The City Council on Tuesday night approved a $380,000 contract with consultants to help the city deal with state and federal environmental regulatios.
A second contract for $104,880 is to streamline the city's management of data relating to the stormwater program. It went to True North Geographic Technologies.
The firm of Jordan, Jones and Goulding was hired to help in negotiations with TDEC and the EPA over expected "enforcement action" for non-compliance with the city's water quality permit.
David Reese said the firm will seek to help the city "eliminate or greatly reduce" its environmental liability.
He said Nashville had to come up with a nine-year compliance plan that was calculated to cost the city between $300 million and $400 million. He said it now appears that Nashville's actual cost will be $1 billion.
Mr. Reese listed a number of areas of the city's stormwater operation that the firm will be reviewing to determine where improvements are needed.
One he said is the issue of "blending" at the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant. The city stores some water during heavy rain before then treating it.
Mr. Reese said the city could face a list of hundreds of projects from the EPA that it must carry out.
Jerry Stewart of city public works said the city has spent about $50 million on storing water in huge underground reservoirs during downpours and in separating storm drains from sewage lines near the riverfront.
Mr. Reese said city and states are making a pitch to EPA to insure there is "affordability" in the plans outlined and not such a burden that it can bankrupt a city.
Concerning the True North contract, officials said data is collected in several different ways, ranging from photos to GIS material, and there currently is not a mesh of all of those.
Officials said using the new system, it should be much easier to follow the city's progress in making stormwater and stream improvements.
City officials said the annual report to TDEC now runs about 5,000 pages.
To illustrate how much paper is involved, staffers piled up the equivalent of the report in stacks of copy paper in front of City Council members.