What: Intergovernmental service agreements (IGSAs) under which the City sells goods and services to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and is paid for them.
Where it stands: Four agreements affect the water and sewer fund: monitoring wells, an emergency water interconnect, materials and hauling for the training ranges, and a new water and sewer maintenance and equipment agreement finalized in the last three months. Staff reported over $230,000 billed on the range work so far, more than covering the added staff cost.
Next: A kickoff meeting with the base for the water and sewer agreement is scheduled; the committee reviewed the program on October 8.
Details
An IGSA exchanges money, unlike mutual-aid style memorandums. Each one carries an analysis of the service and its cost, and helps the base buy goods and services without its normal federal contracting steps.
Staff listed City benefits: buying power, added revenue that recovers overhead, new contacts on the base, access to base goods and services, possible new capabilities (for example sewer lining), and base access for local contractors who could not meet federal contracting requirements.
Other agreements with the base: traffic signals, Lejeune Memorial Gardens maintenance, and a general emergency services agreement.
Monitoring wells (2019): one consultant managed monitoring wells on and off the base for the regional water resources group, to support the Black Creek aquifer withdrawal limits and the Castle Hayne aquifer. The base reimbursed its share.
Emergency water interconnect: a metered connection at Tarawa Terrace, funded by the base after a base line failure left the area without water for about 48 hours. Emergency use only, at $3.75 per thousand gallons, reviewed each year. It has been used a few times for planned base outages.
Range materials and hauling: the City buys dirt, rock and stone from local quarries for landing zones and training areas and bills the base monthly at material cost plus 10%. Hauling is billed at daily truck rates ($800 for a 10 cubic yard truck, $1,200 for a 20 cubic yard truck) using an on-call hauling contractor when city crews are not available. The City still follows its procurement rules. A budget line item funds the up-front purchases, and Council reappropriated money for early purchases made from operating budgets.
Water and sewer maintenance and equipment: written generally for emergency repair and equipment (pumps, motors, control panels), at cost plus a premium and administrative cost for emergencies, with quotes for planned work. Staff said the base can use its operating budget for this, up to about $2 million a year, though only part is expected to come through the City.
Staffing: a project manager position approved in the budget is not yet filled; the City plans to start with contractors. Committee members cautioned against turning the City into an everyday contractor. Any added capability, such as utility patching, would need Council approval.
Revenue goes to a revenue account and is not automatically reappropriated to the budget. Staff also said the annexation of the base ranges means the area the City supports is now inside city limits.
A recent example: the City quoted the base to buy and deliver about 96 boulders of roughly 2,000 pounds for a security barrier at Lejeune Memorial Gardens, keeping the purchase with a local vendor.
A committee member asked staff to present at the next meeting on the intergovernmental service agreements with the base and what they mean for the City's water and sewer operations; staff agreed, noting one water and sewer agreement had just been finalized.