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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 05/19/19950 WATER BOARD MINUTES May 19, 1995 3:00 - 5:10 P.M. Water and Wastewater Utility Conference Room 700 Wood Street CITY COUNCIL LIAISON Charles Wanner MEMBERS PRESENT Paul Clopper, President, John Bartholow, Vice President, Terry Podmore, Neil Grigg, Howard Goldman, Tom Brown STAFF Mike Smith, Wendy Williams, Gale McGaha Miller, Dennis Bode, Ben Alexander, Kevin Gertig, Scott Harder, Molly Nortier GUESTS John Bigham, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District George Reed, Citizen Observer Mark Breimhorst, Associate Director, Lincoln Center Ellen Martin, Visual Arts Coordinator, Lincoln Center David Lauer, Applicant for Water Board MEMBERS ABSENT Dave Frick, Dave Stewart, Ray Herrmann President Paul Clopper opened the meeting. The following items were discussed: MINUTES Neil Grigg moved that the minutes of March 31, 1995 be approved as distributed. After a second from Terry Podmore, the motion passed unanimously. John Bartholow commented that "it's often been remarked how good these minutes are. It's just dawned on me, after reading this last set why they are so good. Not only do you (Molly Nortier) work in the context of what's going on so that just a little bit says a lot, but you also take the really silly things we say and make them sound great, so thank you." Ms. Nortier was appreciative of Mr. Bartholow's kind remarks, but she wanted to acknowledge the help of other staff members in the finalization of the minutes each month; particularly Dennis Bode, Wendy Williams and Gale McGaha Miller. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 2 UPDATE:NORTHERN COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT John Bigham distributed copies of the snow/precipitation update and the situation has changed dramatically since his last report. The District had issued an 80% quota, and now with the carryover and all the moisture we have received, he expects that there will be plenty of water. He said the District doesn't anticipate Granby spilling, "but it could get close to that." The inflow in Granby for the past 18 days has been about 15,000 ac-ft. The melt -off is just getting started. As far as Windy Gap pumping, at this point the Sub -District has had pumps running from the first of the month off and on. "They have had to cycle the pumps to let them cool off, and the last two days we've been running two pumps," he said. Regarding the river flows, at Kersey at 5:00 A.M. today there was 11,400 cfs going through, while at Balzac it was only 218 cfs. He went on to say that Granby is at about 43% of active capacity, so "we have the bucket fairly empty; everything is full over on this side, and we're ready for the run-off." He drew the Board's attention to a chart called "Windy Gap Orders." The orders by allottees have been projected through 1999. This also takes into account the anticipated need and those entities who may be coming on line. "We intend to pump approximately 29,000 ac-ft from Windy Gap," he said. "I don't think we will quite make that because it's cycled so much already that we've lost a few days; I would say it would be closer to 25,000 ac-ft, which is about what we want to have on order and still have a year and a half supply." One pump will be used for 60 days and the second pump for a 30-day period. "We can't afford a long run of the second pump because of the considerable power costs." he added. The "Watchful Wildlife" area, in the forebay for the Windy Gap pumps, will be in operation this summer," he announced. There is well over a hundred species of wildlife that have habitat there. Private entities, the Sub -district, Fish and Wildlife and the Colorado Park Service people have combined to make this a great place to view wildlife. It is handicap accessible, and there are restroom facilities available. The Sub -district intends to sell the 800 acre Bumgamer Ranch located on top of the bench on the river. It was tied into the Azure Project but the District won't be able to use it as they had intended. Last Friday the District Board approved including Louisville into the Sub -district, and hopefully into the District if the Secretary of the Interior will consent to it. That will bring in approximately 6,000 acres of property within the boundaries of the District and Sub -district which will mean $1.6 million in back taxes that will go into the general fund. The funds will be used for the District's maintenance n u Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 3 and rehabilitation project, where there are critical needs; including the stabilization of the Big Thompson syphon at a cost of about $1 million. Neil Grigg asked if the District has a responsibility to give Louisville a quantity of water out of that pipeline, or would being incorporated into the District make that possible? Mr. Bigham said, as he recalls, Louisville talked about 800 ac-ft in 1997. He added that they have a fairly good supply of their own private water rights. He stressed that "we can't take them into the District until the Secretary of the Interior signs off on it, but we can include them