Resolution 6658 - Laserfiche WebLink

Resolution No. 6658 shi' A RESOLUTION CONCERNING STORMS OF AUGUST 29,2013,AND SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 WHEREAS, A. The City understands that the storm events of August 29,2013, and September 6, 2013, were extraordinary occurrences that have caused hardship for many City residents. The purpose of this resolution is to authorize City staff to settle claims for damage. B. The City of Everett has 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 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 stormwater 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 improvements for the combined system, including balancing risks and advantages of authorizing expensive projects with the attendant increases in the rate burden on City citizens. These policy decisions, including prioritization of capital projects and their costs,are reflected in part in recent decades in the City's Comprehensive Sewer Plan,adopted by City Council in 1999 and 2006. 1