MUNICIPAL MAINTENANCE



MUNICIPAL MAINTENANCE

MUNICIPAL MAINTENANCE

QUALITATIVE RESULTS

Municipality: City of Walnut Creek Permit Year: (2008/2009)

Introduction:

The overall clean water goal of the City of Walnut Creek’s municipal maintenance activities is to identify ways to prevent and minimize pollutant discharges resulting from roadways, parks, corporation yards, and other publicly owned facilities. In addition, the City strives to optimize its pollutant removal through street sweeping, storm drainage maintenance, equipment and vehicle repairs, and employee training. The City’s commitment to pollution prevention is outlined in the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) prepared for its corporation and maintenance yards.

The SWPPP document identifies potential sources of pollutants and hazardous materials that could affect the quality of stormwater discharged from the site. It also outlines Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce and prevent those pollutants from entering our storm drainage system and describes spill containment procedures. Municipal staff and City contractors were instructed to maintain good housekeeping practices at their work areas and to devote particular attention to minimize spills. To verify that BMPs were implemented in their daily activities, annual audits were performed beginning April 2009 at all four locations (the City’s main Corporation Yard, Boundary Oak Golf Course maintenance yard, Heather Farm Park maintenance yard, and Traffic Operations Center). Staff met with CourseCo, the new operator now managing the operations of the City’s Boundary Oak golf course.

A majority of the municipal maintenance activities are performed by the Clean Water crew, which consists of four full-time employees of the Street Maintenance Division. They are responsible for the street sweeping, drainage maintenance, and routine dry-weather inspections. They perform these stormwater-related activities throughout the year according to an established schedule.

The City’s annual catch basin inspection continued to show a relatively clean system. All 4,172 storm drain inlets were inspected and cleaned at least once a year in addition to 113 culverts, 13 miles of V-ditches, and 18 miles of open channels. There are 23 trash racks installed throughout the City to catch large debris before entering the drainage system. In this permit year, maintenance staff incorporated their annual inspection report into the Cartegraph asset management database and uploaded the information into the Geographical Information System (GIS) map. The resulting map showed areas where inspection activities have occurred or follow-up cleaning or maintenance tasks are needed.

In this permit year, the City hired Brown and Caldwell to perform detailed sampling and analysis of its street sweeping materials. The analysis performed was to include potential parameters that may be necessary to prepare a waste profile for disposal purposes. Each sample was analyzed using EPA Method 8260B (volatile organic compounds), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in the diesel range organics (TPH-diesel), TPH in the motor oil range (TPH-motor oil) and the California LUFT 5 metals (Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Nickel and Zinc). In general, the laboratory results for the street sweeping materials appear to be normal when compared to results for other residential communities with little or no industrial activity and some commercial activity as in the case for the City. Result of this study is included with this Annual Report.

The City of Walnut Creek places high emphasis on employee training, professional development and safety education. In December 2008, the NPDES Coordinator and Clean Water Maintenance crew jointly gave two trainings to 36 municipal staff on stormwater pollution prevention. At the conclusion of each presentation, participants were taken to the Walnut Creek Library construction site to observe the proper installation of erosion and sediment control measures. Participants were asked to identify areas within their responsibilities where excessive erosion occurs so that erosion and sediment control materials can be provided. A fact sheet for selecting appropriate erosion and sediment control materials was handed out. All identified erosion-prone areas were corrected in this permit year. Those requiring major structural improvements were proposed in the City’s 10-Year Capital Investment Program (CIP) Plan.

Parks Services staff used pesticides only after monitoring indicated that they were needed according to the established guidelines, and treatment was applied only for the targeted pests. Advance notification was posted in areas where pesticide application would occur to advise the general public of the materials being applied, targeted pest, treated areas, and the length of time until it would be safe to re-enter. Over the past six years, the City has not increased the amount of chemicals used while the area covered has increased with the addition of new parks, street medians, and open space. Biological and mechanical control methods were used to eradicate pests in place of chemicals in certain areas.

