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MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Lori Johnson, City Administrator <br />FROM: Terry Maurer, Public Works Director <br />DATE: September 10, 2008 <br />SUBJECT: WWTP Proposal for working with GRE <br />As you are aware, we have had several meetings with Great River Energy (GRE) over the <br />last several weeks looking at potential synergies between GRE's operation and the city's <br />Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). GRE is anticipating the construction of a digester <br />for processing municipal solid waste. This digester will use the same technology that is <br />currently used at our Wastewater Treatment Plant. This will provide even more <br />opportunities to look for synergies between the two operations. Our hope from the WWTP <br />standpoint is to eventually get out of the sludge handling business. Currently, we store up to <br />700,000 gallons of sludge on site and twice a year, haul and spread it on the approximately <br />150 acres that the city owns near the YAC complex. If the city were able to get out of the <br />sludge hauling and spreading business by finding a method to ship sludge or undigested <br />waste to GRE for further processing, not only would it potentially save the city money in <br />our WWTP operations, but would also free up the sludge land for other uses. In addition, <br />looking for synergies has the potential of freeing space within our WWT'P which could <br />potentially be used for increasing the capacity of the entire plant. <br />After several meetings with representatives of GRE, myself, Gary Leirmore and Bill Chang, <br />our wastewater engineer, I have asked Bill to prepare a proposal for working with GRE to <br />further analyze the various options available. Bill has put together the attached proposal <br />estimated at a maximum of $25,000 for working with GRE engineers, dealing Minnesota <br />Pollution Control Agency relative to potential changes in our NPDES permit, and estimating <br />costs to evaluate cost-effectiveness of the various options that may be available to the city. <br />I would recommend that the city proceed with this study and continue to work closely with <br />GRE to evaluate options available to eliminate sludge hauling and spreading in the future. <br />Please let me know if you need any additional information to evaluate this recommendation. <br />S:\PUBLIC WORKS\Sewer Division\09 10 08 memo Proposal GRE.doc <br />