Utility Advisory Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Utility Advisory Committee Contact: Eric Christensen 360.570.3741 Thursday, March 3, 2022 5:30 PM Virtually 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Bloom called the meeting to order. Tribal Acknowledgment We would like to acknowledge the indigenous people who have stewarded this land since time immemorial and who still inhabit the area today, the Steh-Chass Band of Indigenous people of the Squaxin Island Tribe. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Vice Chair Dennis Bloom, Vice Chair Dennis Bloom, Committee member Kristin Lamson, Committee member Eleanor (Pat) Vernon, Committee member Roger Wilson, Committee member Dani Clark and Committee member Jason Selwitz Absent: 2 - Committee member Donald Krug and Committee member Arland Schneider 1.B. STAFF PRESENT Water Resources Director/Staff Liaison Eric Christensen Finance Director Aaron BeMiller Waste ReSources Director Gary Franks Surface Water Quality Planner Jeremy Graham Associate Planner Kym Foley Senior Program Specialist Susan McCleary 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 22-0202 Approval of February 3, 2022 Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None City of Olympia Page 1 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 3, 2022 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM UAC AND STAFF Mr. BeMiller provided an overview of the municipal utility tax. He explained the City's regulatory authority to charge the tax. This tax generates revenue for the general fund. The Committee expressed concern that the tax is regressive and thus a greater burden on lower income utility rate payers. Also the tax is not rescinded or reduced over the years while utility needs keep increasing. The Committee asked to be informed of the plan to increase the utility tax early in the UAC's budget review process. UAC members thanked Mr. BeMiller for the briefing. Mr. Christensen provided the following updates: COVID-19 has been manageable over the past month, with no serious impacts on operations. Staff are eager to drop their masks and some are eager to stop working remotely. Once a decision has been made to hold City Council meetings in person, the UAC may also have the opportunity to do so. Staff will keep the UAC informed. Olympia experienced an atmospheric river event earlier this week which brought lots of rain. The Deschutes River peaked Tuesday night, March 1. Capitol Lake levels got high with the high tide Wednesday morning March 2, but there was no flooding. Fortunately, it was nothing like what we saw in early January. Good news is that we onboarded a new Stormwater Engineer, Fran Love, this week. Unfortunately, Diane Utter who is our Wastewater Engineer accepted a position in the Parks Department starting April 1. We are currently recruiting for this vacant wastewater Engineering position. No need to claim the committee stipends on tax returns because they are under a certain amount. Mr. Franks provided an update the Waste ReSources recruitments. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 22-0205 NPDES Annual Report Mr. Graham provided a briefing on the City’s compliance with the State’s National Pollution Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Phase II Stormwater Permit. The Department of Ecology is the state agency that oversees the City of Olympia's compliance with the permit. Olympia is a Phase II permittee. Ms. Foley provided information on the Stormwater Management Action Planning (SMAP) process and Ms. McCleary provided information on the Behavior Change Campaign (Regional Dumpster Lid Best Management Practice Pilot Project). Both projects are examples of the wide array of efforts required by the current version of the NPDES City of Olympia Page 2 Utility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 3, 2022 Permit. The UAC thanked staff for the briefing. They are supportive of staff submitting the NPDES annual report and SWMP to the Department of Ecology. The report was received. 22-0209 Waste ReSources 2022 Recycling Program Update Mr. Franks provided a briefing on the Waste Resources recycling program, recycling markets and the general state of recycling. The UAC thanked staff for the briefing. The information was provided. 22-0210 Utilities Financial Updates The information was provided. 7. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Bloom adjourned the meeting. City of Olympia Page 3