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, February 6, 2014 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Committee Member David Dunn. 2. Roll Call Present: 6 - Committee Member Margaret Drennan, Committee Member David Dunn, Committee Member Steve Fossum, Committee Member Carol Law, Committee Member Loralei Walker, and Committee Member Carole Richmond Absent: 5 - Chair Thad Curtz, Vice Chair Barbara Day, Committee Member Richard Doenges, Committee Member Jennifer Sievert, and Committee Member Chris Ward 3. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved. 4. Approval of Minutes 14-0009 Approval of December 5, 2013 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 14-0104 Approval of January 2, 2014 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 5. Public Comment Bob Jacobs commented about his concern for the lack of full information from the City (and LOTT as well) on the UAC meeting materials that are distributed to the public. Mr. Jacobs was specifically referring to providing more information on the contaminants and the water recharge study. More information will help citizens make informed decisions on whether they want to get involved. Mr. Jacobs also felt there was not enough information on the subject of water conservation. He noted meeting materials distributed to the UAC that said that the City has reduced water consumption by 8 percent, but Mr. Jacobs would like to know City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes February 6, 2014 how we compare to other cities in regards to water consumption. He feels Staff should provide more context so that again, citizens can make informed decisions about getting involved. 6. Announcements from UAC and Staff Committee Member Dunn announced that the Washington State Department of Ecology awarded a grant to Washington Stormwater Center to develop a Rain Garden Handbook that is targeted to homeowners. He will try to bring in some copies of the book. 6. A. Planning Commission Update Committee Member Andresen attended the UAC meeting on behalf of Carole Richmond and gave an Olympia Planning Commision (OPC) update. The OPC received a briefing from the South Sound Estuarium. OPC members are working on and finalizing their annual workplan. Committee Member Andresen talked about some of the items that the OPC has on their workplan: the annual review of the City’s CFP; Comp Plan update, Rezone Criteria, four zoning amendments, homeless shelters and group homes, marijuana issue, neighborhood center codes, climate change code (subcommittee will scope this first), project reviews, downtown issues, and other briefings. UAC members asked Ms. Andresen if the Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater item is on the OPC’s workplan; Kim indicated yes, but it will more likely be on the 2015 OPC workplan. It was noted that the UAC will also look review this topic as a part of their workplan. 7. Business of the Evening 14-0011 2014-2015 UAC Work Plan and Officer Elections A quorum was achieved at the meeting, so a motion was made and passed to approve the 2013-2014 UAC Workplan and forward to General Government Committee and then to Council for final approval. The UAC moved and approved a motion to defer Officer Elections to the March 6th UAC meeting when there are more members in attendance. The report was received. 14-0105 LOTT Groundwater Recharge Scientific Study Update Ben McConkey and Karla Fowler from LOTT Clean Water Alliance attended the meeting. Mr. McConkey gave an overview of the study for informational purposes only; no action was required by the UAC. Senior Reclaimed Water Program Specialist Donna Buxton also participated in the meeting by answering some of UAC members’ questions. Mr. McConkey noted the importance of the study to the community with respect to wastewater management and the role of using reclaimed City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes February 6, 2014 water. He also emphasized the goal of the study is to provide local scientific data and community perspectives to help policymakers make informed decisions about future reclaimed water treatment and uses. Mr. McConkey explained how products for personal hygiene, medicines, food preservatives, artificial sweeteners, etc., are not entirely absorbed by our bodies, and along with common household cleaning products, can go down the drain or toilet and into the wastewater stream. He described how the LOTT Budd Inlet and Martin Way plants treat this wastewater to a specific high standard, with further treatment resulting in even higher-quality reclaimed water that can be beneficially used in our community. However, some chemicals and substances remain in the treated water and are released back into the environment through treated discharge or reclaimed water use. Mr. McConkey's briefing included a description of how reclaimed water may behave in the environment as it enters the groundwater and fresh water systems of streams, lakes and Puget Sound. He showed a map of possible sites owned by LOTT where reclaimed water may be infiltrated, and explained that the study includes characterizing water quality, evaluating treatment effectiveness, assessing human health and ecological risk, and conducting a cost benefit analysis. He noted although many scientific studies have been conducted nationally and internationally on the topic of residual chemicals in treated wastewater and infiltration of reclaimed water to groundwater, this study would be the most extensive study conducted in our local area. UAC members’ questions and discussion focused on regulated versus unregulated contaminants, stormwater quality, and septic system conversion efforts, among other topics. The information was provided. 14-0106 Storm and Surface Water Management Plan Scoping Public Works Water Resources Engineering and Planning Manager Andy Haub presented information to the UAC on the City’s work to update the Storm and Surface Water (SSW) Master Plan. This agenda item was presented for informational purposes only. No action was required by the UAC. Mr Haub introduced Senior Planner for Water Resources Laura Keehan and Water Resources Engineer Eric Christensen. They will assist with updating the SSW Plan. The City’s current SSW plan was updated in 2003. The Storm and Surface Water Utility has three responsibilities: 1) manage flooding, 2) water quality, and 3) aquatic habitat. It was noted that this agenda item should be shared with the Olympia Planning Commission. Mr. Haub said staff would draft a summary for the UAC’s representative (Carole Richmond) to give an update to the full Planning Commission. The UAC was supportive of the direction that staff is taking with the update to the Storm and Surface Water Master Plan. Mr. Haub noted that staff is on the UAC’s City of Olympia Page 3 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes February 6, 2014 workplan to come back in September with another briefing on the progress of the plan update. The information was provided. 8. Adjournment Committee Member David Dunn adjourned the meeting at 7:29 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4