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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 07/15/2010Water Board Chairperson City Council Liaison Gina Janett, 493-4677 David Roy, 21 7-5 506 Water Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Steve Balderson, 223-7915 Brian Janonis, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson Gina Janett, Vice Chairperson Steve Balderson, Board Members Mike Connor, Johannes Gessler, David Pillard, and Duncan Eccleston Board Absent Board Members Reagan Waskom, Eileen Dornfest, Phil Phelan, and Brian Brown Staff Present Brian Janonis, Jon Haukaas, Ken Sampley, Judy Billica, Keith Elrnund, Basil Hamdan, Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Shane Boyle, Dennis Bode, Lori Clernents-Grote, Lisa Voytko, Robin Pierce, and Susan Hayes Guests Bruce Hendee, Steve Roznowski, Rich Shannon, Eric Sutherland, and John Tufte Meeting Convened Chairperson Janett called the meeting to order at 3:23 p.m. Public Comment Eric Sutherland expressed concern about the Board’s recent recommendation to City Council for water meter replacements related to the smart grid project and his opinion that the Board made this decision without any supporting data. He requested they seek data in the future when making such decisions. Staff reported the second reading of the appropriation is before Council on July 20 (it passed 6-1 on first reading; it’s on the discussion agenda for second reading). Rich Shannon addressed the Board about the correlations between the City and state floodplain regulations. He is concerned that the State will adopt more expansive definitions for the 500- year floodplain and encourages the City to continue in the same spirit of administering the floodplain regulations as they are currently. He would like to see the City continue to allow hazardous materials in the 500-year floodplain and work to expand their definition of learning institutions. The Board will discuss at a later time. Water Engineering and Field Services Manager Jon Haukaas noted staff will analyze the state’s proposed schedule (to he published October 10) and return to the Board at the November meeting for feedback. The City will provide comments to the state within their comment period. Through last October and November, the Board discussed the 0.1-foot floodway and complete restriction on structures in the 100-year floodplain. Staff will return with this agenda item at the August 19 meeting for feedback before it goes to Council on August 24. Water Board Minutes July 15, 2010 Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes Thursday, July 15, 2010 Minutes of June 17, 2010, Meeting Board Member Gessler moved to approve the minutes from the June 17, 2010, meeting. Board Member Piflard seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Urban Stream Health Assessment (Presentation available on request) Stormwater Engineer Basil Hamdan provided an update on staff’s review of the purpose, policies, and components of the Storrnwater Program as directed by Council in 2008. A “best management practices” study was completed in 2009. As a result, a recommendation was made to incorporate water quality and stream restoration and rehabilitation efforts on a watershed level into the City’s policies and procedures through a Stormwater Master Plan update. The Urban Stream Health Assessment was completed in cooperation with Colorado State University. As a result of the assessment, staff will work to prioritize streams for rehabilitation measures and identify which stream sections would benefit most from rehabilitation. It was noted our streams experience stress during times of irrigation flows, which move sediment in the stream. Board discussion: Are we approaching the limits of what can be done? Some areas are not impacted by irrigation controls and staff can add some controls to others to mitigate impact. It may not be possible to influence irrigation practices. Water Planning and Development Manager Ken Sampley added there may be more natural looking streams in areas not impacted by irrigation, while structural solutions in those streams where controls are added for irrigation mitigation will be apparent. The addition of structural solutions is dependent on the master plan update. A combination of improvement solutions will be used — some policy-based and some structural in nature. Were stone flies fuund in the urban streams? No stone flies were observed, hut the team saw may flies and caddis flies. The study group was unable to establish an historical trend; the Hoffman and Zuellig studies did not provide complete coverage. Is the intent to use the macro i,zvertebrate population to monitor stream health? Yes. The same sites will not be surveyed again. The trend is more ilzteresting and meaningful than sunply going after baseline data. What is the master plan process fur idemitijing projects? Projects won’t necessarily be based on technical criteria. Staff may pursue projects based on other criteria, such as City-owned areas, a partnership may be in place, etc. Are irrigation companies using natural streams as part of their conveyance system on a regular basis? Companies sometimes use the streams to transport flows as an operating function of the irrigation system, and sometimes they are used for return flows. Plan Fort Collins (PFC) Policy Choices Feedback Chairperson Janett led a discussion of six criteria related to the Board’s scope in the Policy Choices document under the Environmental Health category. Collective feedback for each was developed. Water Board Minutes 2 July 15, 2010 I) Expand opportunities for storrnwater treatment and conveyance. * Being studied in PFC due the impact to other areas, such as transportation. * Reducing the amount of water that continues on through use of more ground absorption practices. For both new development and redevelopment projects. Support wit/i a reininder to consider the cost. Concern was expressed about how the City sets priorities to proceed with projects instead of retiring debt. Board Member Connor encourages senior Utilities staff and Council to carefully study these projects. 