Duluth City Council Committee of the Whole and Agenda Session – December 12, 2024
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Duluth City Council Committee of the Whole and Agenda Session – December 12, 2024
The council convened for a committee of the whole session to receive a presentation on the EPA Administrative Order on Consent regarding Duluth's water system, followed by discussion of the consent agenda and several resolutions. No public comments were heard. Key discussions included water infrastructure investments, legislative priorities, and the Bayfront Festival Park management contract.
Consent Calendar
- Resolution 24-0978R: Authorized an agreement with HCM Architects for pre-design of a consolidated maintenance facility ($56,250).
- Resolution 24-0981R: Authorized agreement with Sand Creek EAP for employee assistance services ($12,911.67).
- Resolution 24-0982R: Authorized purchase and installation of snow package equipment from Bert's Truck Equipment ($221,387).
- Resolutions 24-0983R and 24-0984R: Approved lawful gambling premises permits for Portman Recreation Association and Irving Community Association.
- Resolution 24-0985R: Approved temporary expansion of designated serving areas for various liquor licensees.
- Resolution 24-1002R: Awarded contract to WEX Bank for Circle K fuel for 2025 (not to exceed $1,300,000).
- Other consent items (10–30) were also on the agenda and presumptively approved as a block, except item 29 (Bayfront) which was pulled for separate vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- Water Infrastructure EPA Order: Director of Public Works Benning presented an overview of the EPA Administrative Order on Consent (Section 1414(g) of Safe Drinking Water Act). He emphasized that water quality was never an issue; the order focuses on physical infrastructure deficiencies. The city has addressed over half of the deficiencies since the September 2023 inspection. Remaining projects include installing a sixth filter, flocculator repairs, alternate water source planning, reservoir and pump house rehabilitation, and security upgrades. Total projected investment is approximately $42 million over 20 years, funded through a proposed water infrastructure surcharge (expected to replace the existing $4.90 clean water surcharge) and pursuit of state/federal bonding. Councilors asked about negotiation with EPA, cost to residential users ($4–$11 per month depending on usage), and funding sources.
- Consolidated Maintenance Facility (Res. 978): Councilor Mayo questioned staff involvement in design; Eric from administration confirmed a steering committee of 20 staff and plans for extensive interviews with frontline workers. Selection process described: RFP, 9 proposals, interviews with top 3, unanimous selection.
- Employee Assistance Services (Res. 981): Councilor Durwachter asked why airport authority included; CA Montgomery explained it's for both city and airport employees, with Sand Creek providing services.
- Firefighter Classification Amendments (Res. 990, 993): Discussed briefly; no questions.
- City Administrator Contract Extension (Res. 1008): Extended to February 15, 2025 to accommodate transition to new administrator. CA Montgomery noted selection process near completion; expected new CA on board by end of January with overlap.
- MFIP/DWP Employment Services (Res. 986): CA Montgomery explained the annual contract with St. Louis County to serve 450–500 people per year; funding increased from 2024 but lower than 2023.
- Duluth Regional Exchange District (Res. 1004): Amendment increasing contract amount to $11,179,576.78 for road and utility work.
- Shopper's Ramp Demolition (Res. 1013): DEDA authorized up to $967,000 for demolition, funded from capital expenses (TIF funds). Councilor Mayo asked about timeline; staff noted pre-construction meeting needed but could proceed as soon as December 20.
- 2025 Legislative Priorities (Res. 987, 988, 1012): Extensive discussion. Res. 987 establishes core priorities; Res. 988 lists additional initiatives; Res. 1012 contracts Taft Stettinius & Hollister for federal lobbying ($80,000). Amendments proposed: by Councilor Forsman to add medical school project; by Councilor Mayo to add Scandia Cemetery shoreline stabilization (county-led, $2.55 million total); by Councilor Awal to include downtown library planning and redevelopment. Debate centered on whether to include library given existing federal planning funds ($1.75M total, with $850K for library). CA Montgomery and lobbyist Dukich advised waiting until a concrete plan is developed (likely 2026) before adding to state priorities. Councilors will continue discussions before Monday's meeting.
- Truck Prohibition on Piedmont Avenue (Res. 980): Rescinds previous resolution and prohibits truck traffic on specified section.
- No-Parking Zones (Res. 989): Establishes no-parking zones on several streets around UMD to satisfy MnDOT assurance for 2025 road reconstruction project. Councilor Durwachter clarified the zones are already signed; resolution is procedural.
- Coal Delivery Agreement (Res. 991): Authorizes storage/delivery of coal for Duluth Energy Systems not to exceed $55,000. Councilor Mayo noted transition away from coal; CA Montgomery explained this covers remaining 5,000 tons of coal obligated under previous contract, expected to be consumed as boilers convert to natural gas.
- Upper Lakeside Water Interconnect (Res. 994): Contract to Northland Constructors ($1,155,180) to connect Lakeside system, eliminating need for the Lakeside tank.
- Water Treatment Chemicals (Res. 995, 996): Contracts to Hawkins Inc. ($456,254.60) and Thunder Bay Chemicals ($243,408 for 160,000 gallons of aluminum sulfate) for 2025.
