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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 05/17/1996WATER BOARD MINUTES May 17,1996 3:00 - 4:55 P.M. Water and Wastewater Utility Conference Room 700 Wood Street COUNCIL/WATER BOARD LIAISON Chuck Wanner WATER BOARD PRESIDENT Paul Clopper - Phone: W 223-5556 H 226-3377 STAFF LIAISON Molly Nortier - Phone: W 221-6681 H 493-2522 MEMBERS PRESENT John Bartholow, Vice President, Howard Goldman, Robert Ward, Ray Herrmann, Terry Podmore, Tom Brown STAFF Mike Smith, Wendy Williams, Gale McGaha Miller, Dennis Bode, Ben Alexander, Molly Nortier GUESTS John Fishbach, Fort Collins City Manager Chuck Wanner, Council/Water Board Liaison Joe Frank, Director Advance Planning Randy Fischer, Storm Drainage Board Susan Hayes, Stormwater Utility Gene Schleiger, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Sue Ellen Charlton, League of Women Voters Observer MEMBERS ABSENT Paul Clopper, President, Dave Frick, Alison Adams, Dave Lauer Tom Sanders Vice President John Bartholow opened the meeting in place of President Paul Clopper who was out of town. The following items were discussed: INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS There were several visitors at the meeting. Mr. Bartholow asked them to introduce themselves, and tell whom they represent. Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 2 Ray Hermann moved that the minutes of April 19, 1996 be approved as distributed. After a second from Robert Ward, approval of the minutes was unanimous. NORTHERN COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT UPDATE Gene Schleiger, from the District, sent around snowpack and weather data. "There is really nothing new in there that you're not aware oC" he said. "It's been dry. However, there was a good ram out east near the Fort Morgan area, which has taken quite a demand off the system." Regarding the snow pack, the rivers are beginning to rise. The snow courses, even up at the 11,000 ft. elevations, are losing an inch or more of water content a day. With the temperatures we are getting now, we will probably be seeing a peak come down the rivers within the next 10 days to two weeks. "The Poudre was around 2300 ft. this morning, and the St. Vrain was up to 600 which doubled what it had yesterday." The District has been running some non -charge water trying to vacate some storage space to collect some of the run-off from the west slope. "We don't have all of the final numbers yet," he related, "but it looks like we are going to have delivered between 39 and 40,000 ac-ft of non -charge water, and that's all coming out of the north end, because we can't deliver any of that out of the south end facilities." The only restriction that was placed on the use of the non -charge water was that it could not be put to storage; it has to be used for direct irrigation. Anyone who lived within the CBT District boundaries, whether they had a CDT allotment or not, was entitled to use that water. "Why should it not be in storage?" Mr. Bartholow asked. "That basically defeats the purpose of what we are trying to do," Mr. Schleiger replied. "We are trying to keep some of the lower reservoirs down, so that when the peak runoff occurs, they have a place to put that storage," he explained. Since the non -charge ended the District has been running Horsetooth at almost capacity; close to 1300 cfs during the non -charge, he continued. "We've dropped down to 28 1/2. That's all carryover water that is going to the City of Greeley. We're running 222 to the Big Thompson and 158 out of Carter Lake, and again all ofthat is carryover water." Having run that much water out on non -charge, the District has created about 23 to 25,000 ac-ft of storage availability in Horsetooth. They have roughly 100,000 available now in Lake Granby. "Of course we are still hanging on to the 30,000 in Carter, not being able to put anything in there." As of this morning there is a little over 1000 cfs coming into Granby, and they are passing a little over 1000 cfs out of Willow Creek. "The intent is that we will not pump Willow Creek at all this year, because we are still in a potential spill situation. We have been releasing bypass flows out of both Willow Creek and Granby since the first part of March trying to get them down to where we can minimize spill. Should it appear that they are getting close to spilling, and there are still needs, we will consider more non -charge at that time," he concluded. E Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 3 He went on to say that they are now working 24 hour a day shifts at the pump plant at Flatiron. They are replacing linings and workings on some of the core unit. The Bureau is confident that it will be up by September, hopefilly sooner. Mr. Schleiger said that Brian Weiner asked him to give a special thanks to Diana Royval and Wendy Williams for the fine job they did on the Children's Water Festival. He enjoys working with the Utility stagy and was again very pleased