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Cary Town Council Minutes Present: Mayor Ernie McAlister, Council Members Marla Dorrel, Julie Robison and Nels Roseland Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Jack Smith Mayor McAlister called the meeting to order at 4:36 p.m. Council Member Jennifer Robinson arrived late and her arrival is noted in the minutes Ms. Dorrel stated that she needed to leave the work session at 5:45 p.m. Council Member Jennifer Robinson arrived at 4:38 p.m. Brown and Caldwell's Swift Creek Pump Station Sewage Spill Assessment is attached to and incorporated in these minutes by reference as Exhibit A; the PowerPoint Presentation is attached to and incorporated in these minutes by reference as Exhibit B. Denis O'Malley, Brown and Caldwell's Team Leader, reported a discrepancy in the record: the contractor believes the pipe was about 14 feet away from the existing pump but the drawing showed it to be about 17 feet. Mr. O'Malley stated that on the west side of the lake there were clearly four days when measurements were in excess of the 400 count for fecal coliforms, which constitutes a violation; there was only one point of exceedence on the east side. The reason for the excess is unknown because the lake has a retention time of about 120 days (it may have been Alberto or the spill). The downstream (east side) of Lake Wheeler is less affected than the upstream side. In reviewing the recommendations, Mr. O'Malley stated that if the National Incident Management System and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for collaboration among project participants had been in place prior to the spill they are confident the spill would have been mitigated or prevented. Town Manager Bill Coleman stated that the report gave the desired information-the causes of the failure resulting in the spill, the contributing factors to those causes, actions that could have been taken to prevent the incident, and actions to consider to lessen the probability of similar events happening. The Town has begun work on several of the recommendations and the rest are being evaluated. Within 60 days staff will provide council a thorough report of recommendations to pursue. Work has already begun on the following: structuring project management responsibilities and assignment, making water and sewer emergencies subject to the incident command system, completing the National Incident Management System (NIMS) training for all employees and elected officials who participate in emergencies, and installation of bypass valves at regional pump stations (Swift Creek, west Cary, Morris Branch; currently evaluating Kitt Creek, Walnut Creek and all other regional pump stations). Mr. Coleman said that the Town has acquired additional piping to ensure that the system functions properly. Public works and engineering staff have begun a comprehensive risk analysis for all operations and will use national standards for training, equipment, planning, and response. The Utilities Department has begun working with Raleigh and Wake County to establish a regional monitoring project for Swift Creek and Lake Wheeler to identify pollutants going into the lakes and strategies for improving water quality. A report will come back to council through the Operations Committee. Mayor McAlister asked about the contractor's status, response to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and next steps. Mr. Coleman responded that the first priority is to finish the pump station expansion project and then sort out remaining issues regarding the fine, cost of cleanup, and who's responsible. He said the Town has not received a final decision from DENR regarding a fine; if a fine is received staff will evaluate DENR's response and discuss it with them based on actions taken, costs incurred and overall environmental records. Mayor McAlister asked how close we are to project completion. Mr. Coleman replied it will be completed in December 2006. Ms. Dorrel asked about the 20 recommendations in chapter 6 of Exhibit A; she would like the PowerPoint presentation to match chapter 6. Mr. O'Malley responded that the PowerPoint presentation is a summary derived from the 20 recommendations. She also wants a list of work that's already been undertaken and have that compared to the 20 recommendations. Ms. Dorrel asked the consultants to define short-term. Mr. O'Mally stated that it's things that might occur within the season (3 to 5 months); long-term is things you would expect to deal with on an annual basis. Marshall Taylor, Brown and Caldwell's lead investigator, stated that the first couple of weeks after the incident were short term; long term is the next recreational season. Ms. Dorrel asked if the short-term impacts are known and whether outstanding issues exist. Mr. Taylor responded that there is no reason to expect additional short-term impacts. He said that in the western end of Lake Wheeler there are continuing issues that deserve continued monitoring. Ms. Dorrel asked why the Town wouldn't adopt all of the recommendations. Mr. Coleman replied that there may be other ways to make accommodations (i.e., bypass valves). He said that staff wanted to review the details to see what information specifically fit Cary's situation. Mr. O'Malley stated that Swift Creek may not need bypass. Ms. Dorrel asked if the cost is a consideration. Mr. Coleman stated that some may carry significant costs and would be pursued over time (long term). Ms. Dorrel asked if the 20 recommendations are prioritized. Mr. Coleman stated that those having the most impact will be done immediately; those with lesser impact and greater cost will be done over time. In the overall risk analysis Brown and Caldwell has committed to reviewing the Town's work, available resources and research, and will make suggestions and give assistance. Mr. O'Malley said that the NIMS training will put a lot of the recommendations into focus and allow judgments to be made in an informed manner. He doesn't think prioritization on the consultant's part would be good because Town staff needs to use judgment. Ms. Dorrel asked how widely NIMS training is accomplished (nationally and in North Carolina). Mr. O'Malley responded that it is a well accepted technique fostered by Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA). Ms. Dorrel