DATE: February 25, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Retroactive Financial Assistance Application to the State Water Resources Control Board; Grant Funding for County Service Area 14 - Belmont Manor, for the 1,2,3-TCP Mitigation Project
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Retroactively approve and adopt a Resolution authorizing the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning or his or her designee (Director) to execute and submit a Financial Assistance Application (Application) to the State Water Resources Control Board, including any required assurances, certifications, and commitments needed for submittal of the Application, for funding the construction of improvements to the drinking water facilities servicing County Service Area 14 - Belmont Manor.
REPORT
Approval of the first recommended action will retroactively authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning or his or her designee to submit a financial assistance application to the SWRCB for grant funding, and to provide and execute any required assurances, certifications, and commitments for the application. This item pertains to a location in District 5.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to approve the recommended action. If the recommended action is not approved, the Director will need to withdraw the application, requiring Department staff to seek alternative funding. The County is under orders from the SWRCB to correct the maximum contaminant level (MCL) violation for 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP), and the system will be subject to potential fines and revocation of its water supply permits if the County does not continue to pursue corrective action.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Grant funding will be provided by SWRCB. Staff will return to the Board with a Budget Resolution for CSA 14, Org 9154, to make allocations and estimate revenues for the construction grant once the final amounts are known.
DISCUSSION:
CSA 14 was formed in 1965 to provide services for the subdivision of Belmont Manor, Tract 2031, which is located at Belmont and Leonard Avenues. CSA 14 consists of 41 single family residential parcels. The services provided to the residents are storm drainage facilities, community water, and street lighting.
CSA 14 utilizes two groundwater wells to supply water to the residents. Each of the wells is contaminated with the synthetic organic contaminant 1,2,3-TCP above the State of California MCL. In addition to exceeding the MCL for 1,2,3-TCP, one of the wells also exceeds the MCL for nitrate and can no longer be used to deliver water to the system.
On March 22, 2018, the SWRCB issued a compliance order (Order) to the County due to the 1,2,3-TCP MCL violation. The Department has continued to meet requirements of the Order of quarterly reporting to the state and quarterly notification to consumers in CSA 14.
The purpose of the Project is to comply with the Order and address the 1,2,3-TCP concerns with CSA 14. The County is pursuing connecting the CSA 14 water system to the City of Fresno (City) system to provide a more sustainable solution to the 1,2,3-TCP issue experienced by CSA 14.
A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) was completed in April 2022 by Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group (P&P) to evaluate options for connecting CSA 14 to the City water system. Based on the PER and input from the City and CSA 14 residents, Department staff has chosen to connection to the City water system via Master Service Meter and 16-Inch Main, as the Project.
The City has since indicated that it would be open to providing CSA 14 a master meter service connection to the City system if the County can satisfy City requirements and execute an agreement with terms mutually agreeable to the City and County. If those requirements are met, Staff will return to the Board with an Authorizing Resolution for an extraterritorial service agreement with the City.
The SWRCB administers the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program, which provides financial assistance to community water systems for infrastructure improvement and other drinking water-related activities. Both loans and grants under the DWSRF program are accomplished by installment sale agreement. DWSRF program funds may include the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds issued by the State. For that reason, proceeds from DWSRF funds may only be spent on “eligible project costs,” as defined in the SWRCB’s “Policy for Implementing the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.” All expenses related to the Project are anticipated to be eligible project costs.
Upon award of funding from the SWRCB, the Department will return to your Board in order to execute a funding agreement.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Location Map
On file with Clerk - Authorizing Resolution
On file with Clerk - TCP Mitigation Project at CSA 14 Belmont Manor Preliminary Engineering Report
CAO ANALYST:
Salvador Espino