OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Bullhead City Council Work Session on Water/Wastewater and CityCentre — September 17, 2024

City Council — Tuesday, September 17, 2024
BodyBullhead City, Arizona
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, September 17, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:27:53

Transcript — Verbatim
1:15

Good afternoon.

1:16

This is uh Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, it's three PM.

1:21

We're here for a special meeting and a work session.

1:23

Can I get a roll call, please?

1:24

All council members are present except for Council Member Lettman.

1:28

Council Member Hecht is joining us tonight via telephone.

1:31

Councilmember Hecht, can you hear me?

1:36

He's not here.

1:37

Okay, all council members are present except for Council Member Lettman and Councilmember Hecht.

1:43

All right.

1:46

First items discussion regarding water and wastewater projects.

1:52

This afternoon, we're gonna spend some time receiving a presentation from our utilities director, Mark Clark, about the items that are on tonight's agenda.

2:00

We've got a few pretty significant water and wastewater items on the agenda.

2:05

And uh rather than full presentations later this evening, uh we knew the council would probably prefer to receive a presentation now, ask any in-depth questions you may have.

2:17

Of course, you can ask them during the meeting as well.

2:19

But also, Mark will give you greater understanding of all of those pretty significant water and wastewater issues that are pending out there.

2:28

Also just wanna you know state as we start this, as it's been brought up in the last couple meetings.

2:36

I mean, these are millions of dollars, and these are investments in infrastructure, and as your city manager, I can confirm that we have the money and the resources to pay for these expenses.

2:47

Uh we do collect millions of dollars from our community.

2:50

Um, you know, these enterprise funds uh do have bills and our residents do pay them.

2:56

So we have to keep that in mind as we you know go through these processes that um there is money to pay for these, there's Wiffle loans, general fund dollars, utility uh payments that are made by our customers, and so there is revenue.

3:12

Uh also um there's also a lot of uh issues if we don't fix uh and invest in our infrastructure.

3:19

And we don't want to talk about what the what those could outcomes could be, so obviously we need to invest and continue to upgrade our infrastructure.

3:26

So I'll turn it over to Mark and feel free to ask any questions that you have.

3:30

Thank you, Mr.

3:30

Cotter.

3:31

Mr.

3:32

Mayor, Council.

3:33

We're gonna go over some of the uh larger projects that we've got going on and some that we've recently completed.

3:40

Um if you could please start the there we go.

3:42

Uh can you maybe shrink that down a little bit?

3:46

Okay.

3:48

This is the first slide, and this is showing the timeline that we have for our Section 10 water reclamation plant.

3:56

That's our wastewater plant on the south side of the city.

3:59

It was initially built in the ninety ninety-one time period.

4:03

And it was just a package plant back in those days, which means it was a very small small plant.

4:09

Then in the um 96 to 99 time period, that's when the first real plant became a plant.

4:18

Um it was a uh a two million gallon a day wastewater treatment plant, and then a few years went by, 2002 to 2004, because these plants are very large, so it and and the funding to build everything all at once usually is not there, just like with our current plant.

4:38

So it takes a number of years to go from two million gallons a day to four million gallons a day, four million gallons to six million.

4:45

So that's why it's a multi-year project.

4:47

You'll do part of the upgrades one year, do another part the next year, and finish it off usually in a third or fourth year.

4:53

So in the 2002 to 2004 time period, our plant was expanded to four million gallons a day, and that's where we are today.

5:00

We're at four million gallons a day.

5:03

We are currently at the beginning stages of expanding that plant from four million gallons a day to six million gallons a day.

5:10

We've had a lot of growth in the city.

5:12

But if you look at this timeline, you'll see there they're kind of short shorter periods for the first three expansions of this plant.

5:21

This last expansion has taken quite a few years before we've moved into it.

5:26

But if you recall, right after 2004, a year or two later, that's when everything crashed.

5:32

And so there was a lot of no construction here for a few years.

5:37

And it took a while to start building up again.

5:40

But we've hit that.

5:41

If you could go to the next slide, we've hit that point where we were at 80% of our capacity at our treatment plant in a few years ago in 2021 or 2020, 2021, we hit our 80 percent.