with the success of the event. Mr. Schleiger announced that at the June 6th District Board planning session they are currently scheduled to begin looking at base supply and supply limitations (the cap). Eric Wilkinson wanted to make sure that Water Board and staff are aware of that meeting. He emphasized that these will be preliminary discussions. The District would welcome anyone who would like to come and provide input. Board members and staff will be informed if that is not part of the finalized agenda. Mr. Bartholow asked if the District's attorney Mr. Hobbs, was actually appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court. "Yes, he is now serving, and he will no longer be the NCWCD attorney," Mr. Schleiger affirmed. The firm is now known as Trout and Raley and they have hired Deb Freeman to help them in the environmental and water law area. "In my opinion she is one of the top two water environmental law attorneys in Colorado," he said. PRESENTATION ON CITY LONG RANGE LAND USE PLANNING CITY STRUCTURE PHASE Joe Frank, the City's Director of Advance Planning, provided handouts of the process overview and the various phases for developing the City's long range plan. The process overview tasks included three tasks already accomplished: inventory and analysis, a visual preference survey and community goals which he explained. He said that the third phase of the plan was to establish a vision and goals for the future which has been completed. Last February the Council adopted a document called "Community Vision and Goals-2025." This lays out a general framework or broad goals for the next 20 years in areas of land use, transportation, housing, environmental and growth management. The City is currently at the structure phase of the plan; about halfway through the process. The tasks yet to be undertaken are community principles and policies, capital improvements element, comprehensive plan, and implementation. Mr. Frank brought three large land -use maps that show possible locations of residential and commercial development and transit routes in the year 2015. The maps contain various scenarios involving growth patterns and various densities for development. According to the handouts, "the City plan is about neighborhoods, shopping and business activity centers, arts and parks and open spaces, and more. City Plan is how we want all of these pieces to work together, and how we want them to look... tomorrow, 20 years and even 50 years from now." Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 4 Just since 1977, Fort Collins' land area has nearly tripled. Population has grown to 100,000 -- over half the people here today weren't here in 1977. Yet that's when the City last wrote down its goals for the shape of the City. "It's time to look again." "Tradeoffs are a necessary part of the process. City Plan is an 18-month process for making wise choices for ourselves as a legacy for those who live here after us. It will result in a comprehensive plan that will become our selected vision of the future." The Structure Plan is the current phase of the process. The Structure Plan will be a part of City Plan. It will provide a basic map layout of how Fort Collins should evolve over the next 20 years. "A structure plan is a simplified diagram It has to be. It helps us grasp the larger tradeoffs and relationships within the whole city." Planners are at the point now where they have developed some alternative plans which demonstrate some different choices that we can make about the future of Fort Collins. They have been conducting meetings with different groups within the City asking for comments about the options, trying to aim for a preferred option of alternative D at this point. In the next two weeks they will be defining a preferred alternative and presenting that to the public at an open house on May 29th. In June they will go to the P&Z Board and to the Council in July. A plan will be adopted that will probably be a mix and match of the alternatives. "The question is how will we get there and the answers to that will be through the principles and policies phase," Mr. Frank said. The final stage will be towards the implementation, and that includes doing a capital improvement element which will identify the capital improvements necessary to implement this plan. "We will also probably be developing a new regulatory system The one we have now was good for 1965 when it was adopted. We now need to have a new system to incorporate some of the future elements," he explained. They will most likely be overhauling the land regulatory guidance system to implement the plan. They are shooting for a December to March time frame for the adoption implementation measures. He went on to say that Fort Collins has never had a land use map. "We always had a written policy." The maps are not necessarily land use maps. The colors are indications of different places in the community. "Just think of it as a simplified diagram of the City made up of different neighborhoods, districts, corridors, and edges," he suggested. The neighborhoods are predominately residential uses which include schools, parks and neighborhood shopping centers. Downtown and the campus are considered districts, and there are mixed use districts and employment and industrial districts. The corridors are like College Ave. and Mulberry St. I-25 and the Poudre River are also corridors. A number of streams and drainage areas and trails are called corridors. They often serve to link various districts to one another. Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 5 The final category is edges; the foothills are an example of an edge. Rural residential (as a feathering down), open lands and open space are edges; agricultural land can be an edge. The idea of the alternatives was to present some different choices to the community. Each of them is different, but there are some common elements. In looking at growth under all of the strategies, all the growth is going to be able to be accommodated within the existing urban growth area boundary. All the alternatives are based on an inter -connected transit system They all speak to a green edge on all sides. Each one talks about new activity centers. Here are some of the differences: each one of the alternatives presents different scenarios for infill development and new growth. Each one varies in the density of development, and in the number of activity centers being created. Each one presents different ways of looking at land use at the edges of our community. They also vary in the amount of rural residential. And they vary in transit transportation system alternatives. Mr. Frank then explained each of the three alternatives. He said that alternative A comes the closest to meeting the current policies and planning and development trends. It demonstrates a density in the new growth areas of 4.2 dwelling units per acre. Alternative B beefs up that density to about 5 dwelling units, and C represents the highest development in neighborhoods of 6 dwelling units per acre in the new growth areas. He went on to provide more details for each of the maps. Board members expressed a need to spend more time studying the maps than was available at today s meeting. They asked questions about the densities and possible projections of water use for each of the alternatives. As far as water use Mr. Frank thought the more compact development would be the least consumptive alternative. He went on to say that having a plan like this is going to change the paradigm of how we look at, versus responding to growth, in using utilities and capital facilities to guide location growth; and that's not just water and sewer, but also park facilities and transit. He emphasized that the goal is "to be smarter about what we are doing." He said they are trying to meet with utilities and districts to try to get a handle on what financial impact each of these alternatives will have on them. Tom Brown asked about the urban reserve concept. "That has been shot down by nearly everyone who looked at it," Mr. Frank replied. "You won't see that on the next alternative." He thinks it's going to be a matter of some kind of cooperative agreement with the County. From a practical standpoint, some development is going to have to be allowed, but it shouldn't be the kind of development that might preclude our opportunities for future growth into those areas. Mr. Bartholow observed that none of the alternatives reflect any changes in the Urban Growth Area Boundary. "Is that out of the question?" "They all show the existing UGA, but that is an implementation yet to be pursued; I think there is a possibility of expanding the UGA in some locations and shrinking in some other areas," Mr. Frank responded. Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 6 Ray Herrmann related that there is a rumor that "the big landowners are going to incorporate a new community so they don't have to deal with Fort Collins." "I think it's clear as you rachet up the densities, or get more restrictive and unrealistic about the market, that it is going to require county cooperation," Mr. Frank said. He mentioned that Alternative C seems to be the one that people seem to be leaning towards the most, although they do mix and match as well. The thing about C that they seem to like the most is that it is the least land consumptive, but the high density is also one of the biggest concerns because it will require the most cooperation. "If it becomes too restrictive, developers are just going to jump our boundaries and develop outside the City." Mr. Herrmann wondered how a new plan would be enforced without changing current policy. Mr. Frank said this would change policy, "and we expect that we will do a major overhaul of the regulations on any of the alternatives." He thinks that where we are headed right now is a hybrid system of where we are right now, which is performance based and quite flexible. At the other end of the spectrum of regulations is