To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Ordinance Amending Various Sections in Chapters 13.06 And 15.03 of the Castle Rock Municipal Code Clarifying the Registration Requirements for Backflow Prevention Assembly Testers (Second Reading - Approved on First Reading on March 16, 2021 by a vote of 7-0)
Body
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to request Council approval of an Ordinance (see Attachment A) revising Sections 13.06 and Section 15.03 of the Castle Rock Municipal Code to include language that clarifies the registration requirements for cross-connection control technicians. A cross-connection control technician, also referred to as tester, is one who is engaged in the testing, maintenance, or repair of a testable backflow prevention assembly which has been installed to prevent contamination through a cross connection with the Castle Rock Water (CRW) drinking water distribution system. The current code in Section 13.06 is specific to the tester registration requirements of CRW and, similarly, Section 15.03 is specific to the registration requirements of Development Services.
The requirements of Section 13.06, as they relate to the registration of testers, are to ensure that the testers possess a valid certification, and their respective testing equipment is certified as to calibration. Whereas, the registration requirements of Section 15.03 are related to ensuring proof of appropriate insurances and the payment of an annual registration fee.
The proposed changes to the code will streamline the registration process, while maintaining the certification and insurance requirements, and will eliminate the fee.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
Castle Rock Water staff attended several meetings with the Development Services staff to discuss, and to come to agreement on the proposed changes to the code. Once an agreement was reached, CRW staff shared the proposed changes with, and requested comments from the Development Services staff including the Assistant Director, and Chief Building Inspector.
Additionally, there are roughly 200 certified testers in the community, which will be affected by the changes. According to the proposed code change, testers will submit proof of insurance to CRW, and so it is anticipated that the impact to them will be minimal. CRW staff is in the midst of preparing to train all testers to a new software tracking system, and will provide direction and assistance regarding the code changes.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
This item was presented to the Castle Rock Water Commission on February 24, 2021. The Commission voted 7 to 0 to recommend Council approval of the ordinance.
Discussion
The Town of Castle Rock Cross-Connection Control Program enhances the Town’s overall water quality program to provide high quality water through protecting the integrity of the water system. The purpose of the program is to reduce the risk of contamination of the public water system. The program addresses the implementation of Federal and State drinking water regulations, which require that a public water system have no uncontrolled cross-connections. A cross-connection is defined as any physical arrangement whereby a potable water supply is connected, directly or indirectly, with any other system, which may be capable of contaminating the potable water supply because of backflow. For cross-connections, which require control, the State of Colorado requires the water supplier to develop a tracking mechanism for the installation, testing and maintenance of approved backflow prevention assemblies (assemblies) throughout the system. The supplier must also ensure that any assembly, which fails to test within parameters, be repaired or replaced and tested prior to water service being restored.
A tester must have a valid certification from an approved agency, and shall be able to make competent tests and repairs on all approved assemblies. Testers provide the initial testing service for all newly installed commercial and residential assemblies. Additionally, assemblies installed on commercial accounts and fire protection/suppressions systems are required to be tested annually, and currently there are over 2,100 of these.
The intent in Section 13.06 of the code is to prevent contamination of the CRW distribution system from undesirable cross-connections in conformance with State and Federal regulations, and through adopted primary codes. Accordingly, the language of Section 13.06 applies to individuals associated with the testing, repair, and maintenance of backflow prevention assemblies which protect the distribution system from cross-connections. The registration requirements for a tester in Section 13.06 include strict and rigorous certifications of the tester, and of the test equipment. CRW must first receive proof of certification and, until then, no person shall be allowed to test a backflow prevention assembly within the Town.
Additionally, the current Section 15.03 of the code includes requirements for tester registration. These requirements are administrative in nature, and require that the tester pay an administrative fee and provide proof of insurance as a Class D contractor registrant.
The proposed code changes will eliminate redundant registration, and streamline the process by removing the requirement of the tester to register with the Building Division within the Development Services department under Section 15.03. The administrative fee will no longer be required. The burden of requiring and receiving the appropriate Certificates of Insurance will be placed on CRW, and will be added to the existing registration requirements of Section 13.06.
Budget Impact
No budget impacts are expected by this change. Revenues will change due to the elimination of the registration fee requirement with the Building Division, and CRW will not collect a fee. For perspective, there have been less than a dozen registrants through the Building Division since 2013, and it is expected that roughly 200 testers will be registered with CRW.
Staff Recommendation
Staff and Castle Rock Water Commission recommend approval of the ordinance as presented.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Ordinance as introduced by title, on second reading.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Ordinance