in the Sub -district which qualifies them to receive Windy Gap water." John Bartholow asked about the total pumping in Windy Gap of 25,000 ac-ft. "I see in the first column 6,000; where does the difference come from?" "For the orders that the District needs for 95, you look at the first two columns (if you don't pump it now it won't be ready for next year). Then we want half of it for 1996 to try to build up the pool. Then you take off the two years of shrink. All of those calculations add up to 25,000," Mr. Bigham explained. Mr. Bartholow also asked if there has ever been a time when the quota was reduced. "No," Mr. Bigham replied, "but right now we probably would like to take 10% back," he said with a laugh. He added that it's never been less than 50% and it's never been reduced. If the District issues too much, it goes into carryover for next year. Paul Clopper noticed, at the bottom of the first page, that the reading on the Poudre River at the mouth of the canyon was 247 cfs. "Putting that into perspective, the 100-year flood at the mouth is 14-15,000 cfs. Do you recall the average annual peak discharge?" Dennis Bode replied that it is 3,000 to 4,000 cfs. "There's still a lot of water up there in that basin," Mr. Clopper remarked. Mr. Bigham pointed out that the reading is at the mouth of the canyon, and there are other diversions above there, so there have probably been other diversions before it reached the mouth. Mr. Bode explained that there isn't a lot of water coming down the main stem yet, and Munroe hasn't been diverting. "There is a large amount being captured by Halligan Reservoir though," he said. "Given the amount of snowpack still in the high country, is there any agency in a flood forecasting mood?" Mr. Clopper asked. Latimer County has activated their emergency response teams, Mr. Bigham replied. Discussion of Snow Pack at Joe Wright and Percent of Average at Major River Basins in Colorado Dennis Bode said this would be a good time to discuss a couple of graphs his staff prepared: one graph showed the snow pack at Joe Wright Reservoir and a second graph showed the percent of average for the different river basins in Colorado. He began by saying that even though the peak looks pretty high, "right now its not as high as 1983." In terms of flooding on the Poudre, we are probably in better shape than some of the basins further south, he said. He indicated that some of the numbers Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 4 appearing on the graph are somewhat misleading. We are running a little late this year so it's really not the percentage of peak snow pack, but snow pack as of that day, he explained. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PRESENTATION Mike Smith introduced Mark Breimhorst and Ellen Martin from the Lincoln Center who gave a presentation and answered questions about the "Art In Public Places Program." Ellen Martin started by showing a videotape which Lincoln Center staff put together about "Art in Public Places" projects around the country. Following the video Ms. Martin explained some of the basics of the program. The three tier system included the following: 1) Under $50,000 the departments are asked to consider the aesthetic values on their own projects; 2) Between $50,000 - $250,000 departments are asked to include an artist on the design team; 3) 1% of the total cost would be suggested for projects over $250,000 Mark Breimhorst asked for questions. "Are those figures and levels set by City ordinance? Neil Grigg asked. It is set by City ordinance but the state also has a program, Ms. Martin replied. She added that every program is a little different. "A lot of programs we have seen are 1% starts at $50,000." John Bartholow asked if it is the Lincoln Center staff that orchestrates any kind of activity or does each department initiate interaction with the artist themselves. Ms. Martin said that with the passing of the "Art in Public Places" program, a board for that purpose will be created. The Board will be the overseer in setting the policies and working with all the different projects. "So that Board will act as a liaison between the art community and the department that is initiating the project?" Mr. Clopper wondered. "Hopefully it's staff also," Ms. Martin responded. "I would be the go-between among departments," she said. She would find out their needs and take that information to the Board. Mr. Breimhorst and Ms. Martin will serve as liaisons with the new board as well. Mr. Breimhorst explained that when the ordinance was revised there was a three-year sunset provision in it. It has to be re-established after three years. "One of the things that we would like to see coming from this, is, for example, you as a board would inform the Council that the program has worked for you, and you liked the things that have been done. If it doesn't work for the departments, it probably won't continue," he said. