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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Commission - Minutes - 02/16/2023 WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING February 16, 2023, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Hybrid in person at 222 LaPorte Ave and online via Zoom 02/16/202 3 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:34 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL • Commissioners Present: Jordan Radin (Chairperson), Paul Herman (Vice Chairperson), James Bishop, Ken Bruxvoort, Tyler Eldridge, Rick Kahn, John Primsky, Jason Tarry • Commissioners Absent - Excused: Greg Steed • Staff Members Present: Jason Graham, Katherine Martinez, Kendall Minor, Davina Lau, Donnie Dustin, Heather Young, Paul Iengo, Barb Andrews, Eric Lahman, Jen Dial, Angel Anderson, Andrew Gingerich • Members of the Public: Keith Meyer of Ditesco Services, Bob Kingsbury (Parks and Recreation Board Member) 3. AGENDA REVIEW • Chairperson Jordan Radin reviewed the agenda, and combined items 9(a) “Boards and Commissions Update” with 7(a)(i) “Water Commission Responsibilities.” 4. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION • None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairperson Radin asked for comments on the draft minutes. There were none. Commissioner Herman moved to approve the January 19 minutes. Commissioner Eldridge seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: it passed unanimously, 8-0 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Staff Reports (Attachments available upon request) i. Boards & Commissions Update Public Engagement Specialist Davina Lau of the City Clerk’s Office provided a summary of Boards and Commissions news including: the Boards and WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 02/16/2023 – MINUTES Page 2 Commissions Manual has not been updated since 2016, and they’re planning to add Code of Conduct; next Boards and Commissions Super Issues meeting is on May 8; Ms. Lau is staff contact for the City Council Ad Hoc Committee for Boards and Commissions, which has decided to shift recruitment to spring instead of September to December; the new schedule is recruitment during December and January, interviews and appoint in March and April. Recruitment will opening in April to fill open positions. Council requests that if Boards and Commissions members make public comment at Council, they identify themselves as such. Discussion Highlights Commissioners commented on and inquired about various related topics including: guidance of City Clerk’s Office to avoid email discussions due to Colorado Open Meetings law requiring a public meeting if discussion occurs between three or more commissioners; timing of memos to Council to share recommendations and alternately inviting the Council Liaison to attend a meeting; Water Commission Council Liaison is Mayor Jeni Arndt. ii. Water Outreach and Education Opportunities: Presentation and Feedback (Attachments available upon request) From the 2023 Work Plan: “Review 2023 opportunities for Water Commissioners to participate in water-related educational and public outreach efforts.” Community Engagement Manager Heather Young of Utilities Customer Connections summarized public engagement programs as well as opportunities for Water Commission to become involved. Other staff present included Barb Andrews, Eric Lahman, and Pete Iengo. Discussion Highlights Commissioners commented on and inquired about various related topics including: a suggestion to reach out to landscaping firms to request they share information with customers about xeriscape and soil amendments; the Capital Improvement Plan and messaging for projects such as Halligan Water Supply Project and addressing false perceptions (Ms. Young stated that her staff engages the community on specific topics at various points in the project timeline, as well as connecting with key stakeholders for feedback; misperceptions about Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP), WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 02/16/2023 – MINUTES Page 3 which the City is not a part of; Mr. Graham mentioned website updates to https://www.fcgov.com/halligan/ and https://www.fcgov.com/nispreview/ and lockstep effort between Water Utility and Community Engagement staff; deliberate conversation about how to elevate the conversation about the Halligan project, such as pursuing grant funding to help reestablish it as the top project of Fort Collins Utilities; Fort Collins Connexion communications and public engagement as a potential model for the Halligan project (team of five employees). Other topics discussed included: evaluation of community outreach efforts (Ms. Young stated staff uses surveys to evaluate behavior and knowledge before and after; informal evaluation during programs for learning retention results; reliance on best practices, especially on messaging (social media, etc.) via multiple touch points; example of Utilities policy engagement such as xeriscaping and community perception (Mr. Iengo stated that in a two-week period there were 1,000 unique responses, representing people’s passion for conserving water, property rights, xeriscaping and soil amendment); March/April workshops were geared toward community and industry professionals and how policy will impact businesses; Water Conservation Team is in charge of the xerixscaping program; how to increase financial incentives for soil amendments and xeriscaping; and how the City and Utilities can model these. iii. Halligan Water Supply Project Update & 2022 Year-In-Review Report Description (Attachments available upon request) Staff presenter was Director of Water Jason Graham with support from Water Resources Engineer Donnie Dustin and project coordinator Angel Anderson. This is the first presentation to update on Halligan Water Supply Project before it goes to City Council on May 9 as part of the Regional Water agenda item. Purpose and need: water storage, for resiliency; Utilities is not able to fully use water rights at this time due to lack of water storage; it has hired consulting firm Tetra Tech to