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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 01/22/2004City Council Liaison David Roy Staff Liaison DeEtta Carr 221-6702 Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes Thursday, January 22, 2004 Water Board Chairman Water Board Vice Chairman Tom Sanders 491-5448 Secretary Leslie Mooney 416-2703 Roll Call: Board Present John Bartholow, Ted Borstad, Tom Brown, Bill Fischer, Jim Finley, Gina Janette, Rami Naddy, Tom Sanders, Reagan Waskom and Doug Yadon Board Absent Debra Sweetman Staff Patty Bigner, Dennis Bode, DeEtta Carr, Steve Comstock, Carrie Daggett, Susan Hayes, Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Jim Hibbard, Cliff Hoelscher, Brian Janonis, Dave Meyer, Leslie Mooney, Bob Smith, Mike Smith, Dennis Sumner and Wendy Williams Meetine Convened Chairman Tom Sanders called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m. Approval of Minutes Board member John Bartholow made a motion which was seconded by Board member Jim Finley to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2003 meeting. The motion was unanimously adopted. Introduction of New Board Members Chairman Tom Sanders asked the new Board members to tell a little about themselves and then the existing Board members can introduce themselves. Board member Reagan Waskom stated he has lived in Fort Collins about 18 years and has worked at Colorado State University in various capacities. His expertise is in agriculture, has served on the Natural Resources Board for 41/2 years and hopes to learn and make a contribution to the Water Board. Gina Jannett stated that she was the manager of Milliken Sanitation district for about ten years and was in charge of the water and sewer departments. Her duties varied from supervising operational staff to negotiating agreements for water treatment and managing a five mile long Water Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2004 Page 2 pipeline construction project. She stated that she was also on the Fort Collins City Council from 1993-1997 and was on the Council Water Committee which met frequently with members of the Water Board. Floodolain Variance — Marsha Hilmes-Robinson Assistant City Attorney Carrie Daggett, gave a summary of the variance process outline for the Board's information. Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Floodplain Administrator, stated the variance is for a small business called Bean Trees Coffee Shop and is located on Lot 3 of Mulberry-LeMay Crossing which is on 12u Street to the north of Supermarket Liquors. The variance request is to waive the dry land access requirement (Section 10-61.7) of the City Code to this building. She explained that the situation of this property is that it is not really in a floodplain in the physical sense but is in a regulatory floodplain because it falls within the Poudre River floodplain. The intent of the regulation is to prevent a situation where a building might be located out in the middle of a floodplain and be surrounded by water with no dry land access. She stated that this is not the case for this property because it is a small lot and is bordered by accessible areas. Eileen Turgeon and Diana May, owners of the property, stated that part of the problem with building dry land access is that space is very limited because of the small lot size and because utility easements run along three sides of it. Diana May stated that the option of tying into the existing driveway to Supermarket Liquors and into 12n' Street was explored but was determined to not be satisfactory since those roads are not above the floodplain. She said that the lot is so small that a car would not have enough room to make a U turn to get out, so they needed a drive thru drive way and a variance for a second curb cut. Board member Doug Yadon asked Marsha where the closest regulatory dry land access is located. She responded that Mulberry Street is dry for most portions of the section. He asked if there was any practical way to build a small dike from Mulberry to the building. She responded that the property is surrounded by development on either side and it is also in the county which has no relationship to the City's floodplain process. Board member Gina Janett asked if this variance would set any precedence in future requests for variances. Assistant City Attorney Carrie Daggett replied that generally each variance is unique and has its own circumstances so a precedence would not be relevant. Board member Ted Borstad made a motion, seconded by Board member Doug Yadon to approve the variance request provided the following conditions are met: 1. Variances shall only be issued upon the determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief. 2. Variances shall only be issued upon a finding that there has been a showing of good and sufficient cause; and 3. A determination that the granting of the variance would not result in any increased flood heights, any additional threat to public safety or to public or private property, any Water Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2004 Page 3 extraordinary public expense, any nuisance or trespass, any fraud on or victimization of the public or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances. The motion passed unanimously. Mercury Control Proeram Discussion — Dave Meyer David Meyer, Technical Services Supervisor, stated that there are two main issues related to wastewater and mercury in Fort Collins; the first is the very low State Water Quality Standard that applies to the Poudre River where we discharge. That standard is 10 ng/L (nanograms per liter or parts per trillion, ppt). Since the City started using low level analyses of mercury in August 2000, about 18% of the effluent