Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Eric Christensen 360.570.3741 Thursday, November 7, 2019 5:40 PM Maintenance Center, 1401 Eastside St SE 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Buffo called the meeting to order. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Mike Buffo, Committee member Dennis Bloom, Committee member Dever Haffner-Ratliffe, Committee member Arland Schneider, Committee member Cullen Stephenson and Committee member Roger Wilson Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Luke Bowerman, Committee member Steve Fossum and Committee member Eleanor (Pat) Vernon OTHERS PRESENT Water Resources Director Eric Christensen Drinking Water Operations Supervisor Jeff Coleman LOTT Clean Water Alliance staff Wendy Steffensen, LOTT Clean Water Alliance staff Lisa Dennis Perez 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 19-0995 Approval of October 3, 2019 UAC Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved as amended. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - No public comment 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM UAC AND STAFF Chair Buffo provided an update of the October 28 Finance Committee meeting. The key points were: - In January, the UAC Chair and Vice Chair will review UAC candidate applications. They will recommend no more than four candidates for the General Government City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 7, 2019 Committee to interview. - The Finance Committee would like the UAC to monitor rate increases for other utilities, as regulated through the Utilities and Transportation Commission. The UAC will add this to their 2020-2021 workplan. - The UAC wrote a letter to Council in November 2018 regarding concerns about the impact of the municipal utility tax on ratepayers. Mr. Christiansen provided the UAC with a copy of the 2018 letter. Mr. Christensen provided the following information: - Update and status of City utility construction projects. - The City will apply for a Washington State Department of Ecology grant to fund a street sweeper and partially pay for a position to operate the equipment. This would be an additional street sweeper and would focus on sediment removal and water quality. - Staff received a request from students from Evergreen State College to interview advisory committee members. Mr. Christensen provided the UAC the details. Increase to Water Turn-on Penalty On behalf of staff, Mr. Christensen proposed to the UAC an increase of the penalty for customers who turn back on their water after staff shut it off due to non-payment. By Olympia Municipal Code, only utility staff are authorized to turn on/turn off water service. The current fee is $10 and staff would like to increase this amount to $110. The UAC made a motion to increase the penalty to $40 and to create a tag that staff will place on the meter lock. The tag will inform customers of the $40 penalty if they turn the water back on. The motion carried. Staff will incorporate the penalty change into the 2020 utility fee rate ordinance. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 19-0996 Water Resources Update of Cityworks (work management software) Mr. Coleman provided the briefing. The report was received. 19-0997 LOTT Clean Water Alliance (LOTT) Reclaimed Water Infiltration Study Update Ms. Steffensen and Ms. Dennis-Perez provided the briefing to the UAC. Chair Buffo asked staff what the UAC's role is in the outcome of the study. Mr. Christensen stated this could some day have implications to rate payers if there's a need for additional treatment. LOTT staff noted that when the study is completed in spring 2020 they plan to hold public meetings. LOTT's website has a list serve where citizens can sign up to get study City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 7, 2019 updates. After discussion and questions, UAC members thanked staff for the briefing. The report was received. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Buffo adjourned the meeting. City of Olympia Page 3