ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
I. WATER SYSTEM NAME:
CITY OF LEBANON
ADDRESS:
51 NORTH PARK STREET
LEBANON, NH 03766
PROJECT TITLE:
AUTOMATED METER READER SYSTEM
DWSRF PROJECT NUMBER:
1321010
II. INTRODUCTION
The City of Lebanon, New Hampshire, has applied for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through the State of New Hampshire, Department of Environmental Services, in accordance with provisions of Chapter Env_Dw 1100, rules of the department. These rules prescribe procedures for the application process concerning the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF). This document will discuss the requirements of Part Env_Dw 1107 of these rules, the environmental review. The rules for the ARRA DWSRF in New Hampshire are described per the Final DWSRF ARRA Intended Use Plan, April 2009, and include 50% forgiveness of the total loan amount awarded under this program.
III. BACKGROUND
The City of Lebanon, serves as the economic hub to the Upper Valley region. While the residential population is approximately 13,000, the City’s daytime population doubles to approximately 25,000 due to people commuting to work in the City. Between 2002 and 2006 the City approved close to 760 new housing units. In contrast between 1994 and 1999 the City approved a total of 181 units. In those same periods commercial and industrial uses have quadrupled.
The City obtains its source water from the Mascoma River and treats the water by means of a conventional surface water treatment facility.
IV. PURPOSE and NEED
The City of Lebanon operates a water distribution system comprising approximately 78 miles of water lines with 3,183 water meter connections supplied through our distribution system. On average approximately 7% to10% of the water supplied by the system is unaccounted for and unbilled. In 2008, of the 621,397,156 (in millions of gallons) of water produced by the Lebanon water system, fully 10.6% or 65,698,643 (in millions of gallons) was categorized as “lost or unmeasured”.
There are currently three types of readers in use to collect data for billing purposes. The oldest and most common is the pin type which causes the most problems. The second is the touch pad type which replaced the pin type. This one is more reliable but requires going to each house to get the reading. The third is the new radio read type which is a radio transmitter that you can get the reading from your vehicle while driving.
The old readers require meter readers to plug in resulting in significant waste of manpower and gasoline, generating tons of unnecessary CO2 each year, and wear and tear on municipal vehicles. We calculate that the City is spending in excess of $36,000 annually on unnecessary labor and fuel to read the meters and bill customers.
V. DETAILS of PROJECT
The proposed project is to replace the older meters throughout the City with radio read meters which will significantly reduce manpower and CO2 and will facilitate more accurate meter readings and equity between users. Upgrading the entire system to radio units, will improve calibration of the meters and help to identify potential leaks and lost water from the system.
It has been estimated that the project could potential pay for itself in 5 years. The expected life of the meters is 20 years.
Whereas this project only involves replacement of existing meters and no significant environmental impacts are involved, a CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION is proposed. A categorical exclusion is an exemption from all other environmental review processes.
VI. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS and MITIGATION
The environmental concerns involved in this project are minimal and no adverse impacts are anticipated. The following areas of environmental concern summarize the possible impacts, and illustrate the major areas of potential impact. The primary impacts are short-term which will affect the area only during the period of construction. This project relates only to replacing existing meters.
Air: There should be no long-term air impacts from this project.
Noise: There should be no long-term noise impacts from this project
Surface water, groundwater and wetlands: There should be no wetlands, surface or groundwater impacts from the project
Wildlife: No impacts to wildlife are anticipated from this project.
Social and Economic: The social and economic impacts from the project are favorable. The financial impact on the ratepayer will be reduced through the use of the ARRA 2009 and the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, with principal forgiveness of 50%. Of the total project cost of $1,305,020, the principal forgiveness is $652,510.
Recreation and Historic: No impacts to recreational or historic sites are anticipated as a result of this project.
Indirect impacts: There are no indirect impacts anticipated from this project.
VII. PUBLIC REVIEW
The City Council voted to authorize funding in the amount of $ 1,305,020 for the proposed project on October 7, 2009.
A public notice will be published by the City of Lebanon and a thirty-day comment period will be held in accordance with the DWSRF rules.
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