During a Tuesday evening meeting that lasted less than 20 minutes, the Worthington City Council approved legal services that would prepare an updated industrial user agreement between the city of Worthington and JBS.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is finalizing issuance of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the city's industrial wastewater treatment facility that treats discharges from the JBS facility. The permit will include a 15-year chloride compliance schedule in which JBS will take steps to reduce chloride discharges in the waste stream. Worthington City Administrator Steve Robinson said getting a 15-year compliance schedule was notable, as a five-year schedule seemed much more realistic.
In conjunction with the permit, the MPCA has requested an updated industrial user agreement between the city and JBS that includes milestones and monitoring steps for the chloride reduction compliance schedule that must be adhered to by JBS. City staff subsequently requested a proposal from Daniel Marx of Flaherty-Hood to assist the city and its consulting engineer in preparing the agreement.
Flaherty-Hood's work will be performed on an hourly basis. Robinson said funding for its work will come from the Industrial Waste Water Facility Fund and will not impact the general fund budget.
Also Tuesday, the council approved the second readings of proposed ordinances that would change the time of regular meeting of the council from 7 to 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month, as well as extra meeting compensation for the mayor and council members that changes from $50 per day to $100 per meeting.
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