Public Facilities Element

7. Public Facilities Element

7.1. Introduction

LEGAL BASIS & REQUIREMENTS

Various aspects of public facilities are considered within this element, While State law requires the General Plan to address domestic water service issues, requirements regarding other facilities are not clearly or specifically defined. State law encourages the local jurisdiction to include any other element, which it determines to be relevant to the jurisdiction (Government Code §65303). This element considers the range of public facilities that the City must provide to support existing and future land uses.

Safety related issues such as fire protection and flood control are discussed within the Public Health and Safety Element. However, the facilities required to respond to these hazards, including domestic water and storm water conveyance systems, are discussed within this element.

7.2. General Infrastructure

A key premise of this General Plan is that growth should be guided by the ability of resources and services to sustain it. For Public Facilities, this means ensuring that new development does not create demands that cannot be met without diminishing the quality of services to current residents and businesses. The following goals and programs establish general requirements for the planning and financing of new facilities.

DEVELOPMENT FEES

The City of Yreka has historically been reluctant to prepare and adopt development impact fees in order to support economic growth. Many of the programs in this element require the City to evaluate long-term growth, prepare a master infrastructure plan to accommodate that growth, and suggest appropriate fees. The growth rate in Yreka is very slow (<1 percent) and a conventional fee program is not likely to generate sufficient funds in a timely manner to support typical capital improvement projects. Further compounding the issue is the fact that much of the City’s infrastructure is in need of significant repair or improvement, which constitutes an existing need which is not typically an allowed item in a development fee program. In order to address both current need and projected demand, the City will need to rely on a mixture of development fees, low interest loans and grants.

PUBLIC FACILITIES GOALS & PROGRAMS

Goal PF.1

Ensure that public facilities are designed to accommodate reasonable future need.

Objective: Encourage an early discussion and allow the City to develop mechanisms to reimburse the private installation of oversized improvements. Often a public improvement can be built slightly larger at a substantial savings when compared to enlarging that same facility at a later date. This “over sizing” can be as simple as a slightly larger water or sewer line, or similar small materials increase. Because developers design and install many public improvements, it is important that any over- sizing be discussed early in the project stage to avoid unnecessary changes in design. It is also important that the size of the infrastructure be clearly defined so that each project can contribute its fair share of responsibility for providing adequate services to the community.

PROGRAM PF.I.A.

All infrastructure costs necessary to serve new development projects shall be borne by the new development unless the City determines other means are available, or beneficial to the City.

PROGRAM PF.I.B.

Concurrent — with development approvals, all public utilities, street, right of way, and easements must be identified and may be offered for public dedication.

PROGRAM PF.I.C.

The City may enter into reimbursement agreements for facilities that are over sized at the time of construction.

PROGRAM PF.1.D.

Prior to approval of new development projects, applicants shall specify project-related demand for sewer, water, and electrical services and project approval shall be granted only after capacity to provide required services is confirmed by the City.

PROGRAM PF.1.E.

Following adoption of this General Plan, facility master plans shall be prepared and/or updated for:

• Storm Drainage
• Water Supply and Distribution
• Wastewater Collection and Treatment
• Solid Waste

PROGRAM PF.1.F.

Following adoption of this General Plan, establish procedures for requiring facilities to be designed and constructed to meet ultimate facility demands described within facility master plans.

7.3. Schools

[Insert Image Here] Evergreen School

The Yreka Union Elementary School District provides educational opportunities for local children in grades kindergarten through the eighth grade. The Yreka Union High School District provides these services to children in grades nine through twelve. The facilities’ locations, grade spans, and current and maximum enrollments are shown in Table 7.1 — School Enroliment Figures.

Table 7-1 - School Enrollment Figures

| School Enrollment | Current | Capacity | | :— | -:- | -:- | | Evergreen School, 416 Evergreen Lane, K-2 | 275 | 400 | | Gold Street School, 321 Gold Street, 3-4 | 236 | 400 | | Jackson Street School, 405 Jackson Street, 5-8 | 571 | 675 | | Yreka Union High School, 400 Preece Way, 9-12 | 788 | 800 |

SCHOOLS GOALS & PROGRAMS

GOAL PF.2.

Help the Districts continue to offer high quality educational services and facilities to local children.

Objective: For the City to continue its close cooperation with the Schoo! Districts in all aspects of facility planning, roads and parks. The City and the School Districts work together to meet the needs of the youngest area residents,

PROGRAM PF.2.A.

Support efforts by Yreka Union Elementary School District (YUESD) and Yreka Union High School District (YUHSD) to maintain and improve educational facilities and services.

PROGRAM PF.2.B.

Support the School Districts’ efforts to mitigate significant impacts of new projects on school facilities, consistent with State law,

PROGRAM PF.2.C.

Encourage the School Districts to provide educational facilities with sufficient permanent capacity to meet the needs of current and projected enrollment.

