From: Susan Hansen

Sent: Fri May 01 10:45:44 2015

To: HAMMOND Joni

Cc: DECONCINI Nina

Subject: Molalla wastewater plan April 30 hearing feedback

Importance: Normal

Attachments: COLEMAN HEARING.docx;

Dear Joni,

Here's some feedback about last night's recycled water plan hearing in Molalla.

When I arrived at 5:55pm there were a few people huddled on the steps of the Molalla Adult Center, including Tiffany and her co-worker. It turned out no one had a key to the building and we had to wait till 6:15 to even get into the building. The meeting was supposed to start at 6 and run till 8. It was disappointing and insulting to participants that no one in charge had made certain the building would be open on time.

Four people signed up to make comments on the recorded record. After some questions and answers, we were ready to make our comments before 8pm but Tiffany insisted that we each could only speak for 3 minutes and she closely timed us, including inserting distracting hand signals. My prepared statement (attached) might have taken 5 minutes. I can understand if large groups wish comment a time limit might be necessary - but after wasting 15 minutes waiting to get into the building, with only four people signed up to testify and over an hour of time left it seemed punitive and was distracting for Tiffany to be so closely timing us.

I believe it is important for citizens who take the time to attend hearings to be able to hear what their fellow citizens are concerned about. Once we all had our 3 minute turn Tiffany then allowed us to go back and do more testimony which made for disjointed statements, especially since I tried to truncate my initial allowed 3 minutes of comments. I think Tiffanyt should have allowed more time for comments, given the small number of participants (there were only 8 people in all plus Tiffany and her co-worker). There was no time limit imposed last spring at the hearing for Molalla's wastewater plan and that was a much larger group of people testifying.

DEQ should always send Tiffany out with a microphone - the people in the second row at this tiny meeting could not hear her and had to push their chairs so they could try to hear what she said.

In attempting to convince us that Class A recycled water is a safe resource, Tiffany's co-worker resorted to saying that if you looked at it in a glass it would be crystal clear. I am appalled any official attempting to provide scientific facts about water quality would default to claiming that if we looked at in and it looked clear it is safe. There is plenty of crystal clear water in the world that will make people and other organisms sick. Mountain streams look crystal clear but hikers are advised to filter that water for fear of diseases.

After the testimony on the record was over, I asked Tiffany to explain who might have been expected to notify the community about something like those huge E.coli counts in the stream that flows through Molalla neighborhoods. I noted that Dept. of Ag said it was DEQ's responsibility. Tiffany said "I am not going to answer that Susan".

Please tell me what agency we should contact in the future for problems like 14,800 E.coli counts in streams in neighborhoods? The Dept of Public Health? A different division of DEQ? Why would Tiffany refuse to answer that question? Does DEQ have any responsibility to notify communities if there is a public health hazard?

Sincerely,

Susan Hansen

Bear Creek Recovery