zoning which is very prescriptive and tells you exactly what you can do on a piece of property. "I don't think there is any desire to go to a more prescriptive system," he stressed. With something more towards the center, from a developer's standpoint, they may get more predictability. He emphasized, however, that quality designs (the way development looks) has been important to most groups when input has been solicited. Because of the complexities of the maps, it was suggested that Board members need further opportunities to peruse them Mr. Frank said there are opportunities for people to come into his office and study the maps more carefully. He also announced that there will be an open house in the Columbine Room at the Lincoln Center from 5:00 - 9:00 on Wednesday, May 29th. "At that time we will have developed the preferred alternative," he said. He added that they have had a Citizens Advisory Committee helping them through the entire process. Mr. Clopper thanked Joe Frank for the presentation and for the opportunity to comment and ask questions. Mike Smith related that at the end of the April Water Board meeting George Reed, chair of the Storm Drainage Board, talked with Mr. Smith and Water Board President Paul Clopper about considering the possibility of combining the two boards. He said that the Storm Drainage Board will be discussing their views about this at their June meeting. Mr. Smith said the schedule is getting a little tight because new appointments for boards and commissions are being discussed at this time, and they will be announced in June. "Given that time frame, do you want a specific recommendation today?" John Bartholow asked. "If the Board is comfortable doing that, it would be good," Mr. Smith replied. "However, if there are too many issues and questions, we may have to wait." He thanked John Fishbach, City Manager, and Chuck Wanner, Council/Water Board Liaison, for attending the meeting. It was pointed out that five Board members were absent, but two of them, President Paul Clopper Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 7 and David Lauer, sent letters; Mr. Clopper stated some of his concerns. Both said they would be willing to lend their support to the idea if those concerns were addressed. Below are Paul Clopper's concerns: Workload: Adding stormwater-related agenda items would probably stretch our monthly meetings hours (perhaps to 3-3 1/2 hrs.). Staff and Board members should discuss their ability to meet that commitment. 2. Board membership: Ifwe merge the boards there could be a total of about 16 members. This number would be allowed to dwindle back down to an 11-member board through attrition. I am concerned about the possibility that current Water or Stormwater Board members who would normally be up for reappointment this year might automatically be dropped from consideration. Technical ability: I have no reservations about the ability and competency of our Board to take up matters relating to stormwater issues. However, if the boards merge, I think an introductory session would be in order so that staff can introduce us to current projects, history and administrative fimctioning of the Stormwater Utility. 4. Implementation: How would the boards actually be merged? By Council resolution, or a change to the City Charter or City Code, or some other means? If the Water Board takes a formal vote on this issue, please let the record reflect that I am in favor ofinerging the two boards, provided that no membership attrition occurs for the first 12 months after the merger (per my concern stated in item #2). Following the May meeting, Vice President John Bartholow suggested that the Water Board review a year's worth of the Storm Drainage Board agendas to get an idea of the topics they have discussed. Those were included in the packets. Mr. Bartholow called for discussion. Tom Brown asked about the driving force behind the quest to combine the boards. "I'm not sure about all the reasons, but one reason is because of the recent reorganization ofthe Utilities where Water and Wastewater and Stormwater are now one utility," Mr. Smith explained. This change brought questions about the need for two boards. He acknowledged that with a merger there are concerns about size, equity, logistics and other things. Ray Herrmann asked about the make-up of the Storm Drainage Board. Mr. Smith said there are a variety of backgrounds just as there are on the Water Board, with the exception of an attorney. "Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of some of the activities of their board?" Terry Podmore asked. Mr. Smith said they have been discussing budget issues, Dry Creek financing, which is part of the City Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 8 and County, and other issues which are reflected in the agendas. They are currently dealing with office space issues as part of the renovations of the old depot. He pointed out that Board members received a year's worth of Storm Drainage Board agendas