asked if NIMS is a higher standard of training and something the Town should have done anyway. Mr. O'Malley stated that the Cary community which is surrounded by others is a compelling reason to use NIMS. Mr. Coleman has a lot of information on NIMS and will share it with council. Mr. Coleman stated that NIMS is a way for Cary to organize resources and priorities for all emergencies. The Town has an incident command system that has been used successfully (i.e., snow, hurricane, etc.); however, all emergencies haven't been incorporated into one system, which is the advantage of NIMS. It provides a more systematic approach to emergencies and setting priorities. Mr. Roseland stated that page 3-8, item 3, of Exhibit A discusses measures that could have eliminated or mitigated the spill. He said it sounds like actions that could have been taken by all parties to stop the spill weren't. Consultants concurred. Mr. Roseland asked what those actions would have been. Mr. O'Malley said that one thought would have been to restrain the pipe as the first step in the process to prevent the spill. It was never verbalized as being of paramount importance. He said sometimes complacency occurs on construction projects. Mr. Roseland asked the meaning of the 3rd to last sentence on page 4-3 of Exhibit A, framework for NIMS approach. Mr. O'Malley stated that the Town relied on the contractor and engineer; their primary concern was that the pump station stayed in operation. The North Carolina Department of Labor's focus was worker safety and it was misinterpreted to mean the entire project. Mr. Roseland stated that the drawings were unclear, there were no contingency plans, and staff did not have any engineering or construction expertise. When the report comes back in 60 days he'll look at organizational capacity issues and recommendations that the Town manager will present. He said Cary is no longer a small town and there needs to be management capacity, culture, and professionalism to ensure problems can proactively be addressed; public health, safety and welfare should not take a backseat to legal liability. Mr. O'Malley stated that the report shows a variety of coincidentally occurring episodes, any one of which might have caused such an event. He said the liability and responsibility issue is endemic to the construction industry because it involves cost. The recommendations in the report can reduce risks. Mr. Coleman stated that there is no culture of complacency in the history of Town operations. He said in this project it was decided that the project manager would be an operations person to deal primarily with the administration of the contract and maintenance of pump station operations; that person did not have engineering responsibility because that person was not an engineer, which is why the Town hired Black and Veatch for the engineering work. Also, the Town's experience with them up to that time had been very good. Mr. Coleman said he understands the construction documents and drawings noted that section of piping as critical. He said nothing adds credence to the statement about complacency. Mr. Roseland said it was the biggest sewage spill in Wake County history and it could have been prevented; it is important to learn from it and to look at capacity issues. He said the Town must take full responsibility for what happened. Mr. Roseland asked staff to provide the final report to the legislative delegation who expressed interest and concern about the spill. Mayor McAlister suggested providing a formal response from council or the Town manager outlining the report and actions being taken instead of forwarding a copy of the report to them. Mr. Roseland wants follow up so that the delegation can see the full report if they so desire. Ms. Dorrel said she wants to send the legislative delegation the report. Mrs. Robison asked about the operations and management of the sites and projects during construction activities. She said NIMS adoption would result in new SOPs and asked if the Town needs to look at standard changes to the structuring of contracts. She asked if there are legislative actions in the recommendations to provide more clarity on the operating environment. Mr. O'Malley responded that the Town attorney is the best person to comment on construction contract issues. He said the NIMS training will help. Mrs. Robison asked if they should consider ordinance amendments. Mr. Coleman said they recently discussed doing the same for professional services contracts, especially relating to responsibilities of consulting engineers. He doesn't know about ordinance changes but staff has considered a policy to attach to all contracts outlining priorities of the council in awarding a contract (environmental protection, due diligence on details and plans, etc.) to use as a framework to help contractors understand how the Town wants to do business. Mr. O'Malley stated that the Town has adopted engineers' joint document committee documents for construction contracts. He said they are a well-established set of documents that have great standing in court (engineering standards). Mr. Robison asked about the last paragraph on page 4-4, organizational institutional issues. She is concerned about the staffing resources component and doesn't see a recommendation to address the issue (i.e., looks at existing capacity and identifies gaps). She wants this information in the resources planning when the 60 day report comes back to council, in addition to an explanation about why there are vacancies that cause strain on existing capacity. Ms. Dorrel left the meeting at 5:52 p.m. Mr. Coleman was also surprised at the comment in the report since there was no follow up data to explain the meaning. Mr. O'Malley stated that as NIMS develops resources are a critical component of the evaluation. Mr. Coleman said that he doesn't think the condition exists but will find out and get information to council. Mrs. Robison said that even a perception is a problem. She said that team approach to oversight of the projects and resource allocation should be examined. Mr. Coleman concurred. Mayor McAlister thanked the consultants for their work and adjourned the meeting at 5:54 p.m. He asked the consultants to remain to answer detailed individual questions.
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