02-04-19 Utilities - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Mr. Horvath stated, They aren't going to give us a break from the Clean Water Act because we're a high burden, you don't have to do all of this,but what they do is say since you're a high burden, you still have to do all of this but we're going to give you a little longer to do it. That's really the only benefit that it provided, which is great because it gives us a little longer to figure out how to finance the program, but it also becomes more expensive long-term because you're financing it for a longer period of time. Mr. Fahey stated, And also if we devised a plan that came up with a residential indicator of point five percent(.5%), they wouldn't let us get there, there isn't a plan out there that would be able to get that residential indicator down. We've already dropped a half a billion dollars here. The figures here look really good to us in terms of the negotiation. Mr. Fahey stated, We are in renegotiation. Our plan is a firm offer on our side, it's what we want to have approved.As we go through negotiations,we'll depend on our whole team and the Council. There might be reasons to adapt as we go through. Our hope is that we have a solid plan here and we should get approved. We had a process whereby we started off gathering State support. We visited IDEM, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. We started out as a small team, including myself, by giving them some of the basics of where we were going with this and peaking their interest in the work we were doing. Then Eric and the Mayor came down and we had the IDEM Commissioner there as well. They were very favorable and interested in what we were doing here as well, and offered their support to us as partners. That meant we were able to go to the next stage to meet with the EPA. He continued, We've had three (3) meetings with the EPA so far. District Five (5) is based in Chicago, so we went to their offices and gave them a review of everything we had done so far. We highlighted the problems we were facing, both environmentally and economically. We came to them not just with a problem,but with solutions.We asked for further information,and then invited their Regional Administrator out to South Bend. We talk about smart sewers, but its hard for someone to see, because a lot of it is either in a computer somewhere or its underground. The Regional Administrator and her Chief of Staff came out here last summer and we gave her a tour of our offices and facilities. Eric, the Mayor, and I started the foundation for a good and positive relationship with her. She was very favorable toward the work we were doing. She's a nice lady, a pragmatic problem solver. We met with some of her staff along with IDEM personnel in the fall of last year and gave them more information. I would like to say that in the big picture we've won them over and they like what they're seeing and hearing, and they've got to make sure they have very specific answers to specific concerns and queries they have, so that's where we are. We're compiling a very large technical submission, a twenty (20) page letter describing all of the work that we've done so far with a lot of technical data which is something they have specifically requested. Eric and I had a meeting today with the attorney for the project. The lawyer has been involved successfully with these types of negotiations around the country and has a proven track record in relation to this. Councilmember Jo M. Broden arrived at the meeting at 5:43 p.m. Mr. Fahey continued, We're hopeful that this is the big year for this, that the stars are going to align and everything is going to be right. We have all of the hard work done,the data gathered,we have the right relationships with the right people. Also, our marketing, we're representing this unified community we have behind us.We have a citizens advisory committee that has been behind EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574 235 9221 f574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 vsww.southbendin.gov 8