5:58

We're regulated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and their rules state that it once you hit 80 percent, you have to produce a facility plan.

6:07

And a facility plan is basically just a roadmap for how you're going to take that plant and expand it from its current maximum capacity to the next level.

6:18

So for us to go from 2,000 and or from 4 million gallons a day to six million gallons a day, we completed that facility plan in 2021 to be able to get us there.

6:30

Now that facility plan calls for us to build a new headworks and partial flume, which council has previously approved, and that is actually just about ready to kick off.

6:41

We're gonna have to build an additional aeration basin, and that we'll talk about a little bit later because that's going to come before council this evening for approval to continue with that project.

6:52

New blower buildings, uh, those have been designed.

6:55

Uh those were designed last year.

6:57

We're just waiting for the funding to get those built.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Regulations█████████████████████████████████████37%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████████████████33%
Economic Development███████████████15%
Public Engagement█████5%
Transportation Safety████4%
Infrastructure Investment███3%
Fiscal Sustainability██2%
Public Transportation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Bullhead City Council Special Work Session — September 17, 2024

This special work session convened at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, in the City Council Chambers. Council Members Lettman and Hecht were absent. The agenda included two discussion items: water and wastewater projects, and the proposed CityCentre development. No formal action was taken, as this was a work session.

Water and Wastewater Projects

  • Utilities Director Mark Clark presented an overview of current and planned infrastructure projects.

  • The Section 10 Water Reclamation Plant is being expanded from 4 million gallons per day (MGD) to 6 MGD. The plant reached 80% of capacity in 2020–2021, which triggered an ADEQ-required facility plan. A new headworks is ready to begin construction, and a new aeration basin and splitter box were scheduled for council approval later that evening.

  • The city is operating under an ADEQ consent order to rehabilitate the oxidation ditch, which has extensive cracked concrete. Repairs are estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million, but the new aeration basin must be completed first to allow flows to be shifted.

  • The 18-1 lift station was described as the worst corrosion case staff had seen, with about 5 inches of concrete eaten away from 20-inch-thick walls by hydrogen sulfide gas. Rehabilitation is underway.

  • A new Well 24-1 was awaiting ADEQ approval expected the next day. The old well’s production had declined from about 1,500 gallons per minute to under 800 gallons per minute, necessitating 24/7 water trucking to maintain service.

  • Proposed Well 20-1 is expected to produce 3,000–4,000 gallons per minute, which would make it the city's best-producing well. It will be tied into a new transmission main and a future million-gallon reservoir on Black Mountain.

  • The water system includes 48 pressure zones, 94 pressure-reducing valves, more than 2,000 fire hydrants, and enough water main pipe to stretch from Bullhead City to Tucson. Staff also conduct more than 3,000 water quality tests annually.

  • City Manager Toby Cotter stressed that funding is available for these investments and that reclaimed water would not be released into the river until the city is paid for it.

CityCentre Development

  • City staff and developers presented a conceptual plan for CityCentre, a roughly 250-acre master planned development with about a half mile of Highway 95 frontage. The plan includes approximately 1,000 dwelling units—single-family, multifamily, and build-to-rent—plus a senior campus, luxury RV park, medical, retail, commercial, hospitality, and storage uses. It is expected to take up to a decade to complete and could bring 2,000–3,000 new residents.

  • The design centers on a walkable Main Street and an oval arrival feature with public art. Traffic mitigation includes a third southbound lane on Highway 95, an extension of Oatman Road creating an east-west corridor, and Main Street as a parallel route. A traffic impact study has been submitted.

  • Planning and Zoning Commission members attending the work session said they approved the concept but did not approve the approximately 37 requested deviations from code. They raised concerns about building heights (five stories plus 20% and an 80-foot sign), reduced parking, and reduced lot sizes, as well as the cumulative effect of approving all exceptions at once.

