Committee of the Whole

Village of Brookfield Agenda Committee of the Whole Meeting Monday, March 8, 2021 @ 7:00 PM or Immediately Following Village Board Meeting Edward Barcal Hall 8820 Brookfield Avenue Brookfield, IL 60513 I. Roll Call II. REGULAR BUSINESS 1. Discussion Concerning the Village's Potable Water System Committee Item Memo-Water System Memo III. Public Comment IV. Executive Session 1. If Necessary V. ADJOURNMENT Page 1 of 12  Committee Item Memo Meeting Date: March 08, 2021 Staff Contact: Tim Wiberg, Village Mananger Department: Village Manager's Office Subject: Discussion Concerning the Village's Potable Water System Background Information: The Village owns and operates a water system which provides potable water to homes and businesses. While the Village purchases water through the Brookfield/North Riverside Water Commission, the Village owns and maintains water mains which convey the water from the Commission's reservoirs on Brookfield Avenue to every property in the Village. Like most inner-ring Chicagoland suburbs, our water system is getting older. Over 50% of the water mains in our system are over 100 years old. While the reliability of our water mains continues to be relatively stable, all available data suggest that the system is in need of upgrading. In the Village Board's Strategic Plan approved in 2020, the Board created the following goal, "Develop Infrastructure Replacement Strategy and Capital Plan." Currently the Village's water system is confronting two significant challenges: replacement of the Meter Transmission Units (MTUs) which are how individual meter readings are transmitted to the Village when preparing water bills, and the replacement of the oldest water mains in our system. Both these projects are extremely expensive and neither can be funded through the Village's current water rate system. Therefore, staff is recommending the Village Board consider a rate adjustment sufficient to fund these two initiatives. Staff has thoroughly researched this issue and is prepared to discuss the establishment of a strategic plan to position the water distribution system for the future. Please find attached the following information related to this issue: 1) A memo from the Public Works Director regarding the replacement of the MTUs. 2) A memo from the Village Engineer outlining the water main replacement options. 3) The PowerPoint presentation summarizing staff's recommendations Financial Impact: Significant annual investments in the Village's water infrastructure. Recommendation(s): Page 2 of 12 Endorse the recommendation to move forward with replacing the MTUs and begin the process to create a plan to begin the phased replacement of our oldest water mains. Attachments: Water Meter Technology Upgrade Memo MEMO REGARDING WATER RATE STUDY 03-04-2021 Water Fund Capital Improvements 2021 Page 3 of 12  Village of Brookfield Public Works Department DATE: March 8, 2021 TO: Tim Wiberg, Village Manager FROM: Carl Muell, Director of Public Works Re: Water Meter Technology Upgrade with a Replacement of the Hexagram/Aclara Technologies Radio Frequency (RF) Transmission Fixed Network Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) with the Beacon Cellular Managed Solution for the Fiscal Budget Year 2022 Background Information: The Village, in 2007 installed new Badger Meter Model 25 residential water meters with Aclara Meter Transmission Units (MTU's) in the residential sections of town. It was determined in 2007 that the Village Board would have to revisit the technology portion or the MTU’s of the meter for replacement in 15 years. The MTU’s are the technology part of the meter system, located on top of the water meter, which transmits the water meter reading from the residence to a fixed antenna, which transmits the meter reading to the Village Hall. Our Badger Meter residential meters continue to perform well, are near 100% accuracy, and are anticipated to do so for another 20 years. The Aclara MTU's have a life span of approximately 15 years and will need to be replaced. The majority of the MTU’s will be in use for 15 years, if replaced in 2022. When an MTU fails, it will send a zero read for the residence, which results in a minimum bill. DPW then needs to make an appointment to switch out the MTU for future billing. The Village has experienced an increased failure rate the past two years because of the age of the Aclara MTU's which results in cost of $275.19 for each replacement. Over the course of time, there have been several costly updates that were required to maintain the current Aclara system. In particular, the Fixed Network Antennas, have required periodic updates, two times in the last six years. Also, the Aclara software has been upgraded twice and a new software purchase, Aclara One, is being required at a substantial cost of $60,000.00 in the next 6-12 months. The Beacon Cellular Managed Solution will eliminate the fixed based antennas and the cost to update them. It will also eliminate the server and maintenance costs by becoming a cloud-based system. The Public Works and Finance Department have evaluated the future needs of the Village and the investment required to replace the current Aclara MTU's. Staff is recommending pursuing the Badger Meter Beacon Cellular Infrastructure-Free Managed Solution. The Beacon Cellular Managed Solution requires only the installation of the High-Resolution Encoders(HRE) registers, onto the top the existing Badger Meter Model 25 residential water meters along with the Badger Cellular Long-Term Evolution-Machine(LTE-M) radios. These products are installed inside the residences and replace the existing meter coder/register and Acarla MTU's. Each Cellular LTE-M radio comes with a 20-year warranty. Additionally, the Beacon Software is hosted by Badger Meter and guarantees that the Village will have the most current software available, updated daily. Beacon Cellular Managed Solution is a "Future Proof" AMI solution that will eliminate the need of constant investments required for traditional, Fixed