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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 04/24/2003Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes Thursday, April 24, 2003 City Council Liaison David Roy Staff Liaison DeEtta Carr 221-6702 Water Board Chairman Water Board Vice Chairman Tom Sanders 491-5448 John Morris 491-0185 Secretary Heather Anderson 221-6700 Roll Call: Board Present Chairman -Tom Sanders, John Bartholow, Ted Borstad, Tom Brown, Jim Finley, Bill Fischer, David Lauer, John Morris, Rami Naddy, Robert Ward and Doug Yadon Board Absent None StaffPresent Patty Bigner, Dennis Bode, DeEtta Carr, Assistant City Attorney Carrie Daggett, Kevin Gertig, Susan Hayes, Jim Hibbard, Brian Janonis, Gale McGaha Miller, Mike Smith and Wendy Williams Guests Virginia Brown, Patty Caputo, Yvonne Longacre, Mary Parker and Michael deYoanna— Coloradoan and City Council Member David Roy Meeting Opened Chairman, Tom Sanders, called the meeting to order at 2:34 p.m. Approval of Minutes Board member Bill Fischer motioned to approve the March 27, 2003. Board member Doug Yadon seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Market Research Presentation — Market Decisions Curtis Mildner, the president of Market Decisions, a firm City of Fort Collins Utilities hired to complete our customer service survey for residential and commercial customers, gave a presentation to the Board. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate customer service ratings from a survey in 1999 and address an issue related to supply of water and electricity. The ratings overall were very high Water Board Meeting Minutes April 24, 2003 Page 2 with customer attitudes strongly in favor for slowing the growth rate in Fort Collins. There was also a strong support for water conservation efforts and additional building of reservoirs. An exceptionally high percent of the sample pool actually participated in the survey (30 percent.) Common commercial participation rates are about 18 percent and Market Decisions normally takes pride in 25 percent participation. The 30 percent speaks highly of the relationship of Utilities with the community. Some of the positives from the survey were: ❖ The current survey showed an increase in awareness of other services the Utilities provided from the 1999 survey. ❖ Reasonable price was at a B+ (The scale was A-F, with A being highest) ❖ From the taste of the water to the over all grade, people were very pleased with the service they were getting. Customer service interaction was rated B+ or higher. Two of the suggestions the consultant gave as ways to improve were the opportunity for the Utilities to actively promote conservation programs and to communicate with customers through feedback cards after services are provided. Revisions to City Code and Land Use Code Gale McGaha Miller, Regulatory and Government Affairs Manager, discussed moving information from the Land Use Code to the City Code because keeping it within Land Use Code makes it applicable to new development only. By moving it to City Code, it not only gives it more applicability, but also makes it easier to enforce. The first piece of language proposed to be added to the Health and Safety section of City Code was language that promoted conservation (Section 12-130). Home owner's associations (HOAs) were banning clothes lines, xeriscaping, composting bins, or other options that homeowners could do to conserve resources. The new language within this section of City Code allows citizens to participate in these conservation practices without violating their HOA bylaws. The next piece regards organic soil amendments, or the loosening and addition of compost or peat to enrich the clay soil prior to landscaping to help in water conservation (Section 12-131). The new language includes requirements for soil amendments for new lots in residential neighborhoods, green belt areas and the inspection program associated with these soil amendment processes. Staff also suggested an addition to Section 26-47 of City Code to authorize the City to shut off water from the street main to prevent substantial loss of water. An example might be the shutting off of water to a large greenbelt area with broken sprinkler heads. It was also suggested to change Section 26-166 and 26-167 of City Code to clarify the definition of water wasting and authorize the City to enact watering restrictions in the event of a drought, water shortage or emergency. Water Board Meeting Minutes April 24, 2003 Page 3 Board member Ted Borstad made a motion to approve Section 12-130 of the City Code with the amendment requested by Board member John Morris, "...clothes lines (if located in backyards and if completely screened from view from public streets)..." to read "...clothes lines (if located in backyards)..." Ted also added to approve Section 12-131 without amendments and to be moved from the Land Use Code to the City Code along with Section 12-130. David Lauer seconded the motion and it passed. Sections 26-47, 26-166 and 26-167 were tabled until another meeting because of time constraints. Fluoride Recommendation to City Council Board member Doug Yadon stated that he believes the aggregate benefits for City of Fort Collins Utilities population is not counter balancing some of the costs and both potential and known risks. He stated that kids fluoridated all their lives, verses those not