WQCS00111_NOV-2021-DV-0166 AND 0167 NOI_RESP_20210406

301 N. Trade Street • Tryon, North Carolina 28782
[phone] • Fax: [phone]
Tryon-nc.com
Town of Tryon
Office of the Town Manager
Zach Ollis

March 31st, 2021

G. Landon Davidson
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Asheville Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
2090 U.S. 70 Highway
Swannanoa, N.C. 28778

Subject: Notice of Violation
Case Number: DV-2021-0166 , DV-2021-0167
Sanitary Sewer Overflows – March 2021
Tryon Collection System
Polk County

Dear Mr. G. Landon Davidson,

The following are our completed projects and future plans to address indicated violations and
other identified issues in the collection system from the Notice of Violation dated March 16,
2021.

The Town of Tryon has met with Withers & Ravenel and Mikal Wilmer multiple times since
December of 2019 on this issue. COVID has halted some in person meetings but we still
continue to discuss the project. We recently met with Mikala Wilmer on site to discuss the issue
related to the March SSO’s. We hope that the constant communication has allowed everyone
to stay on the same page to find a solution to this problem.

The Town of Tryon spent over $24,000 to dredge around 130 cubic yards from the pond. The
Town also installed a screen over the outlet pipes to prevent clogging of the lines with various
debris. We noticed a vast improvement of flow with these modifications up until the recent
flooding we received. Our Capital Improvement Plan adjusted rates accordingly in January of
2021. With these new rates, we hope to start working on our overall infrastructure as well as
the Braewick issue.

Our Water Treatment Plant ORC, Greg McCool, has created a schedule for backwashing that has
helped us avoid some of the problems we face at Braewick. We require that our Water Plant
contact our Public Works Director before they backwash. The PWD coordinates having staff
Mayor
J. Alan Peoples
Mayor Pro-tem
Bill Ingham
Board Members
Crys Armbrust
Chrelle Booker
Bill Crowell

Town Manager
Zach Ollis

Town Clerk
Susan Bell

Town Attorney
William Morgan

301 N. Trade Street • Tryon, North Carolina 28782
[phone] • Fax: [phone]
Tryon-nc.com
watch the manhole so that they are prepared for any issue. We are also in the process of
applying for a pump and haul permit to take alum sludge to the Waste Water Treatment Plant.
We hope that regular maintenance will keep the pond in working order.

We were successful in our ASADRA grant application. This means we will receive over $2M in
grant and loan funding to put toward this project. We secured Withers & Ravenel to oversee
the project. We feel that their familiarity with our system will make for a more seamless
project. They have begun the engineering portion of the sewer replacement. The engineering
report and environmental Information was submitted on March 15th. The State Historic
Preservation Office required an additional archaeological survey which was completed as well.
We should be receiving official approval soon. Our contract with DWI requires Bid and Design
package to be submitted by 11/1 and construction contract signed by 8/1/22. We expect to be
early on all of these deadlines.

We would like to ask that these fines be waived for a number of reasons. We have already
spent over $30,000 constructing a road to get to the pond and pe rforming the dredging. We are
also working with an engineer to fix the issue. We have secured funding in excess of $2M to
move forward with a repair. We know that we may not be reimbursed immediately so the
leniency would allow us to cover costs associated and not hurt our overall budget.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Zach Ollis
Town Manager
Tryon, Nc