RE: Complaint related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3?/ 2017 Molalla building activity submission

Cc: DECONCINI Nina; BACHMAN Jeff; Richard Whitman; jason.miner@oregon.gov; rdavis@oregonian.com

Subject: RE: Complaint related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3? 2017 Molalla building activity submission

This email is to document what we talked about today related to review and approval of sewer collection system plans and specifications. Under OAR 340-052, the city of Molalla is required to have DEQ review and approve plans and specifications for materials for expansion of sewer collection systems. While we always need to see these plans before work has started, the point in time when we get the plans and specification in relation to when construction starts can vary. For Big Meadow, the city provided DEQ with plans and specifications in the Spring of 2014 and we reviewed and approved those plans in May of 2014. DEQ Stormwater reviewed the application for coverage under the 1200C stormwater construction permit this year.

We find that the sequence of applying for permit coverage and seeking plan and specification review can vary by project. We also find that projects change names or owners or are subdivided further, leading to changes in reviews and permit coverage over time.

To: Susan Hansen <foxglovefarm@inbox.com>; YELTON-BRAM Tiffany <tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us>

Cc: DECONCINI Nina <nina.deconcini@state.or.us>; BACHMAN Jeff <jeff.bachman@state.or.us>; Richard Whitman <richard.whitman@state.or.us>; jason.miner@oregon.gov; rdavis@oregonian.com

Subject: Complaint related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3?/ 2017 Molalla building activity submission

I have not heard any response to the below complaint regarding whether or not DEQ was informed of the 13+ raw acres that were developed NE Molalla (Big Meadow) in the past two years - or about any other development I questioned except for the "garden apts" which were deemed out of your jurisdiction because they connected to existing sewers.

Molalla finally managed to submit its building activity to PSU for the population projection. PSU furnished it to me today. Note at the amount of building in 2017 in a city that has failed to remove enough sludge to keep its sewage within TSS standards and which due to being overcapacity keeps violating with out of season discharge into the Molalla River. How can DEQ allow more stress on an already over capacity sewage facility?

PSU has just sent me the new population estimate for Molalla " The new figure for 2017 is 9,610" per PSU. Below is the info they shared regarding the worksheets Molalla submitted about building activity in 2016 and 2017. Note that in 2017 339 units were counted as new on the worksheet and that does not account for how many actual people are flushing toilets/taking baths and showers/ washing clothes and cars, etc per unit.

Again, has DEQ investigated the large 13+ acres of land that was developed for single family homes that I flagged?

The documents are submitted on line; I get a summary that is used in the population estimates. Here is the information submitted by Molalla that we used to produce the population estimates. The 2016 data was submitted by Community Planner Nicolas Lennartz, and the 2017 data was submitted by Community Planner Aldo Rodriguez.

Group quarters population refers to nursing/convalescent homes (and in some cities dorms, jails, etc.). These are itemized, but only the summary is used in the estimate.

Special population refers to people living in RVs, campers, tents, cars, vans, motels, etc. As you can imagine, this is hard to collect, not every city reports it, and if we don't have a consistent series we don't use it.

Subject: RE: Documents related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3?

To follow up on our complaint about how many projects may have been built that should have been subject to DEQ approval, here is a photo from Molalla Planning website of the large parcel that was re-zoned from multi-family to single family and then built out in the past two years by Stafford homes. Was this or was this not subject to DEQ sewer connection approval? It certainly was larger than an acre - it is in the NE corner of Big Meadow subdivision. See attached photo of the site. It was bare land - no roads, nothing but an empty field - until construction began in 2015. Was DEQ privy to this project?

Here is a newspaper story about the Big Meadow project and a video of the construction - on over 13 acres, dated June, 2015:

"Big Meadow is in the 15th phase of the project, the latest which consists of two parcels of land that total 13.06 acres. When all the dust settles there will be 53 detached single-family homes on the land, which sits on the far back side of the development, connected to Julie Lane, right on the northern edge of the Molalla city limits."

Here is video of the bulldozers starting to clear land and build roads on that project:

Subject: RE: Documents related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3?

This request did not get properly entered in the PRR system (our mistake) so I am going to reply to your email here in response and attach the relevant emails and letters.

A note about what we review and coordination with construction stormwater construction permit applications: The review of applications for coverage under our construction stormwater permit applies to projects of a certain size and the review of the application materials is done by an engineer with experience and training in stormwater controls. The review of plans and specifications of additions to the sewage collection system is required when a new main or pump is added not simply when a lateral owned by the property owner is connected to the city’s main. The review is done by an engineer familiar with the NPDES permit for the treatment plan that the collection system will connect to. Coordination between these reviews is not typically done because of the projects that come in for stormwater permit coverage may not also come in for sewage collection plan and specification review and vice versa because the project may not meet the criteria for review under both our Engineering plan review rules and the requirements for stormwater permit coverage. It is also true that a project might come in for stormwater permit coverage long before the final design for the sewer collection system is prepared.

Subject: Documents related to warning letter to Molalla re: Stoneplace phase 3?

The warning letter to City of Molalla/ Dan Huff regarding Stoneplace phase 3 constructed without DEQ input referenced conditions and asked for a city response. Seeking all documents exchanged because of the warning letter (I received a copy as requested of the warning letter but DEQ failed to provide the referenced documents with conditions).

Here's the submitted request: Attn: Tiffany Yelton-Bram - Requesting all documents generated or received after the warning letter to City of Molalla / Dan Huff was issued regarding the construction of Stoneplace phase 3 without DEQ input. Seeking the document outlining conditions and any other documents to Molalla or from the City of Molalla regarding the warning and the conditions. Bear Creek Recovery seeks a fee waiver if any charge is associated with said request - fee waiver document is on file.

Requester Information

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Name

Susan Hansen

Company

Bear Creek Recovery non-profit

Address

PO Box 50 , Molalla 97038 United States

Phone

(503) 789-7179

foxglovefarm@inbox.com

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Attn: Tiffany Yelton-Bram - Requesting all documents generated or received after the warning letter to City of Molalla / Dan Huff was issued regarding the construction of Stoneplace phase 3 without DEQ input. Seeking the document outlining conditions and any other documents to Molalla or from the City of Molalla regarding the warning and the conditions. Bear Creek Recovery seeks a fee waiver if any charge is associated with said request - fee waiver document is on file.