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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 02/22/2007Fort Collins Utilities' Water Board Minutes Thursday, February 22, 2007 Water Board Vice Chairman City Council Liaison Doug Yadon, 484-3611 David Roy Staff Liaison DeEtta Carr, 221-6702 Roll Call: Board Present: Chairman Doug Yadon, Steve Balderson, John Bartholow, Mike Connor, Paul Czarnecki, Eileen Domfest, Gina Janett, Phil Phelan, Dave Pillard and Reagon Waskom Absent: Board Member Joannes Gessler Visitors: Jennifer Orgolini from New Belgium Jade Miller from DMW Civil Engineers Staff. - Patty Bigner, Dennis Bode, DeEtta Carr, Carrie Daggett, Joyce Grenz, Jim Hibbard, Marcia Hilmes-Robinson, Jenny Lopez-Filkins, Bob Smith, Mike Smith, Susan Smolnik and Dennis Sumner Meetine Convened Vice Chairman Doug Yadon called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m. Public Comment None Approval of Minutes — December 7, 2006 Board Member Mike Connor made a motion, seconded by Board Member Phil Phelan, to approve minutes from the January 25, 2007, meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Floodalain Varience for 132 West Willox Lane Vice Chairman, Doug Yadon, stated that the Board was going to hear a floodplain variance request for 132 West Willox Lane. At the beginning of the proceedings, the Board asked its legal representation, Carrie Daggett, for her input. Ms. Daggett reminded the Board of previous discussions, pointing out that in this case, the Board would be talking about a Water Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 2007 Page 2 floodplain regulation the City adopted. The City floodplain regulations are more restrictive than the FEMA minimum regulations; therefore a variance is less burdensome because the hardship provision of the City Code applies only to variances from FEMA minimum regulations. Ms. Daggett reminded the Board that variance decisions, made by the Water Board, may be appealed to the City Council. The Water Board's decision would be reviewed based upon the record of the Board's decision and the requirements of Chapter 10. Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Floodplain Administrator for the City of Fort Collins, started the variance request presentation, stating that the applicant is asking for a variance to the City Code in Section 10-37 (c) (2) a, a determination of Regulatory Flood Protection elevation. For new construction, the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation is eighteen (18) inches above the base flood elevation. The applicant's variance request is to allow the lowest floor elevation of the structure to be at the FEMA flood elevation, thus eliminating the 18-inch freeboard requirement. The variance is for a project located at 132 West Willow Lane and includes construction of a new non-residential structure. A previous structure on the site was demolished after being partially damaged during the 2003 blizzard. There is no structure there now. The site is in both the FEMA and the City Dry Creek Floodplain. However, the City has recently completed construction of the $10 million Dry Creek Flood Control Project. A Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) describing the proposed design of the project was approved by FEMA in July 2004. The application for a Physical Map Revision (PMR) based on the as -built construction was submitted to FEMA in January 2007. The Dry Creek Flood Control Project significantly reduces the overall Dry Creek Floodplain. On this site, the new mapping shows this property to be completely out of the Floodplain. The new mapping is pending approval from FEMA, which may take up to the end of the year. In addition to this variance request, the applicant has been granted a waiver by the Utilities General Manager Mike Smith to allow them to not use the current City floodplain elevations and instead use the FEMA flood elevations for their design. This waiver is based on Section 10-114 of City Code. Due to the construction of the Dry Creek Flood Control Project, this applicant is requesting a variance to the elevation requirements found in Section 10-37 (c) (2) a of City Code and the flood proofing criteria found in Section 10-38 of City Code. The elevation criteria states the regulatory base flood elevation (RBFE) be determined by adding eighteen (18) inches to the 100-year water surface elevation at the most upstream edge of the building. Because this is a non-residential structure, the structure would be allowed to floodproof instead of elevate to the RBE. The building is proposed to be constructed with the lowest floor at the FEMA flood elevation and, therefore, would meet the minimum National Flood Insurance Program criteria. It should be noted that flood insurance for this structure will Water Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 2007 Page 3 be higher than if it met the eighteen (18) inch freebboard requirement. The property owner is aware of this requirement. This variance request, according to City Code Section 10-29 (c), would not have to meet the hardship requirement of Section 10-39 (h) (2) because the regulation is a City regulation that is higher than the FEMA minimum. Utilities Staff compiled the following variance options for the Board to consider: Option #1: Deny the variance request based on the regulation adopted in the City Code, and thereby require the structure to be elevated or floodproofed to the regulatory flood protection elevation. Option #2: Grant the variance request to allow the structure to be built at the FEMA flood elevation of 4984.1, thus eliminating the freeboard requirement and the need for floodproofing the structure. Staff Recommendation: Utilities Staff recommends approving Option #2, based on construction of the Dry Creek Flood Control Project and that the lowest floor elevation will meet the FEMA minimum requirements. Applicant Request: Jade Miller, of DMW Civil Engineers, is representing his client who is requesting a waiver and variance to Chapter 10 of the City code pertaining to floodplain regulations. They are in the development review part of this project. It is a 16,000 square foot metal building that will have a waterproof membrane around the entire perimeter of the building. The membrane will be up to 8 inches, or whatever is applicable, and then various treatments over that, like a stone veneer to keep it in place. A variance is requested to City Code Section 10-37 (c) (2) to set the regulatory flood protection elevations for the proposed building eighteen (18) inches above the BFE. The City is in the process of working with FEMA to revise the floodplain mapping for the Dry Creek Basin. The recently completed Dry Creek Flood Control Project will remove this property from the floodplain. However, this process with FEMA is lengthy and it may take 12 to 24 months for the FEMA maps to be updated. This variance requests that the minimum FEMA flood protection be provided to the BFE and not include the 18 inches of freeboard. If this waiver and