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 5 Dr. Grigg said that there will be some major improvements in our treatment plant, and those will run several million dollars. "Let's say a million dollar hunk of that 1% would be $50,000. These kind of improvements are inside, and not the kind you would see; it's not like a new public building. But that project would qualify under the new program. "What kind of thing would we do?" Mr. Breimhorst admitted that some of these projects are going to be obscure. "The first priority is to try to see that the money is spent on other projects that are visible within that department or division," he said. He also mentioned that you can take another facility that is more public and retro-fit it. He recommends looking at a whole year's worth of projects and determining which things would work, and those that won't work. "So there is some flexibility," Mr. Clopper commented. Each project has a 1% piece, but it doesn't have to go with that project." "How flexible is the program going to be in the definition of art?" Dr. Grigg wanted to know. "In traveling to other countries I've seen some displays that are actually more related to education; perhaps museum -type replicas. Would things like that qualify?" "What we're saying is that it has to have an artist involved with the project," Ms. Martin replied. "You could have an artist work towards an educational aspect," she added. Mr. Breimhorst talked about the landscaping aspects, and Terry Podmore asked if a landscaping architect is considered an artist. Mr. Breimhorst admitted that there could be some gray areas, and "I think it will be the Board that will make some determinations." "Do the other cities that were seen in the video have similar criteria?" Mr. Bartholow asked. "Yes, most of them have 1% for arts programs," Ms. Martin replied. "Do other cities in Colorado have this program already?" Tom Brown asked. Colorado has a 1% per state buildings; "that's why you see special art at universities." Loveland is active in the program, and Longmont and Boulder have both begun programs, as well as some mountain towns. President Clopper wondered if action from the Board was needed. "This is just informational," Mr. Smith replied. Mike Powers had planned to give a presentation to the Board and ask for a recommendation, but he wasn't able to get it scheduled before the Council approved it. STAFF REPORTS Mike Smith introduced staff member Kevin Gertig who until last month was acting Water Production Manager. He has now been made permanent in that position. Mr. Gertig said it was a pleasure to be at the Board meeting. "I am a proud member of this organization," he remarked. Treated Water Production Summary Dennis Bode reported that for the month of April we used 1773 ac-ft which is about 88% of what was projected. "We are below what was projected because of the large amount of precip. during the latter part of April," he said. As you might expect, so far in May we are running about 60% of what we average for May. "It's been a wet month so far," he concluded. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 6 Financial Status Report Scott Harder prepared a two-part report. First he reported that operating revenue is about 5 1/2% above where we were last year. For both water and wastewater PIFs we are about 40% below where we were last April. "We are certainly starting out a little slower," he said. Mr. Harder showed a couple of overheads. He explained that the first showed an analysis of all metered customers based on the last 12 times that their meters were read. Our database includes lot size and readings for the last 12 months for 80-85% of our metered customers. The overhead showed the distribution of the number of customers and the ranges of savings as a snapshot of May 1994 through April 1995. The red bars indicate the number of customers (about 600) who are seeing a higher bill than if they had stayed on the flat rate. One bar represented those with an increase of $0-25 in their bills over the year; the next was $24-50, and the last was greater than $50. The average savings annually among all of our metered customers was $102, compared with what they paid on the flat rate. The highest band in this series was the $100-125 range. Neil Grigg commented that if they are saving that much money they must really be cutting back. "What we are seeing here is not only people who volunteered, but customers who built new homes and were required to have a meter installed. What we are trying to do is take the same data base and extract the volunteers, to see if there is a difference in savings among the volunteers," Mr. Harder explained. This data base has 100,000 records, so it was rather time consuming to analyze. Mr. Clopper asked what the demographics were on the two groups that saved $200-250 and greater than $250. Wendy Williams said that these are customers with very large lot sizes. "Ann Azari was in that category, and last year she saved $251 with a lot size of just under 20,000 sq. ft." She explained that with a large lot size you have greater potential savings because you are paying a much higher rate under the flat rate since it is based on lot size. Usually, however, in the summer months most of those people pay a little more when they are irrigating regularly, but they save so much during winter months that overall, they have high savings. The second graph showed the results of our recently