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Home My WebLink About20083210.tiff HEARING CERTIFICATION DOCKET NO. 2008-87 RE: SITE SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND AMENDED USE BY SPECIAL REVIEW PERMIT#1614 FOR A MINERAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT FACILITY, INCLUDING AN OIL AND GAS STORAGE FACILITY, IN THE A(AGRICULTURAL)ZONE DISTRICT- SEM CRUDE, LP A public hearing was conducted on November 5, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., with the following present: Commissioner William H. Jerke, Chair Commissioner Robert D. Masden, Pro-Tem - EXCUSED Commissioner William F. Garcia Commissioner David E. Long Commissioner Douglas Rademacher Also present: Acting Clerk to the Board, Esther Gesick County Attorney, Bruce Barker Planning Department representative, Jacqueline Hatch-Drouillard Health Department representative, Lauren Light Public Works representative, Don Dunker The following business was transacted: I hereby certify that pursuant to a notice dated October 17, 2008, and duly published October 24, 2008, in the Greeley Tribune, a public hearing was conducted to consider the request of Sem Crude, LP, for a Site Specific Development Plan and Amended Use by Special Review Permit #1614 for a Mineral Resource Development Facility, including an Oil and Gas Storage Facility, in the A (Agricultural) Zone District. Bruce Barker, County Attorney, made this a matter of record. Chair Jerke advised the applicant's representative, Julie Cozad, Tetra Tech, Inc., that she has the option of continuing this matter to a date when the full Board will be present. However, if she decides to proceed today, it will require three affirmative votes, or in the case of a tie vote, Commissioner Masden will listen to the record and make the determining vote. Ms. Cozad indicated she would like to proceed today. Jacqueline Hatch-Drouillard, Department of Planning Services, presented a brief summary of the proposal, entered the favorable recommendation of the Planning Commission into the record as written, and gave a brief description of the location of the 80-acre parcel. She stated the original Use by Special Review (USR) permit was approved on August 8, 2007, and the applicant is seeking to amend the permit to include two additional 10-acre parcels to contain oil polishing facilities to be operated by Noble Energy, Inc., and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. Ms. Hatch- Drouillard stated nine referral agencies reviewed the proposal,four indicated no concerns,and five offered comments which have been addressed in the Conditions of Approval and Development Standards. She displayed photographs of the site and surrounding area, and stated staff recommends deletion of Conditions of Approval #1.B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and L, since they have been addressed by the applicant. Responding to Chair Jerke, Ms. Hatch-Drouillard stated Anadarko and Noble are leasing the 10-acre parcels; however, all of the parcels will be permitted through one USR. 2008-3210 PL1918 HEARING CERTIFICATION - SEM CRUDE, LP (AMUSR#1614) PAGE 2 Don Dunker, Department of Public Works, stated the three parcels will be accessed from County Road 30, which requires 80 feet of right-of-way at full buildout. He stated the average daily traffic count, taken in August 2007, reflects an average of 507 vehicles per day. He further stated County Road 49 is a paved strategic roadway, which requires 140 feet of right-of-way at full buildout, and the average daily traffic count from August 2007, reflects 3,336 vehicles traveling south of the site, and a count taken in April 2008, reflects an average of 4,444 vehicles traveling north of the site. Mr. Dunker stated the three accesses for the original permit will remain for the amended design, no new accesses are proposed, and the site is not located within a FEMA floodplain. He stated the original USR required the applicant to construct acceleration/deceleration lanes at the intersection of County Roads 49 and 30, on County Road 49. He stated the applicant has commenced with the improvements, and the plans include southbound acceleration and deceleration lanes, a northbound turn lane, and a northbound acceleration lane. He further stated the radius on the west side of County Road 49 is to be increased by 50 feet. Responding to Chair Jerke, Mr. Dunker stated with the proposed improvements, the access is adequate. Lauren Light, Department of Public Health and Environment, stated if the Recorded Exemption is approved,there will be three separate legal lots. She stated there is a recorded agreement to allow the two 10-acre parcels to use the water and sewer services on the 60-acre site, as indicated in Development Standards#13, and she agrees with the deletion of the listed Conditions which have already been addressed by the applicant. Ms. Cozad represented the applicant and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation, marked Exhibit F, for the record. She introduced the various consultants for the project and reviewed the operations of Sem Crude, L.P., Anadarko, and Noble Energy, as detailed in the presentation. Ms. Cozad stated the existing USR permit is for a truck loading and storage facility, located in a very rural area of Weld County, with the surrounding land uses consisting of dryland pasture and some irrigated farming. She