Okaloosa County BOCC — September 16, 2014 — Action Item Printout — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: September 16, 2014 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Jeff Littrell SUBJECT: Supplemental Reclaimed Water to Niceville & Eglin - NWFWMD Grant Application & Memo of Agreement DEPARTMENT: Water and Sewer BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: OCWS staff requests Board of County Commissioners (BCC) authorization to submit a Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) grant application for the design of a supplemental reclaimed water project that would transmit reclaimed water from the Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility (APWRF) to the City of Niceville service area and potentially, portions of Eglin AFB. This grant program is part of NWFWMD's Water Supply Development Initiative, and the grant application is submitted online without signatures. Staff also requests that the BCC authorize the Chairman to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the City of Niceville and Eglin AFB related to the same project. BACKGROUND: Okaloosa County Water & Sewer (OCWS) is in the process of expanding the APWRF - see attached Agenda Request for background on that project. For long-term strategic planning, staff is seeking reclaimed water opportunities in order to increase effluent disposal capacity. Although the current Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBs) are functioning fine within permit, we have a limited capacity of 10 million gallons per day (MGD) and the groundwater table has risen drastically over the past year because of the tremendous amount of rainfall. By transmitting reclaimed water to areas off-site, the opportunity exists to increase effluent disposal capacity. Effluent could be treated to a higher standard by adding secondary treatment to produce public-access reclaimed water, suitable for irrigation. The APWRF already has 2 MGD of reclaimed water capability, with a 1.55 MGD commitment to the City of Ft. Walton Beach via the 2009 Interlocal Agreement. The reclaimed water system, which primarily consists of a disc filter and chlorine disinfection, could be expanded with another 4 MGD of capacity if we can find the customers that need the reclaimed water. Eglin AFB, the County, the City of Niceville, and many other entities have been working together since April 2014 on the Eglin AFB Community Partnership Initiative (CPI). This is a Department of Defense initiative aimed at bringing Air Force and community leadership together to develop, prioritize, and implement community partnership ideas, such as sharing of resources and innovative projects that are a win-win-win for the Air Force, local government, and the community. This has been a 7-step process of identifying and prioritizing partnerships and project ideas. Over 100 project ideas were submitted at the first step of this process. One of those ideas that has made it the top six is transmitting supplemental reclaimed water from OCWS' APWRF to the City of Niceville service area and potentially areas of Eglin AFB. The CPI leadership teams consists of Chairman Windes, Brig. General David Harris, EDC Director Nathan Sparks, and other community leaders. The proposed project is conceptually depicted on the attached map and can generally be described as the following (all sizes and distances are approximate and subject to change, pending design): - ~10.1 miles of 20” reclaim water main from OCWS’ APWRF to the City of Niceville reclaim water service area - ~1.1 miles of 12” reclaim water main from the above mentioned pipeline to the general vicinity of the Northwest Gate of Eglin AFB - New facilities at the APWRF to produce public-access reclaim water, such as filtration, disinfection, a pumping station, and other needed equipment - With the above-mentioned infrastructure, OCWS would be able to transmit reclaimed water to Eglin and/or the City for use as an irrigation source. - Said proposed infrastructure would be designed, permitted, constructed, owned, maintained, and operated by OCWS in an Eglin AFB Utilities Easement or public rights- of-way. However, the project is currently unfunded. Total rough-order-of-magnitude cost is estimated at $8,000,000. The project provides the following benefits: - Effluent disposal for OCWS’ APWRF, which may offset the need for effluent disposal expansion in the future and mitigate the severity of future water & sewer rate increases, of which Eglin AFB is a major customer. - Supplemental reclaimed water for the City of Niceville, an existing reclaimed water utility, who has a need for additional reclaimed water for current and future customers, recreational areas, and common areas. - Supplemental reclaimed water as irrigation on Eglin AFB’s “Eagle” and “Falcon” golf courses. - Future reclaimed water for Eglin Main Base, such as the Northwest Gate and Nomad Way, for long-term strategic planning and posturing. - Sustainable solution for the community in terms of the environment and water supply by reusing and sharing available