Goshen Community Services District May 16, 2023 c/o Manuel Fleming
6678 Avenue 308
Visalia, CA 93291
Re: Proposed Amendment for Additional Capacity
Dear Mr. Fleming:
I am in receipt of your letter of April 27, 2023, enclosing a proposed Amendment No. 6 to the agreement between the City of Visalia and the Goshen Community Services District. The City is not in a position to accept your proposed Amendment No. 6 because the City has determined that there is no capacity available to accept additional wastewater discharge from Goshen CSD.
As we have previously relayed to the District staff, the City is in the process of completing a comprehensive capacity study, which we anticipate will confirm current in- house data that shows various capacity parameters, such as Biological Oxygen Demand (B OD) and Total Suspended Solids ( TSS) capacities, are already near or at current state mandated reserve thresholds, especially when accounting for capacity committed to City approved and planned development. The City anticipates that more details regarding the capacity constraints, as well as specific projects to address them, will be available within six months. Until the study is complete, and plans for addressing the current constraints are arrived at, the City wi ll not be in a position to accept any increase in contracted capacities.
It should be noted that the requested increases in capacities for the District represent between a 48% increase (BOD) and a 56% increase compared to current accepted quantities. The City had no prior reason to believe such large increases would be requested. It should also be noted that the Agreement specifically obligates the District to “make a good faith effort to notify the City of any potential increases in wastewater flow, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids an d other potential pollutant levels, indicated by any commercial and/or industrial development inquiries, that would significantly aff ect the quantity and/or quality of the District's discharge to the City system as soon as such potential impacts are made k nown to the District.” This does not appear to have occurred in this case. We encourage you to make this a regular practice so we can assist you in serving your customers.
The City has invited District staff to be involved in the City capacity study. The City continues to encourage the District to do so.
Sincerely,
Nick Bartsch
Public Works Director
City of Visalia
CC: Leslie Caviglia, City Manager
Paul Bernal, Community Development Director
Public Works Department
336 N Ben Maddox Way
Visalia, CA 93292
Tel: (559) 713-4428
Fax: (559) 713-4818