City of Williamsburg accused of sanitary sewer violations; must make repairs within 7 years

The city of Williamsburg has seven years to fix all the problems related to its storm sewer system after approving an agreed order Monday night with the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

On March 24, the cabinet identified four alleged violations, including: failing to report a spill, failing to properly operate and maintain a facility, contributing to pollution of waters, and degradation of surface waters.

The cabinet issued a notice of violation on April 2, and the city participated in a conference with the Cabinet’s Division of Enforcement on Oct. 7 to resolve the matter.

Williamsburg "neither admits nor denies the alleged violations described above, but agrees to the entry of this agreed order to resolve the violations alleged above," the order reads.

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said city officials knew that they had issues with the storm sewer system, but that they had hoped to do work to the fix the problems as funding became available.

"We are talking about what happens when too much storm water gets into the sewers, and then you have back up and you have overflow problems," Harrison said.

"Basically that is what we have. In a perfect world, you have manholes that never run over. In a perfect world, you have manholes that never get flooded over, but we live in a flood prone area and in a valley where water runs down."

Harrison said that the issues are supposed to be addressed immediately, which the city tries to do. He said the issues are also supposed to be reported, and documentation kept on file.

"I think where we fell a little short was on documentation. They wanted to see the documentation on what we were doing,"

Harrison said. "We thought we were doing what we needed to do, but obviously, we didn’t."

Harrison said that he simply doesn’t know how much it will cost to repair the system and get it up to current standards, but that it will probably be expensive and the city may have to finance much of the effort.

The city will have a better idea about the scope of the problem after the flow monitoring study is completed this spring, he added.

The first $91,000 of work will be paid for out of about $120,000 in contingency funds left over from a previous sewer project, Harrison said. The city had hoped to use the funds for some other sewer project work.

Harrison noted that Williamsburg isn’t the only town going through this, and that Lexington is spending millions of dollars on their efforts.

"Once we do get through it, we are going to be a better town for it," he added.

Harrison estimates that some of the city waste water system lines may be 50 or even 75 years old, and in need of replacement. A few of the lines may still be the old clay lines.

Work to be done

Within 60 days, the city has to submit a Sewer Overflow Response Plan (SORP), which includes: overflow response procedure, public advisory procedure, regulatory notification procedure, an inspection and training schedule.

The order "immediately" calls for the city to report all spills, bypass discharges, upset condition discharges or other releases of substances from the facility to the cabinet’s regional office or its 24-hour notification number.

"Commencing immediately, Williamsburg shall provide for proper and regular operation and maintenance of its facility," the order states. "By Dec. 31, 2010, Williamsburg shall submit a Sanitary Sewer Overflow Plan (SSOP) to the cabinet."

The agreed order also calls for the city to hire a professional engineer and submit a Sewer System Evaluation Survey (SSES) to the cabinet.

If the city fails to abide by the conditions of the plan, it faces $10,000 fines.

Initial plans and surveys related to the work are expected to cost the city about $91,000, officials with HDR Quest Engineers Inc. told the city council Monday night. The council voted to hire Quest to do the work.

Harrison said he has spoken with the Cumberland Valley Area Development District and Rep. Charlie Siler about trying to get additional funding to pay for repairs and upgrades.

Street closure

During Monday’s meeting, the council also reviewed a request by the University of the Cumberlands to close a portion of Cumberland Avenue that runs behind the Boswell Student Center and underneath the viaduct.

Kyle Gilbert, Vice-President of Operations for the University, said the area is low lying, has poor drainage and often floods.

Under the proposal, the street would dead end at the parking lot near the student center. The university would raise the grade of the street, install new storm drainage, and rebuild the city’s sanitary sewer line and storm drainage.

The University would also widen the street to two-way between Ninth Street and the student center parking lot, and eventually build sidewalks.

"I think it will be a win-win situation for us and the city," Gilbert told the council.

Even though the University owns the property on both sides of the land around the affected street, City Councilman Richard Foley suggested notifying the public before closing that portion of the street.

Harrison said that he would advertise a public hearing over the next two weeks, and schedule the first reading of an ordinance for next month’s council meeting.

Spring cleaning

In other business, the council proclaimed April as Spring Clean-up Month, and set dates for the annual spring clean-up.
It will take place from March 29 – April 9 on the Highland Park side of town, and from April 12 – 23 on the downtown side.