resources in southern Okaloosa County, which has been deemed a Water Use Caution Area by NWFWMD. The above-mentioned project is currently completely unfunded and not listed in OCWS 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). However, with the medium and long-term need present and with momentum towards partnership opportunities, OCWS staff is considering applying towards various grants and outside funding sources (such as legislative appropriations and/or RESTORE Act) to fund the project over the next few years. If complete funding could be obtained, a minimal per thousand gallon monthly usage rate could be charged to the City of Niceville and Eglin AFB to recoup operations and maintenance costs of the reclaimed water system. If outside funding is not obtained, the County could potentially finance the project and include the debt service in the monthly usage rate; however, this methodology would drastically increase the per thousand gallons rates to rates that are not feasible, such as over $2.00 per thousand gallons. Rates in that ballpark are way above the market rate for reclaimed water, and users would most certainly go elsewhere. Therefore, obtaining outside funding/grants is very important to this project's success - and the APWRF's effluent disposal capacity. One such grant opportunity has become available through NWFWMD's Water Supply Development Initiative. This grant is typically aimed at small, rural utilities who are financially strained; however, the grant also funds portions of large projects that have a regional impact. At the end of FY2013, we applied and received a $1.25M grant through the same program to construct an elevated tank that would benefit the Bob Sikes Industrial Park and our Mid-County Water System. This year, we would like to apply for a grant to cover all the "soft costs" of this reclaimed water project, such as engineering design and the necessary environmental studies. The grant application would be requesting $215,000 of NWFWMD funding to be matched with $85,000 to $107,500 from OCWS and the difference from the City of Niceville depending on how the City Council votes on Tuesday evening, September 16, 2014. OCWS would provide surveying, easement preparation, and grant management with in-house staff. The above- mentioned $85,000-$107,500 is not currently listed in the OCWS 5-year CIP. Because the CIP is not 100% executed each year, if the grant is awarded, OCWS would bring to the BCC a budget transfer to cover this cost. The grant application is due to NWFWMD by electronic submission (no signature required) by October 1. Staff and consultants are hard at work on the application package, and staff would like to obtain the BCC's authorization to submit the application via the Clerk's Contracts & Grants office. If awarded, staff would bring back to the BCC a grant agreement for approval and execution by the Chairman. With regards to the CPI, Eglin staff recently requested that the County draft a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to be executed by General Harris, the County, and the City of Niceville at the final leadership meeting, scheduled for October 1. Be executing an MOA, it memorializes the work over the past several months and shows that we (Eglin, County, and City) are "all in" for this reclaimed water project idea. The primary concept of the MOA is that we agree to work together in a spirit of cooperation to seek to obtain funding for and execute the project. Our hope is that such an MOA can provide a foundation for the project which we can build on; the MOA can be placed in grant application packages to increase the chances of obtaining funding. The MOA also provides financial commitments from the County and the City of Niceville for the cost share on the NWFWMD grant, if awarded. Because of timing, at the time of writing this agenda request, the MOA is not fully written, negotiated, and language finalized; however, we do not want this opportunity to pass by, and staff feels it is important to obtain signatures from the CPI leadership team. Therefore, staff is recommending that the BCC authorize the Chairman to execute the MOA at the October 1 leadership meeting, or soon thereafter, pending legal review. The County Attorney will provide review and approval prior to the Chairman executing the MOA. Because this MOA will most likely be executed at a public venue, staff will coordinate with the Chairman and the BCC's Clerk, in order to ensure integrity of the documents. OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the BCC authorize staff to submit a NWFWMD grant application for the design of a supplemental reclaimed water project that would transmit reclaim water from the APWRF to the City of Niceville service area and potentially portions of Eglin AFB. Staff also requests that the BCC authorize the Chairman to execute a MOA (pending legal review and approval by the County Attorney) with the City of Niceville and Eglin AFB related to the same project. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: Ernie Padgett, County Administrator