stated the On-site and Off-Site Improvements Agreements have been completed and the collateral has been accepted, many of the improvements are under construction, and the improvements include additional turn lanes to create a safe turning radius. She further stated construction started in March 2008,the final permitting for the pipeline was completed in July 2008, and the applicant did complete a Conditional Use Permit through Adams County. Ms.Cozad stated the amendment will address the addition of storage tanks and polishing facilities for each of the 10- acre parcels. She explained the application for a Recorded Exemption is necessary, since the operations on the parcels will be conducted by three separate companies with separate liability issues; however, agreements are in place for use of the office facility on the large parcel for water and restroom facilities, as well as the access agreement for the three existing accesses. She stated the property is eligible for a two-lot Recorded Exemption; however, three lots would have been preferable. She explained, if a three-lot Recorded Exemption were granted, no further divisions would be necessary in the future. Ms. Cozad explained each of the oil polishing sites contains six 2,000-barrel oil staging tanks, two gas-fired indirect oil heaters, one pump skid for pumping oil to the heaters,one pump skid for pumping oil to the Sem Crude truck unloading facility, one or two small incinerators for the destruction of vapors from the oil, two meter skids for monitoring the oil flow into and out of the facility, a bermed area around the oil tanks and skids with leak detection, two water tanks for the staging of water removed from the oil to be transported to an off-site water disposal facility, one 40 by 30-foot supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) building to house the monitoring control center, and one 20 by 30-foot truck thawing facility used on a limited basis,typically during January and February. She further stated the facility 2008-3210 PL1918 HEARING CERTIFICATION - SEM CRUDE, LP (AMUSR#1614) PAGE 3 will have a water heating and spraying system, and once the trucks are thawed, they will return to the unloading facility. Ms. Cozad stated the water is collected in a sump,filtered,and then returned to the tank for reuse. She stated oil with greater than 0.3 percent water will be delivered to the appropriate oil polishing facility and placed into one of six tanks, pumped to a heater to separate the water from the oil, and all operations are controlled from the SCADA building. She stated each polishing facility will have one full-time employee and the Sem Crude facility is staffed with three employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ms. Cozad stated the proposed amendment will not result in a substantial increase in traffic, turn lanes will be constructed on County Road 49, the design drawings were submitted to the Department of Public Works for review, and the improvements are currently under construction. She displayed a summary of the construction process and schedule and reviewed the benefits of the oil and gas industry. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Ms. Cozad stated the hours of operation will remain the same as the original USR. Wayne Harsh,surrounding property owner,stated his primary concern is traffic,and he noted there has been a significant increase since the applicant began operations. He also expressed concern regarding environmental safety and potential hazards, although this is the second phase of an existing facility. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated the average daily traffic (ADT) count on County Road 30, taken in 2007, was 507 west of County Road 49, and he feels the count was accurate. Responding to Chair Jerke, Mr. Dunker stated the applicant has commenced with the construction of the acceleration/deceleration lanes,as well as a left-hand turn lane,and staff prefers the improvements be constructed to match the existing roadway section with an overlay of two more inches to the entire area the following year. Mr. Harsh expressed concern with the traffic on County Road 30 entering the plant. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated the proposed amendment will result in very little additional truck traffic. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Harsh stated much of the recent traffic was from construction,and he acknowledged that it did decrease after the pipeline was installed. Chair Jerke stated the facility will only have five regular employees. Mr. Harsh questioned how many trucks will access the site daily, what types of equipment will be operated, and whether there will be any noise. Ms. Cozad stated the traffic loads during the last several months consisted primarily of pipeline construction traffic; however, the site will usually only have five employees. She stated the original USR had an average of 16 trucks per hour, the new facilities only generate a slight increase in the amount of truck traffic used to remove excess water once a week, and the minimal impact did not change the existing traffic study. She further stated,although changes to the intersection were not warranted, the applicant did agree to make the turn lane improvements, as discussed. Joe Aucoin, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Facilities Engineer, stated the truck traffic did increase while three pipelines were being built simultaneously. He stated the construction traffic will continue to decrease as the work is completed. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated the application materials indicate the facility will generate 224 truck trips per day, and the only additional traffic will be one water truck per week, and two additional employee vehicles,which does not require any additional mitigation on County Road 30. Responding to Chair Jerke, Mr. Dunker stated the ingress/egress on County Road 30 appears to be adequate. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated the 507 ADT was initial background traffic and does not account for the proposed traffic from the site. Chair Jerke commented the 2008-3210 PL1918 HEARING CERTIFICATION - SEM CRUDE, LP (AMUSR #1614) PAGE 4 Board has increasingly been requiring mitigation improvements to address slow-moving traffic on a heavily traveled road. Stan Bollander, Tetra Tech Traffic Engineer, stated the 16 trucks come from three different directions, a traffic impact study was conducted at the intersection for the original permit, there is adequate internal stacking, and the site will average four to five trucks per hour. He further stated there is no indication that the facility will be adding operations in the future. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated County Road 30 is 60 feet in width,and is classified as a collector status road, which requires 80 feet of right-of-way at full buildout. Ms. Cozad stated the trucks will only go to the oil polishing facility if the water content is greater than 0.3 percent, or if the valves are frozen, otherwise they will go straight to the unloading facility. Responding to Chair Jerke, Mr. Aucoin confirmed the water trucks will go to an off-site facility for injection. Ms. Cozad corrected her earlier statement and clarified that trucks will only go to the polishing facility if the valves are frozen, and the oil will be piped over to the polishing facility if the water content is greater than 0.3 percent. She further stated the facility will maintain compliance with the necessary environmental reporting and Sem Crude staff will be monitoring the facility very closely. Mr. Aucoin stated the facility will generate a small amount of vapor, which will be captured with flares. He explained, at normal operations, one flare will be adequate; however, during higher crude heating operations, the second flare may be necessary,with minimal noise generated. Ms. Cozad addressed Mr. Harsh's concern regarding fire hazards and stated the applicant did meet with the LaSalle Fire Protection District and addressed its concerns through the design and building construction. She further stated the facility will remain within the designated noise standards, and noted the site does have an adequate staging area internal to the site. Responding to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker stated there is a Stop sign on County Road 30, which serves to slow traffic. In response to Chair Jerke, Ms. Cozad stated there is a distance of approximately one-quarter of a mile from the intersection to the facility access. Commissioner Rademacher commented the testimony regarding the traffic controls at the intersection addresses his concerns regarding traffic speed; however, additional signage may be appropriate. Commissioner Long expressed concern with traffic attempting to pass slow-moving trucks on County Road 30. Commissioner Rademacher proposed the requirement of a double yellow line to prevent traffic passing. Chair Jerke proposed allowing staff discretion to make the necessary mitigation measures. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Mr. Dunker confirmed once the road is improved to the full buildout, additional mitigation measures may be warranted, and the proportional share could be addressed in the Conditions of Approval. Responding to Chair Jerke, Mr. Dunker stated the traffic calming measures are not addressed in the Resolution. Mr. Barker suggested also addressing the applicant's proportional share of the traffic calming measures. In response to Chair Jerke, the Board indicated agreement with deleting the Conditions of Approval, as listed in Exhibit E, as well as adding language which requires the applicant to pay a proportional share for the traffic calming and roadway improvements to County Road 30. In response to Chair Jerke, Ms. Cozad stated she and the applicant have reviewed, and concur with, the Conditions of Approval and Development Standards, as proposed and modified. She stated the applicant has already entered into both On-site and Off-site Improvements Agreements for a majority of the site, and the only additional improvements to be addressed are for the Noble and Anadarko sites. She expressed agreement with the necessary improvements being completed prior to recording the plat, since the work is already taking place. She requested an extension of 2008-3210 PL1918 HEARING CERTIFICATION - SEM CRUDE, LP (AMUSR#1614) PAGE 5 time to record the plat to allow 120 days to be noted in Conditions of Approval #2 and #6. Ms. Cozad also referred to Condition of Approval#1.J and stated they should be able to install the well within the extended 120 days. Mr. Dunker proposed the following to be added as a Condition of Approval to state, "The applicant