  • City Manager Cotter explained that the city had encouraged the developer to create a true downtown and that the density and deviations were part of that effort. He said the zoning application, development agreement, and improvement district would come back to council in later months for detailed review. He also noted the city would not receive property tax revenue from the development, only sales tax and other economic benefits.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Jason Newland, a Bullhead City resident, said he supported the intent of the design but came to a full stop at the proposed 25% reduction in commercial parking requirements. He also expressed concerns about increased building heights, reduced lot sizes in R1-L districts, and where freight/trucking uses might be located, and urged the council to tighten standards now.

  • Another public commenter criticized the 37 exemptions, saying the plan effectively rewrites the zoning code. He questioned the traffic study’s timing, raised past approval issues, and complained about a proposed roundabout/oval. He also urged the council to give the Planning and Zoning Commission more time to review the item.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes or formal decisions were made during the work session.

  • The aeration basin/splitter box project and the CityCentre conceptual plan were both on the agenda for the regular council meeting later that evening at 5:30 p.m.

  • The CityCentre team stated they intend to submit the zoning application in about a week and a half, with a companion development agreement and improvement district to follow.

  • Council members indicated that parking, building height, and other specific deviations would be carefully evaluated during the formal zoning process.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. This is uh Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, it's three PM. We're here for a special meeting and a work session. Can I get a roll call, please? All council members are present except for Council Member Lettman. Council Member Hecht is joining us tonight via telephone. Councilmember Hecht, can you hear me? He's not here. Okay, all council members are present except for Council Member Lettman and Councilmember Hecht. All right. First items discussion regarding water and wastewater projects. This afternoon, we're gonna spend some time receiving a presentation from our utilities director, Mark Clark, about the items that are on tonight's agenda. We've got a few pretty significant water and wastewater items on the agenda. And uh rather than full presentations later this evening, uh we knew the council would probably prefer to receive a presentation now, ask any in-depth questions you may have. Of course, you can ask them during the meeting as well. But also, Mark will give you greater understanding of all of those pretty significant water and wastewater issues that are pending out there. Also just wanna you know state as we start this, as it's been brought up in the last couple meetings. I mean, these are millions of dollars, and these are investments in infrastructure, and as your city manager, I can confirm that we have the money and the resources to pay for these expenses. Uh we do collect millions of dollars from our community. Um, you know, these enterprise funds uh do have bills and our residents do pay them. So we have to keep that in mind as we you know go through these processes that um there is money to pay for these, there's Wiffle loans, general fund dollars, utility uh payments that are made by our customers, and so there is revenue. Uh also um there's also a lot of uh issues if we don't fix uh and invest in our infrastructure. And we don't want to talk about what the what those could outcomes could be, so obviously we need to invest and continue to upgrade our infrastructure. So I'll turn it over to Mark and feel free to ask any questions that you have. Thank you, Mr. Cotter. Mr. Mayor, Council. We're gonna go over some of the uh larger projects that we've got going on and some that we've recently completed. Um if you could please start the there we go. Uh can you maybe shrink that down a little bit? Okay. This is the first slide, and this is showing the timeline that we have for our Section 10 water reclamation plant. That's our wastewater plant on the south side of the city. It was initially built in the ninety ninety-one time period. And it was just a package plant back in those days, which means it was a very small small plant. Then in the um 96 to 99 time period, that's when the first real plant became a plant. Um it was a uh a two million gallon a day wastewater treatment plant, and then a few years went by, 2002 to 2004, because these plants are very large, so it and and the funding to build everything all at once usually is not there, just like with our current plant. So it takes a number of years to go from two million gallons a day to four million gallons a day, four million gallons to six million. So that's why it's a multi-year project. You'll do part of the upgrades one year, do another part the next year, and finish it off usually in a third or fourth year. So in the 2002 to 2004 time period, our plant was expanded to four million gallons a day, and that's where we are today. We're at four million gallons a day. We are currently at the beginning stages of expanding that plant from four million gallons a day to six million gallons a day. We've had a lot of growth in the city. But if you look at this timeline, you'll see there they're kind of short shorter periods for the first three expansions of this plant. This last expansion has taken quite a few years before we've moved into it. But if you recall, right after 2004, a year or two later, that's when everything crashed. And so there was a lot of no construction here for a few years. And it took a while to start building up again.

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