SIDNEY — Sidney’s wastewater treatment, water treatment and stormwater management operations are in good shape and are capable of handling industrial growth, City Council was told Monday night.
Personnel from the three operations presented annual reports at council’s workshop meeting.
Barry Zerkle, wastewater treatment plant superintendent said the plant is capable of handling the flow of several additional industrial facilities. Based upon 2016 data, Sidney’s large industrial base indicates the plant handles wastewater flows equal to that of a larger population than Sidney currently has.
When asked when Phase II of improvements to the wastewater treatment plant is expected, Gary Clough, assistant city manager/public works director, said they are in the design phase still. Clough said construction will not begin until next year, but expects the improvements to take less than a year to complete.
In summary, Zerkle said the plant is operating efficiently, with removal of pollutants above the rate required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
In stormwater management, Brent Bruggeman, stormwater management operator, said the city is required to conduct six minimum control measures to receive a five-year National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit: public education/outreach; public involvement/participation; illicit discharge detection/elimination; construction site stormwater runoff control; post-construction stormwater management; and pollution prevention/good housekeeping.
The public education effort included a billboard that reminded viewers that “storm drains are not garbage cans” and by distributing information to the public. He said they work to educate first time offenders who discharge illicit materials. It is usually sufficient.
Summarizing the city’s stormwater monitoring program, Bruggeman said the city is meeting all Ohio EPA requirements; enforcement has been accomplished through education rather than penalties; storm sewer mapping needs to be completed; future removal of clean water (inflow and infiltration) from sanitary sewers may place additional demands on storm sewer system; and the stormwater management plan is to be updated.
Some discussion ensued about stormwater fees being much lower for Sidney residents than surrounding communities’ fees. Mayor Mike Barhorst and City Manager Mark Cundiff pointed out that although Sidney’s fees are lower, necessary stormwater improvement projects are not being paid for from the stormwater fund.
Cundiff said the city’s general fund currently pays for stormwater capital improvements, whereas other communities pay for those projects with stormwater fees. He said a recommendation will likely come to council in the future to increase stormwater fees to pay for improvement projects from the appropriate source.
Utilities Director Larry Broughton said the water treatment plant pumps an average of 2.9 million gallons per day (MGD) of finished water. The plant has a design capacity of 7 MGD. It has a 10-MGD maximum tank structure presently, but to reach the 10 MGD level, additional mixers are required.
The amount of water the plant has needed to produce decreased from 3.28 MGD in 2012 to 2.93 MGD in 2014. Year-to-date, the average is 3.04 MGD. Broughton said the reason for the decrease is the city’s leak-detection program.
In summary, Broughtons said Sidney is in very good shape for producing water for many years to come. He said joining the city’s new water source with its present source will allow for future growth of industrial plants, as needed.
