From: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany
Sent: Mon Mar 26 18:26:04 2018
To: 'Susan Hansen'; YELTON-BRAM Tiffany
Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; DECONCINI Nina; MINER Jason * GOV; raihana.ansary@oregon.gov
Subject: RE: FW: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
Importance: Normal
Susan
Please see my responses below. I am only answering the funding questions at this time.
Tiffany
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Hansen <foxglovefarm@inbox.com>
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 4:48 PM
To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany <tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us>
Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; DECONCINI Nina <nina.deconcini@state.or.us>; MINER Jason * GOV <Jason.MINER@state.or.us>; raihana.ansary@oregon.gov
Subject: RE: FW: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
Tiffany,
Please note that you have an outstanding Bear Creek Recovery PRR waiting to be filled that includes the recent meeting regarding the long awaited MAO. We are very interested in the progress or lack there of on an MAO.
Before the funding questions, we are not clear about the lagoon issues. DEQ wrote not one but TWO letters indicating the lagoons were leaking enough to warrant test wells. Now you have backed off and made the excuse that it is not quite bad enough, even though the DEQ analysis of last summer's lagoon leak test was said to be flawed but good enough to come up with the very high leakage rate. It's pretty clear to those watching this that DEQ has caved - why not require a CONCLUSIVE lagoon leak test, then we would know exactly how much the lagoons are leaking?
You had Raihana Ansary listed as a person who was supposed to attend that past meeting with Director Whitman and Molalla -she was clearly listed on that agenda as addressing funding issues and ended up not attending. It was the meeting where Rep. Lewis attended and claimed to be able to help find money at EPA. Ms. Ansary has NOT been responsive, nor has anyone in her agency.
What is the current progress, if any, toward finding the tens of millions of dollars needed to fix Molalla's waste water problems? What agencies/funding sources are being contacted and considered to date? If public money at low rates is not available, what kind of private bonds/loans could Molalla get? What funding sources might be subject to rejection by local Molalla voters - they are currently going to vote on the $11/month road fee the City Council and manager tried to impose without a vote? In other words, what kind of loans/bonds could be successfully rejected by voters if they did not like the rates they would face?
Acquiring funding for the current maintenance and future repair/replacement of the sewage treatment plant is the city's responsibility. DEQ does not monitor who the city has spoken to about funding. The Mutual Agreement and order will set dates for certain activities to be completed. If those dates are not met, the city faces penalties. So if the city has not acquired funding in time to complete action by a due date, they will have to pay a penalty. If the city uses fee increases or bonds to secure a loan and the voters reject such fee or bond, the city is still required by the MAO to complete work by the dates in the agreement.
What kind of "credit worthyness" does a city have to show to be loaned money from the revolving or other public fund? What kind of utility rates must be in place first - do they have to show rates high enough to pay back a loan BEFORE the loan can be granted? What kind of debt currently carried can be folded into new loans or bonds or would a city have to continue to pay past loans (including the current outstanding revolving fund I believe Molalla is paying back) along with any new loan?
I can only answer related to what is required by the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, since that is the program DEQ administers. All applicants for CWSRF loans are analyzed to ensure that they have the ability to repay the loan. The factors considered, such as debt capacity, have to consider the full debt load of the applicant, not just the debt related to wastewater.
CWSRF needs to assure that there is a plan in place for rates to be sufficient to fund repayment of the loan.
If a city is in a lawsuit regarding being in contempt of court how would that affect any potential loans? Would it affect state revolving funds being loaned? What about a court order - how would that affect the ability to get a loan of any type, public or private money? In other words, how does being entangled in any legal actions connected to wastewater enforcement of failure to comply with legal agreements regarding wastewater affect the ability to get a loan?
For CWSRF loans, loan applications are scored to prioritize the loans against one another. Applicants with current non-compliance issues get additional points that ca boost their priority ranking.
Has Rep. Rick Lewis come up with any potential money sources for Molalla from EPA or other sources? What kind of EPA money is available? The EPA site I explored appeared to be very competitive regarding EPA money, esp. giving favor to plans with the highest cost to benefit ratio.
You will need to contact Rep. Lewis directly to ask these questions.
I note that this year 2018 does NOT show Molalla is on the distressed city list. And it is rapidly approaching 10,000 residents. What loan category would the revolving funds or EPA put Molalla in, since I see there are lower rates for distressed cities and lower rates for cities under 10,000? By the time Molalla applies it will most likely be over 10,000 people - who decides and how is it decided what the actual population is?
I can only respond related to CWSRF. The application for the loan includes a place to document the population of the city/service area. Typically, this population is in line with the population data used for the Facility Plan. The Population at the time the application is submitted is used even if the population changes over the course of the application process or as the project progresses.
As to Lee Ann, she was asked general questions - it is pretty clear if anything is going to improve here, a lot of money will be needed in the near future. I understand in the past Molalla had to go for higher interest private loan or loans. How long given the current state of the "plans" and the supposed MAO will it be till Molalla could actually apply for loans/bonds and then how long would it take to actually have decisions and money ready to go?
The city needs to have a complete and approved Facility Plan before they can apply for CWSRF loan. The plan development process is well underway but is not completed yet. Different funding organizations will have different points in the process at which they will be able to accept the plan and offer funding. For DEQ, we cannot offer CWSRF funding until the Facility Plan is complete.
Again, given the "regional solutions" staff it is pretty sad that Ms. Ansary failed to pick up on my ask to have a conversation. Why do we need "regional solutions" if DEQ is going to be the loan agency? Why was she invited to that meeting with Whitman if DEQ will be the source of funds?
