Announcements, Volunteers

Combined Sewer Overflows Sounding Board

A volunteer opportunity (received from Ray Hoffman at Seattle Public Utilities):

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is seeking community members who would like to serve on a Sounding Board to help guide the development of a long-term plan (LTCP) to control Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) in the City of Seattle.  The Clean Water Act requires that Seattle reduce CSOs. Seattle Public Utilities is developing a comprehensive Long-term Control Plan (LTCP) to lay out the capital investments necessary to meet that goal. These actions will include retrofitting the system for greater efficiency, building storage facilities, and green stormwater infrastructure where appropriate. The Sounding Board will provide a diverse set of perspectives from across the City. We seek individuals who can see the big picture, as well as effectively represent a particular point of view and provide constructive advice about important investment decisions. We hope to identify people from each quadrant of the city (northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest) to represent interests in those geographic areas.

Sounding Board members will be asked to:

  • quickly develop an understanding of the data and rationale for projects,
  • assist in developing and applying criteria to make decisions about the best alternatives,
  • review and comment on the elements of the LTCP, and
  • provide guidance on public involvement activities and communications designed to engage stakeholders throughout the development of the LTCP.

The first series of Sounding Board meetings will be from May to early July 2010, with a meeting held about every other week. We’ll resume in the fall with another set of meetings and then again in early 2011.

If you are interested in being considered as a member of the Sounding Board, please send an e-mail to CSO Program Public Involvement Coordinator Susan Stoltzfus (susan.stoltzfus@seattle.gov) by April 2, 2010. Please include “Sounding Board” in the subject line and include your name, address, and phone number. Provide a brief description (2-4 paragraphs) that includes: 1) your background, 2) your current affiliations and how you would represent your quadrant of the city, and 3) why you are interesting in taking part. Please feel free to contact Susan if you have questions or would like to suggest others who may want to be considered. Thank you.