2014/08/06 Council Agenda Packet

I ORDINANCE NO. An Ordinance Concerning Sewage and Storm System Surcharge,Backup Prevention and Claims,Amending Ordinance No. 1506-88 (Chapter 14.08 Everett Municipal Code) WHEREAS, A. The City operates a sewer system to convey, treat, and discharge sanitary sewage and stormwater from properties throughout the City. B. The City owned and operated its sewer and stormwater system since 1897. The City provides this basic governmental service pursuant to Chapter 35.92 RCW and other law. The City's system, not unlike over 700 other communities in the United States, includes a combined sewer system in the north end of the City, which serves about 6,500 acres and which was constructed between 1897 and 1963. The combined system conveys both sewage and stormwater together for treatment at the City's Wastewater Pollution Control Facility. This combined system is in contrast to the City's more recently built separated system, which serves the south 11,500 acres of the City and in which sanitary sewage is conveyed separately from stormwater. C. The combined system contains about 2,785 manholes and 145 miles of 2 to 84 inch diameter pipelines. The size and,grade of the pipes and other infrastructure in the combined system, among other things, determine its capacity for handling water. Events of heavy and intense rain can exceed the capacity of the combined system. Not unlike in other cities with combined systems,this means that excess water from various sources can back-up or otherwise make its way onto private property, causing property damage. D. The-City inspects and maintains its sewers on a schedule intended to'keep the system functioning properly, but sewers, whether in Everett or elsewhere, nonetheless occasionally back up and cause flooding onto properties or into structures. The area served by the separated system is less vulnerable to exceeding system capacity during heavy rains than the area served by the combined system. Nevertheless, extraordinary rain events can still overwhelm stonnwater infrastructure in the separated area. E. The question of the capacity of the combined system, and to a lesser extent the separated system, is a policy question that City Councils, Mayors, and Public Works Directors have grappled with for decades. In particular, increasing the capacity of the combined system is an expensive undertaking, in light of the age and extent of the system. This historical legacy has required the City from time to time to make fundamental policy decisions about capital 2