I do not understand why you are saying DEQ is going to be the loan agency. The city is not obligated to apply for a CWSRF loan. Through the Regional Solution Team, communities get access to agency representatives that can assist them in many ways, including funding for infrastructure. While it did not work out to have staff from Regional Solutions attend the meeting that DEQ had with the city on December 18th, the resources of the Team are still available to the city. The city is ultimately responsible for seeking and obtaining the best funding package for the project.
I am quite certain any answers will lead to more questions.
Susan Hansen
Bear Creek Recovery
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us
> Sent: Mon, 12 Mar 2018 22:29:03 +0000
> To: foxglovefarm@inbox.com
> Subject: FW: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>
> Hello Susan
> Sounds like you did have a conversation with Lee Ann Lawrence late last
> year. Please let me know what outstanding questions about the Clean
> Water State Revolving Fund you have and we will get them answered.
> Tiffany
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LAWRENCE Lee Ann
> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 9:22 AM
> To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany <YELTON-Bram.Tiffany@deq.state.or.us>
> Cc: YAP Anita <YAP.Anita@deq.state.or.us>
> Subject: RE: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>
> Hi Tiffany,
>
> Susan or someone from Bear Creek Recovery called me about four months
> ago on November 16, 2017. I spoke with her on the phone for about 10 minutes.
> She asked about the Intended Use Plan and what "we were doing about
> Molalla." She expressed concern about how their city council is
> handling their water quality issues. She also wanted to know if
> Molalla was considered a distressed community and would be eligible
> for principal forgiveness.
>
> I explained how the loan program worked, who can apply and how. I also
> explained that we are not an enforcement program. I also emailed her a
> link to the distressed community index.
>
> She asked if Molalla had ever had a loan with us and I confirmed that
> they had one loan with us in the past. She wanted more details and I
> told her she could fill out a public records request.
>
> She seemed content with our conversation when I got off the phone with
> her. I haven't heard anything else from her.
>
> Lee Ann Lawrence
> Program Coordinator
> Clean Water State Revolving Fund
> Water Quality Operations Division
> Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
> 700 NE Multnomah Street, Suite #600
> Portland, OR 97232
> (503) 229-5622
> Lawrence.LeeAnn@deq.state.or.us
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany
> Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2018 4:39 PM
> To: YAP Anita <YAP.Anita@deq.state.or.us>; LAWRENCE Lee Ann
> <LAWRENCE.LeeAnn@deq.state.or.us>
> Subject: FW: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>
> Hi Anita and Lee Ann
> Have either of you received a call or email from Susan Hansen? She is
> a resident of the area near Molalla and represents a group called Bear
> Creek Recovery. Please call me to follow up.
> Thanks
> Tiffany
> X5219
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany
> Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2018 4:37 PM
> To: 'Susan Hansen' <foxglovefarm@inbox.com>; YELTON-BRAM Tiffany
> <tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us>
> Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; AUNAN Lauri * GOV <Lauri.AUNAN@state.or.us>;
> DECONCINI Nina <nina.deconcini@state.or.us>; Richard Whitman
> <richard.whitman@state.or.us>; jason.miner@oregon.gov;
> grandinetti.robert@epa.gov; 'lauri.aunan@oregon.gov'
> <lauri.aunan@oregon.gov>
> Subject: RE: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>
> Susan,
> I manage Evan Haas, the Project Officer for the Clean Water State
> Revolving Fund for the NW region of DEQ (Clackamas, Multnomah,
> Washington, Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties). If a public
> entity in the the NW region of our state is interested in a CWSRF
> loan, they work with Evan.
>
> I tried to track down who your communication about CWSRF landed
> with--I know it was not Evan. But if you have question about CWSRF,
> we can help with those. I am sorry if you left messages from someone
> else in the program and did not hear back. Please let us know what
> your questions are and we will follow up.
>
> Tiffany Yelton Bram
> WQ Source Control Manager
> Northwest Regional Office
> Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
> 700 NE Multnomah St., Suite #600
> Portland OR 97232
>
> Desk 503 229 5219
> Mobile 503 975 0046
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Hansen <foxglovefarm@inbox.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2018 9:21 PM
> To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany <tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us>
> Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; AUNAN Lauri * GOV <Lauri.AUNAN@state.or.us>;
> DECONCINI Nina <nina.deconcini@state.or.us>; Richard Whitman
> <richard.whitman@state.or.us>; jason.miner@oregon.gov;
> grandinetti.robert@epa.gov
> Subject: RE: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>
> Hi Tiffany,
>
> I have asked repeatedly - most recently to Ms. Aunan - that a
> representative from the State Revolving Fund contact me directly. I do
> not imagine you run that program so I wish to have any person who is
> working on or has been asked to work on Molalla's funding issues at
> the State Revolving Fund to contact me directly. I am shocked at how
> long this request has been ignored.
>
> We are still waiting for you to answer the DEQ related questions about
> the Molalla MAO and 170,000+ a day leaking lagoons as well as the
> most recent 3/2/2018 BCR public info request.
>
> Susan Hansen
> Bear Creek Recovery
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us
>> Sent: Thu, 8 Mar 2018 03:47:46 +0000
>> To: foxglovefarm@inbox.com
>> Subject: Questions about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
>>
>> Hello Susan
>> I heard indirectly that you contacted DEQ about the Clean Water State
>> Revolving Fund, did not get a response and then contacted the
>> Governor's Office. Can I be of help in answering your questions?
>> Tiffany
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
>
>