Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Andy Haub 360.570.3795 Thursday, October 2, 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: 9 - Chair Thad Curtz, Committee Member Margaret Drennan, Committee Member Steve Fossum, Committee Member Carol Law, Committee Member Loralei Walker, Committee Member Chris Ward, Committee Member Dever Kuni, Committee Member Carole Richmond, and Committee Member Michelle Barnett Absent: 2 - Committee Member David Dunn, and Committee Member Jennifer Sievert 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Committee member Walker had to leave the meeting early. Chair Curtz proposed to move the utility rate discussion to the beginning of the agenda since a quorum is needed for a recommendation. The agenda was approved as amended. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 14-0957 Approval of September 4, 2014 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved with minor edits. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 6. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM UTILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE (UAC) AND STAFF · The McAllister Wellfield dedication is Saturday, October 4. UAC members and the public are invited. · Committee Member Sievert attended a meeting in October regarding development concerns to the heron rookery along West Bay Drive. The meeting was informational only and no decisions were made. City of Olympia staff was also present at the meeting. · Chair Curtz opened the floor for nominations for the Vice Chair position. City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 2, 2014 Committee Member Ward nominated himself. No other nominations were added. The Committee moved to elect Committee Member Ward as the UAC Vice Chair. The motion passed. · Chair Curtz will not be able to attend the October 21 annual meeting of the advisory committee chairs with the General Government committee, so Vice Chair Ward will attend in his place. · The sea level rise and climate change discussion is scheduled for the November 6 UAC meeting. Right now the item is scheduled for 30 minutes. Mr. Haub noted this is the only item for the business of the evening and asked if the Committee would like to spend 60 minutes and go more in depth on the subject. The Committee decided to schedule 60 minutes for this item. · Committee member Kuni announced the City received a grant/loan for solar panels on City Hall. · Mr. Haub distributed a schematic of Moxlie Creek which runs under downtown Olympia and discharges into Budd Inlet. This is in a follow up to the discussion regarding the possibility of daylighting the creek. · Chair Curtz mentioned the City’s involvement in the EPA’s grant program for Greening America’s Capitols. Capital Way is the focus of the grant to provide a greener and vibrant street. City staff and members of the community held focus groups recently and Chair Curtz was involved. The focus groups were recorded by TCTV. The City will post the presentations and schematics from the focus group sessions to their website soon. 6.A. PLANNING COMMISSION UPDATE - None 7. BUSINESS OF THE EVENING 14-0958 Wastewater Volume-Based Billing Proposal Water Resources Engineer Diane Utter presented information on a proposal for volume-based wastewater tiered rate structure. Wastewater volume-based rates have been under consideration by the Committee for several years and are a recommendation of the 2013-2018 Wastewater Management Plan. Ms. Utter noted this proposal/discount for single family residential sewer customers is only available for customers that are both City of Olympia water and sewer customers. The tiered sewer discount will be based on water consumption on a monthly basis. The discount is not based on actual sewer flows but water meter readings. The Committee discussed the three scenarios presented by staff and they moved to support scenario three. The motion carried unanimously. The Committee will draft a recommendation letter to the City Council in support of tiered wastewater rate structure. The information was received. 14-0959 2015 Utility Rate and General Facility Charges (GFC) Recommendations City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 2, 2014 Water Resources Director Andy Haub presented information on the proposed rates for the City’s utilities of Wastewater, Storm and Surface Water and Drinking Water. Waste ReSources Director Dan Daniels presented on the proposed budget and rates for Waste ReSources. A 4% rate increase across the four utilities is proposed for 2015. Summary of the proposed rate increases for the utilities for Water Resources: Drinking Water - 6% Wastewater - 2% Storm & Surface Water - 3% General Facility Charge proposed rate increases of: Drinking Water - 6.7% Wastewater - No increase Storm & Surface Water - 10% Summary of the proposed rated increases for Waste ReSources’ services: Service Class Proposed Increase Residential 6% Commercial 4% Organics 8% Drop Box No rate increase proposed The Committee had the following comment/feedback: · Analysis shows the City could increase the GFCs by 6.7%, but the City is only increasing them by 2% over the next three years. Chair Curtz said he felt the City could be more aggressive in this charge so that growth pays for growth. The Committee will draft a recommendation letter to the City Council. The Committee moved to support staff’s proposed rate and GFC recommendations for each of the four utilities. The motion passed unanimously. 8. ADJOURNMENT Chair Curtz adjourned the meeting at 7:46 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3