At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Benicia City Council heard a presentation from Kosmont Companies on the proposed Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) and an update from the public works director on the city’s water re-use project. The council also approved a three-year contract with I.D. Modeling, Inc. for management and implementation of Sedaru Utility Management Software and an agreement with WaterSmart Software, Inc. to continue the WaterSmart program from 2017 through 2021.
The council voted to approve a lease purchase agreement with Wells Fargo, with Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and Councilmember Alan Schwartzman casting no votes due to recent, objectionable actions by the bank, for the purchase of seven large vehicles for city use.
Finally, the council finalized its resolution to deny the use permit for Valero Benicia Refinery’s crude by rail project.

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD)
Kosmont Companies CEO Larry Kosmont presented the council with his findings to date regarding the establishment of an EIFD for the Benicia Industrial Park. He emphasized the recently adopted California statutes designed to help cities reduce their total carbon footprint and explained the process of applying for loans and grants in accordance with those statutes.
Kosmont recommended that Benicia focus on attracting new development, and particularly tech-related businesses, to the industrial park for the highest likely return on investment.

Water Re-use Project
Graham Wadsworth, the public works director, reported that the feasibility study begun by Brown and Caldwell in August, 2015 regarding the water re-use project is near completion. It is recommended that the city continue to work toward submitting a complete application to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) for low-interest loans that are expected to become available.
The fundamental goal of the re-use project is to reduce Benicia’s dependence on state water. The feasibility study indicates that the greatest reduction would come from treating effluent for use by Valero Benicia Refinery for cooling purposes, instead of continuing to discharge the effluent into the Carquinez Strait.
Valero reportedly accounts for about half of Benicia’s water usage. Benicia currently receives approximately two million gallons per day from Lake Berryessa and six million gallons per day from the State Water Project, of which approx. two million gallons per day is used by Valero’s cooling towers and two million for its boilers and other applications. Valero has reported that the plan is technically feasible, as long as the treated effluent could meet existing standards for use in their cooling towers.
The second-largest reduction could come through city-wide water conservation, estimated at one million gallons per day, which is feasible based on Benicia’s success in conserving water in 2015.
It is recommended that the city continue to work toward obtaining grant money from the SWRCB for completion of the project. This is estimated to be about a one-year process. The next step would be to finalize a technical feasibility study and a fully-executed user agreement with Valero.

Crude-By-Rail decision
At its Sept. 20 meeting, the council voted to deny the crude by rail project permit and directed staff to specify in writing the findings that supported that decision. Staff came back Tuesday with the recommended language and the council finalized that language, with the primary aim of providing solid and defensible reasoning for their decision.

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