shall pay its proportional share of improvements (accel/decel lanes)at each access once the roadway on County Road 30 is to be upgraded. The traffic counts will be completed by the County prior to the County Road 30 upgrade." Mr. Barker indicated the proposed language needs to indicate an enforcement mechanism, and it would be more appropriate to be made a part of the Improvements Agreement. Responding to Mr. Dunker, Mr. Barker stated the current collateral is already in place, and the additional collateral would be required at the time of upgrades. He stated Condition of Approval #1.A could be modified to include the language proposed by Mr. Dunker. Ms. Cozad stated it would be appropriate to amend the Long-Term Maintenance Agreement to ensure the improvements are made at the time it is warranted; however, it is important to include a specific trigger. Following discussion, Mr. Dunker stated once the background traffic exceeds 1,000 vehicles per day, the Traffic Study indicates County Road 30 will be upgraded. Ms. Cozad requested the opportunity to update their traffic study to document where the traffic is coming from, since there are plans for other similar facilities in the area, and the Board agreed. In response to Commissioner Rademacher, Ms. Hatch- Drouillard stated she is not aware of any residential developments in the area that would increase the traffic numbers dramatically. Mr. Barker suggested allowing staff and the applicant to further refine and draft language to be added as part of Condition of Approval#1.A,and the Board agreed. Commissioner Long stated the discussion of traffic calming elements and the requirement for the applicant to participate in the proportional share of improvements has addressed his concerns. Commissioner Long moved to approve the request of Sem Crude, LP, for a Site Specific Development Plan and Amended Use by Special Review Permit #1614 for a Mineral Resource Development Facility, including an Oil and Gas Storage Facility,in the A(Agricultural)Zone District, based on the recommendations of Planning staff and the Planning Commission, with the Conditions of Approval and Development Standards as entered into the record. His motion included the deletion of Conditions of Approval #1.B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and L, since they have been addressed by the applicant, amending Condition of Approval #1.A as reflected in a subsequent E-mail correspondence, marked Exhibit I,to state, "The applicant shall either enter into a new Improvements Agreement,or amend the existing Improvements Agreements for USR-1614, and post adequate collateral only for improvements required to be constructed immediately. The new or amended Improvements Agreement(s) and the form of any necessary collateral shall be reviewed by County staff and accepted by the Board of County Commissioners prior to recording the plat, and shall include the following provisions: 1) Upon being presented with evidence that traffic counts conducted by Weld County on County Road("CR') 30, west of CR 49, exceed 1,000 ADT, the applicant shall design and construct acceleration and deceleration lanes on CR 30 to serve each of its approved accesses. The cost for design and construction of such acceleration and deceleration lanes shall be paid entirely by the applicant. The Weld County Department of Public Works shall have final approval of the design. Sufficient collateral for the construction of such acceleration and deceleration lanes shall be posted with Weld County immediately prior to the commencement of such construction. 2) Additionally, the applicant shall pay its proportional share of the cost of improvements and upgrades to CR 30, along its frontage and at the intersection with CR 49, at such time as Weld County upgrades that roadway. The applicant's proportional share of CR 30 improvement costs shall be determined to be the applicant's percentage of the total traffic on CR 30 west of CR 49, as determined by traffic counts conducted 2008-3210 PL1918 HEARING CERTIFICATION - SEM CRUDE, LP (AMUSR#1614) PAGE 6 by Weld County and an updated Traffic Study completed by the applicant.", and modifying Conditions of Approval #2 and #6 to allow one hundred twenty (120) days to submit the plat for recording. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Rademacher, and it carried unanimously. There being no further discussion, the hearing was completed at 11:35 a.m. This Certification was approved on the 10th day of November, 2008. APPROVED: 4 s La BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WELD COUNTY, COLORADO ATTEST: ,b,:r h( 1 y, i L._—, rfs k � illiam H. Jerke, Chair Wel ounty Clerk to the C7ln e /EXCUSED 7 Robed D sden, Pro-Tem BY: d�CL 't ( On ) e Dep�it Clerk the Board 4 Willi m F. Garcia David E. Long *glae#,_i / 2008-3210 PL1918 EXHIBIT INVENTORY CONTROL SHEET Case AMUSR#1614 - SEM CRUDE, LP Exhibit Submitted By Exhibit Description A. Planning Staff Inventory of Items Submitted B. Planning Commission Resolution of Recommendation C. Planning Commission Summary of Hearing (Minutes 10/21/2008) D. Clerk to the Board Notice of Hearing (Filed under Legals) E. Planning Staff Memo re: Amendments to Conditions of Approval, dated 11/04/2008 F. Applicant PowerPoint Presentation (printed and digital versions) G. Applicant Waste Plan (digital version) H. 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