in their packets. Ray Herrmann observed, while reviewing their agendas that they have spent considerable time on very few issues, whereas the Water Board discusses many more diverse issues. "I have a sense that combining the Boards is not going to mean that we will spend a great deal more time at the board meetings," he stated. "Perhaps the Stormwater people can give us a clearer indication on that," he added. Mr. Smith explained that the boards seem to address problems and situations somewhat differently, "and this is my own observation after having attended only four or five meetings," he added. He related that a lot of detail is addressed at the Board meetings. "Which the Water Board takes care of with standing committees," Mr. Herrmann interjected. He suggested that a solution to that may be to create a Storm Drainage sub -committee which would go into the details. Randy Fischer from the SDB, said they don't have standing committees, but they do have ad hoc or issue related committees. "How many are on the Board?" Mr. Podmore asked. There are nine board members, Mr. Smith replied. Mr. Fischer pointed out that the SDB will be a couple short after members are appointed because they didn't have enough applicants for vacated positions. Mr. Smith said if there would be two or three on the SDB who wanted to re -apply, they would be re -appointed. "You would encourage everyone to reapply and re -appoint everyone initially," Mr. Fischer added, "but since the terms are staggered, you would loose two to four members each year by attrition. After about two years we would be down about 13 people. "In the long term, would it be the goal to get back down to 11 members?" Mr. Podmore asked. "It seems to me that the intent is to get down to about half of what the size would be initially," Mr. Fischer said. "The Water Board deals with water supply, wastewater treatment, and basically the water passes through this town in pipes, so you have your point sources and non -point sources being dealt with separately," Robert Ward noted. Combining the boards would give us the opportunity to see things as a whole. "We actually have helped with their issues on several occasions as water comes back to the Poudre," Mr. Herrmann pointed out. "And vice versa," Mike Smith added. Some of the ditches, as the City takes them over, may not be used to transport water to farms, but used as storm drainage conveyances. "The ditches are a major issue of the SDB," he said. Tom Brown, commented that it seems to him there is enough overlap in the general area. He said that the decision may hinge on if a single board can handle the work. It probably comes down to whether we can have an additional committee that focuses on storm drainage issues. "That seems workable," he concluded. Mr. Podmore pointed out that a major concern is that each group "comes up to speed on" what the other group is involved with. Mr. Smith remarked that essentially it's almost like half are new appointees to a board. E Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 9 Another issue, Mr. Brown mentioned, is the meeting date and time. "If we meet at 7:00 in the morning, as the Storm Drainage Board does, we may have a lot of attrition really fast," he laughed. "Ten or fifteen years from now, when we have filled out the Urban Growth Area," Mr. Bartholow began, "and we no longer need to put in new storm drains, or buy major new sources of water, what are the two boards going to be doing?" "Regionalization, for one," Mr. Smith replied, and there are regional issues in Stormwater too. "The county and the City will be moving in that direction, probably sooner than the Water & Wastewater Utility." Mr. Smith stated that the Stormwater Utility has a very good staff; "so I see no difference in the staff support," he assured the Board. Mr. Bartholow summed up that Mr. Clopper and Mr. Lauer expressed general support of the idea in their letters as long as certain issues were addressed, "and I think we have discussed those," he said. "Does anybody have any pressing concerns here or any degree of discomfort?" he asked. "One ofthe concerns is the time of the meetings, and rm not sure that has been addressed," Mr. Podmore noted The aspect of orientation is another unknown, as well as the initial unwieldy size. "The Water Board used to be somewhat larger in past years, but I think it's more manageable to operate at the current size," he said. Ifthese concerns are okay, he thinks combining the boards can be a reasonable alternative. "The size, even in the next few years, is not going to be a problem," Mr. Smith believes. We rarely have 100% attendance, and we struggle sometimes with attendance at committee meetings. He agreed with Mr. Podmore that the orientation on both sides is going to be very important. Mr. Bartholow asked if others think it would be a good idea to formally solicit input from the members who aren't here today. Mr. Podmore said he would feel more comfortable with that. Mr. Smith said staff can call