Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Contact: Andy Haub Meeting Minutes 360.570.3795 Utility Advisory Committee Thursday, October 3, 2013 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. Call to Order (5:40 pm) The meeting was called to order by Chair Curtz. 2. Roll Call (5:40 - 5:41 pm) Present: 9 - Chair Thad Curtz, Committee Member Kim Andresen, Committee Member Richard Doenges, Committee Member David Dunn, Committee Member Steve Fossum, Committee Member Carol Law, Committee Member Jennifer Sievert, Committee Member Loralei Walker, and Committee Member Chris Ward Absent: 2 - Vice Chair Barbara Day, and Committee Member Margaret Drennan 3. Approval of Agenda (5:41 - 5:42 pm) The agenda was approved. 4. Approval of Minutes (5:42 - 5:45 pm) 13-0790 Approval of September 5, 2013 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 5. Public Comment (5:45 - 5:50 pm) - None 6. Announcements from UAC and Staff (5:50 - 6:00 pm) Public Works Director Rich Hoey attended the UAC as staff liaison on behalf of Water Resources Director Clark Halvorson. On October 8, 2013, the Olympia City Council will hold Public Hearings on three items of significance to the UAC: 1) plastic bag ban, 2) Wastewater Management Plan, and 3) Capital Facilities Plan. Committee Member Doenges will attend the hearing on the UAC’s behalf. Chair Curtz noted that Thurston County and the City of Tumwater have already approved a ban on plastic bags. The Urban Forestry/Tree Subcommittee agenda item has been postponed because the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee was not prepared to give an update City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 3, 2013 during this meeting. The agenda item for the joint meeting of the UAC and PRAC will be rescheduled once more progress is made. Mr. Halvorson will be the interim UAC staff liaison until someone is hired for Liz Hoenig’s former position. 6. A. Planning Commission Update (6:00 - 6:05 pm) Commissioner Kim Andresen gave an update on the current activities of the Olympia Planning Commission (OPC). The OPC finalized its recommendation letter on the City’s CFP. There was discussion on the May letter regarding the urban neighborhood proposal addendum to the draft Comprehensive Plan update. The OPC received presentations on visualizing density for the City. 7. Business of the Evening 13-0793 Debrief on Stormwater Science Panel Discussion The UAC held a science panel discussion at the September 5, 2013 meeting. At the end of the panel discussion there was no time available for UAC members to discuss, so the UAC spent some time debriefing this agenda item. Water Resources Engineering and Planning Manager Andy Haub was also in attendance during the debrief discussion. The UAC did not take any action on this item; information sharing only. The report was received. 13-0791 2014 Utility Rate Recommendations LOTT Clean Water Alliance Community and Environmental Policy Director Karla Fowler and Finance Director Justin Long gave a presentation on their 2014 budget and rates. Mr. Long explained the budget/rate schedule for approving the LOTT budget. The Public Hearing is scheduled for October 9. LOTT is proposing to its Board a 3 percent rate increase, which is an inflationary increase. LOTT staff presented and explained their rate structure for waste water treatment services. Mr. Long stated the LOTT proposed budget/rate materials are available on their website. Public Works Director Rich Hoey presented information on the budget and rates for the City’s utilities (Wastewater, Storm and Surface Water and Drinking Water). It was noted the City’s presentation did not include information on the 2014 rates for general facility charges (GFC). Staff inadvertently omitted this information regarding GFCs and plans to bring this information back to the UAC during the November 7, 2013 meeting. UAC members asked if the Storm and Surface Water Utility still funds a street sweeper in the Transportation program. Staff informed them the Utility is funding the City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 3, 2013 street sweeper in 2014 at the same level as the 2013 budget. UAC members were impressed with the trenchless sewer pipe repairs, which save the City time/money and the repairs have fewer traffic impacts to citizens. A UAC member suggested the City should tell this efficiency story as much as possible to the public . Mr. Hoey noted the trenchless pipe repair program was featured recently in Olympia’s Five Things utility bill insert and said staff would look for more opportunities to highlight this repair program. Waste ReSources Director Dan Daniels presented information on the budget and rates for the City’s Waste ReSources Utility. He noted staff is currently updating the Zero Waste Master Plan. The 2014 rate recommendations for each utility are: Storm and Surface Water 2 percent increase Wastewater 4 percent increase Drinking Water 7 percent increase Garbage/Recycling (Residential) 8 percent for Garbage 6 percent for Organics/Yard Waste Commercial 5 percent increase Drop Box Delivery/set up fee 15 percent increase Rental fee 3 percent increase Haul fee 3 percent increase Service fee 1 percent increase The UAC made and approved a motion to draft a letter to the Olympia City Council in support of staffs’ utility rate recommendations. The following will be included in the rate recommendation letter to the City Council: - appreciation that the City has held utility rates steady over the last two years during the tough economic times. The City was able to hold the rates by “buying them down” with excess cash reserves in the utility funds. - acknowledgment of the policy questions that need to discussed during the update of the Zero Waste Master Plan regarding a bundled rate structure for Waste ReSources services. 8. Adjournment City of Olympia Page 3 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 3, 2013 Chair Curtz adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4