City of Revelstoke

Council Report
Date: To: From: Subject: March 18, 2013 Mayor and Council Mike Thomas, P.Eng. Director of Engineering and Public Works Revelstoke Mountain Resort Sewer Discharge Costs

1. ISSUE Council requested recovery of sewer discharge fees from Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) for trucked sewer waste from the holding tanks at the resort. 2. RECOMMENDATION THAT the City invoice Revelstoke Mountain Resort $46,456.88 for trucked sewer discharge fees that were not paid for the period of February 2011 to February 2013 in accordance with the requirements of the Sewer Regulation Bylaw #1683. 3. CAO COMMENTS Reviewed. GDI. 4. BACKGROUND 4.1. In February 2013, City staff discovered that the Revelstoke Mountain Resorts contractor, Hard Hammer Construction, had failed to register trucked sewer loads in accordance with the bylaw. Through further investigation it was determined that the contractor , in addition to failing to record discharged trucked sewer amounts, was also discharging the trucked waste in an unapproved location on Mountain Road above the MacKenzie Landing strata. 4.2. Under section 7.01 of Bylaw #1683, the owner or occupier of the property is required to pay to the City the rates established under the bylaw. 4.3. In an email from RMRs legal counsel, dated March 14, 2013, (see attached), RMR has suggested an amount of $6,400.00 to pay for the disposal of the trucked sewer waste. 4.4. In a letter from Hard Hammer Construction to Mr Gaglardi, Mr Bateman acknowledges actions that fail to meet the Citys bylaw requirements, (see attached) 4.5. City staff have compiled the records of sewer discharges, (see attached), with the following clarifications: 4.5.1. In 2009, prior to the completion of the Camozzi lift station, the sewer from the base area was being trucked as well. As such, 2010 is suitable as a base year for these calculations. Page 1 of 3

4.5.2. Prior to February 2011, the trucked sewer contract was being performed by Shewchuk Enterprises Ltd using a different truck. The City believes that the volumes recorded in this period fairly reflect the amount of sewer collected. 4.5.3. From February 2011, Hard Hammer Construction was the contractor collecting the trucked sewer. The volumes recorded by the City as received are shown in the attached graph in blue. These amounts have decreased rapidly from 2009-10. 4.5.4. Using 2010 as the base year, with the volume calculation described above from February 2011 onward, the City has projected that there is an unreported discharge in 2011 and 2012 equal to the difference in volume between these years and the base year of 2010. This is shown as purple in the attached graph. 4.5.5. The size of the sewer truck used by Hard Hammer Construction is handwritten and marked as 7 cubic meters on the side of the tank at full. But by geometric measurement of the tank by City staff, the tank measures 12.65 cubic meters full. As such, we believe that the last accurate measurement of sewer discharge per truckload was in January 2010 before Hard Hammer Construction commenced the service. All discharges after February 1, 2011 should be multiplied by a factor of 1.8073 (12.65/7) to correct this error. In the attached graph, this amount is shown in orange. All future discharges are being measured by staff accordingly. 4.5.6. Basic statistics shared with the City by Mr Gaglardi of RMR concerning ridership at the resort have been described as increasing by 15% year over year for two years, 2011 and 2012. Sewer volumes can reasonably be assumed to increase evenly with increased ridership. These increases over the volume for 2010 have been used to project an increasing sewer flow in 2011 and 2012, contrary to the pattern of decreased discharges recorded by the City. This estimate of flows based on ridership is shown as green in the attached graph. 4.5.7. For January and February 2013, the City has used these same months in 2010 as the base case, adding 15% per year for 2011 and 2012. This is shown as purple (and green for the 15%) in the attached graph. 4.5.8. In all cases, the volume that has been recorded by the City and previously billed (blue in the attached graph) has been deducted from the estimated fees owning. 4.5.9. Trucked sewer rates for the years in question are as follows, (from the respective Fees and Charges Bylaws): 2011 - $15.45 2012 - $16.02 2013 until March - $16.02 4.6. Since raising this issue with RMR and Hard Hammer Construction, trucked sewer discharges complying with the bylaw have become more regular.