Network RF AMI systems and software. Additional benefits of the Beacon Cellular Managed Solution will be discussed during the Page 4 of 12 presentation by Tim O'Connor of Midwest Meter Inc. After the presentation and discussion, the Board of Trustees will be asked to volunteer in the Beacon Cellular Managed Solution sample kit that was purchased by the Village this year. The sample kit included seven Beacon Cellular LTE-M radios to be used as a test run for future purchase. Any Beacon Cellular Radio not utilized by the Board will be offered to a Village employee that resides in town. Financial Impact: The Financial Impact is $2,500,000.00 for the Fiscal Budget Year 2022 Recommendation(s): Advise the Public Works and Finance Department to replace the current Aclara MTU's with the Beacon Cellular Managed Solution's Badger Cellular LTE-M radios during the Fiscal Budget Year of 2022 2 Page 5 of 12  MEMO Date: March 3, 2021 To: Tim Wiberg, Village Manager From: Derek Treichel, Village Engineer Re: 2021 Water Rate Study We have prepared the following evaluation of the existing water rate and have included recommendations for increases to consider. Existing Water System The water system owned and operated by the Village of Brookfield is one its largest assets. It includes approximately 60.1 miles of water main, 750 fire hydrants, 800 valves, and approximately 6,600 commercial and residential water services. Its current replacement cost is estimated at $83,000,000.00. Over 70% of the water mains in the system are the original cast iron pipes that were installed when the subdivisions in Brookfield were developed. These original water mains range in age from 60 – 120 years old. Over 51% of the water mains are 100+ years old and, although they are still providing service, they have effectively reached the end of their anticipated service life. The age of these pipes is summarized as follows. Age of Water Main Length (miles) Percentage of Total Length 0 - 20 Years 8.95 14.9% 21 - 40 Years 5.87 9.8% 41 - 60 Years 2.52 4.2% 61 - 80 Years 12.07 20.1% 100+ Years 30.73 51.1% Total 60.14 100.0% Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 6 of 12  It is anticipated that as these water mains continue to age, they will encounter a higher frequency of water main breaks and will continue to be able to transmit less water due to tuberculation (accumulation of scale on the inside of the pipe – see picture below). The Village undertakes an annual fire hydrant flushing program which helps reduce the amount of tuberculation that accumulates on the inside walls of the pipe which addresses the problem but does not completely eliminate the problem. Currently, 25% of the water mains in the system (15 miles of water main) are not able to provide the fire flows recommended by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). These water mains are all 6” in diameter (current practice is to install a minimum of an 8” diameter water main). A new 8” water main can provide approximately 1.75 times the flow of a new 6” water main. The existing 6” water mains in our system have even less capacity to transmit flows compared to a new 6” water main due to the reduced effective internal diameter and increased roughness (less flow due to friction loss) caused by the tuberculation. While this is a serious concern, the fire department has the ability to obtain enough water to fight fires. We have confirmed with the Fire Chief that in the past, there have not been instances where the Fire Department could not obtain enough water to effectively fight fires. However, replacing these old water mains would improve the amount of flow that could be obtained from fire hydrants in these areas. Life Expectancy of Water Main Pipes There are many factors that affect the service life of water main pipes including:  Quality of pipe manufacturing  Quality of initial installation  Whether pipe was installed in corrosive ground  Impact of other construction activities Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 7 of 12  The above factors affect all water mains that have been installed and vary by installation and location of existing water main. From our observation, the quality and condition of the existing pipe in Brookfield’s water system is typical of other water systems in the area. There are numerous studies that estimate the life of cast iron water main pipe with various life expectancies. The majority of these studies estimate the average service life of cast iron water main pipe in the range of 75 – 120 years. One widely referenced study done by the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates the average service life of cast iron water main pipe having a range of 75 – 100 years (see link below for a summary of the study). https://www.asce.org/advocacy/clean-water/ While there is no way to accurately pinpoint the exact length of service life for each section of cast iron water main pipes, for purposes of planning for asset management, it is reasonable to estimate the service life at approximately 100 years. Components of a Typical Water Rate Water main rates typically include a component for each of the following services/costs: 1. Cost to Purchase Water from Supplier (Brookfield-North Riverside Water Commission) 2. Recovery Cost – this includes the cost for Non-Revenue Water which includes lost water, unbilled water (e.g. municipal uses), etc. The costs for this unbilled water is “spread out” over all water users. 3. Equipment and Maintenance Costs – these include annualized costs for repair and replacement of equipment, costs for outsourced repairs to water system, and costs for parts and material for water system repairs performed by public works staff. 4. Operational Costs – these include annual costs for salaries, benefits, and other costs associated with maintaining the water system and billing for water usage. Debt service payments are also included. 