Implementation & Evaluation:

In this permit year, City crews swept a total of 13,100 curb miles and removed 2,462 cubic yards of debris, including leaf materials during fall season. In FY 2008-09, the cost to sweep our streets, parking lots, plazas and corporation yards was $219,330.74.

Over 90 percent of the City’s streets have frontage improvements including sidewalk, curb and gutter. We continue to sweep all curbed streets a minimum of once a month, with the downtown core area being swept three times a week. The main arterial areas and medians are swept once every two weeks, City-owned parking lots are swept once a week and residential areas are swept once a month. See Attachment MM-1 for a copy of the street sweeping schedule.

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Our street sweeper operators maintain a log of routes swept, overgrown tree problems, parked cars, and mechanical problems associated with the sweepers. When seeing an overgrown street tree that obstructs the street sweeping route, our operators are instructed to report it to the City’s Arborist. Tree trimmings are scheduled early in the spring of 2009 starting with arterial roads followed by the remaining City streets. If a tree is determined to be privately owned, the Street Maintenance supervisor will mail out a reminder letter to the homeowner to prune it. The City contracted a tree trimming company to remove overhanging limbs that are dangerously close to sidewalks and traveling vehicles below.

A. Public Services staff ensures that newly constructed or acquired public streets are included in the database and sweeping routes. Sweeping schedules are coordinated to ensure that interference with parked vehicles and trash pickup service is minimal. The City avoids sweeping streets on the same day as trash collection, if possible. Sweeping of streets near schools is done very early in the morning to minimize disruption from parked vehicles. Arterial streets and the downtown core area are swept early in the morning before the rush hour begins. In areas with a high occurrence of on-street overnight parking, the operator notes areas where parked vehicles impede the sweeping operation. This typically occurs in high-density areas with multi-family buildings. Notification is sent out accordingly. Sometimes, it is necessary to use a backpack blower to remove leaves and debris from under the parked cars.

Twice during this permit year, Public Services staff conducted a special leaf pickup. The leaf removal is handled by using a front-end loader with dump truck prior to sweeping the area. The leaf material is hauled to a composting company for recycling. The City, in conjunction with Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, encourages residents to collect and compost leaves and yard clippings. Residents may leave bagged leaves at the curbside to be recycled as part of special trash pickups.

Debris gathered from the street sweeping operation is taken to a temporary transfer station located at Heather Farm Park before disposal. Every year, street sweeping materials are analyzed for eight specific metal pollutants as outlined in the table below using the typical concentration values worksheet provided by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program. Below is a summary of the pollutants that were removed from the street sweeping activities in FY 2008/2009:

Figure 2. Pollutants Removed from Street Sweeping Activities

|Type of Pollutants |Quantity Removed |

|Cubic yard of materials |2,462 cy. |

|Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) |0.08 lbs. |

|Total Mercury |0.36 lbs. |

|Copper |309lbs. |

|Lead |112 lbs. |

|Nickel |93 lbs. |

|Zinc |493 lbs. |

|Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon |6,029 lbs. |

|Oil and Grease |13,154 lbs. |

The City retained Brown and Caldwell (BC) to sample its street sweeping materials, review the chemical analytical data, determine the waste characterization results, and compare them to the landfill’s standards for corresponding chemical constituents.

To evaluate the constituents in the sweeping materials, BC performed sampling of the materials on three typical days: February 24, March 16 and May 15, 2009. In each case, the samples were analyzed using EPA Method 8260B (volatile organic compounds), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in the diesel range organics (TPH-diesel), TPH in the motor oil range (TPH-motor oil) and the California LUFT 5 metals (Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Nickel and Zinc).

In general, the laboratory results for the street sweeping materials appear to be normal when compared to results for other residential communities with little or no industrial activity and some commercial activity as is the case for the City of Walnut Creek. As a result, further treatment for the sweepings does not appear to be necessary for TPH, metals and volatile organics. Depending on the individual landfill’s permit requirements, and based on BC’s experience in sending soil and sweepings to landfills for disposal, it appears that the sweeping should be acceptable as landfill material without a special designation at landfills in the Bay Area. Figure 3 shows a summary of the testing results. For a detailed report of the City’s Street Sweeping Study, please refer to Attachment MM-2.