them Mr. Bartholow asked for a straw vote; it was unanimous in favor of combining the boards. Mr. Smith asked if City Manager John Fishbach had any comments. "No, I think it was a good discussion," he said. Mr. Bartholow asked if there were other issues brought up by the Storm Drainage Board that we did not discuss. Randy Fischer responded that he would characterize their discussion pretty much along similar lines. "We did not take a straw vote, however," he added. "In general, I think the idea would meet with acceptance, but there are a few reservations." Howard Goldman thinks the final decision should be left up to staff. If the staff thinks combining the boards may be more affective and a better way to organize and comprehensively look at water and its complexities throughout the region, they ought to do it. "Who are we (the Water Board) to say we don't want to participate in the Stormwater issues?" he asserted, "but it is nice of staff to ask for our input." He offered to help with the transition. "If I had a personal problem with combining the boards, I would not be a member," he stressed. Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 10 "What is the staff recommendation?" Ray Hermann asked. Mr. Smith thinks there may be some feelings on the Stornwater staff of perhaps being "swallowed up" by the water utilities; just general re -organization issues, and this is part of it. "It's going to be my job to help them feel more comfortable with it," he stressed. "I have discussed this with John Fishbach, and he is very supportive." "A merger makes a lot of sense long term, but there are going to be some people, both board members and staff, who are uncomfortable with it," he acknowledged. Essentially staff thinks it is a good long term solution. "The mirror image of Howard Goldman's concern is whether the Council thinks they will be getting the quality of policy advice that they are seeking," Mr. Bartholow commented. Chuck Wanner, Council liaison, said that a couple of council members he has spoken with think it's reasonable. He admitted that the Council hasn't discussed it at any length. "When you are dealing with a large number of board participants that have a fair amount of time invested, as well as two staffs that have been around for a long time, there may be some discomfort for the first couple of years." He noted, that Paul Clopper, the Water Board president, and George Reed, the Chair of the Storm Drainage Board, seemed favorable to it when the idea was brought up last month. He concluded that, in future years, there will be some real benefits. Another reason for combining the boards, is that water quality is going to be a key issue for Stormwater just as it presently is for Water and Wastewater, Mr. Smith pointed out. STAFF REPORTS Treated Water Production Summary Dennis Bode reported that for the month of April water use was 1901 ac-ft which was about 94% ofwhat was projected for an average year. He also handed out two interesting graphs, in addition to the summary which was included in the packets. One of the graphs showed the snotel data for Deadman Hill and Joe Wright Reservoir. There were three lines on each graph; Deadman was on one side and Joe Wright on the other. The dark black lime was the 1996 water year, the dashed line was the historical average and the light grey lime was the 1995 water year. "We are beginning to see the snow pack coming out and we expect the River to be coming up, as Gene Schleiger mentioned in the District report. If it stays dry as it has been, we are likely to come close to what is seen as average," he said. The other graph showed the actual and projected daily water demand, for 1995 on one side and 1996 on the other. In 1995, for the month of May, there was record rainfall, and the water use was far below the average curve. This year it has been fairly dry, drier than usual for the month of May, so use is beginning to climb up above the average curve. In terms of precip. it has been less than normal. For the month of May water use has been about 130% of average through yesterday (May 16th). Board members said they liked receiving the extra graphs. r] Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 11 Financial Status Report Board members received copies of the April Financial Status Report in their packets. Wendy Williams reported that the operating revenue is tracking very closely to last year, but it's not where it should be considering the rate increases, she said. The water and wastewater PIFs are up over last year and last year was a very good year. Regional 201 Study Update Gale McGaha Miller said that there are several steps to go through, the first task being the land use planning to determine which entities will need treatment and at what time. "We found out that the planners working on the City plan would have something somewhat finalized by late June or early July. We decided to hold off on the population projections until we get something more solid from the