Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Andy Haub 360.753.8475 Thursday, October 1, 2015 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Margaret Drennan called the meeting to order. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Vice Chair Margaret Drennan, Committee member Michelle Barnett, Committee member David Dunn, Committee member Dever Kuni, Committee member Chris Ward, and Committee member Roger Wilson Absent: 2 - Chair Thad Curtz, and Committee member Steve Fossum 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 15-0922 Approval of September 3, 2015 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Bob Jacobs provided the following comments: Mr. Jacobs felt that only a small part of the story is being told regarding the quality of Olympia's drinking water. He referenced some recent utility bill information that stated the City of Olympia complies with all drinking water standards. Mr. Jacobs feels there needs to be more transparency from the City in reporting on pollutants in drinking water. Mr. Jacobs spoke about the City's utility rates and general facility charges (GFCs). He asked the UAC to review the rates carefully and look for ways to reduce utility rates. He feels rates are high and GFCs are too low. Mr. Jacobs provided comment on the business item regarding low impact development (LID). He commented that it's the City's job to regulate development because he feels there is really no such thing as "low impact development". He urged the UAC to do their research on the subject of LID. City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 1, 2015 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Public Works Water Resources Director Andy Haub provided the following updates to the UAC: Water conservation staff have updates as a follow-up to the September 2015 agenda item. Mr. Haub will provide the information at the November UAC meeting when Chair Curtz is present. The Planning Commission is recommending funding for climate change/sea level rise to Council in the current Capital Facilities Plan. Mr. Haub acknowledged the need for a more formal climate change plan for the City (both the Planning Commission and UAC have supported this). He plans to present the latest climate change information to the new Council in January 2016. Committee member Dunn mentioned the Department of Ecology sponsored IACC infrastructure conference. He said there's a session scheduled to discuss asset management techniques for urban trees. He will bring handouts from this session to the UAC. He also noted the Value of Water Coalition is sponsoring an awareness day called "Imagine a Day Without Water." It's meant to raise awareness of the value of clean, safe and affordable water. Committee member Kuni announced the Thurston Climate Action Team did a countywide survey on the public's interests, awareness, and perceptions related to climate change. The Thurston Climate Action Team will present this information to the Olympia City Council soon. Mr. Haub said he saw the survey results and would forward those to UAC members. Committee member Kuni also mentioned the Thurston Solar Tour scheduled for Saturday October 3. Committee member Barnett reported she attended the Water Re-Use Symposium in Seattle. She noted Karla Fowler from LOTT received the 2015 Person of the Year Award. The cities of Olympia and Lacey received the Project of the Year Award for the Woodland Creek Reclaimed Water Facility. Carole Richmond gave an update on the Planning Commission. She said the Commission forwarded their recommendations on the Capital Facilities Plan. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 15-0923 2016 Utility Rate and General Facility Charges (GFC) Recommendations Mr. 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 4.5% rate increase across the four utilities is proposed for 2016. City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 1, 2015 The UAC discussed the fact that the Drinking Water Utility will have extra revenue this year due to drought-related, high water sales. $1 - $1.5M is expected. The UAC voted to move 80% of the funds to the capital facility program in order to minimize future debt. The other 20% would be earmarked for water conservation work contingent upon staff and UAC developing and supporting a tangible strategy for the funds. If a good strategy did not arise, the funds would default to the capital program. The UAC approved a motion to forward recommendations to Council supporting staff proposed utility rates and GFCs. Vice-Chair Drennan will draft the rate recommendation letter for Council. She will also attend the October 23 Finance Committee meeting where 2016 rates will be discussed. Committee member Dunn agreed to be the back-up to attend the meeting if Vice-Chair Drennan is unable to attend. The recommendation was approved. 15-0924 Low Impact Development Code Revisions Community Planning & Development (CP&D) Principal Planner Todd Stamm and Senior Planner Stacey Ray lead the discussion on low impact development. Public Works Water Resources Planning and Engineering Manager Eric Christensen and Senior Planner Laura Keehan were also present to help facilitate the discussion. At the September meeting UAC members agreed to read Elements 1-- 5 in preparation for discussion at the October 1 meeting. The elements are as follows: Element 1: Minimize Site Disturbance Element 2: Retain and Plant Native Vegetation Element 3: Zoning Bulk and Dimensional Standards Element 4: Restrict Maximum Impervious Surface Coverage Element 5: Reduce Impervious Surface Associated with On-site Parking In the UAC materials, staff provided further detail about staffs recommended options for Elements 1 - 5. Staff and UAC members discussed land use, density and LID implementation. The UAC accepted staff's approach for the discussed best management practices (BMPs). For the November meeting, the Committee will review the next set of BMPs, while reserving the option to revisit already discussed BMPs as needed. The information was provided. 9. ADJOURNMENT Vice-Chair Drennan adjourned the meeting. City of Olympia Page 3