Overall, enroliment at elementary schools in Yreka has been in decline. In general, Siskiyou County’s population is stable and, although the schools are graduating substantial numbers of children, less are coming in to take their place. Even with the Class Size Reduction Act, elementary school capacity is expected to serve Yrela’s population through the life of this General Plan.

The Yreka Union High School District has one of the lowest student to teacher ratios in the State. Although Table 7.| indicates that Yreka High School is near capacity, school officials are confident that their facilities will be able to serve Yreka’s High School population through the life of this General Plan (through 2022).

In addition to the public schools listed above, Yreka has five Christian Education programs serving students in kindergarten through twelfth grades.

College of the Siskiyous, a State community college, has a satellite campus at 2001 Campus Drive in Yreka. The main campus is located in Weed, approximately 28 miles south of Yreka.

7.4. Library Facilities

There is one public library serving the population of Yreka — the Yreka branch of the Siskiyou County Library. It is open during the week, with Saturday service available during the school year only. The library is located on Fourth Street next to the City Hall.

7.5. City Administration

The administration for the City is located in City Hall at 701 Fourth Street. City Hall houses the Department of Public Works, the Planning Department, the office of the City Manager, the Building Department, and the Department of Parks and Recreation, City administrative staff consists of twelve employees, excluding fire and police. Adjacent to the City Hall is the City Council Chamber.

7.6 Water Supply Facilities

This section addresses issues related to domestic water service throughout the community, including ensuring that community water supplies will meet the needs of the community and that adequate facilities to treat and deliver domestic water are created if new development and urban expansion occur.

[Insert Image Here] Fall Creek

EXISTING WATER SYSTEM CONDITIONS

Water supply for the City of Yreka is piped from the Fall Creek Pumping Station near Copco Lake (near the California-Oregon border) through a 24-inch pipe for 23 miles to Yreka. The water is filtered and chlorinated at the source and again at the Fall Creek Treatment Plant just north of Yreka on Ager Road before entering the City. The water system is almost entirely gravity fed with five existing storage tanks. The City has a current winter usage of |.0 million gallons a day, while summer usage can increase to 6.0 million gallons per day. Most of the system is looped, and adequate pressure is available through much of the City. (Please see the Public Health and Safety Element of this General Plan for a discussion of the water supply and_ fire suppression needs.) The City’s water service line is capable of up to 15 cubic feet per second of flow, which equates to a potential service- ability of 10.5 million gallons per day, which is more than adequate to meet the needs for the life of the General Plan.

WATER SUPPLY GOALS & PROGRAMS

Goal PF.3.

Ensure an ample water supply for the City of Yreka.

Objective: Continue to improve the efficiency of the water treatment and distribution system and to promote expansion that serves both new growth and the water system as a whole. Water is essential to the continued prosperity of the City. The City works hard to ensure that this valuable commodity is used efficiently through a comprehensive distribution and treatment system.

PROGRAM PF.3.A.

Ensure that water volume throughout the City is sufficient for emergency response and fire suppression demands.

PROGRAM PF.3.B.

Establish and collect appropriate development impact fees to finance new wells, pumps, mains, oversizing mains, treatment, storage and other water system improvements as needed to serve new development. Review and revise, as necessary, development fees for water service to ensure that fees are adequate and appropriate.

PROGRAM PF.3.C.

Prior to final project approval, the source of sufficient water supply to serve the domestic and fire protection needs of the project shall be verified as required by the City.

PROGRAM PF.3.D.

To the extent possible, new water systems shall be looped with dead-end water service lines.

PROGRAM PF.3.E.

Prepare and implement a Water Service Master Plan. The Plan should:

• Incorporate currently proposed water main improvements.
• Specify how water from the Fall Creek Pumping Station will be utilized.
• Identify standards of water availability (supply and storage) required for approval of new development.
• Specify design of water delivery systems to ensure adequate fire suppression flows.

7.7. Wastewater Collection and Treatment

This section considers the entire system of collection, treatment, and disposal facilities, which are required to process the wastewater generated by the community.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

The City’s wastewater treatment facility is located between Highway 263 (North Main Street) and Yreka Creek approximately 600 feet north of the intersection of Montague Road (Highway 3) and Highway 263. The facility is designed to accommodate up to 1.3 million gallons per day (mgd) of average dry weather flow. Current average dry weather flow is between 0,7 and 0.9 million gallons per day.

WASTEWATER SYSTEM

The treatment facility has been under repair and improvement to comply with State requirements. The collection system is also being studied to determine the most effective means of reducing stormwater inflow and groundwater infiltration. Resolution of these two issues is anticipated within the five years following adoption of this General Plan. Maintenance of the system will require constant vigilance and investment concurrent with growth and system demand. WASTEWATER COLLECTION AND

TREATMENT GOALS & PROGRAMS

GOAL PF.4.

Develop and properly maintain facilities to transport, treat, and discharge wastewater in a safe and sanitary manner,

Objective: Provide the City with the means to ensure that the investment in system-wide improvements remains constant in terms of growth demand and simple deterioration over time, Potable water and sanitary sewer are two of the major services provided by the City of Yreka. The sewer system is in the process of being upgraded to meet State requirements.