implemented winter consumption based rates for wastewater. It is based on customers' January, February and March bills. In April the wastewater rate for metered residential customers is adjusted and then kept constant through the following March. One section showed the distribution of dollars per month that various numbers of customers are paying as a result of this winter quarter consumption adjustment. People without a meter are paying $15.84 which is the flat rate amount. The graph included bars representing a savings of $0-5, $5-10, $10-15 and $15 through 20. There are quite a number of customers who fall into the 10-20% rate decrease. There is a huge distribution of people who saw a several dollar a month increase in their wastewater bill. He remarked that the average was actually u � � Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 7 lower than what staff was projecting. "There will be a revenue hit because we had to guess what the average would be." With some data, we will be able to adjust our rates next year. There are quite a number of customers (6 or 7) who are up in the $45-50 a month range for wastewater. We also have a couple of single family customers using 100,000 gallons in the middle of winter. "We can't figure out what they are doing to use that much water," he remarked, "but most of our customers had a rate decrease or very little increase." George Reed commented that he was concerned about irrigating during the unusually dry winter period because of the impact on his wastewater bill. "We were worried about that too, and that was one of the reasons we did this analysis," Mr. Harder said. Mr. Smith noted that customers get their bills in March, but it's actually for the water that is used in December, January and February. "So if you watered in March it didn't affect the winter quarter consumption?" Tom Brown asked. "That's correct," Mr. Smith replied. Mr. Harder pointed out that there may be some people who get their bills on March 30th, and they probably had their meters read March 20th or a few days before that; it's a very small number, he added. Howard Goldman wondered if an individual customer called, would the City give them this information? "We did that in a couple of cases," Mr. Harder said. "But can you tell them that for the past year they have had X number of dollars savings because they switched?" Mr. Goldman asked. "Oh yes," Mr. Harder replied. "We can look at their record and tell them exactly what they saved." "I think this is fascinating information," Mr. Clopper commented. "Have you thought about putting it into the monthly utility bill?" Wendy Williams said she met with a Coloradoan reporter recently and this information, from both graphs, should be in the newspaper within a few days. Mr. Clopper thought it would be helpful. if staff can differentiate between the volunteers and those with newly constructed homes. It could be a public follow-up report as well. "Do you notify individuals who occasionally use far more water than anyone else, and do you check their meters for accuracy?" John Bartholow asked. "If they call in and ask, we will check into it," Mr. Harder replied. Ms. Williams added that when we initially install a meter we check for leaks. Boxelder Sanitation District Update Gale McGaha Miller reported that in April Boxelder Sanitation District submitted their site application to the North Front Range Water Quality Planning Ass'n. After considerable debate the Association decided to table the decision on their site application until Boxelder does a more thorough job of evaluating alternatives. "In other words, they wanted Boxelder to talk to us about costs and the possibility of contracting with us. They made it clear that they would not review or consider their application again until Boxelder does that," she said. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 8 The District has not contacted the Utility about that issue since the April meeting. There have been a couple of discussions on other topics. "One of the issues that we have had with Boxelder's permit is that their discharge limits are so much more lenient than ours. Dean Smith contacted Ms. McGaha Miller asking how the Utility could make its limits more like theirs, "so that wouldn't be an issue for us." She hasn't had a chance to meet with them about it. "I don't think the answer is to make our limits like theirs," she said. There is a great deal of technical information that goes into deriving those limits and there is some debate on interpretation of those limits at this time. She related that the Association is interested in gathering together a number of entities in the region to do a regionalized 201 plan (a kind of master plan) as a precursor to a regional plan; a long term solution to these issues that emerge from time to time with the smaller entities. Dr. Grigg asked if the Association has a staff. "There is one person, Dave DuBois, who is the full time manager of the Association," Ms. McGaha Miller replied. His office is in Loveland, and he is funded through dues that municipalities, other organizations, the County and interested industries pay, with some state and EPA funding. Paul Clopper