Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Andy Haub 360.570.3795 Thursday, September 4, 2014 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. Call to Order Chair Curtz called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present: 7 - Chair Thad Curtz, Committee Member Margaret Drennan, Committee Member Carol Law, Committee Member Jennifer Sievert, Committee Member Chris Ward, Committee Member Dever Kuni, and Committee Member Carole Richmond Absent: 4 - Committee Member David Dunn, Committee Member Steve Fossum, Committee Member Loralei Walker, and Committee Member Michelle Barnett 3. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved. 4. Approval of Minutes 14-0844 Approval of June 5, 2014 Utility Advisory Committee (UAC) Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved with minor edits. 5. Public Comment Mr. Daniel Einstein spoke about the threat to the Great Blue Heron rookery on West Bay drive due to private development. He said he is the Chairman of the Board for the Olympia Coalition for Ecosystems Preservation (aka Oly Ecosystems). He is aware of the City’s recent habitat stewardship strategy report and noted the report mentions the West Bay woods and Schneider Creek habitats. He encouraged a UAC member to attend the Oly Ecosystems meeting on September 9 at 11:30 a.m. to bring all the parties together to discuss the concerns/threats to the heron rookery. Attendees will include the Forterra Land Trust and Olympia City officials from Public Works, Community Planning and Development, Planning Commission and Oly Ecosystems members. Chair Curtz stated he would not be able to attend and asked if other UAC members were available. Committee members Law, Sievert, or Drennan will attend the meeting. City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes September 4, 2014 6. Announcements from UAC and Staff Water Resources Director and UAC Staff Liaison Andy Haub announced: · The UAC has a new member, Michelle Barnett. She could not make it to the meeting tonight but will attend future meetings. · Chair Curtz reminded the UAC that they need to elect a Vice Chair at the October meeting now that former Vice Chair Barb Day is no longer on the UAC. · The City is recruiting for a two-year project funded Habitat Planner to implement the Habitat Stewardship strategy and to interact with volunteers and neighborhood associations. · Within the next month, the City will switch over to the new McAllister Wellfield water supply. Mr. Haub explained the significance of this milestone and noted upcoming events for the dedication. UAC members and the public are invited attend the events. · Two large water main breaks occurred this summer. One was on the Yelm Highway and the other was in the southwest quarter of Olympia. The breaks were due to inappropriate construction methods used during installation. · The City is moving forward with a proposal to purchase a parcel of land within the City’s Allison Springs parcel. · City staff will present a briefing at the September 23 Council meeting regarding the regional effort to convert more onsite septic systems to municipal sewer. Staff from the County and LOTT will also be present at the meeting. The briefing will prepare for Councilmember Langer's participation in the LOTT Clean Water Alliance annual retreat. · The City has a low impact development (LID) work group to develop options and regulations. In addition, an ad hoc committee was formed to review and provide input on the City’s proposed policies for LID. The ad hoc committee has not met yet, but will soon. · Mr. Haub said he will get a schematic of Moxlie Creek to the UAC. Moxlie Creek runs under downtown Olympia and discharges into Budd Inlet. This is in a follow up to the discussion in June regarding the possibility of daylighting the creek. · The Waste ReSources Zero Waste Plan is delayed and will come before UAC in November. The delay is due to City staff and their consultant analyzing the charges and cost of services. · Eric Christensen was hired as the Engineering and Planning Manager. Eric was formerly the City’s Storm and Surface Water Engineer. · The October 2 UAC meeting is a key meeting to review the proposed 2015 utility rates. A quorum is needed to make a recommendation to City Council. · A sign-in sheet was passed around for the UAC members to sign once they take the required open government training, which can now be done with an online video. · Committee Member Kuni announced the Thurston Climate Action Team is hosting a Thurston Solar Tour Saturday, September 13. The Olympia Timberland Library is featured as the first stop on the tour. · Chair Curtz announced the Ecobuilding Guild Action will host a Vision to Action City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes September 4, 2014 Symposium in September that will focus on low impact development. 6.A. Planning Commission Update Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) liaison Carole Richmond provided an update on recent OPC activities. The OPC heard a briefing on low impact development and how LID is required by the Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater permit. The briefing was intended to help the Commission prepare its 2015 work plan. The Planning Commission held a public hearing for proposed permanent retail cannabis regulations. No public comment was received. The OPC discussed and debriefed their June annual retreat. 7. Business of the Evening 14-0839 Recommendation for Drinking Water Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) At the June meeting, the Committee supported the CFPs for Wastewater and Storm and Surface Water utilities and wrote a letter of support to the Planning Commission. During the June meeting, UAC requested more information from staff regarding the Drinking Water utility CFP and the rate impacts. Mr. Haub presented four scenarios for the Drinking Water utility which the City’s financial consultant formulated. The four CFP scenarios are summarized below: · Scenario 1: only mandatory / regulatory requirements · Scenario 2: Scenario 1 plus critical needs · Scenario 3: Scenario 2 plus secondary needs · Scenario 4: Scenario 3 plus tertiary needs Following discussion, the UAC moved to recommend Scenario 4 which provides funding for mandatory projects and proactive repair projects that are expected to reduce long term maintenance and operating costs. The motion passed unanimously. The UAC will draft a letter to the Planning Commission with their recommendation to go with Scenario 4 with no significant rise in rates for drinking water. The recommendation was approved. 14-0843 Storm and Surface Water CFP Priorities and Policies and GFCs Mr. Haub presented an overview of the GFCs for the Storm and Surface water utility. At the October meeting, the UAC will be asked to recommend 2015 Utility rates and GFCs to City Council. Mr. Haub explained GFC calculations are very complicated, and the City hires a financial consultant to do them. Storm and surface water GFCs were recalculated in 2013. The basic calculations are still valid and can be considered for implementation now as part of the 2015 budget process. The City’s financial consultant, FSC Group, indicates the current GFC could be increased by 10% or $114/single family residence City of Olympia Page 3 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes September 4, 2014 equivalent. Additionally, the storm and surface water GFC includes a water quality charge for commercial development that is linked to typical vehicle trips served by development. These charges could be from $1.80/vehicle trip to $11.24/trip. Staff will review and analyze the GFCs in October and again during the 2015 update of the Storm and Surface Water Master plan. The information was received. 8. Adjournment Chair Curtz adjourned the meeting at 7:33 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4