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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 07/26/2001City Council Liaison Chairman Chuck Wanner Staff Liaison DeEtta Carr - 221-6702 ROLL CALL Water Board Chairman Tom Sanders - 491-5448 Water Board Vice John Morris - 491-0185 Secretary Kim Vondy - 221-6383 Board Present John Morris, Vice Chairman; David Frick, Thomas Brown, Paul Clopper, David Lauer, Rami Naddy Board Absent Tom Sanders, Chairman; Robert Ward, Joseph Berquist, Ted Borstad Staff Present Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Gale McGaha-Miller, Dennis Bode, Sue Paquette, Wendy Williams, Bob Smith, Jim Hibbard, Eric Dahlgren, Brian Janonis, Susan Hayes, Mike Smith, Dennis Summer, Kim Vondy, DeEtta Carr Guest Carrie Daggett - Assistant City Attorney MEETING OPENED/ROLL CALL Vice Chairman John Morris opened the meeting. He reminded members to call DeEtta if they would not be attending a meeting. The following items were discussed: MINUTES APPROVED Paul Clopper made a motion to approve the minutes. David Lauer seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously. FLUORIDE UPDATE Mike Smith noted that the study group had been selected except for the facilitator. Group includes Gale McGaha-Miller, Kevin Gertig, Dr. Adrienne LeBailly, Frank Vertucci, Dr. Rami Naddy, Dr. John Rief, Dr. Greg Evans, Dr. Edward Carr and Dr. Bruce Cooper. A public meeting date will be scheduled once the facilitator has been identified and the group has met. The Study Group will review material and present findings to the Board and at an open hearing with the Larimer County Board of Health. The Board's position is not if flouride is healthy or not, it is whether the City water system be used as medicinal purposes. FORT COLLINS WATER OARD MINUTES • MAY 24, 2001 PAGE 2 JOE WRIGHT RESERVOIR LAND EXCHANGE UPDATE Note: Bill Fischer excused himself from the discussion of this issue due to a potential conflict of interest. Gale McGaha-Miller explained Fort Collins Utilities has used Joe Wright Reservoir as a water storage facility since 1977. While the City owns the water rights, dam, and other aspects of the facility, it does not own the land beneath the reservoir; the USFS has owned the land since 1917. USFS has granted the City permission to operate the reservoir on their land through an easement that spells out details of operation and management of the facility. As negotiating such easements can be an arduous process, owning the land beneath the reservoir would be preferable. USFS operates the Kelly Flats Campground on one of the parcels of Rockwell Ranch owned by the City. USFS would prefer to own that land outright. The remaining parcels of Rockwell Ranch are inholdings surrounded by USFS lands, and the USFS is also interested in owning those parcels. Gale took the matter to the Natural Resources Advisory Board, and noted that they were satisfied with the work that had been done and they were planning to write a memo supporting this action when it goes to City Council in August. Gale added that it looked like a win -win situation for the City to exchange land with the Forest Service. The exchange process involves over sixty steps, including public input, surveys, appraisals, and assessments of environmental, biological and archeological impacts. The Utilities and USFS have completed all steps of this process, with the USFS issuing a favorable Environmental Assessment in May 2001 and a "Finding of No Significant Impact" (FONSI) in July. She further noted that it would take three of our four Rockwell Ranch parcels plus $22,000 to equal the land value of Joe Wright Reservoir. She noted we would be asking Council to approve that expenditure in order to obtain Joe Wright Reservoir. Gale added that one of the conditions of the easement issued in 1995 is participation in the Interim South Platte Recovery Plan. This plan calls for contributing an annual payment of $4,903 to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The reason for this requirement is the presumed impacts caused by depletions from Joe Wright Reservoir on Platte River flows far downstream in Central Nebraska. To assure ongoing participation in the recovery program, the USFWS agreed to a one-time lump sum payment. Through interest on that payment, the City's share in the Recovery Plan will be paid in perpetuity. A payment of $61,288 invested in long-term treasury notes (8%) will yield the required $4,903 per year, which is the amount attributable to the City's presumed depletions. Gale noted that we've also agreed to a conservation easement that addresses Colorado Department of Wildlife concerns about managing Joe Wright Reservoir as a fishery. CDOW has an experimental spawning bed at the inlet of the reservoir to which they need access. The conservation easement covers those conditions and allows CDOW to continue managing the reservoir as a fishery and allows people to fish on it, as well as prohibiting motorized boats and camping. Gale added that the by-pass flows (a minimum flow leaving Joe Wright reservoir FORT COLLINS WATERROARD MINUTES • MAY 24, 2001 PAGE 3 required in the last 50 year easement) are also a condition of the exchange agreement and conservation easement. Parcel B: Gale reported that the Forest Service is also very interested in the remaining Rockwell Ranch land. They propose to transfer to Winter Park 13.6 acres located at the West Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. The parcels have been historically used by Denver Water Board under a special use permit for operating the Moffat