Arkansas - Las Animas Sanitary Sewer System Improvements_Application

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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Fonn Revised May 2007 As previously stated, should the requested amount of $200,000 not be approved for the City of Las Animas' wastewater collection system project, a sizeable portion of the collection system replacement will not be undertaken. This will result in additional operation and maintenance cost for the city in the years to come and will continue to consume water through its evaporation within the WWTP and subsequent surface flow. Furthermore, the city will also have to pump and treat additional water as a result of the increase in ground water infiltration as the system continues to deteriorate with time. This is an ineffective way to operate a collection system and will increase the gap within the Arkansas Basin over time. Therefore, the city is aggressively trying to be proactive in addressing the problems prior to the problems becoming a crisis. The proposed project is focused on existing facilities. All proposed replacements, improvements and modifications are to be located within existing rights-of-way, easements and other various city owned facilities. The improvements will therefore effectively replace old deteriorating facilities, thereby reducing overall costs. Water Activitv Addresses Issues of Statewide Value As previously noted, the project will lessen the negative impact of the sanitary sewer collection system on the underlying ground water resources. This will be realized by eliminating infiltration within the newly replaced collection system segments and eliminating raw sewage leakage from the replaced collection system components. Overall, this presents a reduction within the water gap in the Arkansas Basin. Furthermore, this will result in enhanced ground water quality and reduce the amount of hydraulic loading on the WWTP. With a reduction in the degradation of water quality, a greater amount of usable water supply for both consumptive and non-consumptive uses will be generated within the Arkansas Basin. The project needs to be also viewed as sustaining the agriculture industry. Should the city fail to be proactive and let its infrastructure deteriorate to the point where the entire system requires replacement, the capital cost to replace the system will create user charge fees that the community cannot afford. This will drive people out of the city. The community is a necessity for the agricultural industry to sustain its current practices. Should retail, banking services, groceries, insurance services, etc. leave the community, this will directly impact the agricultural industry. By promoting Las Animas, the Roundtable is promoting the agricultural industry. 4. Please provide an overview of the water project or activity to be funded including - type of activity, statement of what the activity is intended to accomplish, the need for the activity, the problems and opportunities to be addressed, expectations of the participants, why the activity is important, the service area or geographic location, and any relevant issues etc. Please include any relevant TABOR issues that may affect the Contracting Entity. Please refer to Part 2 of Criteria and Guidance document for additional detail on information to include. The City of Las Animas has undertaken a comprehensive Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) evaluating its wastewater system, specifically focusing on the collection system and the associated lift stations and force mains servicing the city. The study was expanded to cover the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as a result of the local correctional facility's proposed expansion that will more than double its capacity. When the correctional facility reaches its inmate expansion capacity, the added wastewater loadings on the WWTP will not be detrimental as a result of the facility's available capacity. However, the study did reveal critical needs throughout the collection system and lift stations. The city's main lift station was determined to be in need of replacement due to deteriorating conditions of the wet well, the influent and effluent piping extending underneath the adjacent railroad property and tracks, and the need to move the lift station to the north side of the railroad right-of-way. In addition to the city's main lift station, the city's north lift station is also in need of repair. Repairs include lining the concrete wetwell, installing controls and alarms, a new auto-dialer, chart recorder and a new magnetic meter. The lift station improvements in addition to the installation of a refrigerated composite sampler at the wastewater treatment plant comprise Priority No. 1 's improvements. The review also defined the F:\WPDATA\Las Animas\Wastwater\06 SSCoI\Financial\Roundtable\06-07 Application (may 07).doc 8