|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Redwood City is moving forward with a multi-year plan to update an estimated seven miles of sewer lines around the city, a capital improvement project that could cost the city around $42 million.
The sewer lines need to be updated in many areas, most notably in the downtown. The City Council unanimously approved a master plan to upgrade around seven miles of sewer line in 27 identified locations in the city to a larger diameter pipe during its Monday, Nov. 27 meeting.
The city must recover costs by raising the sewer rates, which the City Council will further discuss next month. Vice Mayor Lissette Espinosa-Garnica said it's a challenging position to approve a project, knowing rates will go up for residents. Still, they said it's maintenance work the city must complete.
"There is no other option unless you want to live with inches of sewer at your ankles," Espinosa-Garnica said.
This plan is set to unfold over a period of five to ten years. With multiple locations that are in short proximity of each other, the city plans to split those projects up over time so that they don't impact the environment, residents, and traffic, according to the staff report.
The city and consultants, Woodard & Curran, conducted studies to find weaknesses in the sewer system that would become compromised during a 10-year, 24-hour storm, similar to the rain that occurred last January. The findings revealed that in five critical locations across the city, the existing sewer pipes would be operating at total capacity under such conditions. Woodard & Curran then calculated the size needed to upgrade the pipes to not exceed 75% capacity during a 10-year, 24-hour storm.
Ahmad Haya, Redwood City's senior civil engineer, said it's important to note that the stormwater drainage system is separate from the sewer system.
"The sanitary sewer lines are deeper and have more indirect impact from storm events; they are more dependent on soil conditions, pipe conditions, and other factors," Haya said.
Gisa Ju, Woodard & Curran's senior technical practice leader, echoed Haya's comments and added that during the study, the consultants assumed the soil surrounding the pipes was very saturated, allowing water to infiltrate the sewer lines.
City Attorney Veronica Ramirez clarified that sewer and water ratepayers are to pay for the maintenance and infrastructure those residents use, which is part of the state's Proposition 218. It's the same reason the city can't get developers to pay the cost of capital improvement projects.
"Everyone basically has to pay their fair share, and nobody else can subsidize another," said Mayor Jeff Gee.
Gee said he wants to ensure the city can minimize financing because the ratepayers must pay for the interest.
"I want to make sure when we look at this in December that we are very balanced on that and not kick the can down the road to future ratepayers who will pay more for it," Gee said.
