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Mayors sign wastewater agreement

Mayors sign wastewater agreement
Posted on 12/09/2019
Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch and mayors from Bettendorf, Riverdale and Panorama Park sign wastewater treatment agreement

Mayors Frank Klipsch, of Davenport, Bob Gallagher, of Bettendorf, Mike Bawden, of Riverdale, and Ronald Rice, of Panorama Park, signed an updated agreement Monday for funding the joint use facilities like the wastewater treatment plant as well as future capacity allocation.

Facilities included under the intergovernmental agreement also include the compost facility and interceptor sewers. It also allows for the abandonment of diversion structures from the 1930s and 1970s.

The Cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Riverdale and Panorama Park entered into a 28E Intergovernmental Agreement in 1974 to jointly construct, operate, and maintain a new Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) and interceptor sewers that parallel the Mississippi River.

In 2013, the four communities and the Iowa DNR entered into an Administrative Order for the purpose of establishing a schedule for upgrades to the Davenport Water Pollution Control Plant and the wastewater collection systems of Davenport and Bettendorf to achieve compliance with applicable requirements and to eliminate the discharge of untreated wastewater from the collection systems.

Over the past few years, various technical memorandums and studies have been completed by consulting engineers to provide a condition assessment of the WPCP and interceptor sewers as well as a preliminary schedule and costs to bring all four cities into compliance.

Even though it is not a requirement of the Administrative Consent Order between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the joint use system cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Riverdale, and Panorama Park, staff from the joint use system cities have been working diligently for almost two (2) years on drafting an updated Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the use, operation, maintenance, and improvements of the joint system.

This new 28E Agreement defines the joint (or shared) system as:

  • The 1970's interceptor sewers – from manhole 13333 (located in Bettendorf) flowing approximately 12.2 miles to the west through Panorama Park, Riverdale, Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa.
  • Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) generally located at 2606 South Concord Street, Davenport, Iowa.
  • Compost Facility generally located at 2707 Railroad Avenue, Davenport, Iowa.

The new agreement also establishes a funding mechanism to operate, maintain, use, and improved/repair this system to meet Iowa DNR requirements. An important component of the agreement is the section of Allocation of Capacity. This defines how much plant capacity is guaranteed to each city as they grow.