fluoridated at all, showed differences ranging from 15-40 percent depending on the study. He is convinced by the evidence that there are benefits to fluoridation based on these studies, but he is concerned about the long- term effects. Board member Rami Naddy stated that he is still concerned to define "at risk community" where the potential majority of caries are. He suggested, if the public felt strongly enough about fluoridation, the option should be given to lower the range of fluoridation and not remove it entirely. Board member Daivd Lauer said the Board should consider advising City Council to subsidize a dental and nutrition clinic for those most affected if fluoride were taken out of the water. He felt that if we saved money by not fluoridating, the money saved could constitute a source of funds for the City's contribution to such an initiative. Board member Bill Fischer stated that he would like to continue fluoridation because of Findings #1, #2, #3, #4 and a quote from Working Group Report: Water Fluoridation and Health within the Fluoride Technical Study Group (FTSG) report, on pages iv-vi and page 6. He felt it was necessary for the constant application of fluoride for it to be effective. Board member Ted Borstad stated that his initial indication from the FTSG encouraged fluoridation. Further reading shows data does support both fluoridation and removing it. However, he supported not adding fluoride to the water. Board member Tom Brown stated that the primary goal of the Utilities is to provide safe, clean water. He stated the Utilities should avoid doing something that could pose a risk to the customers. He deducted from differing reading materials, including the FTSG report, that for most people fluoridation of the water is not a risk; however, he felt there were subsets of the population that were at potential for risk. He stated that the benefits of fluoridating are reduced, the risk is still there and so he is firmly against fluoridating the water. Water Board Meeting Minutes April 24, 2003 Page 4 Board member John Bartholow stated that it seems a majority of Board members are hesitant to recommend continuing to fluoridate and some definitely want to take fluoride out of the water. He stated this stance should be presented to City Council, possibly by a subcommittee of the Water Board. Board member Robert Ward stated the fundamental purpose of the Water Utility is to provide clean water that all the community has complete confidence. With this point of view, he had to look at every concern of what is in that water. He stated that to use the water supply to deliver to a small fraction that we are concerned about, and say that all the other impacted population are not important to us, concerns him whether there are no known effects or not. He would prefer the Utilities stick to providing clean, pure water as possible and look to other mechanisms to treat the population's fluoride needs. Chairman Tom Sanders, stated that 30 or 40 years ago there would have been value to put fluoride in the water, but now it is in a lot of things. The issue of the fluoride increasing in the ambient back ground water is beginning to bother him because there is so much fluoride going out that we are putting in there. He was also bothered by the health reports that stated if your baby was under six months old it shouldn't have fluoride at all, and the accumulation of DDTs in someone's liver. He goes back to what Robert Ward said that the primary purpose is to produce safe, clean, water, in all aspects. Fluoride is different. It does not make the water safer, cleaner, or better. It just provides some capability to fight dental carries. His position is that he will vote against fluoride. David Lauer moved that the Water Board recommend to City Council that the Utilities discontinue community water fluoridation. John Morris seconded the motion. The motion passed with a 9-2 vote. Tom Sanders stated that when he drafts the letter to City Council, he will ask for the rest of the board member's opinions on how it is drafted. Board member John Bartholow stated that he had heard it was a conflict of interest for Rami Naddy to vote because he was part of the FTSG. Chairman Tom Sanders stated that he did not feel it was a conflict of interest because he had appointed Rami to be a part of the group. Rami stated he did not have a conflict having been on the FTSG either because of his tenure on the Water Board or his association with Dr Frank Vertucci. The other Board members also wanted it stated that they did not feel there was a conflict of interest and they very much appreciated his support. Information Sharing: Chairman Tom Sanders stated that there would be a trip to Halligan Reservoir on Friday, May 9`s at 8 a.m. for Water Board and Council members. If there were any that couldn't make it on May 9`s, a second trip is tentatively planned for Friday, May 16`h Water Board Meeting Minutes April 24, 2003 Page 5 Tom also reminded the Board of the Children's Water Festival to be held Tuesday, May 20 at Colorado State University if any of the Board members were able to volunteer. Staff Reports Dennis Bode stated that we are at approximately 86 percent of our projected demand at this time and the Snotel Data is above average at Joe Wright and Dead Man Hill. Adiournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. aa2 x GUV \ DeEtta Carr, Water Board Liaison