“We brought in the heavy hitters and we’re ready to learn,” Tomson said.
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Blackwater Public Service District met November 12th to conduct business at the Davis Town Hall. During their meeting, PSD members Al Tomson and Judy Cronauer discussed the results of a previoous meeting on engineering and possible site locations of the future new sewer plant. PSD board member Jody Flanagan was absent from the meeting.
Tomson began by saying that the board had a meeting with counsel, accountants, Region VII and RK&K about how the consolidation of the Town of Davis and City of Thomas will possibly affect possible future rates for the PSD. “We have a meeting this afternoon with the bond counsel, PSC counsel, the accountant and Region VII and RK&K,” Tomson said. “And what we’re looking at is trying to get some understanding of what the consolidation of Thomas and Davis assets will look like and how that may affect the rates.”
Tomson said that the issue was one that none of the board had any any experience with, but were eager to learn. “So that is something that none of us really have expertise with,” Tomson said. “So we brought in the heavy hitters and we’re ready to learn.”
Tomson said the largest issue for the consolidation of the PSD would be to get the two town’s collection systems “under control.” “The biggest thing for consolidation, I think is, is getting the two collection systems under control,” Tomson said.
According to Tomson, Davis’ collection system is scheduled to break ground in the Spring of 2025. “The Davis system is ready to break ground in the Spring,” Tomson said.
Tomson said he was unsure of the progress of Thomas’ collection system. “I’m not sure where Thomas is with their project,” Tomson said. “They don’t have as much to do, but they have things to do.”
Tomson also said the PSD had submitted all letters on the environmental and historical impact of the project to the appropriate agencies and are awaiting responses. “All the letters for environmental and historical preservation have gone out to the appropriate agencies,” Tomson said. “And we’ll wait to hear if they’ve found any bats or squirrels or salamanders or if there is anything of any historical significance anywhere along the line of where this project is looking at impacting.”
According to Tomson, the alignment of the project has remained the same and site locations have been discussed.“The alignment for the project is about the same,” Tomson said. “We talked about site locations for the treatment plant.”
Tomson said that initially, the PSD factored a higher average daily flow due to an estimated initial high growth in the area from Western Pocahontas. “One of the things that drives the site planning is the daily flow, the average daily flow,” Tomson said. “We used to use a factor of 1.5. That assumed significant growth almost immediately by Western Pocahontas and their projects.”
That flow has since been reevaluated and lowered to .8, Tomson said to reflect more realistic growth estimates in the region. “That average daily flow has been adjusted from 1.5 to .8 and part of that is just putting some realism onto the projections from Western Pocahontas,” Tomson said. “It may have that growth eventually, but it won’t come all at once. It won’t come in the beginning.”
Tomson said that the new estimates could put the Tomson plant back in the running as a future site. “So what that does is one thing in particular,” Tomson said. “It may possibly put the Thomas existing site into play as a possibility for a future location.”
However, Tomson said the most feasible site is by the landfill. “But right now, the most feasible, attractive and easiest location, in terms of construction of a new plant, looks like its going to be somewhere next to the existing landfill and on the same side of the road as the landfill,” Tomson said.
Tomson said the area is industrial and it would keep the plant away from anywhere people would be using. “I think from a public perspective that would make that sort of an industrial area,” Tomson said. “ And we wouldn’t have a treatment plant in the Town of Davis or in the City of Thomas or anywhere else that could adversely effect things that the public uses.”
Tomson said there are a number of issues with the Thomas site including space during construction that could hinder operation. “When we consider the Thomas site, there are still some significant issues,” Tomson said. “One is being able to build a new plant and continue to operate the existing plant during construction. There is just space limitations on the ground. So that’s a challenge.”
Other problems with the Thomas site, Tomson said, include constraints on expansion. “The other thing is that the Thomas plant, if it were to go there, would not necessarily have good expansion capabilities,” Tomson said. “And because we have factored down the average daily flow to .8, that assumes there is going to be growth in the future. So that is problematic for a plant going into the Thomas site.”
Tomson said Thomas may also be one of the more expensive alternatives. “It may also be one of the more expensive options,” Tomson said. “So we are going to look at the economics of where to put the plant.”
Tomson said the landfill was the easiest because it was a vacant lot. “Then finally, the landfill site is obviously the easiest place to build because its vacant land,” Tomson said.
Tomson said the Preliminary Engineering Report was on track to be completed by the end of 2024. The Preliminary Engineering Report, the PER, should be done by the end of the calendar year,” Tomson said. “We’re very close to getting that document finished.”
The PER, according to Tomson, is the prerequisite for the board to begin to apply for funding for the new plant. “That is really the prerequisite for being able to go out and start looking for funding,” Tomson said.
Tomson said the board were in the early stages of planning a public hearing for after the first of the year. “We are required to have a public meeting,” Tomson said. “We look at doing that sometime after the first of the year. We look at doing it somewhere like the Davis Fire Hall where we can have a lot of people attend because I think there is going to be interest.”
Tomson said he feels the board will be in a good position to acquire funding next year due to the team of partners they are currently working with. “Between RK&K and Region VII, for the Davis Collection Improvement Project, everybody did a phenomenal job in the funding applications,” Tomson said. “And because its the same team for this project, I think they’ll do a great job going forward with that, too.”
