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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 05/13/1977M 11 WATER BOARD Regular Meeting May 13, 1977 - 3:30 P.M. Present: Ward Fischer Raymond Anderson Bernard Cain, Jr. Harvey Johnson Everett Richardson Susan Jones Absent: Karl E. Carson Henry Caulfield Norman Evans Ronald Fulkrod James Waltz Staff members present: Hays, Krempel, and Liquin Minutes of Regular Meeting of April 15, 1977 Chairman Fischer inquired if there were any corrections to the minutes. Board member Anderson stated that he had a correction from Board member Caulfield pertaining to the motion made by Mr. Caulfield under the Discussion of 1978 Water Rental, which is as follows: Board member Caulfield made a motion, seconded by Everett Richardson, that the Water Board requests the City administration for the balance of this year to make a study of the water rental situation with a view to finding out what is the water rental situation between farmers, getting whatever data is available to indicate what transactions are made and at what price, with a view to developing a system for our consideration next year that would be based on the going market for the renting of water in the Northeastern Colorado community. The Chair put the motion, which was unanimously adopted. Chairman Fischer stated that this is an .amendment as to the wording of the motion, which was put to vote, and unanimously passed, and by consensus, will be inserted as a correct statement of the motion passed. Out -of -City Utility Requests Chairman Fischer stated that the next item on the agenda was the out -of -City utility request from Gertrude Giese of 1030 West Vine Drive. Mr. Krempel stated that this was a very simple, straight forward request, and the administration recommended approval. Board member Johnson made a motion, seconded by Bernard Cain, to recommend to the City Council to approve this request from Gertrude Geise for sanitary sewer service to her property at 1030 West Vine Drive. The Chair put the motion, which was unanimously adopted. ki The consideration of the by-laws was deferred to a Future meeting, in that Board member Caulfield, as the author of the by-laws, could not attend the meeting. Warren Lake Trunk Sewer In considering the Warren Lake Trunk Sewer item, Mr. Roger Krempel reviewed a sanitary sewer system study map which showed all undeveloped areas north of Harmony Road and the drainage basins which would serve the undeveloped lands. He stated that requests have been received on serving the approximate 450 acres of land in the vicinity of Lemay Avenue and Harmony Road. Mr. Krempel advised the Water Board that the approximate 230 acres of land west of Lemay Avenue under development by Reid Rosenthal has district sewer and water available to it, however, he would prefer City utilities. Mr. Krempel further advised the Water Board.that the City would be faced with substantial oversizing costs, but that unappropriated funds were available for this purpose. That would then give the City sewer service right up to what is a possible urban service area. The administration recommended approval of this on the grounds that this would give the City some control over the development of this area. Members of the Water Board were concerned with any implication of the establishment of urban service area boundaries and whether or not the City would be reimbursed in time for the expense of the oversizing costs. Following additional discussion, Board member Cain made a motion, seconded by Everett Richardson to recommend to the City Council the installation of the Warren Lake Trunk Sewer as recommended by the administration. The Chair put the motion, which was unanimously adopted. Utility Investment Fee Adjustment Mr. Krempel had distributed copies of Chapter 9 from the "Report on Water Needs and Revenue Requirements" to the members of the Water Board which will be going to the City Council in preliminary form on May 24 and to the Water Board on May 26 for further study. He stated that the Developers Committee composed of Jim Nichols, Glen Larson, and Bernie Cain had reviewed the proposed Water and Sewer Investment Fee Schedule adjustments and.had reached the consensus that the recommendations were justifiable and proper (See Exhibit A). He stated that the administration is recommending a 50% increase in the Water Utility Investment Fee to cover portions of the expense of growth during the next 5 years. A water rate increase is still being planned to cover the cost of building Joe Wright Reservoir, The administration felt that Joe Wright Reservoir is an expense that is necessary to have a complete Water Utility, and it is a benefit to all existing customers to have raw water storage, and accordingly, all the customers should pay for it. Mr. Krempel then spoke to Table 9-3 in Chapter 9, Capital