samples tested have exceeded the water quality standard. Prior to using that method, effluent analysis results were below the detection limit. The other issue is related to the maximum allowable head works loading (MARL) that is calculated as part of the pretreatment program's local limit evaluation. This is the maximum allowable pollutant that can enter the treatment system while still meeting all applicable standards. If this limit is exceeded at any time the EPA requires notification in the annual report and must contain an explanation and plans for an investigation and/or control program. So far, this limit has been exceeded three times, of which the last was calculated to be 26% over the maximum limit. Dave illustrated some graphs which depicted the mercury concentrations in influent and effluent flows of both wastewater treatment plants. The Board discussed the discrepancies and possible causes of the fluctuations in the data. They asked where the mercury is coming from. Dave replied that the majority of the mercury point source is coming from dental offices resulting from the removal of amalgam fillings, but there are also minute amounts of mercury in many toiletries that add up to a significant concentration in the daily domestic wastewater. He added that other cities have seen a decrease in mercury levels after implementing an amalgam separator program. Board member Bill Fischer requested that Board member Rami Naddy meet with the Engineering Committee and study the issue and make a recommendation to the Board at next month's meeting. Rami agreed. Election of Officers Chairman Tom Sanders asked for nominations for Chairman for 2004. Board member Rami Naddy nominated Tom Sanders. Board member Naddy made a motion, seconded by Board member Gina Janett to cease nominations which was unanimously adopted. Board member Bill Fischer made a motion, seconded by Board member Rami Naddy to cast a unanimous ballot for Mr. Sanders. The motion passed unanimously. Chairman Tom Sanders asked for nominations for Vice Chairman. Board member Doug Yadon nominated Tom Brown. Chairman Sanders nominated Bill Fischer. Bill Fischer withdrew from the nominations. Board member Doug Yadon made a motion, seconded by Board member Jim Finley to close the nominations. The motion passed unanimously. Board member Bill Fischer made a motion, seconded by Board member Jim Finley to cast a unanimous ballot for Tom Brown. The motion passed unanimously. Water Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2004 Page 4 Board member Bill Fischer stated he wished to express the Board's appreciation for the fine job Tom Sanders has done in being the Chairman for the past several years. Chairman Sanders thanked the Board for their support. Treated Water Production Summary — Dennis Bode Dennis Bode, Water Resources and Planning Manager, stated that the table and graphs in their packet show that the Utility delivered 25,410 acre feet of water or about 79% of the annual projected use. The annual precipitation was 18" in 2003 compared to the usual average of 15" per year. Chairman Sanders asked Dennis if he felt that the City was still in a drought. Dennis replied that in terms of the current water supply the City is not in a drought. He stated that last year the City only had a 30% CBT quota, this year they have a 50% CBT quota and the carry over water supply is roughly three times what it was a year ago. Committee Reports Chairman Sanders asked representatives from each committee to give an update of the types of issues they work on for the new Board members information. He stated that he would like to have a Chairman of the Conservation and Public Education Committee elected by the next meeting or he will appoint one. Board member Reagan volunteered to be assigned to the Conservation and Public Education Committee and the Legislative, Finance and Liaison Issues Committee. Board members Gina Janett and Tom Brown volunteered to be on the Legislative, Finance and Liaison Issues Committee. . Halligan Reservoir Update — Brian Janonis Brian Janonis, Water Resources and Treatment Services Department Manager, stated that on December 4, 2003 the City notified the North Poudre Irrigation Company that the City will exercise the option to purchase Halligan Reservoir. He stated that the City has closed on the property as of today. Mike Smith, Utilities Director, stated that Brian will come back next month to explain the process before a determination can be made to expand the reservoir. Other Business Chairman Sanders stated that he was concerned that the Board's recommendations were not having enough impact on the City Council's decisions and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions. Board member Tom Brown agreed and stated that he has gone to the newspapers to help explain the issues that are involved in their decisions. Board member Gina Janett suggested either writing a memo to Council stating the Board's concerns when an issue needs more clarification, or making a presentation at the work study session. Tom Sanders added that they could invite the Council Liaison to attend one of their meetings when there is a pending Council decision to be made. Water Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2004 Page 5 Possible Change of Meetine Day Chairman Sanders also asked the Board if they would be interested in changing the meeting day to Friday instead of Thursday. Mike Smith offered to have the meetings later in the evenings or over the lunch hour. The Board will take this into consideration for future discussion. Adiournment Board member Bill Fischer made a motion, seconded by Tom Sanders to adjourn. The motion was unanimously adopted. The meeting was adjourned at 5:03 p.m. a� c� DeEtta Carr, Water Board Liaison