Steve Klein addresses current issues impacting Yelm and vicinity and provides a meeting place for anyone with an interest in this area to provide their ideas and opinions
EARTHDAY.ORG is honored that the Biden Administration has decided to convene a global climate summit on Earth Day 2021. Many important environmental events have happened on Earth Day since 1970, including the recent signing of the Paris Agreement, as Earth Day continues to be a momentous and unifying day each and every year. We look forward to being a part of this historic climate summit and making active progress to Restore Our Earth.
Barack Obama: “True justice requires that we come to terms with the fact that Black Americans are treated differently, every day. … And it requires us to do the sometimes thankless, often difficult, but always necessary work of making the America we know more like the America we believe in.”
DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR’S MOVIE TO HAVE A YELM THEATER DEBUT!
Documentary: Evolution: The Genius Equation, by Paulina Amador of the Yelm area.
Click hereTO BUY YOUR TICKETS for Yelm Cinemas showtimes April 29-May 2.
Stars: Linda Evans, Michio Kaku, Paris Reid, Norman Doidge, David Gelernter, JZ Knight, Sam Sternberg, Poppy Crum. A visual masterpiece narrated by legendary actress Linda Evans. EVOLUTION The Genius Equation inspires us to think for ourselves and explore our unlimited potential. One has to ask does everyone have access to GENIUS Whats the secret?
Do we really think for ourselves? It’s important that people have the freedom to dig deeper and follow their curiosity. Many feel they are not allowed to think for themselves. It is the biggest problem in our current society that people don’t value their own thoughts.
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From Yelm-based Director, Paulina Amador to the Yelm Community Blog:
“We are pleased to announce that the Yelm Cinemas will be hosting a special screening of EVOLUTION for our beloved local community, April 29 through May 2. Please visit the Yelm Cinemas website for showtimes.
“As always, we are committed to unfolding the Genius within us and bringing exceptional knowledge to a world on the cusp of magnificent change and EVOLUTION!“
This article by Kelly Vaughan originally appeared on MarthaStewart.com.
“One of the oldest known meteor showers will peak in the U.S. The Lyrid meteor shower, which is named after a constellation of shooting stars, will peak on the night of April 21, 2021, and the wee morning hours of April 22. Observations of the Lyrids date back to 687 B.C. The mesmerizing display of meteors is a result of Earth passing through the tail of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. As our planet moves through the debris, space rocks burn up the Earth’s atmosphere, which causes spectacular showers to streak across the night sky.”
“The meteor shower will be best be viewed in the Northern Hemisphere on a clear night. The Lyrid meteor shower is not dull, but it’s certainly not the most luminous, especially compared to the Perseid meteor shower, which occurs in August of each year.” Read more
Council must approve Public Works funding for city to grow
Ed. note: The April 6th city council Study Session and April 13th council meeting had briefings and discussions on allowing a property owner to petition the city for his 10 acres of county property contiguous to the city limits to be annexed. Secondly, also discussed was the potential disposition of the 640 acre deed the city now possesses along with the property’s L.I.D. debt, once that is paid. Both projects require the city to have water rights the city does not currently posses.
+ Community Development Director Grant Beck recently informed the council that he expects the city to receive additional water rights sometime during this summer. This would open the way for developments and single-home builders to move forward to receive their permits from the city.
+ Public Works Director Cody Colt stressed in my exchange last week that “it is imperative that Council takes that [funding the WRF – Water Reclamation Facility] into consideration when looking at the possible construction of the new WRF.”
+In follow-up to my previous questions last February, last week I asked Public Works Director Cody Colt specifically if the water and sewer systems could handle the potential to more than double Yelm’s water rights and the city’s subsequent growth:
Key Points:
There are currently 3,400 water customers and 2,700 sewer customers, the difference being those with septic tanks not connected to Public Works.
The current sewer system’s 2,700 connections (residences, businesses) is out of a capacity of 3,600.
If the city is granted additional water rights, the difference of 900 new sewer connections to reach maximum capacity is projected to be reached within 36 months.
The new Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) is imperative to be funded by the council to provide a doubling of the current system’s capacity, allowing the community to grow.
Blogger: What was the capacity of hook-ups at the time the water-sewer system
came online?
Colt: Our current Sewer System is rated to handle 1.1 MGD (Million Gallons a Day) which is max load. Although, you lose all backups and fail safes at that rating since all 3 SBRs are running full time. So they (DOE and our operators) recommend you don't exceed ~750,000 Gallons a day.
Blogger: What is the current capacity of hook-ups now (by hook-ups, I mean how
many customer connections can the city's system handle)?
Colt: Currently our Sewer System handles around 500,000 Gallons a Day. Which is equal to about 2,700 connections. So the City could handle "in theory" another 900 or so connections before we are reaching our recommended limits. That number could be more or less depending on the type of connections, homes vs commercial vs industrial.
As for our well system, we currently are allowed to pump 800 Acre Feet Per Year, we have pumped around 760-770 each of the last few years. Our current wells could pump nearly double that number if needed, but we are limited by DOE/DOH on how much we are allowed to pump each year. We also haven't had the need to pump more since our growth has been limited because of Water Rights. Yelm residents also use much less water per year than similar size homes in other cities. So our Well Water System mechanically could most likely pump double the current allowed number and serve another 3,000 customers. But, this is all part of the Water Rights package and discussion that is going on with DOH and DOE right now.
Blogger: How many current hook-up customers do the city have?
Colt: We have around 2,700 sewer customers and around 3,400 water customers. The reason for the disparage between the two numbers is some water customers still have Septic Tanks on their properties and are not connected to our sewer system.
Blogger: I am asking these questions because Community Development has several developments ready to go when the city receives the additional water rights. If your current sewer capacity can only "handle 'in theory' another 900 or so connections before we are reaching our recommended limits," then that is not some far off timeline after the city receives the additional water rights, based on a hot housing market here. Does the $22.2 million wastewater treatment facility upgrade referenced in the NVN's August 11, 2020 story include capacity expansion?
Colt: As for the 900 additional connections I think we will hit that in the next 36 months after water rights come through, so it is imperative that Council takes that into consideration when looking at the possible construction of the new WRF [Water Reclamation Facility]. Once council approves the new WRF construction contract, which we expect in July or August. The build/upgrades will take about 24 months once started.
The new WRF would be able to handle 2.2 MGPD which is double the max load of our current WRF. It also is extremely easy to upgrade that capacity by dropping in new Membrane Cassettes. So, if growth continues at this rate we can continue to have available sewer connections for the next 20+ years.
+ Bottom line: I sincerely that Director Colt for his responsiveness!
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