Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Eric Christensen 360.570.3741 Thursday, October 3, 2019 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER (5:40 pm) Chair Buffo called the meeting to order. 1.A ROLL CALL (5:40 - 5:41 pm) Present: 8 - Chair Mike Buffo, Vice Chair Luke Bowerman, Committee member Dennis Bloom, Committee member Dever Haffner-Ratliffe, Committee member Arland Schneider, Committee member Cullen Stephenson, Committee member Eleanor (Pat) Vernon and Committee member Roger Wilson Absent: 1 - Committee member Steve Fossum STAFF PRESENT Water Resources Director Eric Christensen Waste ReSources Director Gary Franks Wastewater Project Engineer II Diane Utter Senior Planner Ron Jones 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (5:41 - 5:42 pm) The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (5:42 - 5:45 pm) 19-0878 Approval of September 5, 2019 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT (5:45 - 5:50 PM) 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM UAC AND STAFF (5:50 - 6:00 pm) Mr. Franks provided the following announcements: · Thurston County will post the request for proposal (RFP) for the new Waste and Recovery Center contract. Olympia Councilmember Jim Cooper asked Mr. Franks to represent the City on this project. · The County is working on its Solid Waste Master Plan. The Solid Waste Advisory City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 3, 2019 Committee (SWAC) is reviewing the update. SWAC has representation from each City. The County will also draft new interlocal agreements with each City. · Mr. Franks will email UAC members the available dates for the recycling facility tour. Mr. Christensen provided the following announcements: · Reminder that the Finance Committee meeting moved from October 16th to October 28th. The agenda will cover the 2020 utility rates and a discussion with the UAC Chair. · The UAC will have three vacancies in 2020. The City is currently recruiting for advisory committee members. Applications are accepted online on the City's website with a deadline of December 15. · Susan Clark was appointed as the Engineering and Planning Supervisor (Eric's former position). · The Storm and Surface Water general facility charge number given by staff as the September UAC meeting was incorrect. It will only increase by 10 percent. More details provided during the business item. · Staff had planned an update the Sea Level Rise Plan for the October meeting. The oversight staff group is moving slower than expected. The next step is to get the elected officials together to discuss an interlocal agreement. · Distributed the current edition of the Five Things. Mr. Christensen noted that the UAC can always provide staff with suggestions for topics to include in the Five Things. UAC member Dever Haffner-Ratliffe asked if the Five Things utility insert could also be distributed to renters. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 19-0879 2019 Wastewater Management Plan Ms. Utter and Mr. Christensen briefed the UAC on the City's update to the Wastewater Plan. During the briefing staff presented information on capacity issues, finances and the the timeline for finalizing and adopting the plan. The UAC thanked staff for the briefing. The Committee agreed to recommend the approval of the draft Wastewater Management Plan and write a letter of support to the CIty Council. 19-0880 Waste ReSources Recycling Program: Next Steps Mr. Franks and Mr. Jones briefed the UAC on changes to the City's recycling program. The changes are due to China's import restrictions on recyclables. Staff presented information at the September 17 Council Study Session. Council supported staff's recommendation to remove glass and poly coated cardboard from the City's acceptable materials list for recycling. In order to continue to collect glass, the City City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 3, 2019 is considering glass collection sites for residents to haul their own glass. Staff plans to use the yard waste site on the east side and are looking at several sites on the west side of Olympia. Staff agreed to share with the UAC the general outreach strategy to communicate these changes to the community. Staff will either return to the UAC by December and/or share the communication plan via email. The UAC thanked staff for the briefing. The information was received. 19-0881 2020 Preliminary Utility Rates and Operating Budgets Mr. Christiansen and Mr. Franks presented the UAC's final briefing on utility finances. Staff will present this information to the City's Finance Committee on Monday October 28 and will need a letter of support from the UAC. City Council will begin reviewing the City's 2020 budget, including utility rates, on October 29, with adoption by mid-December. The Committee agreed to recommend approval of staff's recommendations for the 2020-2025 Capital Facilities Plan, 2020 utility rates and GFCs as follows: Utility rate increases: Storm and Surface Water 2.51% Wastewater -2.00% Drinking Water 5.25% Waste ReSources 2.30% Ten percent increase to the Storm and Surface Water utility GFC. No increases to the other utilities' GFCs. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Buffo adjourned the meeting. City of Olympia Page 3