4636-17 Supporting the City Administration's alternative cost savings approach to its CSO Long Term Control Plan and ecouraging the Federal and State Environmental Regulatory Agencies to adopt this innovative plan

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SUBSTITUTE BILL NO. 17-25 RESOLUTION NO. 4636-17 A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND,INDIANA, SUPPORTING THE CITY ADMINISTRATION'S ALTERNATIVE COST SAVINGS APPROACH TO ITS CSO LONG TERM CONTROL PLAN AND ENCOURAGING THE FEDERAL AND STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY AGENCIES TO ADOPT THIS INNOVATIVE PLAN WHEREAS, the City of South Bend has been a leader in seeking ways to maintain a clean and safe St. Joseph River. It was the first Indiana city on the St. Joseph River to construct in 1956 a wastewater treatment plant, Prior to 2011 it had invested over one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) for environmental protection upgrades and improvements to its sewage system; and WHEREAS, in December 2011, the City of South Bend enacted a 20 year CSO Long Term Control Plan (CSO Plan) to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO's) into the St. Joseph River to ensure compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, which CSO Plan was incorporated into a Consent Decree filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana; and WHEREAS, the City's original 2011 CSO Plan required a massive new investment by the City to reduce down to four (4) the number of annual events of CSO excess sewer discharge into the St. Joseph River; the expectation of the remedial cost was approximately five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) to be paid through a series of sewer rate increases born by customers of the City sewer utility, most of whom are individuals and families, of which about $149 million has been paid since 2011; and WHEREAS, today the estimated cost of the City's five hundred million CSO Plan of 2011 is around eight hundred sixty-one million dollars ($861,000,000) which does not include the additional cost of financing the construction; and WHEREAS, The South Bend Common Council, as the City's fiscal agent, pursuant to Ind. Code 8-22-1-8, is charged with examining costs as well as operational efficiency of City programs; and WHEREAS, at the time of its enactment, the City's CSO Plan incorporated novel, state of the art technology and was based upon then existing knowledge, solutions, and treatment techniques; and WHEREAS, in the years since 2011, the City has had the benefit of the wireless sensor and smart valve technology used in the original Long Term Control Plan, almost unique in the world, which has provided real time, highly reliable data to identify actual needs and points of weakness in the system, and the City has also had the benefit of a comprehensive study of its sewer treatment system; and