Water Collection System. The land is mostly developed and includes administration and maintenance buildings, parking, vehicle fueling area, materials storage, and access roads. Undeveloped land in the parcels includes some forested areas, grassland, and riparian forest wetland associated with Buck Creek. In exchange for the 13.6-acre parcels, the Forest Service would receive 1,744 acres of land that is surrounded by Forest Service lands. Of this amount, 157.06 acres belongs to the City in Parcel B of Rockwell Ranch. Essentially, Winter Park will buy Parcel B, then use it to exchange land with the Forest Service. However, the exchange agreement will be structured such that Parcel B would be conveyed directly to the Forest Service. If approved, this land exchange would add $353,500.00 to the Water Fund. Gale noted that this topic came up at the Natural Resources Advisory Board and Kelly Olsen expressed a concern that the City not do anything to enable Winter Park to further expand the growth of their area or further expand unnatural activities such as additional ski slopes. Gale explained that she received the environmental assessment for the Winter Park project, which appears to show that development plans will preserve a small area of wetland, a small amount of forest area and the rest would be continued use for buildings and parking lots. She noted that the Forest Service is getting a lot of land in exchange for a small amount of land, which is already heavily impacted. Motion Paul Clopper made a motion that the Water Board accept staff s recommendation to exchange parcels A, C & D for the land beneath Joe Wright Reservoir. Rami Naddy seconded the motion. Discussion Paul Clopper asked Gale if staff was happy with the outcome of the land appraisals. Gale explained that they were adequate but that the Forest Service insists on the Unit Rule. This means if they are acquiring land that is not noncontiguous, they reduce the price by 20%. Gale stated that staff believes the City is still coming out ahead, considering it is only using 3 of the 4 parcels of land for this exchange. If the City sells the 4"' parcel (parcel B), we would come out ahead financially. Paul Clopper noted that he would like these issues in 2 separate motions. In response to a question about water rights associated with Rockwell Ranch, Gale noted that the City is donating the water rights to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The Forest Service can't own water rights, and there is no historical record of value of these particular water rights. Gale noted that Parcel B is not subject to the unit rule. It would have been if it had been included in the same transaction with the other 3 parcels. Parcel B will exchange at full appraised price. Vote The motion to accept staffs recommendation on parcels A, C & D passed unanimously. FORT COLLINS WATER OARD MINUTES • MAY 24, 2001 PAGE 4 Parcel B Motion David Lauer made a motion that the Water Board accept staff s recommendation to City Council regarding a 3-way trade with Winter Park and the Forest Service at full value. Paul Clopper seconded the motion. Discussion Mike Smith explained that if City Council didn't accept the recommendation for the Joe Wright Reservoir exchange, the recommendation for Parcel B would be pulled. Vote Approved unanimously. STAFF REPORTS • Treated Water Production Summary - Dennis Bode referred the Board to a handout entitled "Treated Water Monthly Summary." He noted that in June 3,874 AF of water was used, which is about 10% above the projections for an average month. July is currently close to the average. Dennis pointed out that year-to-date as of the end of June, 94.5% of the projected use based on an average year. • Mike Smith noted the annual report for 2000 was included in the Boards packet. • Mike Smith reported that there has been some restructuring at the Utilities and the new organizational chart is included in Boards packet. He introduced Brian Janonis, the manager in charge of Water Resources and Treatment Services. • Mike Smith mentioned the Flooding Awareness brochure, also included in the Boards packet. He noted that this brochure went out to all Floodplain residents and property owners in town. Marsha Hilmes-Robinson added that the floodplain maps and rain gauge could now be accessed on the City's Web site. OTHER BUSINESS Jim Hibbard, Bob Smith and Marsha Hilmes-Robinson gave a briefing on the process used to identify floodplains and adopt floodplain regulations. There is a conflict in the current code that has put staff in a difficult position. One part of the existing code requires Council to adopt floodplain studies and reports in order to designate a floodplain. Another part of the current code requires staff to begin enforcing floodplain regulations as soon as an area is known to the Director to have the potential for flooding during a base flood. Jim explained that staff was in the process of taking the Canal Importation Master Plan to City Council, but already had begun to enforce the floodplain regulations. Due to floodplain regulation issues raised by citizens and Council, the item was pulled. The questions centered on regulation versus risk, whether the City is regulating at the appropriate level associated with the level of risk. Jim directed the Board to the handout "Canal Importation Drainage Basin Floodplain Regulations Adoption Process." He noted that in the existing floodplain regulations, there is a portion of the code that requires staff to enforce floodplain regulations whether they are mapped or not, in areas of flooding