Figure 3. Excerpt from Walnut Creek Street Sweeping Study

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This permit year, Public Services crews inspected and cleaned 4,172 storm drain inlets, 113 culverts, 13 miles of roadside ditches, 18 miles of constructed channels, and 23 trash racks. In FY 2008-09, the cost to perform drainage inspections and cleanings was $207,810.51. Our maintenance crews removed 36.76 cubic yards of debris from these facilities and 40 cubic yards during the Annual Creek Cleanup event in May.

Figure 4. Drainage Debris Removal Comparison Report

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The amount of debris removed from our drainage structures is about 36-percent less compared to last year. Increased public education efforts by the City may have led to less material and debris being dumped into the system. Using the typical concentration values worksheet provided by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program, the following pollutants were removed from drainage inspection and cleaning activities in FY 2008/2009:

Figure 5 - Pollutants Removed through Drainage Maintenance Activities

|Pollutants |Quantity Removed |

|Cubic yard of materials |36.76 cy. |

|Copper |1.97 lbs. |

|Lead |4.50 lbs. |

|Zinc |10.52 lbs. |

|Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon |75.38 lbs. |

|Oil and Grease |210.86 lbs. |

The City’s Clean Water Maintenance crew followed the established schedules outlined in the Drainage Maintenance Plan (see Attachment MM-3). The City’s sphere of influence is divided into 15 municipal maintenance zones (see Attachment MM-4). The goal is to complete all maintenance in these zones at least once a year. In a few areas, drainage maintenance was scheduled in accordance with other maintenance repairs for efficiency. Heavy winter and spring storms require that maintenance crews clean catch basins more frequently in areas prone to erosion. They noted these inlets separately for additional maintenance and monitoring. When appropriate, Maintenance crews and Engineering staff work together to develop possible solutions to mitigate erosions in the identified areas.

The City of Walnut Creek uses a Cartegraph asset management database and GIS map to show locations of catch basins, ditches, detention basins, canals, manholes, natural and improved channels, pipes, the type and size of pipes, and direction of flow. See Attachment MM-5 for a drainage inventory GIS map. Additional GIS layers include city limits, streets, topography, flood zones, easements, elevations, aerial photos, and information from public utility agencies.

During their inspections, the Maintenance crew continued to identify storm drain inlets not currently included on the existing drainage maps – due either to being recently installed as part of new subdivisions or being incorrectly identified as a different type of structure. Staff entered data from the annual drainage inspection into the Cartegraph database (noting whether cleaning had taken place or storm drain decals installed). See Attachment MM-6 for a GIS map showing drainage inspection maintenance activities (in this case, for Zone 15). See Attachment MM-7 for a list of maintenance activities needed for Zone 15 as a follow-up to prior inspections. Most of the tasks related to installing storm drain decals that were either missing or illegible. Staff entered the information into Cartegraph database once these tasks were completed (see Attachment MM-8).

When Maintenance crews clean our storm drain inlets and lines, they use a VaCon vactor truck to remove the materials at the nearest access point to minimize discharges. The truck has a 1,500-gallon water tank and a 15-yard debris tank and is equipped with a boom allowing the operator to reach the furthest point from the truck. Oftentimes, the crews must flush a drain line to remove any blockage in the pipes.

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| |VaCon vactor truck on display |

| |during City Hall Open House |

B. The majority of our roadside ditches are privately maintained. Maintenance staff mail out reminder letters to property owners along the creeks to remove overgrown vegetation and maintain their drainage conveyance system clear of blockages that can impede flows of water. The number of reminder letters sent out to homeowners has decreased over the years. Most creek-side property owners are now familiar with their maintenance responsibilities. In this permit year, we mailed out three reminder letters in comparison to twenty-one mailed in the prior year. See Attachment MM-9 for a copy of the reminder letter.

