From: Jennifer Cline
Sent: Thu Jul 23 11:55:22 2015
To: Fasth, Bill; Christine Hein
Cc: Dan Huff (dhuff@cityofmolalla.com)
Subject: RE: Biosolids agreement
Importance: Normal
Thank you Bill. Let's proceed with your edits and only include Summer as the time to land apply, not Spring.
Jennifer Cline, P.E.
City of Molalla
Public Works Director
O: 503.759.0218
F: 503.829.3676
-----Original Message-----
From: Fasth, Bill [mailto:bfasth@BrwnCald.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2015 11:12 AM
To: Christine Hein <CHein@ringbenderlaw.com>; 'Jennifer Cline' <jcline@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: Dan Huff (dhuff@cityofmolalla.com) <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: RE: Biosolids agreement
Jennifer,
See my responses in BROWN below. Updated Agreement is attached. Please advise if it is acceptable.
Bill
From: Jennifer Cline [mailto:jcline@cityofmolalla.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2015 8:56 AM
To: Fasth, Bill
Cc: Christine Hein; Dan Huff
Subject: RE: Biosolids agreement
Hi Bill, See my questions/comments below:
Also, the formatting on pages 3 and 4 looks off.
Thanks,
Jenn
-----Original Message-----
From: Fasth, Bill [mailto:bfasth@BrwnCald.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2015 7:28 AM
To: Christine Hein <CHein@ringbenderlaw.com>; 'Jennifer Cline' <jcline@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: Dan Huff (dhuff@cityofmolalla.com) <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: FW: Biosolids agreement
Importance: High
Tina and Jennifer,
I received the email below from Ralph Piuser last night.
I spoke with Ralph this morning and some proposed, revised language is attached. Ralph said he will sign the revised agreement. Please let me know if you have any questions.
I would like to email a revised agreement back to him later today. Then he can look at it tonight and hopefully sign it. I can then pick-up the signed version from him tomorrow (and drop it off at City Hall for Dan’s signature) after the DEQ site tour tomorrow morning.
Please call or email with any additional edits or questions. Thanks.
Bill
From: Ralph Piuser [mailto:g950mm@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 9:20 PM
To: Fasth, Bill
Subject: Re: Biosolids agreement
Bill,
I have some comment about the agreement.
1. I will make fields available every year. That gives me no option which the city reserves for itself as to whether they will use the sites.
I’m not sure what he’s getting at? Will he make the fields available every year?
I think he will, but he does not want to sign an agreement that will force him to do this. For example, he has not seen yet how Heard Farms will operate at his site. Nor has he seen what type of crop response he will get from the City's biosolids. I don’t anticipate any big problems with either of these and I think he will provide sites every year, but site availability will need to be agreed on each year (not committed to up front).
2. City will determine application rates. There will times when I do not want a full load of N even though the crop is proper for it because the city is not applying at the best time of year.
What is the best time to apply? We can look at removing and applying Biosolids early spring when the weather permits. Or late October/November when it is dry.
Ralph said he would not want a full load of nitrogen (N) in the fall because his crops may grow too fast the following spring. But this will not be a problem because the City’s biosolids are low in N. Even though I expect DEQ to approve the proposed N loading rates, these rates will not logistically be possible because the sites will become maxed-out on hydraulic loading (from water) before they max-out on N loading.
In the plan for DEQ, I wrote that truck passes will be limited to 0.5 inch/acre per pass. Also, there will be a maximum of 2 truck passes or 1 inch/acre. I put this in the plan to prevent runoff.
But based on N loading, some sites could take up to 120 lb/N/acre. However, this will never happen because the hydraulic loading will be too high (1.7 in/ac). The bottom-line is that Ralph will be happy because a full load of N is not applied, and the City will be able to apply biosolids without causing runoff.
More info:
· Mid-Summer/early fall is the best time to apply biosolids because fields are dry (good truck access) and fields are available (crops are already harvested). The time constraint will come when Ralph wants to plant his fall-planted crop (usually before sometime between 9/20 and 10/15). But that still gives a wide window, potentially, to spread biosolids each year (e.g. between 7/15 and 10/1).
· Applying in the spring is more challenging because the spreading window is much more narrow. First, the fields need to dry and after they dry, the farmer wants to plant ASAP.
· In the DEQ submittal, I did not ask for a spring application window because approval for them is harder and I don’t think the City really needs it. I only asked for a 4 month application window from 6/15 to 10/15 each year. If you want to propose a spring application window too (4/15 to 6/15), I will need to know ASAP before I meet with Pat Heins tomorrow.
3.I am to only plant city approved crops. I understand the limitations but do not plan on giving the city any such power.
I would like a notification to the City promptly of making the decision to plant other crops, so the City has time to notify DEQ and make adjustments as necessary.
I revised the language again in this section and I left a message with Ralph Piuser about it too. I think it is important to list the specific crops that are in the DEQ submittal. Typically, DEQ lists specific crops in their authorization letters so planting crops other than those can be a compliance issue. I don’t see this as a serious limitation to how Ralph wants to farm because he should be able to add any new crops that he wants, other than direct human consumption crops. But there will need to be a notification/approval mechanism in place so that any approvals required by DEQ are received first.
These are my 3 main concerns. They will need to be addressed.
Ralph
On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 10:03 PM, Ralph Piuser <g950mm@gmail.com<mailto:g950mm@gmail.com<mailto:g950mm@gmail.com%3cmailto:g950mm@gmail.com>>> wrote:
Hi Bill, I will look at it tomorrow.
Ralph
On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 4:03 PM, Fasth, Bill <bfasth@brwncald.com<mailto:bfasth@brwncald.com<mailto:bfasth@brwncald.com%3cmailto:bfasth@brwncald.com>>> wrote:
Hi Ralph,
Attached please see a copy of the Biosolids Agreement from the City of Molalla. I’ll give you a call tomorrow to see if you have any questions. Thank you.
Bill Fasth
6500 SW Macadam Avenue, Suite 200
Portland, Oregon 97239
bfasth@brwncald.com<mailto:bfasth@brwncald.com<mailto:bfasth@brwncald.com%3cmailto:bfasth@brwncald.com>>
Cell 541.602.9110<tel:541.602.9110>
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