Projects Attributable to Growth. He stated that this is a projected capital improvement plan which will be reviewed annually as the City's needs are refined. Overall, during the next five years, there is about $10 million worth of planned improvements all attributable to growth. He further stated that the number of anticipated new services over that time period was projected and an average utility investment fee of $1100 for a 3/4 inch service was arrived at. Compared with other units of government and other water utilities, Fort Collins will then be in about an average position, By 1982, with this increase in utility investment fees, revenue from utility investment fees will about meet the expenditures. -2- Board member Anderson had a question on Figure 9-B of the report on how the City was going to handle the expenditures exceeding the revenues between 1978 and 1982. Mr. Krempel answered his question by reviewing a table entitled "Brief Recap 1977- 1979, Financing Program, Major Improvements Only", which was distributed to the Board members. He stated that this is the capitalization of a larger capital improvement program, and this is the major expending and the major financing. Board member Cain stated that after thoroughly studying this document, he felt quite comfortable with it. He stated that it is clearly shown that revenue generated through the increased utility investment fees will pay for the additional growth that will be occuring during the next five year period. He further stated that he felt that the existing people won't be subsidizing the additional improvements that will be underway. Mr. Krempel stated that he had expressed on several occasions that when Joe Wright was built, there probably would need to be about a 50% water rate increase. But if there is going to be a 50% increase in the Water Utility Investment Fees and growth is going to pay its own way, the water rate increase can be held down to about 40%, and hopefully, the public will look on that favorably. Chairman Fischer stated that the projected rate increase was long anticipated and not due entirely to Joe Wright Reservoir, but to increase in operation and maintenance costs and the cost of federal environmental requirements, and he felt that this ought to be reemphasized when the rate increase is explained. Board member Johnson stated that before Joe Wright Reservoir, the water owned by the City of Fort Collins was improperly handled, even before the growth, because the City did not have raw water storage, and could not make good use of their water. Board member Richardson made a motion, seconded by Harvey Johnson, to recommend to the City Council to approve the Water Utility Investment Fees proposed for 1977. The Chair put the motion, which was unanimously adopted. In discussing the proposed Sewer Utility Investment Fees, Mr. Krempel stated that the sewage treatment projected capital expenses includes a substantial amount for meeting the zero discharge provisions of PL 92-500 which calls for exceedingly strict effluent limitations by 1983. EPA and the Office of Budgeted Management have verified that zero pollutional discharge will cost 5 times more than secondary treatment. He stated that it has been proposed by some that this be modified, but at present it is still the law and cannot be ignored. The public must be aware of what zero pollutional discharge means in the long run. Board member Cain made a motion, seconded by Everett Richardson, to recommend to the City Council to approve the Sewer Utility Investment Fees proposed for 1977. Preliminary Report - Water Rates Mr. Krempel had distributed to the Board a tabulation of the scope of the Water Rate Study and requested input from the Board on whether there was anything that needed to be added or eliminated. The Board suggested adding items on environmental considerations and the effects of drought. -3- • 0 Report on Class "C" River Chairman Fischer stated that lie and Mr. Liquin went to the Water Quality Control Commission meeting in May. The Commission is required by law as a matter of due process to the City of Fort Collins to make their ultimate decision based upon the records which was compiled by the Hearing Officer, and they cannot disregard his findings of fact unless they are, as. the statutes states, "clearly erroneous". He stated that the Commission was disinclined to adopt the Hearing Officer's recommendations. The Commission had not read the transcript and could not understand how the Hearing Officer could come to these conclusions, which they felt were without any basis not having heard the testimony themselves. They ordered the transcript and scheduled it for the next meeting in June. He stated he did not know what they were going to do. Subcommittee Reports Board member Cain, Chairman of the Utilities Committee, stated that his committee met