has also spoken with Dean Smith on a couple of occasions. He reminded the Board that we will be meeting with the Boxelder Board next month at our regular meeting. We have set the time at 3:45. Mr. Clopper and Dean Smith have been working together to find some common agenda topics of a broad nature for discussion at this first meeting. What won't be on the agenda is a detailed discussion of water quality issues of a technical nature or an in depth probing of how we determine our rates versus how they construct theirs, he stressed. We want to explore, board to board, how we can reach consensus on some of the broader issues. An informational packet will be sent directly to their board members prior to the meeting. Molly Nortier announced that there will be a regional water and wastewater meeting, requested by Mayor Ann Azari, on June 6th at 7:30 A.M. in the Ludlow Room at the Lincoln Center. Paul Clopper will represent the Water Board. Others who will attend are several City Council members, John Clarke representing the Latimer County Commissioners, City and County planners, ELCO Water District, Fort Collins -Loveland Water District, South Fort Collins Sanitation District, Boxelder Sanitation District, Dave DuBois from the Association, the Interim City Manager from the City and Rich Shannon and Mike Smith. The Districts will be represented by their managers and Board chairmen. This is a Fort Collins "metro area" gathering. Mayor Azari will facilitate the meeting. Clean Water Act Re -authorization Overview Gale McGaha Miller said that the House of Representatives passed Clean Water Act re -authorization legislation last week. Two items were included in Board packets: a memo from Ms. McGaha Miller listing some of the major highlights of HR961, the Clean Water Act re -authorization bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 6th, and a publication called "Setting the Record Straight," a response to myths regarding the Clean Water Amendments of 1995. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 9 "As you are aware this has been a controversial piece of legislation," she remarked. "There isn't much activity on the Senate side right now, so it's unclear whether anything will happen beyond the house," she said. Ms. McGaha Miller said she has more detailed information if members of the Board are interested, but what she included in the packets gives the basic elements of the legislation. Dr. Grigg asked if there were any permit limits or anything of that nature that might affect us directly. "No, the controversial items are related to storm water and wetlands," she replied. John Bartholow referred to the second page of "Setting the Record Straight," where the rumor is that H.R. 961 creates broad new exemptions for industrial sources. "If I read this correctly it implies that there might be certain circumstances in which an increase in emissions during some special case might be allowed such that a net reduction overall would occur. What would be a good example of that? Ms. McGaha Miller replied that "air pollution trading is done all the time." They are trying to take that same process and apply it to water. A good example would be if you had a small lagoon system discharging into the same system as a larger wastewater treatment facility, this would give regulators a little more flexibility for one of the entities to increase their discharge as long as the overall contribution was lower. This is a concept that the state Water Quality Control Commission has considered in the past. "Let's say hypothetically," Mr. Bartholow began, "that you request to the state to reduce Boxelder's limits. That reduction made it more cost effective for them to consider putting a portion of their discharge into our treatment plant, and if that plant has lower limits, the overall discharge to the Poudre within that short section would go down. Is there any merit to that?" "I'm sure there are a variety of approaches that can be taken on this," Ms. McGaha Miller responded. "My reading on this is that the intent is to give the regulators a little more flexibility to use the common sense approach." If they can give one entity a little more leniency, but overall the water quality is better, then they ought to be able to have that right. Now they are restricted to deal with each entity individually. Report on Customer Service - Aftermath of Main Break Recently a main break occurred and caused flooding of a number of properties near College Ave. and Prospect Rd. Distribution and Collection Manager Jim Hibbard prepared a memo that emphasized the customer service aspects of the episode. The memo was included in Board packets. Mike Smith asked if there were questions about the memo. Paul Clopper said that he had asked staff to prepare a memo to the Board to explain how the Utility worked with people whose property was damaged by the flooding. The feedback that he received from staff shortly after the main break was that the Utility was proactive in helping people. The memo described how people were housed in motels until their residences were cleaned, carpeted and painted, and ready to move back into. The local newspaper covered the problems