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5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1. Invoicing these fees will recover lost revenue estimated at $46,456.88 5.2. City staff time spent investigating these activities has not been included in these calculations. This is estimated at approximately $6,000. 6. DISCUSSION 6.1. RMRs suggestion of a maximum fee of $6,400 described in 4.3 above is based on incorrect truck volumes. Anecdotal evidence of the number of times per week the truck is dumping from the contractor who was failing to report the discharges is based on 2011 and 2012 data, and does not include out of ski season discharges. 6.2. In addition to the payment of fees and charges under the bylaw, RMR and Hard Hammer Construciton may both be liable for infractions under the Bylaw and as established within the Offence Act. 6.3. City staff are considering additional administrative actions to ensure that any damages to the sewer system are addressed and that the risk of further unapproved discharges is minimised. 6.4. These trucked sewer volumes have been collected and treated without payment for the service, and fees may be collected in accordance with Section 7.01 of the Bylaw. 6.5. Failure to pay fees and charges imposed and payable under the provisions of the Sewer Regulation Bylaw and which remain unpaid after December 31, 2013 shall be deemed to be taxes in arrears. 7. RELEVANT LEGISLATION 7.1. Sewer Regulation Bylaw #1683 and amendments. 7.2. Fees and Charges Bylaw #2008 8. RECOMMENDATION AND OPTIONS 8.1. Recommendation: THAT The City of Revelstoke invoice Revelstoke Mountain Resort $46,456.88 for trucked sewer discharge fees that were not paid for the period of February 2011 to February 2013 in accordance with the requirements of the Sewer Regulation Bylaw #1683 8.2. Option 1: Council could choose to concur with RMRs estimated $6,400 fees not paid, and direct staff to invoice accordingly. 8.3. Option 2: Council could choose to remove the estimated ridership increases from the calculations, and direct staff to invoice RMR $33,615.62 for trucked sewer discharge fees that were not paid.

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1,800 1,600 1,400

RMRSewerDischargeCalculations

369 1,200 1,000 417 800 600 400 200 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 472 391 106 131 2013 1,681 438 172 RidershipIncrease 267 ProjectedUnreportedDischarge VolumeCalculationCorrection 255 RecordedDischarges Note:2013dataiscalculated totheendofFebruary.

1,145

316

591

RMR Sanitary Dumping January February March April May June July August September October November December

RMR Holding Tank - Monthly Volume Totals (m3) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

502 480 268 95 45 36 27 27

429 220 132 66 18 27 39 68 5 18 123 1,145

27 173 Total 1,681 VolumeCorrection ProjectedUnreportedDischarge RidershipIncrease

157 50 77 32 24 13 5 3 17 14 22 59 472 255 417 172

97 102 75 28

64 67

19

26 44 391 316 438 369

131 106 591 267

TotalNotRecorded(cubicmeters) 0 844 1,123 963 Rate/cubicmeter $14.77 $ 15.45 $ 16.02 $16.02 AnnualAdditionalFees $ $ 13,038.55 $ 17,987.46 $ 15,430.87 TotalFees $46,456.88


From: Rob Toor [mailto:RToor@northland.ca] Sent: March-14-13 3:42 PM To: Tim Palmer; David Raven Cc: John Guenther; Council; Bob Gaglardi; Erin Teeple Subject: Sewer issue

Mayor,CouncilandStaff, RMRhasbecomeawarethatthecityofRevelstokeisthinkingofimposingafineforRMRs subcontractorsactions. Iadmit,whenTimPalmerinformedmeoftheincident,Iaskedhimwhichbylawdidthesubcontractor breachandthatIwouldinvestigatethematter.Atnotime,didIstatetoMr.Palmertoprovethe occurrenceshappened.Iadmit,Mr.PalmerbecameveryupsetandangrywhenIaskedhimthis. Nonetheless,Ireceivedaletterfromthesubcontractorinregardstothenumberoftimeshedisposed sewernotattheCitySewerdisposalcenter,whichIhaveenclosed. IhavebeenprovidedinformationforRMRssewerdisposalfor2011and2012.During2011and2012, RMRhiredasubcontractortoemptytheDaylodgesewertankapproximately35timesperweekfor approximately18weeks.IaminformedtheaverageloaddumpedattheCitySewerDisposalCenterwas approximately5.75meterscubed.IunderstandtheratetheCitychargesis$15.45permeter. Fromtheaboveinformation,itwouldseemRMRwouldincuranaveragecostperyearof$6,400.00for itssewerdisposal. Asstatedintheattachedletter,andbasedonthenumberofoccurrencesandtheamountdumped,it wouldseemexcessiveiftheCityfinedRMRanamountgreaterthanthecostofoneyearofdisposalat theCitySewerDisposalCenter Furthermore,RMRorNorthlandPropertiesCorporationdidnotcommencetheseactions,itwasa subcontractorwhoadmitsthenumberoftimeshedisposedsewernotattheCitySewerDisposalcenter. Ilookforwardtoyourreply.
Thanks Rob Toor | Corporate Counsel 310 - 1755 W Broadway | Vancouver | BC | V6J 4S5 Phone 604-730-6633 | Fax 604-730-4645 Email: rtoor@northland.ca

Northland Properties Corporation