with the Chairman of the Long Range Goals Committee and Mr. Krempel, and went over some preliminary concepts. After several discussions on different approaches to establish some guidelines, they felt that it might be advisable to get some input from the City Council. He requested to have two members of the Council to serve on the committee as advisory to the Board to get some input from them in terms of some of their thoughts. The Water Board discussed to a great extent urban service areas and the state grant which has been approved to study this problem. Board member Cain made a motion, seconded by Raymond Anderson, to request the City Council to appoint two representatives to serve as advisory to the Water Board Utilities Committee. The Chair put the motion, which was unanimously adopted. Staff Reports Mr. Krempel reviewed the tentative engineering and finance schedule for Joe Wright Reservoir. He stated that a set of approved plans has been received from the State Engineer. The specifications have been approved by the Forest Service. The bids have been advertised and the plans are available in the engineer's office. Bids will be opened on June 2, the Water Board will consider the bids and make a recommendation to the City Council on June 3, the City Council is expected to award the contract on June 7, and work will probably start shortly thereafter. Mr. Liquin stated that all of the permits have been taken care of. All but a few minor differences on the amount of money to be spent for recreation and future maintenance in connection with the Forest Service permit on Joe Wright Reservoir have been resolved. Mr. Krempel reported on the proposed requirements of the Forest Service as far as toilets, trails, and trash containers to be considered as recreational facilities, as well as Forest Service requirements for inspections during the period of construction. It is anticipated that the City may be required to pay the maintenance on recreational facilities for the 20 year prepayment period. Mr. Krempel further stated that relative to the loan application, the House Committee included in the Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 1978 $1,700,000 -4- 1 instead of the requested $3,750,000. The Senate Committee included the full $3,750,000, so there will have to be some compromise. The Bureau of Reclamation is forwarding a capability of spending $3,800,000, so there should not be much trouble in the compromise. Mr. Liquin stated that the Bureau of Reclamation came up with the funds they would need this first year for design, and that has been prorated among the various entities and all the money is in. The Bureau is preparing a revised agreement between the Bureau and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is not in as yet. The slide repair will be ready to start this fall, and the contract will be let January 1, 1978 for construction with the drilling and tunnel construction limited to November 1, 1978 to April 1, 1979. Future Meeting Dates The May 26 meeting to consider water rates was approved. The June 3 meeting to consider Joe Wright bids was approved. The regular June meeting was cancelled. Mr. Krempel stated that the Greeley Wader Board would be agreeable to a joint meeting with the Fort Collins Water Board on June 16. Some of the things to be discussed would be, (1) the Barnes Meadow Appraisal; (2) a cross connection with the Greeley utility transmission water line which would provide for an emergency in case the Poudre Plant broke down while the Soldier Canyon Plant was under construction; and (3) the Poudre District Ranger would like to consolidate the acreages held by the City of Fort Collins and Greeley as the Rockwell Ranch property. The existing Kelly Flats Campground is on lands owned by the two cities. Chairman Fischer requested Mr. Krempel to communicate to the Greeley Water Board that there will be quite a few members on vacation on June 16, but that there is an expression of interest in meeting. One of the things that might be explored is getting the appraisal of Barnes Meadow to the Board before a meeting so that it could be discussed. The Board will get back to them later. Other Business Mr. Liquin stated that the North Park Water Commissioner has advised not to run water in the Michigan Ditch this year. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned. ' Charles Liquin Kay mel -5- A REPORT TO THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WATER BOARD FROM THE DEVELOPER COMMITTEE ON UTILITY INVESTMENT FEES A Committee composed of Jim Nichols, Glen Larson, and the under— signed have been appointed to review the Water and Sewer Investment Fee Schedule adjustments proposed for 1977. We find them to be justifiable and recommend their adoption by the Water Board and the City Council of Fort Collins. Respectfully submitted, Bernie Cain, Chairman