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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Commission - Minutes - 07/20/2023 WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING July 20, 2023, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Hybrid in person at 222 LaPorte Ave and online via Zoom 07/20/2023 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL • Commissioners Present In Person: Jordan Radin (Chairperson), Paul Herman (Vice Chairperson), James Bishop, Rick Kahn, John Primsky, Jason Tarry • Commissioners Present via Zoom: Tyler Eldridge • Commissioners Absent - Excused: Greg Steed, Kent Bruxvoort Staff Members Present In Person: Jason Graham, Jeremy Woolf, John Song, Heather McDowell, Matt Fater, Mayor Jeni Arndt, Lance Smith, Davina Lau, Michael Neale • Staff Members Present via Zoom: None • Members of the Public via Zoom: Rob Graves 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chairperson Jordan Radin briefly summarized items on the agenda 4. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION: None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairperson Radin asked for comments and revisions on the draft minutes. Commissioner Bishop moved to approve the June 15 minutes. Commissioner Herman seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: it passed unanimously, 7-0 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Staff Reports (Attachments available upon request) i. Financial Monthly Report (meeting packet only) Discussion Highlights A Commissioner commented on the effect of the wet year thus far, to which Water Director Jason Graham responded that expenses continue to exist while water sales are down. Utilities Finance Senior Director Lance Smith added that the City would not run in a deficit, and so they would need to go to Council if needed for alternative funding sources. A challenge is that the City aims to promote water conservation which also needing to address fixed WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 07/20/2023 – MINUTES Page 2 costs. The City would need to borrow from water reserves—as opposed to the general fund—and look at the long term to see if they need to raise rates. ii. Update on Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Boards and Commissions Boards and Commissions Coordinator Davina Lau gave an update to the Commission regarding Section 2-178 of the Municipal Code and administrative changes, such as onboarding, applications, and terms, while the Commission’s function will not change. Discussion Highlights One of the biggest changes is the code language that will allow for joint meetings to occur more easily, i.e. it would only require approval of the City Manager or Council Liaison to the Water Commission. b. Regular Items (Attachments available upon request) i. Discussion with Mayor/Council Liaison to the Water Commission Jeni Arndt: (1) Water Commission’s Advisory Role to City Council (2) Council and Water Commission Priorities Mayor Jeni Arndt, Davina Lau, and the Commission discussed the relationship between the Commission and City Council, particularly about how the Commission could best advise Council, as well as other water priorities and topics in which Council may have interest. Discussion Highlights A Commissioner asked whether there are other avenues of communication that the Commission could have with the Council Liaison or City Council. Mayor Arndt responded that the letters and memorandums are highly regarded, but emails and phone calls are also appreciated. Another Commissioner commented that there may be something lost if the Commission is not represented at Council meetings, especially if there’s opposition to a staff recommendation. They further discussed the balance of expertise versus wider experiences. ii. Oak Street Stormwater Improvement Project: Status and Financing Special Projects Manager Heather McDowell and Utilities Finance Senior Director Lance Smith presented on the status of the Oak Street Stormwater Improvement Project; estimated timeframe to begin construction is July 2024. For that to occur, City Council will need to approve the appropriation of funds and debt issuance for the project by the end of November 2023. This will allow for finalization of a contractor agreement by the beginning of December WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 07/20/2023 – MINUTES Page 3 2023, and will provide the chosen contractor with six to eight months to procure materials and permits for construction mobilization by July 2024. Discussion Highlights A Commissioner inquired about the project’s delivery system, which Ms. McDowell responded was Design-Bid-Build, which the Commissioner wondered is the right approach and discussed risks and contingencies. The Commissioner further asked about the primary design team, to which Ms. McDowell responded that there were many involved, but the primary had been Anderson Consulting. Another Commissioner inquired whether the projected construction costs were recent, which Ms. McDowell responded that the costs are based on 2024 projections. Another Commissioner wondered about a project presented several years ago with an estimate of $87 million, which had been the Magnolia Street Outfall Project in concurrence with the entire Downtown Stormwater Improvement Plan. Capital Projects Director Matt Fater clarified further that this current effort would improve the projection for the Magnolia Street Outfall Project, lowering the estimate to about $70 million. The Commission discussed details of ongoing maintenance requirements. Commissioner Tarry moved that the Water Commission recommend City Council approve the appropriation of funds and issuance of debt to support the construction of the Oak Street Stormwater Improvements Project. Commissioner Herman seconded the motion. Vote on the Motion: it passed unanimously, 7-0 iii. Second Appropriation of Funds for a Modern Customer Information and Billing System Utilities Finance Senior Director Lance Smith presented on the second appropriation, the first request for $4.25 million having been made in March as the City was assessing vendor proposals. Those funds were appropriated earlier so that the City could begin the process of temporarily increasing staffing for the implementation while contract review and negotiations were finalized. The City has now identified the vendor of choice, reviewed the functional requirements in detail with that vendor, and negotiated terms of the contract sufficient to determine the amount of investment needed to successfully deploy a new CIS-CX. This appropriation request of $9.7 million—if passed by the full City Council—will provide the additional funding needed for all costs associated directly with the software deployment, software testing, training, and the organizational change management associated with moving to a modern CIS-CX. WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 07/20/2023 – MINUTES Page 4 Discussion Highlights A Commissioner asked whether the City had gone through a good selection process with sufficient applicants. Mr. Smith responded that there had been seven applicants overall and discussed some of the details of the selection process and differences in costs, though he cannot currently speak about the applicants themselves. A Commissioner requested clarification whether Fort Collins Connexion ( https://fcconnexion.com/ ) has its own system, which Mr. Smith confirmed. Another Commissioner inquired about the details of the implementation process. Commissioner Herman moved that the Water Commission supports bringing an appropriation ordinance forward for the consideration of the full City Council to support the licensing and full implementation of the modernization of the Utilities Customer Information System-Customer Self Service Portal. Commissioner Eldridge seconded the motion. Vote on the Motion: it passed unanimously, 7-0 7. COMMISSIONER REPORTS None 8. OTHER BUSINESS None 9. ADJOURNMENT 7:18 p.m. These minutes were approved by the Water Commission on August 17, 2023.