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The San Ramon City Council is set to talk Tuesday about the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s desire to purchase city property as the site for a future pump station that would distribute recycled water throughout the San Ramon Valley.
EBMUD, which is spearheading the local recycled water system project, has eyed seven sites for the new pump station it wants to build in the northern Dougherty Valley, with six of the sites either owned by the city of San Ramon or located in landscaped areas adjacent to city rights-of-way.
“This additional pump station is needed to deliver recycled water to additional areas of the San Ramon, Danville and Blackhawk communities for landscape irrigation in parks, greenbelts, schools, common area landscapes, HOAs and golf courses,” EBMUD officials wrote in a letter to the city.
The pump station, proposed to move 2,600 gallons of recycled water per minute, would measure about 30 feet by 40 feet and require an overall site footprint of about 5,400 square feet, according to EBMUD. It would also be designed to blend into the surroundings and reduce noise impacts.
The preferred location in the minds of EBMUD and San Ramon city staff is a site on the west side of Dougherty Road south of Red Willow Road. Both agencies think the site would have the least neighborhood impacts of the seven options, according to city division manager Robin Bartlett.
Another top EBMUD choice, north of the intersection of Dougherty and Crow Canyon roads, was removed from the running because it would have high neighborhood impacts, Bartlett said.
The other alternatives include Valley View Park, Red Willow Park, a site off Crow Canyon Road adjacent to Diablo Vista Park and a site on the east side of Dougherty Road about halfway between Crow Canyon and North Gale Ridge/North Monarch roads.
The seventh location, owned by EBMUD and the Dublin San Ramon Services District, is near Lilac Ridge Road and Lantana Way, but that spot is less desirable because it would be more visible to residents, located near a planned subdivision and would require about 2,700 feet of new pipes, which would result in higher project costs and more traffic impacts, Bartlett said.
EBMUD would prefer to buy the property that will house the pump station, but the district would also consider purchasing easement rights for the site from the city, according to Bartlett.
The council on Tuesday is set to consider authorizing Interim City Manager Joe Gorton to begin negotiations with EBMUD for the sale of a portion of the property or an easement related to the pump station project.
If the council supports initiating negotiations, an appraiser would assess the value of the site and a final purchase agreement would later return to the council for final approval. EBMUD would also continue designing the proposed pump station and circulate design plans for review by city officials and the public, with the goal of beginning construction in summer 2018.
The council meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday at San Ramon City Hall, 7000 Bollinger Canyon Road.
In other business, the councilmen will honor two outgoing city commissioners for their years of service to the city: Donna Kerger for her time on the Planning Commission and David Ernest for his time on the Parks and Community Services Commission.
