HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works March 11 20081 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Public Works and Safety Committee
3
4 March 11, 2008
5
6 Committee Chair Barbara Brenner called the meeting to order at 1:36 p.m. in the
7 Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
8
9 Present: Absent:
10 Laurie Caskey- Schreiber L. Ward Nelson
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12 Also Present:
13 Carl Weimer
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15
16 SPECIAL PRESENTATION
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18 1. LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID) — LEED AND LIVING BUILDINGS
19 (AB2008 -130)
20
21 Mark Buehrer, 2020 Engineering Owner Principal, submitted a presentation on
22 wholistic (sic) engineering (on file).
23
24 Brenner stated the Council voted to make future County -built facilities Leadership in
25 Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) - certified. This is very timely. Buehrer stated the
26 County must meet the LEED silver level.
27
28 His presentation will include green building programs in Europe, which is far ahead of
29 the United States. The focus of his presentation is on water resources issues, including
30 stormwater. He read through the presentation handouts.
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32 Sustainable development and design is most hindered by laws and regulations.
33 Codes and regulations often don't allow them to do those things. Those regulations and
34 codes can change.
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36 Brenner stated Mr. Buehrer served on the committee that drafted the State draft low
37. impact development (LID) guidelines. She asked if any other counties or cities adopted
38 those guidelines by reference. Buehrer stated the State Department of Ecology adopted the
39 low impact manual. It's referred to in the stormwater management manual. Each agency
40 interprets how to work with that manual. It is a master document for other jurisdictions.
41 The Puget Sound Partnership is putting together an updated manual for 2009 that will be
42 easier to use. The idea is that jurisdictions with stormwater issues would adopt low impact
43 development as the conventional design, and get rid of what they know doesn't work.
44
45 Brenner stated Whatcom County hasn't adopted anything. She asked if adopting the
46 existing manual would help. Buehrer stated. that the County works under the 2005 State
47 Department of Ecology (DOE) stormwater manual, which references the LID manual. The
48 County and the City are both approving LID projects. However, developers and engineers
49 aren't very familiar with it yet. They're still learning. Those who have learned about it have
50 learned they can come up with an environmentally - friendly, code - compliant design at a
51 lesser cost.
52
53 Brenner asked if the Council needs to adopt those guidelines by reference to make a
54 difference. Buehrer stated make a statement and develop standards in the design manual
55 to reflect low impact development. One thing can change is the standard road width.
Public Works and Safety Committee, 3/11/2008, Page 1
Get to a net -zero amount of impervious surfaces is to use all porous pavements,
including streets and driveways, using amended soils, and include minimal excavation
foundations. They are post or pin foundations for the entire building. The water is allowed
to pass through underneath the foundation, so they don't count the roof as impervious. The
water is disbursed off the roof.
Caskey- Schreiber stated that retaining natural soils is crucial to filtration. She asked
how that would work. Buehrer stated most sites for this are relatively level. They are not
doing massive amounts of grading. The foundations have skirting and don't look any
different from a normal house. Promote and provide incentives for green building designs.
Brenner asked if 2020 Engineering has off - the -shelf designs that can be tweaked to
work on different sites. Buehrer stated stormwater modeling software doesn't work from an
LID perspective, so they have to make different assumptions. They are working to make it
geared toward modeling LID projects.
Brenner asked if any jurisdictions have contracted with approved LID engineering
firms to push through design templates. Buehrer stated that reminds him of LEED
buildings. Also, contractors for porous concrete must have taken the American Concrete
Institute test that certifies one for porous concrete. He hasn't heard of any jurisdictions
contacting with engineering firms. More engineers are attending workshops. Set up classes
so participants can leave with some sort of certification and training. Once code and
regulatory issues are out of the way, more sustainable projects can be permitted. One
concept is to de- centralize the water supply and systems.
(Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
Buehrer continued to state that Bellingham doesn't recycle it's water for use is
because 70 percent of the cost of the centralized systems is in the piping. If they eliminate
that cost, they can design systems efficiently and cost - effectively on a smaller scale.
Caskey- Schreiber asked how those smaller systems would get the water if they
aren't on public water. Buehrer stated rain water is one possibility. They could use the City
drinking water and fire hydrants. Use that water only for drinking, and treat the wastewater
for reuse. They can reduce the amount of water taken from the City pipe and no water will
be conveyed to the sewer system. Therefore, the City doesn't have to spend money
upgrading the downstream sewer plant. The cost of the decentralized systems are much
less than the centralized systems. Separate out the hazardous pieces of human waste and
dealing with it separately. Urine doesn't carry pathogen.
Brenner asked about pharmaceuticals. Buehrer stated that is an issue. It is about
the quality of the water they have and the best reuse of that water. Putting it into the
ground and using it for subsurface irrigation is a good way to break down a lot of those
pharmaceuticals.
Brenner asked if a centralized sewer system takes out pharmaceuticals. Buehrer
stated it does not. It passes through. The idea of conveying waste with water is the root of
the problem. Composting systems don't mix waste with water.
Brenner asked if these systems are simpler or more difficult to maintain. Buehrer
stated he's done a number of onsite water reuse systems. They are simpler systems, but
people have to upkeep those systems with packaged components. The State is considering
expanding the definition of large systems from 14,500 to up to 100,000. If that happens,
the concept of a decentralized system will become easier to design and permit. It will be a
Public Works and Safety Committee, 3/11/2008, Page 2
1 different category from the large municipal systems. There are no State regulations for
2 small water reuse systems.
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4 Brenner stated this reminds her of the petroleum problem. They don't do anything
5 until there's a crisis. She's impatient to do something. It seems like these options should
6 be prioritized over everything else rather than being experimental and difficult. She asked
7 what the local legislators can do to streamline the process. Buehrer stated allow
8 experimental processes and incentives for people to do demonstration projects. They must
9 first have tested projects. Allow demonstration projects easily. Water reuse demonstration
10 systems can have the backup system in case it fails, for example. There should be more
11 follow -up data collection to refine the designs to be more cost - effective.
12
13 Brenner asked if that information on low impact development is already out there
14 from other countries. Buehrer stated work has been done in Maryland. They've started to
15 use that work and fit it for this area, climate, and soils.
16
17 Weimer stated the Council would love to see low impact development. He asked if
18 there are places where codes and building standards are adopted from other jurisdictions.
19 He asked if there are places in Western Washington that already have certain codes and
20 building standards that Whatcom County could use. Buehrer stated a few communities
21 adopted LID research from the State, but they still use the old standards. The City of
22 Bellingham has lots of LID manuals and brochures, but it's difficult to actually do LID.
23
24 Weimer asked if there are any permitting offices anywhere that encourage LID
25 components to a project. Buehrer stated there are not.
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27 Brenner stated she thanks Mr. Buehrer for his presentation and his time. Buehrer
28 stated Bruce Wulkin, Stormwater Program Manager at the Puget Sound Partnership, is in
29 charge of the LID Manual. He may help Whatcom County adopt LID standards and projects.
30 He's worked with Pierce County on standards.
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32
33 OTHER BUSINESS
34
35 There was no other business.
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37
38 ADJOURN
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40 Th eeting adjourned at approximately 2:45 p.m.
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Barbara Brenner, Committee Chair
Public Works and Safety Committee, 3111/2008, Page 3