If staff finds creek-side properties needing technical assistance to address creek bank failures or erosion problems, we refer the property owners to the Urban Creeks Council. The City co-funded this non-profit organization, as part of its countywide watershed management participation, to provide site visits and consultations to residents within the City limits. Refer to Attachment MM-10 for brochure of the Urban Creeks Council’s Streamside Management Program for Landowners (SMPL). In this permit year, Urban Creeks Council made three consultations and site visits to Walnut Creek properties with unstable streambank concerns followed by two evaluations. They referred homeowners to professional engineers and provided suggestions on biotechnical erosion control methods that can be used to reduce the rate of bank erosion. Refer to Attachment MM-11 for the FY 2008-09 SMPL Annual report.

I. The City of Walnut Creek obtained its permit from the California Department of Fish and Game to perform routine drainage maintenance along the creeks. The current permit allows us to remove silt, vegetation, and debris from the creeks in a certain manner as well as to perform specific types of repair. All applications of chemicals along the creeks are tracked and documented by the City’s Parks Services supervisor as part of the City’s annual reporting. Chemical usage is reported to the County Agricultural Advisor in accordance with guidance from the California Department of Pesticides Regulation.

J. Dry-weather discharges from over-irrigation have been identified as a potentially significant source of sediment, pesticides, fertilizers, and chloramines. Aside from the potential water quality benefits of reducing pollutant discharges resulting from over-watering, better irrigation practices can help conserve water and reduce costs. Adding to the need to reduce water usage are the recent decisions by the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the Contra Costa Water District declaring water shortage emergencies at various levels and invoking voluntary and mandatory water rationing, respectively.

The City of Walnut Creek is doing its part to conserve natural resources. Water features at some public playgrounds have been turned off. The City’s Parks Services Division converted irrigation at public parks using a “smart irrigation control system” that can be controlled from an office computer to automate sprinkler and drip irrigation schedules. This system retrieves local weather data and, combined with other factors such as plant type, soil type, and sun exposure, can eliminate the need for manual in-the-field adjustments to irrigation systems.

The new technology ensures the minimum amount of water is provided for healthy plant growth while reducing water quality impacts. Although the initial capital cost to install the system is more expensive than manually operated systems, the ongoing maintenance costs are reduced due to savings of water and labor costs associated with managing the systems.

K. The Public Services Department’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) administrative policy outlined an ecosystem-based strategy that focused on long-term prevention of pests through a combination of biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties. The least toxic pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to the established guidelines in the Policy. The document outlined roles and responsibilities of different City staff and established a tiered approved product list and exemption process, record keeping, program review and coordination, public notification, and IPM application.

The Policy outlined a public notification procedure when applying pesticides. Signs must be posted at least two days prior to and two days after the pesticide application. Only the IPM Advisory Committee may authorize the application of a pesticide without providing a two-day advance notification in the event of a public health emergency or to comply with worker safety requirements. See Attachment MM-12 for Notice of Pesticide Application.

In accordance to the IPM policy, Parks Maintenance staff no longer use a fixed schedule of spraying pesticides. They spray on an as-needed basis and they use beneficial insects and insecticidal soaps as the first control measures. To minimize the use of herbicides, the crews applied mulch and wood chips to median strips, tree wells, and bare areas in the open space and parks. Additionally, staff installed landscape fabric to help native grasses get re-established in designated natural areas.

In sensitive areas, they use mechanical disc instead of herbicides, although this practice has become expensive over the years. When selecting the appropriate herbicide, supervisors consider the overall risk to the applicator and impact to the environment. As an example, the City used Azatrol, a botanical pesticide, to control aphid infestation on roses in the medians and parks. Azatrol is an anti-feedant, which has no residual impact to the environment and interrupts the pest’s growth cycle. In this permit year, the City maintenance crew and City contractors applied 1,463 pounds of pesticides in both solid and liquid forms (see Attachments MM-13, MM-13.a and MM-13.b). They applied about 16,527 pounds of fertilizers consisting of 8,030 lbs of Nitrogen, 1,301 lbs of Phosphorous, 3,342 lbs of Potassium, 1288 lbs of Calcium, and 2,564 lbs of Sulfur (see Attachment MM-14).

