SULTAN’S REMAINING SEWER CAPACITY

Explanation Page for April 22, 2005 John Wilson (B&H) Memo

 

 

DEFINITIONS

 

Mr. Wilson uses several terms in this letter unfamiliar to both ordinary citizens and to council members, so we thought definitions might help:

 

BOD = Biochemical Oxygen Demand

 

TSS = Total Suspended Solids

 

DMR = Discharge Monitoring Report (the monthly report the city is required to send to the Department of Ecology to advise them of the plant’s quality and flow capacity status)

 

ERU = Equivalent Residential Units (approx. one connection per [S. F.] Single Family dwelling unit)

 

GPD = Gallons Per Day

 

 

CURRENT SEWER PLANT CAPACITY STATUS

(without any capital facility improvements to solids reduction)

 

City Administrator/City Planner Rick Cisar offered a presentation to both to Sultan’s council (during their 4/30/05 council retreat) and to Sultan’s Planning Commission (5/3/05 PC mtg.), a transcription of which is on our website.  Mr. Cisar’s verbal assessment of connections already promised agrees with one we received from Public Works Director Connie Dunn via email (see below allocation), which indicates there are approximately 500 additional sewer connections remaining, assuming the plant’s capacity remains the same.  When capacity reaches 85% (or 1,511 units; it is currently at 1,094 but with the 229 added below, will creep up to 1,323 connections, or 85% of capacity), the DOE will enforce a mandatory moratorium on new connections.

 

Total estimated connections remaining:                                  700

 

LESS:  Planned “Pipeline” Connections already allocated to development:

 

Timber Ridge, Sultan Basin Road                                 85

(Note: Reduced from 87, as of 5/15/05)

Denali Ridge, Sultan Basin Road                                 17

Sky Harbor, Sultan Basin Road                                   62

Jeff White                                                                    3

Housing Hope, 4th Street                                            11

AME Properties                                                           8

Ramirez                                                                     20

Stratford Place, Fir St.                                                20

Broughton Manor, 4th Street                                         2

Sportsman’s Club                                                         1

TOTAL:                                                                    229

 

TOTAL REMAINING CONNECTIONS AVAILABLE:                471

 

(Note:  Not included in the above list are the remaining 6 connections for Broughton’s 4th Street subdivision

 

NEW ESTIMATED CAPACITY

 

The below figures are based on Mr. Cisar’s two presentations, in which he stated a total of 1,200 new connections would be needed (or 500 connections in excess of the current 700 remaining connections of  plant capacity.  What he failed to clarify, however, was the 229 already-promised connections shown above.

 

Given Mr. Cisar’s ballpark estimated build-out (total # of residential acres remaining x 4 dwelling units, or D.U.’s, per acre), the list below indicates a substantive shortfall in sewer plant capacity:

 

·         Properties north of 124th located near Sultan’s Water Treatment plant:        60 acres

·         Acreage east of Sultan Basin Road north of 132nd (Arndt, Tortorice properties)         80 acres

·         Van Wyngarden annexation (Barclays North)                    60 ac

·         Properties at intersection of Sultan Basin Road & Bryant/135th Street (formerly known as “Anderson Farms”) 15 ac estimated

·         Tom Green’s and Margaret Skogland’s properties south of 132nd     40 ac

·         Property from Hammer’s bankruptcy (purchased by Sky Harbor)   

·         Ramirez (not sewered)                    20 ac

 

            TOTAL: 305 acres x 4 DU/ac = 1,220  D.U./connections  (3,294 addl.  people)

 

PLUS:

 

·         Unknown residential property(ies) on  western border of Bethany Terrace    Several large parcels (for estimation purposes, based on assumed acreage, we are conservatively estimating 20 acres, or 80 connections).

·         232 acres east of Rice Road designated Economic Development; sewer connections and capacity depends upon type of business; i.e., hotels, schools, grocery stores, gas stations, etc., use substantial capacity.

 

SUMMARY:

 

Sewer connections remaining:                                               700

LESS: Already-planned-for connections:                               - 229

 

Remaining connections “available”                                          471

 

PLUS:

 

Estimated new connections:                                               1,220

 

Estimated connections for

Property(ies) located near Bethany                                          80

 

            Sub-total new connections Reqd..:                          1,300

 

 

ESTIMATED KNOWN NEW CONNECTIONS REQUIRED:

 

Current, known estimate of need:                                        1,300

 

LESS Current available connections:                                   - 471

 

CONNECTION SHORTFALL:                                         829 connections