planners." Currently the consultant is working on reviewing available water quality information researching likely changes to water quality standards. "Are you saying that they are going to wait on a decision on one of these City plan alternatives?" Mr. Bartholow asked. "As I understand, there is supposed to be a decision by early July," Ms. McGaha Miller replied. "We will be able to use pieces of the draft plan even before that final decision," she said. "We have been trying to work closely with the planners on that," she added. Dates for Tour of Meadow Springs Ranch Ms. McGaha Miller will choose some possible dates which will be sent to Board members to indicate first and second choices. Two dates will be selected for tours after those results are in. She said the tour usually takes at least a half day, leaving at 8 or 9 in the morning, having lunch there, and returning at 1:30 or 2:30. She said that June can be quite hot or very pleasant, but generally a good time of year to go up there. She welcomes the opportunity to take people to see the interesting projects they have been working on. Mr. Bartholow suggested that we extend an invitation to the Storm Drainage Board as wet It was suggested that one of the possible dates be the morning of the Board meeting on June 21st. Wrap-up of Legislation and Comments on Drinking Water Quality Annual Report Ms. McGaha Miller prepared a brief memo that summarized the 1996 State Legislative session for the Board's information and records. She said that she didn't think it was anything that needed discussion today. She commented that it wasn't a particularly active session relative to water legislation. Nothing terribly extreme passed through and nothing that we wanted badly failed. She pointed out that there are several bills that are awaiting the Governor's signature. Terry Podmore asked ifmost ofthose are expected to be signed. "I think most of them are; certainly the funding bills are quite likely to be signed," she replied. BB 1197, which is Review of Environmental Regulations, might not make it, she said. It requires that environmental rules sunset after five years. When a rule is re -adopted, the responsible agency must conduct a regulatory analysis upon request and gain the approval of the legislative council. Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 12 How long does the governor have after the legislature is out of session to sign bills. "He has 30 days," she answered. Update on Meeting of Regional Water Boards Molly Nortier reported that the agenda for the meeting on May 29th at the Moot House has been set. We will begin with a social time from 6:30-7:00. Dinner will follow from 7:00-8:00. From 8:00-8:30 Paul Clopper will welcome and introduce people and give a brief presentation. Doug Robotham from the State Department of Natural Resources will talk about the Recovery Program for Platte River Endangered Species. There will be questions and wrap-up from 9:00 to 9:30. Three choices will be available on the menu: prime rib, chicken Oscar, and the fish of the day. • t VAWTZTZI' Water Supply Chair Tom Brown reported that the Committee had met a few days prior to the Board meeting in April None of the Committee members were present for the April meeting, so Dennis Bode gave the report. Mr. Brown wanted to remind Mr. Bode that he had agreed to update the graph of the cash in-heu-of rate and CBT prices. Mr. Bode said that staff will be completing that soon. Legislative and Finance Chairman Howard Goldman said that the Committee and staff met at 1:30 prior to the Board meeting. Mr. Goldman began be saying that it appears the Board will be hearing about the proposed increase in Plant Investment Fees (PIFs) at the June meeting. "Some of those fees are going to be extremely high. There is some thought from staff about using Water Board members to make some public appearances at open houses to help educate the public," he related. "To help with some educational aspects, but not necessarily to make public appearances," Wendy Williams clarified. Although the increases seem to be significant, "when we came to the end of the excellent presentation by Scott Harder, we looked at a survey that compared Fort Collins with other front range communities and it seems that we are not asking much more than other cities already pay," Mr. Goldman stated. "'That's for residential," Mr. Bartholow added. "The commercial rates are scheduled to go up substantially; about 50%." Mr. Goldman continued by saying that there is considerable treated water being used for irrigation only and whether that should be a water supply issue, conservation or engineering issue needs to be decided. "It doesn4look like any of those committees is discussing that particular problem" In terms of increasing the irrigation only rates significantly, that might discourage those accounts from using expensive treated water, he said. "How much of the peak demand is attributed to the irrigation only accounts?" Robert Ward asked. "If that's 30% of the