L. The City Maintenance staff used mechanical harvesting to remove algae and aquatic pondweeds as the preferred method before resorting to using algaecide. Unfortunately, due to its shallow depth, algae blooms grew rapidly and inundated Heather Farm Park’s natural lakes, especially during the summer months when the temperature increased. Consequently, mechanical harvesting was not effective in handling a more rapid algae bloom growth. To control this ongoing problem – as the last resort - City Parks Maintenance crew had to use algaecides for which the City obtained an aquatic pesticides permit from the State Water Resources Control Board. The amount of algaecide used was reported as part of the total pesticides usage report.

Additionally, an aeration system is used at the Heather Farm Park’s natural lakes to circulate lake water and infuse oxygen into the water. The sub-surface diffuser aeration unit will not only deter algae growth, it will also eliminate odor from standing waters, reduce fish kills, and eliminate discoloration. The circulating water will also deter insect breeding, which is essential with the threat of West Nile virus.

M. City’s Landscape Maintenance crews are responsible for collecting and removing litter from trash receptacles in the downtown core area. During this permit year, they collected and removed about 137 cubic yards of litter and leaf material. This debris was then taken to a temporary transfer station, which is on an impervious paved area that is bermed to contain non-stormwater runoff.

Additionally, the City enforces adequate litter removal efforts by private property owners and managers. In some cases, the City requires developers to enter into agreements to maintain their public improvements, which includes providing an adequate number of trash receptacles. Litter problems are handled by Code Enforcement officers as part of the nuisance abatement practice.

N. The City has a total of 66 separate recycling and 275 trash receptacles installed in public parks and open space areas. The recycling receptacles were made of recyclable materials through a mini-grant from the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority. Through a grant from the Solid Waste Authority, the City recently installed additional recycling bins within the downtown areas on a pilot basis. The new cover separates cans and bottles into two different compartments (see photo on the following page).

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| |New recycling cover that separates|

| |cans and bottles (made possible |

| |through a grant from the Central |

| |Contra Costa Solid Waste |

| |Authority) |

Under the current agreement, CivicCorp (formerly known as the East Bay Conservation Corp) picks up recyclables once a week. In this permit year, 12,923 pounds of CRVs (mostly plastic, glass, aluminum, and bimetal containers) were collected from public parks and open space. This represents a 70-percent increase over last year! The visibility of recycling receptacles in strategic places is one key factor which increased our recycling efforts.

O. The City’s Building Maintenance crews are responsible for maintaining public buildings and facilities. Custodians store cleaning solvents according to the material safety data sheets inside the warehouse in a designated location. A hazardous materials disposal company picks up and disposes of excess cleaning solvents. All City offices have recycling bins for beverage containers, paper, printer cartridges, and household batteries. Custodians are responsible for collecting these recyclables and taking them to a designated recycling center.

P. The City’s Clean Water Maintenance crews continue to play a key role in reporting illegal dumping and illicit discharge incidents. In this permit year, 4 spill incidents occurred due to auto accidents and illegal dumping incidents, and 5 incidents involved discharge of chlorinated swimming pool water by pool contractors and homeowners. The prompt response to the incidents showed how familiar City crews are with the Spill Response Procedures. In addition to new and current Public Services crews, new customer service counter staff members were trained on using the Spill Response Process and routing calls to appropriate staff/agency.

Q. The City of Walnut Creek’s commitment to be an environmental steward was highlighted by its participation in the Contra Costa Green Business program. To date, the City has received five Green Business awards for its facilities:

▪ City Hall and Police Department Building

▪ Fleet Services Division

▪ Parks Services Division

▪ Reprographics Shop

▪ Lesher Center for the Arts

The awards recognized our efforts in complying with all environmental regulations, in conserving natural resources, and in preventing pollution. In addition, the City provided funding, active leadership, staff time, and resources to the countywide Green Business Program. In this permit year, 50 new Green businesses were certified in Contra Costa County. One council member was a speaker at the Green Business Program’s 10-Year Anniversary Celebration held in Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Museum.

