Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Andy Haub 360.753.8475 Thursday, November 5, 2015 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Curtz called the meeting to order at 5:42 p.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Thad Curtz, Vice Chair Margaret Drennan, Committee member Michelle Barnett, Committee member Steve Fossum, Committee member Dever Kuni, and Committee member Roger Wilson Absent: 2 - Committee member David Dunn, and Committee member Chris Ward 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4.A 15-1048 Approval of October 1, 2015 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Vice Chair Drennan attended the Finance Committee meeting on October 23 where the 2016 City utility rates were discussed. The UAC rate recommendation letter was included in the Finance Committee's meeting packet. Vice Chair Drennan noted the Finance Committee discussed how rates have increased every year, especially for drinking water, and are concerned about this. They recognize regulatory demands are often the reason for rate increases, but would like staff to analyze ways to offset increases in future years. The 2016 utility rates were forwarded to the full Council for the November 10 meeting. Drinking Water conservation staff will come back to the UAC in January to get feedback on the strategy for utilizing the excess drinking water revenues that were earmarked during the Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) process. The revenues come from drought-related high water sales. City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 5, 2015 Staff and UAC will begin discussions on the 2016-2017 UAC workplan at the December meeting and finalize it in January. Staff will send a blank workplan request form by email to UAC members tomorrow. The deadline to submit workplan requests is Tuesday, December 1 at 5:00 p.m. Public Works Program Specialist Danelle MacEwan will come back to the December UAC meeting to provide an update on the City's plan to purchase green power. She completed a cost comparison on whether to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) through PSE's green power program or from another source, such as the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 7.A 15-1049 Municipal Fiber Optic Update Information Technology Services Director Shawn Ward provided an update on the municipal fiber optic history in Olympia and current partnerships. This agenda item was a breifing only. Through interagency agreements and partnerships, a core fiber backbone has been established to connect a large number of public agencies to each other and to the internet. A comprehensive, citywide network is not in place or foreseeable in the near-term. The UAC and staff discussed the item; no follow up actions were noted. The information was provided. 7.B 15-1050 Travel Mode Trends Public Works Transportation Senior Planner Sophie Stimson presented an overview on the City's approach to street improvements and gave a report on mode-use trends. The Comprehensive Plan has strong policy language about building a multi-modal transportation system. The City’s Transportation Line of Business is working to increase walking, biking and transit use by improving streets for these modes. For seven years, the City has tracked walking, biking and driving trips, and transit ridership, at select locations. Overtime, the City hopes to see increases in non-auto trips due to the multi-modal improvements to our streets. The UAC and staff discussed the item; no follow up actions were noted. The information was provided. 7.C 15-1051 Low Impact Development Code Revisions Water Resources Engineering and Planning Manager Eric Christensen and Water Resources Senior Planner Laura Keehan presented information on the City's efforts City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 5, 2015 to implement low impact development (LID). Community Planning & Development Principal Planner Todd Stamm was also present to help facilitate the discussion. The UAC was previously briefed on the LID code revisions at the January 7, September 3 and October 1, 2015 meetings. UAC members read LID Elements #11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20 in preparation for discussion at tonight's meeting. Staff and UAC discussed these Elements, which are closely related to the City's Drainage Manual. The UAC agreed with staff's recommendations and policy direction. At the December meeting, the UAC will review the final set of LID Elements. They will discuss these and then re-visit any previous Elements if needed. Staff and UAC agreed to begin discussions on the UAC LID recommendation letter to the Council, which will also be presented to the Planning Commission. The information was received. 9. ADJOURNMENT Chair Curtz adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3