Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Eric Christensen 360.570.3741 Thursday, February 6, 2020 5:40 PM City Hall, Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Buffo called the meeting to order. 1.A ROLL CALL 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/UAC Staff Liaison Eric Christensen Waste ReSources Director Gary Franks Environmental Services Supervisor Joe Roush 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 20-0103 Approval of December 5, 2019 Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM UAC AND STAFF Mr. Christensen provided the following updates: · Staff added text regarding the municipal utility tax to the City's utility bill and to the January/February rates edition of the Five Things. · Distributed the final water meter shut off notice tags. The tags inform customers of a $40 penalty if they turn the water back on. City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes February 6, 2020 · Staff will present the draft Wastewater Management Plan in March for a public hearing and adoption by City Council. · The UAC’s liaison is the Finance Committee which consists of Mayor Selby and Councilmembers Cooper and Parshley. · Staff estimates it will cost $28,000 per year to mail the Five Things publication to renters/multi-family tenants in Olympia. The City Council budgeted $5,000 in 2020 and the utilities will pay the remaining costs. Mr. Christensen noted the utilities can absorb the cost, but it’s essentially $1 per utility customer per year to send the mailing to renters/multi-family customers. The UAC discussed whether City staff should create a different Five Things that has tailored messages for multi-family/renters. UAC members provided feedback that staff should not create a separate document. They would like staff to create content in the Five Things that is relevant for every type of customer (homeowners, renters and multifamily). · In January, Chair Buffo and Vice Chair Bowerman reviewed and ranked four applications for prospective UAC members. The UAC has three vacancies. The General Government Committee will interview all four applicants on February 18. The City Council will appoint new members in March. · Mr. Christensen will not be able to attend the April UAC meeting. Another member of the Water Resources team will cover the meeting. The April meeting will include new UAC members, so the City Executive Office will require members to watch the Open Public Meetings Action (OPMA) video. · The City has a 9.9 percent water loss, with the three-year average still under the 10 percent as required by the Washington State Department of Health Office of Drinking Water. Mr. Franks provided the following announcements: · The Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) is re-writing the Solid Waste Master Plan. Staff from the City of Olympia will be highly engaged in this process. · Glass recycling drop-off locations are successful. City staff have received 94 phone calls and 77 emails regarding the changes to recycling. The City plans to do more education on recycling plastics. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 20-0114 Storm and Surface Water Utility: Program Implementation Mr. Roush presented the information. The UAC thanked him for the briefing. The information was received. 20-0116 Utility Advisory Committee Work Plan and Officer Elections 2020-2021 Workplan Mr. Christensen reviewed the draft 2020-2021 UAC work plan with UAC members. City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes February 6, 2020 UAC members asked if one of the business items on the April 2020 agenda could be moved to March 2020 (either Thurston Climate Action Plan or Utiilty Customer Assitance Program). Mr. Christensen will follow up with staff to discuss moving one of those items. With the request mentioned above, Committee member Stephenson moved, seconded by Committee member Bloom, to approve the draft 2019-2020 UAC work plan. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Office Elections Committee member Haffner-Ratliffe nominated Chair Buffo for Chair. Committee member Vernon nominated Committee member Stephenson for Vice Chair. The UAC voted unanimously to re-elect Mr. Buffo as Chair and elect Committee member Stephenson as Vice Chair. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Buffo adjourned the meeting. City of Olympia Page 3