help pursue grant funding; project team and structure has evolved: almost complete turnover of structure and project team members; updated cost estimate; next update to Water Commission will be presented by the full team with new project manager in place. Discussion Highlights Commissioners commented on and inquired about various related topics including 144,000 water customers in Fort Collins; Mr. Dustin stated Halligan WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 02/16/2023 – MINUTES Page 4 is for drought storage, which is important if other supplies are exhausted; the City owns Halligan Reservoir but not the water and not the dam until we create additional capacity for the 8,200 acre-feet it has rights to; risk regarding use of eminent domain/condemnation (staff is avoiding use of condemnation; negotiating with landowners instead); litigation (this potential is considered in risks portion of total project costs); the project is an expansion of the existing reservoir that includes building a new dam just downstream; scope of linear assets (infrastructure to use Halligan water is already in place); public outreach; design cost versus total cost (estimate in presentation is for design and construction; concern by a commissioner for bonds to pay for project with interest over 20 years; 5% over 15 years will double total project costs; cost of Colorado-Big Thompson (CBT) Project water is $75,000 per acre-foot at this time versus Halligan Water Supply Project (estimated $38,000 per acre-foot) plus potential severe water restrictions when CBT water is no longer available; Halligan project contributes toward improving flow in North Fork of Poudre River; Halligan Project Manager interviews are scheduled for March; water rights for this project were secured decades ago; commissioners’ suggestion to emphasize in messaging cost per acre-foot for this project compared to other projects; request for Water Conservation team to present in the future on savings through xeriscaping; need for both water conservation and water storage for reliable supply for the next 30 to 40 years. iv. Financial Monthly Report (none this month due to year-end processing) v. Water Resources Monthly Report (meeting packet only) (Attachments available upon request) Discussion Highlights Commissioners commented on and inquired about various related topics including the fact that Water Resources Division staff create this report specifically for Water Commission; discussion of whether a scaled-down report (one-page scorecard) is preferred to focus on data of interest to commissioners and to reduce staff workload burden regarding this report and Water Commission meetings in general: direction to add this topic to the April 6 work session agenda. WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 02/16/2023 – MINUTES Page 5 b. Regular Items None 7. COMMISSIONER REPORTS Chairperson Radin attended the February 6 Boards and Commissions Super Issues meeting on the East Mulberry Annexation; it’s a large and diverse area, bigger than what the City would normally take on; phased approach; area served by East Larimer County Water District (ELCO); City of Fort Collins would take on certain services: stormwater and flood management; project is still in community outreach phase, no timeline provided; employees representing Planning & Zoning, Utilities and other departments staffed the event; impetus to “clean up” this gateway to Fort Collins (crime and drug issues) that is within the Growth Management Area (GMA). Chairperson Radin attended the Council meeting on 1041 regulations last week - https://www.fcgov.com/planning/1041-regulations - and made a statement as a local resident not on behalf of the Water Commission with one point being that the financial impact on Fort Collins Utilities is unknown; most commenters were from neighboring communities, local water districts, mayor of Windsor, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (“Northern Water”) and businesses speaking against the regulations; moratorium scheduled to expire in March is expected to be extended and Council has requested a work session on this topic. 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. Water Commission Responsibilities Address any questions regarding the January 11 Boards and Commissions Orientation hosted by the City Clerk’s Office. This agenda item was combined with agenda item #6(a)(i) “Boards and Commissions Update” earlier in the meeting. b. Meeting Schedule Discussion At the February 2 work session, commissioners discussed meeting frequency; Davina Lau confirmed City Code contains no requirements regarding the meeting schedule, therefore Water Commission can reduce the number of regularly meetings if desired or cancel work sessions and meetings due to lack of agenda items. WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 02/16/2023 – MINUTES Page 6 Discussion Highlights Commissioners commented on and inquired about various related topics including reducing staff workload; the idea that monthly meetings maintains motivation of volunteers serving on the Water Commission; suggestion to keep agenda items simple: instead of presentations, staff can attend simply to answer questions on particular topics or reports. Mr. Graham shared that staff is very appreciative of commissioners’ desire for effective use of staff time; timeliness factor for feedback and recommendations to Council; desire to determine whether agenda topics are necessary rather than simply interesting; suggestion of scaling down presentations when necessary and appropriate; idea of field trips to tour treatment facilities in lieu of meetings or work session; idea to eliminate August and December meetings to correspond with summer vacation/back-to- school schedules and holidays. Utilities Executive Director Kendall Minor suggested following the Utilities Senior Staff practice in which managers, one week before commission meetings, could relay to Mr. Graham priority topics to share with the commissioners during regular meetings and work sessions. 9. ADJOURNMENT 7:30 p.m. These minutes were approved by the Water Commission on March 16, 2023.