S. Public Services crews are using water-based recycled paint and waterless chemicals to remove graffiti. To deter graffiti from getting out of control, the City attempts to remove it within 24 hours after it is reported. Most graffiti was covered by painting over it with latex paint. If high-pressure washing must take place prior to painting, City crews will first protect the storm drain with sandbags and use a portable vacuum to remove wastewater from the work area. Paint brushes and equipment are properly cleaned in the designated wash rack at the Corporation Yard. The City crews conducting graffiti abatement have attended a surface-cleaning BMP workshop held by the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA).

Six City vehicles and pieces of equipment were brought into the City’s Corporation Yard for repair this year due to automotive fluid leaks. All were repaired by June 30. Mechanics place drip pans underneath parked vehicles and equipment to prevent automotive fluid spills onto pavement. Spill kits are available in the City’s garage and near the gasoline pump. Major equipment and vehicle repairs were done at the City’s Corporation Yard. The garage has three indoor bays for general-purpose vehicle maintenance and repairs. Most specific trades such as bodyworks and

painting were contracted out. All used auto fluids (such as used motor oil, antifreeze and hydraulic fluid) were collected at the Corporation Yard and recycled by a certified hazardous materials hauler.

We currently have seven hybrid vehicles, two compressed natural gas (CNG) pickup trucks, two electric-powered carts, one ethanol/gasoline-powered mini-van and six ethanol/gasoline Police cars. See Attachment MM-15 for Fleet Services report.

All City diesel-powered vehicles and equipment are powered by Bio-Diesel fuel. Aside from better fuel mileage, these vehicles produce cleaner air discharges. The Fleet Maintenance supervisor continues to monitor their performance and research for better alternative-fuel vehicles and equipment for future recommendations.

Other sustainable improvements implemented by the City’s Fleet Services Division included using an aqueous parts washer and brake cleaning rather than solvent liquid, using re-refined oils and lubricants, and using rags, mop or enviro-sweep to manage minor spill incidents.

T. The City’s Open Space Division implemented the following best management practices and sustainable initiatives:

▪ V-ditches near residential areas and culverts under trails are cleaned prior to the rainy season and maintained as needed throughout the year to remove silt and vegetative debris that could otherwise be transported into drainage system.

▪ Irrigation water use is reduced in the Community gardens at Howe Homestead through ongoing inspections and education of local gardeners on appropriate BMPs.

▪ Mechanical discing and hand-weed abatement are used to maintain a 30-foot clearance for fire defensible spaces around all Open Space areas in lieu of herbicide use. The City contracts for 15.35 miles of discing and 5.1 miles of manual weed abatement.

▪ Solar heating is used to kill weeds in the habitat restoration areas prior to growing native plants in the open spaces.

▪ The City is working with the Walnut Creek Dog Owners Group to organize once-a-month cleanup activities to remove dog feces from trail heads.

▪ The Open Space Foundation is working with City staff to deepen a farm pond in the open space and replant it with native species to improve the habitat for a variety of riparian area plants and animals. The pond will now hold more water for a longer period of time and lessen run-off into a nearby storm drain.

U. Twenty-six of 38 full-time Parks employees have obtained a Qualified Applicator’s Certificate (QAC), Qualified Applicator’s License, or Pest Control Advisor’s License. They take classes regularly to meet their license renewal requirements. Each Parks employee is required to attend 20 hours of certified pesticide safety training every two years. IPM methods and strategies are often included as part of the training provided by Pesticide Applicator’s Professional Association (PAPA). Parks staff attended a one-day in-house training on safe pesticide use, which included IPM methods of pest controls.

V. Four City employees attended a Municipal Maintenance Stormwater workshop on April 23, 2009 that was coordinated by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program (see Attachment MM-16 for a copy of the workshop agenda). The workshop highlighted proposed Municipal Regional Permit (MRP) requirements on municipal maintenance activities, recycling of waste tires, and sewer overflow regulatory requirements. The Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Division gave a presentation on municipal responsibility for spills. This information is helpful in clarifying responsibilities with regard to responses, cleanup and documentation.

Five City employees attended a “Protect Your Watershed: Training for Maintenance Contractors” offered by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program on June 29, 2009 (Attachment MM-17). The training was tailored to surface cleaning, carpet cleaning, janitorial services, and swimming pool contractors. It highlighted best management practices (BMPs) used to minimize stormwater runoff.