peak demand, and you look at how much it's going to cost to add capacity, r] Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 13 wouldn4 it be better to look at a dual system? As the Committee began discussing this, they realized there are already a number of dual systems scattered around town, he related. He repeated his question about the percentage of irrigation accounts on the peak demand figure. Mr. Bode said he didn4 have the exact figure, but he didn't think it was anywhere near the 30% Mr. Ward suggested. "I think staff could look at that and come up with some data, and at least get a feel for what that is," he said. "Apparently that quantity is increasing dramatically, and could be driving us rapidly toward extra capacity," Mr. Ward remarked. At least that was his impression from listening to the presentation. Mr. Bode explained that single family and duplex account for well over half of the peak demand. Mr. Goldman commented that, "maybe the capacity doesn't have to be expanded as much if there are other ways to conserve." The significant amount ofwater that is being used, leads to some interesting questions that the Conservation, Engineering and Water Supply Committees all need to look at, he concluded. Mr. Smith asked if there was any information on the number of irrigation only accounts. Wendy Williams said staff sent out about 150 letters to those accounts not too long ago. "Why don't we look at this portion of the accounts in more detail," Mr. Smith suggested. "It looks high, but it may be just a small group. "It's probably less than 10% of the peak," Mr. Bode responded. "Many commercial accounts have inside and outside use under one meter." Mr. Goldman brought up another point related to that. "In the master plan itself in the way engineers devise those plans, there is an extraordinary number, and now it has been cut back substantially." He said he agrees with Mr. Ward about looking at alternatives that could reduce the need for all of that capacity. That would contrast with the straight forward projection approach of saying "we expect X number of people and that requires X amount of water, so we need to increase the capacity by X number of gallons. "That approach has big dollars attached to it," he remarked. He wondered if the new consultants are being motivated to consider some other alternatives. Mr. Smith said that there is additional capacity provided in the revised plan which the Board will be seeing in a month or two. The consultants are trying to make the most of what the City already has, he said. This topic will be discussed at length in the coming months. Conservation and Public Education No report Engineering No report Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 14 Regional Water Supply Strategy No report Regional Wastewater Service Issues No report Possibility of Redirecting Treated Water from DWRF to Poudre River Mr. Bartholow referred to the letter from David Lauer sent to Board members. In it he said, "According to Mike Smith, we could discharge treated water into the river if we so desired. I think it's important that we consider a change in current policy to allow some (perhaps half or more) of Fort Collins treated water back into the River after going through the Drake Water Reclamation Facility." He went on to propose some questions the Board and its staff should consider. Would discharging treated water into the Poudre River have a more cleansing effect on that water without adverse effects to the river or to down stream usage? 2. Would increased flows during certain seasons have a beneficial effect on downstream ecosystems? 3. Would it not take pressure off Fossil Creek Reservoir's increasing eutrophication? Since Mr. Lauer was not present at the meeting, this issue will be discussed at a future meeting. Industrial Pretreatment Requirements for Mortuaries Paul Clopper, in his letter, said he was contacted by a resident who is a mortician. He asked about industrial pretreatment procedures or requirements for mortuaries, specifically with respect to blood that is drained during the embalming process and currently "just goes down the drain." He said many people they embalm are cancer patients who might have had chemotherapy or radiation treatment substances in their blood, or had AIDS. Molly Nortier contacted Dave Meyer who is the Industrial Pretreatment and Pollution Control Supervisor for the Utility. He said there are no IP requirements for mortuaries in Fort Collins because the amount of blood from mortuaries that goes into the system is negligible and would be highly diluted. Ms. Nortier learned later that the mortician lives in Loveland. Mr. Meyer offered to discuss the issue with the mortician. He also said he would contact the person in Loveland who is in charge of their industrial pretreatment program to find out if they have any requirements. 0 Water Board Minutes May 17, 1996 Page 15 ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 P.M. 22-7L%-r-k:[r - Water Board ecretary