that occurred, but Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 10 said little about how the people whose property was damaged were treated. The memo described that process very well. "This is a very positive reflection on the level of service and the respect that our Utility staff, and our emergency response program provides in situations like this," Mr. Clopper stated. Mike Smith clarified that the policy that the Utility has is not consistent with normal insurance company philosophy. "If we let our insurance company handle this we wouldn't be taking care of our customers' needs with expediency," Mr. Smith emphasized. The insurance company prefers that the customers take care of their own damage and file a claim. "We want to take care of the customer's needs ourselves, and be proactive," There might be some times where the City would bear the cost that the insurance company would not reimburse, he added Dr. Grigg thinks this response to customers in an emergency would make a good story to publish in the Public Works magazine or the APWA Reporter. He said he would pursue it by sending Jim Hibbard's memo to the Reporter editor and refer her to staff for further information. Mr. Bartholow asked about the cause of the break. Was it the concrete pavement over the pipe? "We're not sure about the pavement but a very large concrete storm drainage structure was installed right on top of the line, and that was more of a cause than the road. "We have to be careful about installing those structures above water and sewer lines," he cautioned. "Any indication of a flaw in the pipe," Terry Podmore asked. "There doesn't appear to be," Mr. Smith replied. Legislative Summary Ms. McGaha Miller's legislative summary was included in the packets. She reported that this is a summary of the legislation at the end of the session. "Those bills that were strange or troublesome died a natural death early on, so we didn't have to worry about them," she said. The funding legislation all went through, and has been signed by the governor. The one bill that she was tracking that she was a little worried about was the Small Community Environmental Flexibility Act. "By the time it was passed it was given a 3 or 5 year sunset provision, and all the staffing and funding was striped from it, so even though it went through and is awaiting the Governor's signature, I don't think there is much left of it," she said. Report on Joint Meeting with Greeley and Loveland Boards Neil Grigg said it was a good meeting, "and maybe interest in some actual work is increasing somewhat." With all the regional meetings recently, it might be a good time to look for some specific actions we could take. He added that the good will among the boards and the staff people is certainly a plus. One venue we might think about is having a briefing sometime where the three staffs could meet and formulate a program to discuss what they are doing together; for example water trading and how the Northern District works with the cities. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 11 Paul Clopper said that Ralph Mullinix from Loveland offered to host a meeting of the three Utility directors. Dr. Grigg suggested that Fort Collins host the next meeting, and perhaps begin at 5:30 instead of 6:30 and follow up on a theme that was being suggested at the meeting in Loveland. John Bartholow said that there were some philosophical points he began thinking about, partially about some of the points that Paul Clopper brought up at the meeting. Mr. Clopper was talking about some incremental steps in terms of the Boards and Utilities working together. "It struck me that one thing that seems to be missing is a vision of what this regional cooperation would really be, and some leadership that goes along with that," he suggested. "Not that I've got the ideas," he added. "Maybe the incremental things that come up from year to year are the best way, I don't know; sometimes visionaries can get in the way." Paul Clopper stated that the first step towards doing the bigger and better things is to identify a project here or there that we can all buy into. "My sense is that you have to walk before you can run. As I said in my remarks at the meeting, many times we think of working together as collectively fending off attacks from outside agencies or entities. As long as we are trying to find projects that we can work together on, good things will happen." Dr. Grigg suggested that we create some kind of a document where we document all the incremental things; "I think the sum of them would be a lot. We could look at something like a five year plan of what the vision is for the future. If you have a change of directors or board members, you have a document that shows what's going on and you don't lose all of that institutional memory. Mr. Bartholow recalled that we talked about similar attitudes among the groups that were represented at the meeting. "It struck me that there was a contrast between the attitude Frank Stevens from Greeley portrayed in working with the South Platte Recovery effort and what I saw when we had the joint Water Board/Natural Resources meeting," he pointed out. "What I thought I