Six staff from Parks Services and Open Space divisions attended a seven-week “Bay-Friendly Landscaping Maintenance” workshop once weekly for seven weeks on April and May, 2009, which was co-funded by the City’s Clean Water Program. The workshop taught staff an environmentally friendly way to landscape utilizing recycled materials and reducing use of resources and waste that would otherwise goes to the landfills. City staff is looking forward to utilizing some of the new techniques with the new Walnut Creek Public Library landscaping as well as other upcoming projects.

W. On December 4 and 8, the NPDES Coordinator presented four staff trainings on stormwater pollution prevention in municipal maintenance activities. (See Attachment MM-18 for an outline of the PowerPoint presentation.) Fifty-seven Public Services staff attended the trainings, which were followed by field trips to the Walnut

Creek Library project site. The training covered majority of municipal maintenance activities including erosion and sediment control measures. Refer to Attachment MM-19 for the workshop sign-up lists and Attachment MM-20 for the workshop evaluation summary.

Refer to Attachment MM-21 for a “Fact Sheet: Selecting Erosion and Sediment Controls” handout that was distributed during the training. Participants were asked to identify erosion-prone areas within their workplace and corrected them. Those requiring major structural improvements were proposed in the City’s Capital Investment Program for the upcoming year.

Y. The NPDES Coordinator is responsible for coordinating implementation of BMPs throughout the City organizations. With assistance from the Clean Water Maintenance crews and Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, she performed audits at the City’s Corporation Yard, Boundary Oak Golf Course yard, Heather Farm Park, and Traffic Operations Center in May and June of 2009.

During the audit, the SWPPP document was communicated to staff in charge of the facility. City employees routinely use the designated wash areas at the Corporation Yard, Heather Farm Park, and Boundary Oak Golf Course. These facilities are covered with a roof and walls on three sides. The floor is a concrete pad sloped to flow to a center drain plumbed to the sanitary sewer system. The wash pad at Heather Farm Park is large enough to accommodate the street sweepers. All wash pads are maintained regularly to prevent debris from accumulating and clogging it. Oil/sand separators were regularly serviced to remove accumulated sludge from the equipment.

Most of the deficiencies encountered were minor in nature, such as, open containers stored outside, missing stormwater decals and missing stormwater BMP poster. All of these deficiencies were corrected within the given timeline. CourseCo, a new operator of the City’s golf course, met with staff to discuss corrective actions at the maintenance yard. See Attachment MM-22 for a copy of the audit report (for Corporation Yard and Traffic Operations Center).

Modifications:

None proposed.

Fiscal Year 2009/2010 Goals:

A. Make available advance notification of pesticides application online. Continue to work with the Technical Advisory Committee, who will review new pesticide products and recommend pest management practices specific to each site.

B. The NPDES Coordinator will provide updates on new Clean Water provisions when the Municipal Regional Permit is adopted. A summary of new requirements will be

prepared specifically for each work group within the City’s departments. Subsequent meeting with respective supervisors will take place to outline a specific implementation plan.

C. Complete reconciliation of drainage inventory data from Cartegraph and GIS map.

Municipal Maintenance – quantitative results

| |Industrial Areas|Commercial Areas |Residential Areas | |

|Description | | | |Total |

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|Street Sweeping |

| | | | |402 |

|Total number of curb miles within Agency’s jurisdiction | | | | |

| | |9,027 |4,073 |13,100 |

|Number of curb miles swept | | | | |

| | |842 |1,620 |2,462 |

|Total volume of material removed through sweeping (cubic | | | | |

|yards) | | | | |

| |

|Preliminary Estimated Mass (Dry Weight) of Constituents Removed by Street Sweeping |

|Total PCBs (lbs) | |0.08 |

|Total Mercury (lbs) | |0.35 |

| | |302 |

|Total Copper (lbs) | | |

| | |110 |

|Total Lead (lbs) | | |

|Total Nickel (lbs) | |91 |

|Total Zinc (lbs) | |481 |

| | |5,877 |

|Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (lbs) | | |

| | |12,823 |

|Total Oil and Grease (lbs) | | |

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|Publicly Owned Storm Drain Facilities |

