Sewer System Update and Rate Increase Information Footbridge During an annual inspection in 2018, the Footbridge was downgraded to poor condition due to advanced decay found in the A-frames which support the bridge. The bridge supports the city’s water mainline bringing water into town from our springs. The bridge also supports our sewer mainline which transports sewage out of town to the sewer
partment of Environmental Quality’s Clean Water State Re-
volving Fund program to complete the project due to the severity of the situation and the risk that the bridge could fail. This loan/grant cannot be used on the waterline upgrade portion of the project. The grant from Yamhill County is being used to cover these costs as well as a large portion of the design work.
ponds for processing. The city closed the bridge to all pe- In May of 2023, the contractor broke ground on this project destrian traffic due to the inability to control load use. If and hoped that it would be completed before the end of the bridge were to fail, the water and sewer mainlines this school year. Upon completion, downtown will be rewould rupture and contaminants would go into the Yamhill connected to the Alderman Dog Park and with the Vintages
River and compromise the city’s ability to provide water RV Park. Students who live at the Vintages will be able to and sewer services to residents. The impact on the region walk to school again and visitors will be able to walk and would be catastrophic as the Yamhill River feeds into the bike over the bridge to enjoy Dayton’s downtown businessWillamette River which supplies water to many communi- es and events including Dayton Friday Nights during the ties.
summer.
This 540-foot bridge was constructed in 1980 through a Highway 221 Sewer Lift Station Replacement grant from the Environmental Protection Agency which was requiring the water and sewer mainlines be relocated from under the Yamhill River.
Replacement and relocation of the current sewer lift station, located just after the bridge heading out of town towards Grand Island has been on the city’s strategic goals for
The Dayton City Council reviewed several options for
several years. Currently, this sewer lift station has very lim-
replacement in 2018-2019 settling on a 220-foot steel
ited access and no backup power. When it fails (which is
midspan replacement. The initial budget estimate came
often due to flushable wipes clogging the pump) it releases
in at approximately $4.2 million. The design and engi-
sewage into Palmer Creek which flows into the Yamhill Riv-
neering contract was awarded to DOWL Engineering
er. As the current lift station pump continues to age, we
who had been the city’s engineers for at least 20 years.
are experiencing more frequent failures. In October, we
They started working on design and permitting, which
had two failures (due to an electric outage outside of our
we anticipated to take 12 -24 months. Once design was
control and the clogging of the pump with wipes). We fol-
completed, post-pandemic inflation of steel, labor and
lowed DEQ regulations for spills including posting infor-
construction costs brought the cost to $7 million.
mation on our webpage, pushing it out on social media,
To help cover the additional project cost the city sought grant opportunities on the county, state, and federal level. Yamhill County awarded a $1 million grant for this project through their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Grant Pro-
posting signs at the spill location and informing DEQ of the spill. After the two recent spills, we have received formal notice from DEQ that any future spills will be a Class 1 violation resulting in large fines.
gram. Unfortunately, state, and federal grants we applied The city had already started the project design work to be for were not obtained. Due to the severity of the situation and with grant opportunities exhausted, the City secured a $5.5 million loan (30 years at 1% interest) with a $500,000 grant through the De-
able to move quickly should funding be secured. Shovel ready projects are more apt to receive grant funding, so we wanted to be prepared in case a new grant opportunity arose. The estimated cost for the project was $1.02 million. (continued on page 5) 6