heard him say was that it was a beneficial strategy to sort of sandbag the effort, and to wait and withhold in the hope that it would fall apart eventually, and we could strike our own deal. I had to really bite my tongue not to say something at that point," he asserted. Dr. Grigg said there are so many different aspects to the issue. "I talked with him after the meeting and I didn't have that sense," he said. "We were talking about realities and hard feelings between Nebraska and Colorado, and I got the impression that Nebraska was sandbagging and Colorado was proactive." "That's a good positive interpretation," Mr. Bartholow responded. Mike Smith stated that the strategy of the three states working together along with the Fish & Wildlife Services is extremely difficult, because the three states are coming from three different directions; perhaps Wyoming and Colorado are closer than Nebraska. "I think Nebraska is sitting back waiting for everyone else to make some concessions, when everyone else is saying, "the ball's in your court, Nebraska." Colorado is almost at the point of saying, "we're not going to give in, Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 12 because Nebraska wants to thrust the burden on Wyoming and Colorado. Fish & Wildlife has indicated that if this doesn't work out, they will strike their own deal with Colorado and/or Wyoming. But in the long term, the three states have to work together. Nebraska doesn't want to address the big issue of their unregulated groundwater pumping. Mr. Smith thinks the Platte River group is positive and supportive and they see the need to arrive at a solution on this, and yet the state needs to protect the interstate compacts, and the entitlements of the Colorado users. "We have an excellent negotiating team, but you can only do so much," he concluded. Mr. Bartholow thanked Mr. Smith for that explanation. COMMITTEE REPORTS Water Supply Chair Tom Brown said the Committee will meet soon to look further at the NCWCD guidelines for municipal ownership of CBT shares. Legislative and Finance No report Conservation and Public Education No report Engineering No report Regional Water Supply Strategy Halligan Reservoir Mr. Clopper asked what is happening with Halligan Reservoir. Mike Smith said it's essentially on hold at this point. One of our plans is to create a work plan for the future. "We hesitate to get too involved and spend too much money until the recovery program in the South Platte is better defined so we can evaluate the true feasibility of the Halligan project, he said. If you had some negative outcomes for water supply projects out of the recovery program, it may change the feasibility and costs of the project, he explained. Tom Brown asked when the next time is that we have to decide the payment on the option. "We make payments every year, usually in the summer," Mr. Smith replied. Does the City Council approve it every time? "Basically we can pay for a long time without going back to the Council," Mr. Smith said. The goal is to get to the point of saying this is a good project, and commit to it or abandon it if it isn't. The payments start getting substantial in a few years. He concluded that if this project can't be built, there probably isn't one that can be, as far as feasibility. He said that staff will be putting together a plan within a year on Halligan. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 13 Dr. Grigg pointed out that there might be one or two obstacles and "we might want to smoke those out early for low cost to see if it would go or not go." "To make sure there is no fatal flaw," Mr. Clopper added. "In our initial studies there don't appear to be any major fatal flaws, but in the next phase of studies we want to make sure we smoke some of those out," Mr. Smith responded. He added that the biggest fatal flaw now is the recovery program dealing with the endangered species issue; not at the Halligan site, but in Nebraska. That could make the cost go up significantly. John Bartholow said it was a good idea to have a pipeline and run it backwards. "That has some potential, and there are some other ideas that the Northern District may want to help explore," Mr. Smith said. He thinks we have three interested parties: Fort Collins, the Districts and the NCWCD. REGIONAL WASTEWATER SERVICE ISSUES UPDATE Regional Planning Issues There really isn't anything to update other than the regional 201 plan that was discussed at the joint meeting in Loveland, Mr. Smith said. "I think there is support for that," he added. Mr. Clopper asked Mike Smith to clarify the meaning of some of the numbers such as 201 and 208. The numbers relate to sections of the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, Mr. Smith began. Section 208 relates to area -wide planning. The North Front Range Water Quality Association is essentially a 208 committee. It used to be called the 208 Committee, but the Larimer/Weld group dropped it. The entities who comprise this committee are cities, districts and communities in Larimer and Weld Counties. The Committee is set up under the Clean Water Act to review and make comments to the state regarding water quality planning