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|Total Number of Storm Drain Facilities |

| | | | |4,172 |

|Inlets | | | | |

| | | | |113 |

|Culverts (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |13 |

|V-Ditches/Roadside Ditches (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Pump Stations | | | | |

| |Industrial Areas|Commercial Areas |Residential Areas | |

|Description | | | |Total |

| | | | |18 |

|Constructed Channels (1) (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Natural Watercourses (2) (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |23 |

|Trash Racks | | | | |

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|Number of Storm Drain Facilities Inspected/Cleaned |

| | | | |4,172 |

|Inlets | | | | |

| | | | |1 |

|Number of Storm Drain Inlets requiring more frequent cleaning| | | | |

| | | | |113 |

|Culverts (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |13 |

|V-Ditches/roadside ditches (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Pump stations | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Number of Pump Station Maintenance inspections | | | | |

| | | | |18 |

|Constructed Channels (1) (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Natural Watercourses (2) (miles) | | | | |

| | | | |23 |

|Trash racks | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Number of Illegal Dumping Hot Spots identified during Routine| | | | |

|Inspections | | | | |

| |

|Volume of Material Removed from Storm Drain Facility Cleaning (cubic yards) |

| | | | |11.5 |

|Inlets | | | | |

| | | | |5.1 |

|Culverts | | | | |

| | | | |12.0 |

|V-Ditches/roadside ditches | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Pump stations | | | | |

| | | | |40 [1] |

|Constructed Channels (1) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Natural Watercourses (2) | | | | |

| | | | |8.25 |

|Trash racks | | | | |

| |

|Preliminary Estimated Mass (Dry Weight) of Constituents Removed by Storm Drain Facility Cleaning |

| | | | |1.97 |

|Total Copper (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |4.50 |

|Total Lead (lbs) | | | | |

|Total Zinc (lbs) | | | |10.52 |

| | | | |75.38 |

|Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |210.86 |

|Total Oil and Grease (lbs) | | | | |

| |

|Miscellaneous Municipal Activities |

| | | | |25 |

|Number of Municipal Maintenance Facility Inlets | | | | |

|Stenciled/Marked with the “No Dumping” Message | | | | |

| | | | |6 |

|Number of Municipal Maintenance Facility Inspections for | | | | |

|Leaky Vehicles and Equipment | | | | |

| | | | |137 |

|Total Volume of Material Collected from Litter Receptacles | | | | |

| |

|Pesticide/Herbicide Use |

| | | | |124.71 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |37.61 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied (gallons) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied with copper | | | | |

|as an active ingredient (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied with copper | | | | |

|as an active ingredient (gallons) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied with diazinon| | | | |

|as an active ingredient (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Total quantity of pesticides/herbicides applied with diazinon| | | | |

|as an active ingredient (gallons) | | | | |

| |

|Fertilizer Use |

| | | | |16,527 |

|Total amount of fertilizer applied (lbs) | | | | |

| | | | |0 |

|Total amount of fertilizer applied (gallons) | | | | |

| |

|Number of Employees Attending Municipal Maintenance Training/Workshops |

| | | | |57 [2] |

|Municipal training/workshops | | | | |

| | | | |9 [3] |

|Program training/workshops | | | | |

| | | | |6 [4] |

|Other | | | | |

1) Constructed Channels – A constructed channel means a constructed pathway for conveying stormwater runoff. The constructed channel may be earthen, rock or concrete lined. It is differentiated from a “v-ditch” in so much as it has a defined bed.

2) Natural Watercourses – A natural watercourse means a natural pathway for conveying stormwater runoff within defined bed and banks.

-----------------------

[1] The amount of debris removed during the Annual Creek Cleanup Day in May 2009.

[2] Attended “Stormwater Pollution Prevention” workshops on December 4 & 8, 2009.

[3] Attended two Municipal Maintenance Workshops offered by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program on April 23 and June 29, 2009.

[4] Attended 2009 Bay-Friendly Landscaping workshop on April-May 2009.

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