- EPA Administrative Order on Consent (Res. 1000): Resolution to authorize signing of the order. This was the subject of the earlier presentation.
- St. Louis River Natural Area (Res. 979): Approves addition of 69 parcels.
- Bayfront Festival Park Management (Res. 992): Five-year agreement with DECC for $443,081. Councilor Awal raised concerns from local musicians about service quality; DECC Director Hartman assured continuation of high standards and noted DECC's membership in industry organizations. RFP process described: three applicants, interdepartmental panel scored, DECC top. Councilor Randorf asked about other applicants; staff said one out-of-state firm with no local experience. Councilor Mayo asked about term length; staff said 5 years to provide stability. Councilor Randorf requested pulling this item from consent for separate vote. Vice President Tomanek praised DECC. Councilor Randorf suggested a transitional extension for current operator (Winterfell) to ensure smooth handoff; CA Montgomery agreed to bring a side agreement in January.
- U.S. Steel Land License (Res. 1001): Amendment to license for recreational use between Morgan Park and Gary-New Duluth at no cost.
- Ordinances: First reading of ordinance amending Section 48-28 (vehicle parking/stopping) and Ordinance 24-072-O (airport grants). Second reading of tax levy and budget ordinances (24-062-O, 24-065-O, 24-069-O, 24-071-O) were tabled for final approval.
Key Outcomes
- The council will vote on all consent agenda items (except Bayfront) as a block at the regular meeting on December 16, 2024 (per agenda, but note meeting date discrepancy). Item 29 (Bayfront) was pulled for separate vote.
- Amendments to Resolution 24-0988 (additional legislative initiatives) were proposed but not voted; further discussion anticipated before final action.
- The discussion on the EPA order and water surcharge ordinance will proceed to a public hearing and vote at the regular meeting.
- No final votes were taken during this agenda session; decisions are scheduled for the December 16 meeting.
Meeting Transcript
All right, we'll start another thirty seconds. All right, good evening, everyone. We'll go ahead and get started with our agenda session. At the top of the hour, we're starting here with a committee of the whole. There we go. Good. I think I'm gonna have to tell you Alyssa. That wouldn't the next slide. The clicker isn't working, so but we're good for now. Uh nope, back one. So just a quick overview of the the water system. It's a fairly complex water system relative to other cities in Minnesota due to our the length of the city and the topography. Um much of it is very old. We've got the pump house where everything starts 1989, then the Lakewood treatment plant, 1975. Takes uh water through the transmission mains that were 1898. We've got 11 pump stations throughout the system, 15 reservoirs, 433 miles of water main, and 28,000, close to 29,000 customer services. Next slide. This is an overview of the uh a graphical overview of the distribution system, and important to note that we provide water to three adjacent cities, Rice Lake Proctor, and Hermantown. Next slide. A few photos. Uh this one's relatively important because it is our most expensive project that we will be undertaking in the future. This is a uh one of our filters. There's five that are in operation and a sixth that was built in 1975 but never put into uh into play. Um I'm not sure why. Maybe they were looking for future expansion of the city, but it's a we're at a time uh in history where we need to implement this, and it's fairly expensive, and I'll explain that in a little more detail later on. Reservoirs and tanks uh make up uh a large percentage of what we have to do in the future, and the picture on the left is a nice uh photo of what the inside of a ground storage tank looks like, and then everybody's seen what an elevated tower looks like, and we've got both of those in our system that brings us to the administrative order on consent. Um in September of 2023, the EPA and uh Minnesota Department of Health conducted an inspection of our system with very little notice, maybe a day or two, then they showed up. Um shortly after that, City Council received a uh a notice of deficiencies, and then there were many follow-on meetings, which brings us to present uh of the signing of the order. What I want to do for the remainder of the presentation is go over a summarize what that order entails. The uh the most important thing I want to note is that nowhere in that administrative order that the water quality was ever an issue. Uh we have and continue to have some of the best water in the world. So that's important to note that the majority of the areas of concern were on our um the physical components of the system. And all of these, this is a summary of the area of concern, the areas of concern, and we knew about all of these. Staff was aware of all of these, and we had plans to correct them over many years, and the EPA came in and said, No, you need to do it in, you know, we had this many years, now we have this many years to conduct it. And a summary of a few of these, um, the lab, some turbidity sampling, lead sampling, uh moving down the flocculation and sedimentation. We've got a flocculator that has paddles in it that sometime in the 1990s somebody turned off. I don't know why, uh, but our system's been able to work adequately without them. But the EPA said we need to put those back into play. Such a large expense. Uh the treatment plant, I talked about the filters. They want us to install the sixth filter, which is our most expensive capital project in the future. A redundant water source. They weren't satisfied with our sole source of water going into Lake Superior, so we have to come up with a plan to provide an additional or alternate sources of water to provide to our customers. The Lakewood Pump Station under Pump Station Maintenance, Lakewood Pump House structure that was built in 1898, well, well over a hundred years old. The rough is original needs to be replaced. There's some structural concerns also on that on that pump house. On the right hand side, reservoirs. We've got a lot of reservoirs. Each one of them has different little idiosyncrasies that need to be maintained. And then at the bottom on the right, there's operational changes that we've made already, and some they want us to do in the future.
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