issues, e.g. site applications. "It's a normal function that you can elect to do, but if you don't do it, someone else in the state will do it for you," he stressed. The 208 is basically advisory; "I don't think it has any real teeth, but the state certainly listens to what they recommend," he said. The 201 is another section of the Clean Water Act that involves doing facilities plans for making improvements; in other words, planning what you are going to do and what you will need to provide water and wastewater service. "It's another name for preparing a master plan," he said. The communities and sanitation districts of Larimer and Weld Counties have agreed that it's a good idea to do a regional master plan for wastewater. They determine what the needs are and what the options are to meet those needs. Once that's completed it is submitted to the state saying "this is our recommended plan to provide service to this area, and the state uses that as a basis for decisions that come to them in the future." Dr. Grigg asked if you would have to be in conformance with that to get a loan from the revolving fund. The Health Dept. is a critical player in getting a loan. They have to have a positive recommendation or they won't even submit it to the Water and Power Authority," Mr. Smith responded. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 14 Proposed Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility Flyer Mr. Smith distributed flyers prepared by the Utility to inform residents in the area about the proposed site of a regional wastewater facility. There is background information on one side and a map of the area on the reverse side. In 1990, as recommended in the wastewater treatment master plan, the City Council authorized the purchase of land for a future wastewater treatment facility near Ptarmigan Golf Course and residential area. However, the developers of the residential development have neglected to inform people who were buying lots about the proposed plant. In 1995, the City installed a sign on the south edge of the property along Highway 392 identifying the site as the proposed location, Mr. Smith explained. The sign was installed to inform residents in the area of the proposed use of the site so that interested residents can participate in the planning and decision making process. That stimulated somebody to destroy the sign and others to try to find out what's going on, he said. "We created a mailing list and sent them the flyers you received today." We emphasized that it is a proposed plant, and there is a possibility that we may not even construct it there. The developers were concerned about the sign, thinking that it would deter people from buying a lot. After staff discussed the situation with them they agreed that it is better to be up -front with people, rather than having them find out about it later. Ptarmigan sub -division developers now have a stack of these to give out to prospective buyers. "In the public participation process, we are trying to do it right," he said. "If you tell people the truth about projects and involve them in the process, they are far more accepting," he concluded. Time Change for Next Meeting Molly Nortier said that the Board needs to decide if they would like to meet a little earlier for the June meeting. "We will be having a farewell reception for Neil Grigg and Dave Stewart at the beginning of the meeting. Since the Boxelder Board is coming at 3:45 that gives us less than 45 minutes for our business meeting and reception," she said. She asked if everyone would be willing to come at 2:45 instead of 3:00. They agreed to meet at 2:45 P.M. Applicants for Board Positions Paul Clopper asked if the City has received any more applications for the 4 vacant Water Board positions since the deadline was extended. "Yes, quite a few more," Ms. Nortier replied. Mr. Smith introduced one of the applicants who was visiting the meeting. His name is David Lauer. Mr. Smith mentioned that Mr. Lauer is involved with Friends of the Poudre. They will be having their annual celebration of the Poudre soon. For the first time they will be meeting at the old Water Treatment Plant No. 1 site. Mr. Lauer is organizing the festival. The new members of the Board will be selected by the middle of June. Water Board Minutes May 19, 1995 Page 15 Children's Water Festival Wendy Williams announced that the fourth annual Children's Water Festival is coming up on Monday, May 22nd at the CSU Student Center from 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. She handed out brochures and encouraged Board members to come. "There will be about 1600 fourth graders coming this year with over 20 classroom activities," she said. John Bartholow said he looked through the material, and "it seems to be exceptionally well organized." "We've had a lot of experience since this is our fourth year," Ms. Williams stated. Ms. Nortier said she went for the first time last year, "and it was wonderfully organized and a lot of fun!" Neil Grigg commented that, "it looks like we're as far ahead of anybody in the country on this type of program." ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 P.M. me: Water Board/Secretary