or potential flooding. Based on this, he added, City staff began to enforce existing City regulations in the Canal Importation basin. This caught the attention of homeowners, especially those remodeling or building additions in areas where the perception of the homeowners was that flooding was not severe. As a result, adoption of the Canal FORT COLLINS WATER410ARD MINUTES • MAY 24, 2001 PAGES Importation Master plan and the resolution for long range funding of stormwater capital improvements were pulled from the Council agenda. Staff was instructed to come back to the August 2 1 " City Council meeting with revised floodplain regulations that balanced the risk with regulation. This does not allow staff enough time to review and change complex regulations. Staff decided to review the process by which floodplain boundaries and regulations are adopted. Jim presented the following concept for adoption of floodplain boundaries and regulations: 1. City staff determines floodplain boundaries based on solid technical analysis. 2. City Council adopts floodplain regulations for previously unregulated flowpaths. 3. City Council adopts floodplain regulations for previously adopted floodplains enlarged due to policy changes (rainfall, other criteria). 4. Staff enforces floodplain regulations on floodplains and makes interpretations on floodplain boundaries using best available technical information. He also presented a concept of how to proceed with the current regulation of the Canal Importation Drainage Basin. 1. Continue enforcement of current floodplain regulations until Council action. 2. Action for Council to consider: a. End enforcement of existing regulations. b. Interim enforcement of critical facility provisions c. Interim enforcement of regulations on new development. 3. In 6 to 12 months, staff makes recommendations to City Council on permanent revisions to floodplain regulations based on comprehensive review and public outreach. Staff feels this approach provides relief to the citizens in the Canal Importation Drainage Basin, continues to regulate the most critical elements, and allows time to proceed with a comprehensive review of the non-Poudre floodplain regulations. Jim stated that when staff went through the process of Poudre River regulations over a year ago, they knew there would need to be some future changes to the existing non-Poudre regulations. At that time, 2 or 3 different sets of regulations were envisioned under which similar basins could be regulated. As we look at what are the appropriate regulations to recommend for the Canal Importation Basin, we will probably consider extending those same regulations to the Old Town Basin and possibly the West Vine Basin as well. These three basins represent highly urbanized basins where the historic flowpaths have been mostly obliterated. There might be another set of regulations representing semi -urbanized type of basins where the historic flowpaths are more functional. As all of this has happened in the last 10 days, no ordinances have been prepared yet. Staff just completed consolidating the above conceptual approaches and needs to take it back to Council prior to the next Water Board meeting. Staff would like discussion from the Board about these issues but does not have ordinances prepared on which a detailed Water Board recommendation could be based. FORT COLLINS WATERROARD MINUTES • MAY 24, 2001 PAGE 6 Water Board asked whether under current regulations, lenders would be required to purchase flood insurance for properties in non-FEMA floodplains, such as the Canal Importation Basin. Staff reported there has been feedback from residents claiming they checked with lenders, and that lenders would require floodplain insurance. Staff has not researched this issue. Jim Hibbard stated that the proposed approach gives staff time to do a thorough investigation of any potential changes for Council to consideration. It still keeps the master plan approval process and funding plan resolution going while showing Council and their constituents that staff is being responsive to their concerns. Jim indicated this proposed approach would remove the regulations on remodels and additions in the Canal Importation Basin, which was one of the big issues for residents. Staff found that in spite of open houses and direct mailings, many residents were caught in various stages of planning, design, or financing their remodels or additions. Jim stated the proposed process change for adopting regulations on new or enlarged floodplains would help avoid similar issues in the future, as staff expects new mapping to be completed soon in the Spring Creek Basin. The Water Board suggested staff work closely with the City Attorney on these and any other changes to the floodplain regulations. Jim responded that the City Attorney's office has been involved. Jim Hibbard summarized both the change in the floodplain regulation adoption process and the specific interim changes for the Canal Importation Drainage Basin. Mike Smith noted that the goal is to revisit regulations and make them the best they can be. Marsha Hilmes-Robinson reminded Board that the proposed rollback of the existing regulations to the proposed interim regulations was for the Canal Importation Basin only. Motion & Vote Bill Fischer made a motion to support staffs approach to try to solve the problem and get into a long-term solution without prejudicing people in the short term. Paul Clopper seconded the motion. Approved unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. DeEtta Carr, Water Board Liaison