At the recent Riverbank City Council meeting, officials agreed to move forward with a city-wide sewer and storm drain inspection program, ultimately saving about a third of the expected costs.
Public Works Director Mike Riddell told the council that they would realize a savings of about $300,000 by doing the city-wide project all at once.
In 2015, the city council incorporated funding towards this inspection program in the five-year rate adoption. To that end, staff budgeted $200,000 per year for five years, starting in 2017 and ending in 2021, for a total of $1 million.
In its Capital Improvement Program, the city had been saving up over a five year period to pay for this planned work, beginning in 2017. The council approved a vote last week to fund the expense now, instead of waiting until later, or doing the project piecemeal, a bit at a time, as was originally planned.
At its April 23 meeting, the council voted to award the bid for the project to a company from Hayward CA, based on a low bid of $661,460, and to advance the funds necessary to pay for the project.
“Staff had been looking at doing small segments of the city over the five year period versus doing the city as a whole in one year. By doing this project in a single year, the city will save $330,040,” Riddell pointed out.
“The purpose of smoke testing is to find potential points of inflow and infiltration in the public portion of the sanitary sewer system that could lead to high flows during storms,” Riddell reported. “In addition, smoke testing will allow us to identify any illegal and defective sewer connections to our collection system that could potentially allow sewer gases into a building.”
The City of Riverbank is mandated to do an Infiltration and Inflow (I&I), Cross Connection Study to comply with its permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) and Sanitary Sewer Management Plan (SSMP).
At the same meeting, the council voted to formally vacate, by resolution, the right of way known as the Old Burneyville Road, located north of the City Corporation Yard, and an adjacent parcel for Pacific Gas & Electric’s use as a Gas Transmission In-Line Inspection Station site. It will be a ‘receiver site’ for a device that would be launched in the company’s pipeline in Modesto, near Coffee and Claratina roads.
The council also received 2018 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports. It also authorized staff to submit the reports to the state Office of Planning and Research and Department of Housing and Community Development.
Sue Fitzpatrick, Director of Parks and Recreation, provided an update on State Proposition 68 Statewide Park Development funding and Community Revitalization Program Information. Fitzpatrick attended the Prop. 68 workshop in Sacramento in January and an informational session at the annual California Parks and Recreation Society conference in Sacramento in March. She shared information on competitive grants and non-competitive funding that the City of Riverbank is eligible to apply for in the near future, to fund expansion and improvements in Riverbank’s park system.
The council also discussed the need to develop a city-wide parks master plan. It is expected to include research, data gathering and analysis, community involvement and the development of goals, recommendations and action plans for all aspects of a city-wide Master Plan. It will serve as a usable “blueprint” to the City Council and Parks and Recreation Department staff for future growth and maintenance of parks, facilities, programs and services in town.
