City OKs $2.5M for upgrades to wastewater facility

Tubing company to use local parks, share revenues

A wastewater treatment facility built in the 1970s will get a $2.5 million overhaul to its electrical system.

The Yuma City Council awarded a construction contract for the Figueroa Avenue Water Pollution Control Facility to the lowest bidder, Mac Electric of Yuma, during the regular meeting on Wednesday.

During a Tuesday work session, Deputy Mayor Gary Knight questioned the long-term use of the facility: “If we’re going to spend $2.5 million on upgrades, how sure are we that we will continue to use this facility in the future? I know we have to get it recertified. How long will we be able to get it recertified for?”

Utilities Director Jay Simonton explained that “permits aside, we can never lose that plant because all the wastewater from the city flows in one direction to that one point.” He noted that the facility will have to be continually upgraded to either meet new permit or safety requirements.

This will be the first of two phases in the process to upgrade the plant, which has electrical gear that is about 50 years old. An assessment performed five years ago indicated that the electrical system was “overloaded and quite old,” Simonton said.

According to a staff report, the city commissioned a master plan evaluation of the facility in 2015. The city received the final report

the following year and it recommended improvements of the plant’s electrical system in the next five years.

As part of the consent agenda, the council approved other actions, including a special use permit to Yuma River Tubing for use of city property for the operation of a commercial river tubing concession.

The permit will allow Yuma River Tubing to operate out of West Wetlands Park and Gateway Park, according to a staff report. The vendor permit allows the company to have non-exclusive use of designated areas in exchange for a monthly fee of 4 percent of its gross revenues for using these city parks.

Yuma River Tubing will use the east parking lot of the West Wetlands Park as a staging area where tubing participants will park their vehicles, register and then be transported by a van up the Colorado River to a predetermined drop-off location.

In addition, Yuma River Tubing will have a designated area at the West Wetlands’ boat ramp to park vehicles during pick up of customers. After a float down is complete, customers will exit the river at the boat ramp, return equipment to the company and exit the park with their vehicle.

Under the special use permit, Yuma River Tubing will be allowed to park a trailer and a transport van at the West Wetlands from dawn to 11 p.m. each day during the tubing season, which runs from April 1 through Oct. 31. No overnight parking is allowed.

Gateway Park will also be used for some trips as a pickup and drop-off location for tubing participants. The permit expires Oct. 31, 2020.

The council also approved three resolutions, including improvement orders for municipal improvement districts Desert Sky Unit 1 and Park West Units 4 and 5 and a preannexation development agreement with McDonald’s Real Estate Company for a property located at 1195 E. 16th St.

McDonald’s Real Estate Company, owner of the McDonalds restaurant located at 1195 E. 16th Street, has requested the agreement to address the future annexation of a portion of the property that was left out of a 1995 annexation. About 20 foot and 30 foot strips on the north and east of the property were left out of the annexation area.

The owner will be doing improvements to the existing restaurant including the addition of second drive-thru lane. To complete the improvements, the owner has requested rezoning of the site to General Commercial zoning and a conditional use permit to allow the drive-thru expansion.

In accordance with city policy, the property owner has requested annexation so that all the property will be in the city and have the same zoning designation. However, the property does not meet the minimum requirements under state law for annexation.

Accordingly, as annexation of the property is not possible at the current time, a preannexation development agreement will be executed, kept on file and used when a larger annexation can be brought forward.

The resolution authorizes the agreement with McDonald’s Real Estate Company to provide for future annexation of the balance of the property.