Marana faces complexities in acquiring sewer-treatment plant

By Aaron Mackey
Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.19.2007

Marana officials could face serious roadblocks to acquiring and operating a county-owned sewer-treatment plant by the end of the year.

The Town Council voted last week to sever a 1979 agreement with the county to provide sewer service to residents. According to the town's interpretation, any sewer facility in the town would become Marana property after six months.

Several regulatory and staffing issues would have to be addressed before the town could begin to operate the plant, though the town's biggest obstacle might be county officials, who have rebuffed previous negotiation attempts. Town officials have wanted to control the Marana Wastewater Treatment Facility, which lies just outside town limits near West Trico-Marana and North Luckett roads, for about a year.

Controlling the plant would allow the town to count a portion of the effluent toward its assured water supply.

Officials project the town will eventually need some 36,000 acre-feet of water to support homes and businesses. The town currently has 1,528 acre-feet of renewable supply.

An acre-foot is equal to 325,851 gallons and is thought to supply enough water for a family of four for a year.

Marana does not receive any of the effluent produced by the plant even though all the water that goes into the facility comes from Marana.

To get the sewer plant, Marana officials would have to annex the facility, though county officials criticized the town's action and threatened to block an annexation.

Huckelberry: "giant step back"

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said last week that it was disappointing to see Marana "take a giant step back" from regional planning.

He disagreed with the town's interpretation of the 1979 agreement, which refers only to pipes, not to treatment plants.

Huckelberry stopped a planned expansion of the sewer facility on July 5, which could limit future growth.

Sewer capacity also has threatened the growth of Sahuarita, as the Department of Environment Quality has ordered Pima County to stop approving town-issued sewer connections until the town plant is expanded.

Sahuarita leaders predict that by September, the town will have to haul effluent from the town's treatment facility to a county-run plant in Green Valley so the town facility doesn't exceed its daily capacity of 490,000 gallons.

If Marana tries to aggressively pursue annexation of the plant, Huckelberry said he might ask the Pima County Board of Supervisors to declare the treatment plant — and the surrounding area near the Santa Cruz River — a park. State law doesn't allow incorporated jurisdictions to annex county parks, but other county property is fair game. "If it appears that (annexation) will be the tactic, I will have to protect the county's interest, and I will ask the board to declare that area a park," Huckelberry said. The park declaration would be fought by Marana officials, who have questioned whether such a designation would hold up in court.

Bonds have restrictions

County officials have been unwilling to discuss the sewer plant with Marana officials because it's tied to revenue bonds generated by treatment facilities throughout the county. Sewer construction usually is funded through revenue bonds. The bonds include restrictions that bar the county from selling assets that generate revenue or reducing the number of ratepayers. Selling the plant to Marana would do both, Huckelberry said.

Earlier this year, the county completed a plant expansion that increased its capacity from 200,000 to 700,000 gallons a day. The county plans an expansion that would bring the plant to 2 million gallons a day by spring 2009 at a cost of roughly $26 million. The county already has completed roughly three-quarters of the design work on that expansion but now plans to wait on actually building it. "We can't sink $16 million into a plant, then have it become property of Marana and leave the rest of the ratepayers to pay for it," Huckelberry said.

A tangle of permits

Even if the county relinquished control of the plant, the town would have to acquire the necessary state permits and certified employees to operate it. Wastewater treatment plants operate with permits issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. If the Marana facility were to change hands, the permits issued to the county would have to be amended, said Tom Marcinko, a DEQ spokesman. Assuming there would be no major changes to the permits issued, the review and amendment process could take roughly four months.

However, the process could be completed sooner, Marcinko said. Additionally, the town would have to modify a regional wastewater plan from the Pima Association of Governments. The agreement, which is required by the Environmental Protection Agency, governs the operation of wastewater-treatment facilities in the county, said Gary Hayes, executive director of PAG. If the town sought to amend the regional plan, it would have to be vetted internally and through public hearings. It would then go to a vote before the regional council, which is composed of representatives of every government in Pima County, Hayes said. The amendment process can take three to six months, though it can be accelerated if needed, Hayes said.

The town isn't planning to make major changes to the plant, so the state permits could transfer easily, said Barbara Johnson, the town's public works director. Town officials had scheduled a meeting with PAG on Tuesday to iron out details of the regional agreement as well, she said.

Worker certifications needed

Besides the plant being certified, workers also must carry state certifications, Marcinko said. Those certifications are for individual employees and don't belong to any government or private entity. In an ideal situation, the workers at the Marana plant would transition from county employment to town employment, said Town Attorney Frank Cassidy.

However, it's not clear whether county officials would be willing to hand over their certified wastewater employees. If the county was unwilling to hand over its employees, the town would bring in outside help who would already be certified. "There's a lot of organizations that will operate a plant for you and bring in fully qualified staff," Johnson said. "That's always a backup."

The town also would have to take over issuing sewer connections to the plant, which would mean the utilities department would have to grow. That service would be coupled with permitting already handled by the town's water utility, Johnson said.

Johnson said it will be difficult to accomplish everything necessary in six months, but she's confident it could be done. Before the town could take control, the county might put a halt on construction in the area.

In a July 5 letter to Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat, Huckelberry said the county could not go ahead with a planned expansion at the plant because of the threatened annexation, and the delay could endanger growth in Marana. The county already has sewer-service agreements for 4,900 new units in Marana and pending agreements for another 6,500. However, only 2,000 new units can come on-line before the plant reaches 85 percent capacity.

State regulations require the county to submit plans for expansion when an existing plant reaches that limit. Huckelberry said the county and Marana need to resolve the issue before that limit is reached. He also said the two parties need to amend the agreement to deal with construction costs. "No matter what, we need to amend this IGA because there needs to be some financial guarantee that the debt gets paid off," he said, regarding the plant's expansion.

● Report Erica Meltzer contributed to this report. Contact reporter Aaron Mackey at 618-1924 or amackey@azstarnet.com.

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