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, November 7, 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: 10 - Chair Thad Curtz, Vice Chair Barbara Day, Committee Member Kim Andresen, Committee Member Margaret Drennan, 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: 1 - Committee Member Richard Doenges 3. Approval of Agenda (5:41 - 5:42 pm) The agenda was approved. 13-0904 Approval of October 3, 2013, UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. Approval of Minutes (5:42 - 5:45 pm) 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 presented proposed General Facility Charge (GFCs) for utilities. GFCs are designed to allow new customers to “buy into the system” as well as funding capacity for new growth to the utilities (expansion of facilities is applied exclusively to future customers). He noted we typically do an update to GFCs every six years during the updates to the utility master plans, based on projected costs and growth. In the intervening years, we do an inflationary adjustment to keep pace, based on the construction costs index. This index evaluates the costs of labor, asphalt, steel, etc. City staff reviewed the October index rates when evaluating GFCs. Mr. Hoey shared the recommended proposed GFC rates for Olympia utilities and LOTT Capacity Development Charges with UAC members. A motion was made to accept the recommended 2014 GFCs. The UAC unanimously approved the City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 7, 2013 motion. Committee Member Doenges represented the UAC at Council recently during the hearings on the Capital Facilities Plan, the Wastewater Master Plan and the Plastic Bag Ban. Chair Curtz attended the first meeting of the Tree Subcommittee recently . Also serving on this committee are former UAC member Emily Lardner and OPC member and former UAC member Judy Bardin. Mikki McNaughton, who was the previous Olympia Urban Forester, is also on the subcommittee. A few members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) are also participating. The subcommittee brainstormed items to potentially work on and will prioritize these items. The next meeting of this subcommittee is scheduled for Wednesday, November 20. Committee Member Dunn noted the Local Infrastructure Improvement Conference had a keynote speaker from the Strong Towns group. The speaker focused on how infrastructure relates to growth and planning for cities. He discussed how these investments drive and attract development and help local economies thrive. Strong Towns is coming to the Olympia area and is available to do a presentation . Ms. Hoenig noted Committee Member Dunn could contact City staff if he needs a venue for the presentation. Ms. Hoenig shared the current edition of the City’s utility insert called the “Five Things”. Ms. Hoenig asked for feedback from UAC members about the upcoming meeting with the Council's General Government Committee related to advisory committees. The meeting will be held Tuesday, November 19, 5:30 p.m., City Hall room 207. Vice-Chair Day plans to attend the meeting on the UAC’s behalf. UAC members gave the following feedback for discussion at the meeting: Communication between Council and committees. Is it improved? Any suggestions? A good idea, but seems hard for Councilmembers to attend meetings with all their other commitments. Council might expect committee liaisons to listen to the meetings on recordings, or read the minutes. Council could also create a reporting process about non-routine committee work from liaisons. Councilmember Rogers has attended the beginnings of two meetings, and has offered advice to the committee, but the process hasn't resulted in the UAC's offering advice to her or the Council in new ways - other than through our regular letters process. Committee Recruitment: Is it working for you to participate in the interviews? The UAC members agreed the process is working well at this time, but suggested Council continue to seek ways to expand the number of applicants. Committee Work Plans: What suggestions do you have for the work plan City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 7, 2013 format to better define policy issues? UAC members like the clarity of its work plans and the way they are currently designed; the method they have used to identify and prioritize work plan items works well, and might be of interest to other committees. Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) Update Commissioner Andresen provided an update on the OPC. They had a presentation from the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations, with a proposal for the OPC. The OPC has also been sponsoring public hearings on higher density zoning designations and apartment buildings. OPC approved a code revision for waste receptacles to allow less significant/solid screening for receptacles. OPC will revisit the addendum to the Comprehensive Plan over the next few months. There has been much public discussion of this proposal. 7. Business of the Evening 13-0909 LOTT Draft Water Conservation Coordination Plan LOTT Clean Water Alliance Public Communications Manager Lisa Dennis-Perez presented an overview of LOTT’s current process of updating the regional conservation plan. This agenda item was provided as a review and for the UAC to provide input. In 2012, the cumulative water savings achieved was one million gallons per day (gpd). The new goals are two-tiered; 1) Reduce flows of at least 175,000 gpd and 2) Strive to reach 250,000 gpd. The new goal is lower than the previous planning period. Ms. Dennis-Perez noted it is getting harder to get cost effective reductions and participation. She also shared guiding principles for the plan and some of the proposed programs that are included in the draft plan. She noted that some areas are still being evaluated as to how the programs would be implemented, such as with multi-family customers. She also shared the process for review and approval of the Water conservation Plan. UAC would like to review the draft plan when it is available. The report was received. 13-0905 Discussion of Stormwater Runoff Flow Control Public Works Water Resources Engineer Eric Christensen reviewed current practices for storm and surface water management and discussed future approaches. This agenda item was provided as a briefing only. He noted that new standards would help reduce the total amount of volume leaving the site post-development. He shared information on how the City inspects stormwater facilities in new developments. He noted that for infiltration facilities, post construction evaluations are completed and if they fail, a contingency plan is in place. He also noted that we have very healthy streams considering how densely our City is developed. City of Olympia Page 3 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 7, 2013 The report was received. 8. Adjournment Chair Curtz adjourned the meeting at 8:01 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4