting, during which they also discussed the city wastewater treatment plant’s tentative Time Schedule Order, which the city received Sept. 29 from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The council discussed the order, which is part of the licensing process, and will help stop the city from accruing Mandatory Minimum Penalties for discharge violations at the plant, of which they get 5-10 per month.
Councilman Wayne Garibaldi asked about the validity of a “beneficial use attainment study” the city had previously done.
Daly said that study was done to satisfy California Fish & Game, which wanted to look at the effects of removing the flow of treated effluent that it now discharges into the creek. He said some of the data may need updating, but the first indication is that Fish & Game would not object to the city removing its effluent flow.
A comment period for the city wastewater plant’s tentative Time Schedule Order ends Monday (Oct. 31).
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