5. Capital Improvement Costs – these included costs for capital improvement projects including replacement of existing water mains, water meter replacement, improvements to the elevated tank, etc. Current Water Rate Brookfield’s current costs for providing water service to its customers are allocated as follows: Cost of Water (from BFNRWC) $ 5.53 Recovery Cost $ 1.84 Equipment and Maintenance Costs $ 0.30 Operational Costs $ 2.52 Capital Costs $ 1.28 Current Water Rate $11.47 Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 8 of 12  Previous Capital Improvement Programs The current water rate of $11.47/1,000 gallons theoretically generates enough revenue to cover the costs of operating the water system and a surplus of $556,000 per year. This surplus funding could be used towards capital improvement projects and would allow the Village to replace approximately 1,400’ of water main per year. At this rate of water main replacement, it would take the Village about 116 years to replace all of the water mains that are currently 100+ years of age. However, not all of this money that has been available for water main replacement has been used for water main replacement. Over the last 10 years, instead of replacing an average of 1,400’ of water main per year which would result in 14,000’ of water main replacement of the 10-year period, the Village has replaced a total of 5,300’ of water main. It is our understanding that the “surplus” funds designated for capital improvements were expended on other improvements including the stormwater pump station and sewer replacement costs associated with the street improvement projects. Proposed Capital Improvement Program Like all infrastructure (e.g. streets, sewers, water mains, etc.), the costs for maintenance during the initial portion of the service life are relatively low. But eventually, as the infrastructure reaches the end of its service life, the infrastructure needs to be replaced and the maintenance costs during this “replacement period” increase substantially. We are at the end of the service life on over 50% of our water mains and we recommend that a proactive approach to asset management be taken with maintaining and improving the water system. We have provided estimates of cost and the impact to the water rate for 3 water main replacement approaches. Option A – Replace All 100+ Year Old Water Mains over 50 Years Total Cost = $64,900,000.00 Annual Cost = $1,298,000.00 Annual Water Main Replaced = 3,245’ (approximately 5 blocks of water main replacement per year) Required Water Rate = $13.50 per 1,000 gallons Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 9 of 12  Option B – Replace All 100+ Year Old Water Mains over 75 Years Total Cost = $64,900,000.00 Annual Cost = $865,300.00 Annual Water Main Replaced = 2,165’ (approximately 3.25 blocks of water main replacement per year) Required Water Rate = $12.72 per 1,000 gallons Option C – Replace All 100+ Year Old Water Mains over 100 Years Total Cost = $64,900,000.00 Annual Cost = $649,000.00 Annual Water Main Replaced = 1,625’ (approximately 2.5 blocks of water main replacement per year) Required Water Rate = $12.22 per 1,000 gallons Recommendation for New Water Rate We recommend that the Village consider adopting a new water rate that would allow all of its 100+ year old water mains to be replaced in the next 50 years (Option A). The resulting water rate (and its components) would be as follows. Cost of Water (from BFNRWC) $ 5.53 Recovery Cost $ 1.84 Equipment and Maintenance Costs $ 0.30 Operational Costs $ 2.52 Capital Improvement Costs $ 3.31 Proposed Water Rate $13.50 In addition to providing capital improvement funds to allow for replacing the 100+year old water mains in the next 50 years, this water main rate includes a component to fund the replacement of the MTU’s on the water meters and to provide for maintenance of the elevated tank. During the 50-year water main replacement program, the other water mains in the system will continue to age. At the end of the 50-year program, 14.59 miles (24.3% of the pipes in system) will be 90 years or older. By continuing to fund a water main replacement program, the average age of the water main pipes in the system will be reduced. Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 10 of 12  Analysis of “No Build” Alternative If the decision is to not increase the water rate at this time, we recommend that as a minimum, the funds allocated to the Capital Improvement portion of the water rate ($556,000 per year) be used towards a water main replacement program. The improvements able to be completed based on this amount would actually result in the average age of the water main pipes in the system increasing over time. As the water main pipes continue to age, it is likely that the following will occur. 1. Higher frequency of water main breaks and repairs a. More frequent disruptions to service to residential and commercial customers b. Increased water loss due to water main leaks and breaks c. Higher costs for water repairs - whether this in the form of manhours by Public Works crews or costs from contractors (while the cost of an individual water main repair is not significant when compared to the overall village budget, the cost to repair a water main break is much higher on a per foot basis that the installation of a new water main (typical contractor charge of $5,000 - $10,000)) 2. There is a risk that over time, as the water main pipes continue to exceed their anticipated service life by a longer duration, that a significantly higher frequency of water main breaks may occur and the Village could be faced with funding large amounts of water main replacement within a short period of time. Conclusion We recommend that Brookfield increase its water main rate to $13.50/1,000 gallons. We feel this proposed increase to the water rate would allow Brookfield to proactively manage the maintenance and replacement of one of its most valuable assets and would ensure the reliability of its water system in the future. Edwin Hancock Engineering Company 9933 Roosevelt Road Westchester, IL 60154 Phone: 708-865-0300 FAX: 708-865-1212 Page 11 of 12 Page 12 of 12