variance are approved, a floodplain use permit will still be obtained prior to any construction or development on the site, in accordance with Section 10-27. Water Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 2007 Page 4 Board Member Mike Connor stated he had driven by and did notice there were other structures. Mr. Connor asked if the other buildings required variances when they were built. Marsha Hilmes-Robinson stated that most of the structures were pre-FEMA mapping. Most of the structures had a variance issued more than 1 I years ago. Board Member John Bartholow said when the Board toured the Dry Creek upgrade facilities, they stopped at the head gate for the Larimer/Weld Canal and he recalled a shutoff that in times of flooding could be closed off. He did not recall whether City staff had said it had been tested. Ms. Hilmes-Robinson said it had been tested and all had gone well. Board Member Gina Janett asked for clarification and said as she understands it, the variance is only for the City Code at this point because the lowest floor elevation will meet FEMA minimum requirements. Ms. Janett said the point is that the City is providing evidence that the floodplain has gone away so that the higher requirement of the City Code is met based on the City's actions and proposed changed to the floodplain. It's really not a FEMA-related decision. To apply for the national flood insurance program and receive disaster assistance, the community has to at least adopt those minimum standards. However, the standards that are really in place are whatever is in City Code and this is a variance to our City Code. What Utilities has been able to say is that the City is not going below the minimum FEMA standards with this variance. Another question was that if the applicant is meeting the minimum FEMA requirements, why do they have the additional flood insurance premium? The answer given was that when the applicant applies for flood insurance, they use the FEMA level as your middle of the road baseline, but as you go higher the premiums keep going lower. Board Member Doug Yadon asked the Board to provide information on their position. Board Member Gina Janett stated that the motion to grant the variance would be based on the construction of the Dry Creek Floodplain Project and the fact that the lowest floor elevation (4984.14) will meet the FEMA minimum requirements. Board Member Doug Yadon wanted it to be stated that the request by the applicant for the variance does not result in any of the negative potentials that are identified in Section 10- 29 (h) (3). Board Member John Bartholow asked Marsha Hilmes-Robinson if she believed that statement three was correct. Ms. Hilmes-Robinson answered that in this case, she believes the statement is correct. Board Member Paul Czarnecki said he wanted to put a motion on the table. Board Member Gina Janett stated that based upon the construction of the Dry Creek Floodplain Project, the fact that the lowest floor elevation (4984.14) will meet the FEMA minimum requirement, and that the variance meets requirements of Section 10-29 (h) (3) of City Water Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 2007 Page 5 Code, the variance should be passed. Board Member Paul Czarnecki made a motion to accept Option #2 to grant a variance to 132 West Willox Lane. Board member John Bartholow seconded the motion. Water Board Vice Chairman Doug Yadon called for a vote on the variance, and the Water Board unanimously passed the motion to grant the variance for Option #2. The primary reason for approving the request was that the property at issue lies in an area from which the floodplain has been removed by the Utilities recently completed Dry Creek Basin Drainage Improvement Project. Water Rental Rates and Delivery Charges Dennis Bode, Water Resources Manager, presented an explanation on the proposed amounts for the 2007 raw water rates and charges. Each year, prior to the irrigation season and after the irrigation companies have established their annual assessments for water shares, the Water Board recommends to City Council rental rates and delivery charges for use of the City's raw water. The uses of the City's raw water include rental to agricultural users, meeting certain raw water delivery obligations and use by other City departments. Although the East Slope snowpack has been usually plentiful, early winter snowpack in the upper watersheds and West Slope is just about average or slightly below. The snowpack can change very quickly, so it is important that the City continues to closely monitor its supplies when making surplus raw water available for rental each year. The first priority will be to ensure adequate supplies will be carried over to 2008, although current projections indicate the City will have at least some surplus supplies available for rental this year. During the last couple of years, the City has rented approximately 20,000 acre- feet of water per year, resulting in approximately $600,000 - $700,000 of revenue to the Utilities each year. Staff is again proposing two separate categories for raw water rates and charges. The first category includes only those sources for which an active rental market exists. The second category includes sources with a limited rental market or those used primarily to irrigate City facilities (parks, golf courses, etc.). The Board reviewed with tables showing actual and proposed figures for assessments, rental rates and delivery charges for the years 2004- 2007. Mr. Bode responded to questions, and the Board briefly discussed the rental program history, purpose, function and proposed rates. Following this, Board Member Reagan Waskom made a motion, seconded by Board Member John Bartholow to recommend to City Council the staff s proposed raw water rental rates and delivery charges for the 2007 season. The motion passed unanimously. Water Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 2007 Page 6 Committee Reports Conservation and Public Education They are scheduled to meet before the March 22 meeting to discuss the ongoing work on the City's Conservation Plan. Engineering Met at a joint meeting with Water Supply Committee from 2 — 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 22. Legislative, Finance and Liaison Issues They did not meet. They are watching a bill that is before the Legislature. Water Supply They will try to have a meeting at 2 — 3 p.m. on March 22. Staff Reports Water Resources Manager, Dennis Bode, presented information on treated water production and the water supply outlook. Other Business Utilities General Manager Mike Smith gave a brief update on the reorganization the City is doing. Future Atienda Items The election of the Chairman and ViceChairman will be held at the meeting in April. Letter to Council regarding term limits. Adjournment The Board meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Board Member Steve Balderson made a motion to adjourn, and Board Member Paul Czarnecki seconded the motion. ApirA / Joy enz, Water Bo d Secretary