PROGRAM PF4.A.

Require that when a sewer line is within 600 feet of a septic tank, any new development must connect to the City sewer system.

PROGRAM PF.4.B.

Develop a Wastewater System Master Plan to identify immediate and future infrastructure needs, including plan to construct the improvements, The Master Plan should include specific measures to reduce rainfall and groundwater infiltration within the wastewater system, as well as appropriate development impact fees.

7.8. Storm Drainage System

The City of Yreka lacks a comprehensive storm drainage management system, but does have an informal policy of protecting natural drainages during construction. The City is traversed by a number of natural and man-made drainages. All of these drainages eventually lead to Yreka Creek and flow north through the Shasta River and the Klamath River to the Pacific Ocean. Overall drainage in the City is adequate with only localized flooding during storm events.

The City has standard development requirements that prevent increases in peak storm water flow from new development. As a result, all new development is either required to retain peak flow on-site, or demonstrate that the new development will not increase peak flow from current conditions.

FUTURE STORM WATER SYSTEM NEEDS

A Drainage Master Plan is needed to address the adverse effect that floodwater and drainage have on the stormdrain systems. The Master Plan should also provide standards for design of stormdrain infrastructure. The standards should include: minimum pipe sizes, drain inlet spacing, pipe materials, manhole spacing, pipeline alignment, rainfall intensity curves, rainfall return curves, rainfall return intervals, and other variables.

The Master Plan should establish sizes and locations of all major improvements and a fee structure for all new development.

STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEMS GOALS & PROGRAMS

GOAL PF.5.

Provide for the collection, transport, and discharge of stormwater in a safe manner and protect people and property from flooding.

Objective: In addition to natural waterflow that moves within the community and poses a threat to development fram flooding, the built environment, roads, streets, impervious areas such as parking lots and rooftops, can increase the amount of stormwater that is generated by the community. Unless addressed correctly, the stormwater can overwhelm a natural drainage system and cause artificial flooding or flooding from man made sources rather than just mother nature. When this is compounded with the natural increase in flow due to storm event, there can be much greater flooding and potential property damage. The objective of this goal is to ensure that new development does not increase the natural flooding through inappropriate storm drainage design and to ensure that the quality of water than enters the natural waterways is not significantly degraded as a result of the urban development.

PROGRAM PF.5.A.

Restrict development in areas where significant drainage and flooding problems are known to exist until adequate drainage and/or flood control facilities can be provided.

PROGRAM PF.5.B.

New development. shall provide flood retention facilities to avoid increasing peak storm runoff in drainage channels.

PROGRAM PF.5.C.

Work with the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) to resolve drainage and flooding issues which result from discharging storm water into Yreka Creek.

PROGRAM PF.5.D.

Prepare a Drainage Master Plan which:

• Identifies National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) measures to treat stormwater prior to being discharged.

• Identifies improvements to provide protection for a 100-year storm event.

• Establishes storm drainage standards for underground conduits within all new development in the City.

• Proposes guidelines for short-term and long- term storm drainage detention basins, including basin design and maintenance strategies.

• Establishes requirements for building pad elevations in relation to curb elevations.

PROGRAM PF.5.E.

Establish, adopt and collect appropriate drainage impact fees to be charged for new development to fund drainage facilities described in the City Drainage Master Plan.

PROGRAM PF.5.F.

The Public Works Department and the Planning Department shall coordinate efforts for developing short-term and long-term flood protection strategies in consultation with the RWOQCB.

PROGRAM PF.5.G.

To the extent feasible, all natural drainages should be protected and may be incorporated into the City drainage system. Vegetation along the drainages should be managed effectively to allow as much of the vegetation as possible to remain as habitat and filtration, while not impeding the drainage’s role in preventing localized flooding.

7.9. Solid Waste Collection and Disposal

The City co-owns and operates a landfill site southeast of the City off of Oberlin Road. Siskiyou County participates in the maintenance of this facility. The City has a franchise agreement with Yreka Transfer Company for solid waste collection and disposal within the City and the County offers a drop box service.

SOLID WASTE COLLECTION GOALS & PROGRAMS

GOAL PF.6.

Ensure that solid waste disposal and recycling services are adequate to meet the needs of current and future residents of the City.

Objective: Provide the encouragement and support for recycling, diversion and source reduction. The City has a solid waste disposal facility that can accommodate growth throughout the period of the General Plan. The permitting and operating of a new landfill is so expensive that the City should continue with its recycling and diversion programs to further prolong the life of the landfill.

PROGRAM PF.6.A.

Continue with efforts to achieve waste stream reduction goals established by the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act of 1989, and established by the 1997 Countywide Source Reduction and Recycling Element.

PROGRAM PF.6.B.

Continue to implement the Household Hazardous Waste Element (HHWE) to encourage proper management of household hazardous waste materials.

PROGRAM PF.6.C.

Continue to work with Siskiyou County Department of Public Works to implement periodic and mobile collection events.