2) Improve stormwater quality and conveyance. * Concern about policies that would discourage development at existing sites which could encourage new jobs and tax revenue. Differentiation is made between remodel and heavier reconstruction projects. Support 3) Strengthen stormwater partnerships. Relates to the formation of Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) to create regional stormwater efficiencies and improvements. Support 4) Balance water supply planning and conservation. * The balancing point between the two is important; should be an ongoing discussion in the city. * Support for raising prices for water as a means of providing incentive for conservation. Support the process already underway with both the Water Supply and Demand Managemnent Policy and current conservation effrts. 5) Support a resilient Cache Ia Poudre River. * Economic asset is missing from the statement. * Move toward in-stream flows to avoid recurring dry-up spots on the river every winter. The PFC process cannot solve in-stream flows. * Focus will be spent on the river in the Plan Fort Collins process and has generated more discussion than any other subject. Supj,ort with emphasis on protection and improvement of the river. 6) Adapting to climate change. * Extremely broad to respond to. More appropriate to state taking action within the City from a variety of standpoints that we know are sound regardless of conflicting beliefs about climate change, e.g., insulating buildings, conserving power and water use, etc. These are the right things to do regardless of climate change. * Increased storm and drought intensity was noted. Support Platte River Power Authority Intergovernmental Agreement Extension Utilities Customer Support Manager Lori Clements-Grote requested a Board recommendation related to an extension of the term of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Cities Water Board Minutes 3 July 15, 2010 of Fort Collins and Longmont, and Platte River Power Authority (Platte River). The IGA governs the operation of a joint Customer Information System (CIS) by Platte River for the two cities. The system is used for billing and usage tracking. An extension of one year is requested to resolve items i-elated to the Utilities Privacy Policy and the Red Flag Rules of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act. Ms. Clements-Grote also serves as the Privacy Officer for Utilities. Utilities will soon be under the new federal regulations to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft. An extension of one year allows the City of Fort Collins additional time to talk with the other parties on data protection through its various stages in the process. The two year agreement expires in August; a one year extension is being sought. Motion: Board Member Connor moves the Water Board recommends to the City Council that the Council approve by resolution an amendment to the CIS Agreement with Platte River and Longmont extending the term of the current agreement twelve months beyond the current expiration date. Board Member Gessler seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously. Contaminants and Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Senior Process Engineer Judy Billica reported on the monitoring underway in our drinking watershed supply. The City is in a collaborative study with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD), along with Loveland, Greeley, Estes Park, Longmont and Boulder. Sampling locations within the Colorado-Big Thompson Project were reviewed. Analysis includes 5] pharmaceuticals and 103 pesticides, as well as estrogens and other hormones, and phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (including bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA). Detected concentrations of compounds are in the parts per trillion. Sampling likely won’t be done every year, but will perhaps occur on an every three year cycle. Board discussion: Where (toes this data lead? Are we considering upgrades to our flicilities to add new treatment methods for remoi’ing these from oiim water bodies? City staff would undertake treatability studies of our own to learn how to treat these in our water if a certain threshold was reached with a monitored compound. Some compounds are removed by conventional treatment, but many compounds have unique removal techniques. There is no regulation currently governing this issue, and monitoring involves a very long list of possible chemicals. Committee Reports No reports were provided by any of the board committees at this meeting. Engineering Committee (Vice Chairperson Balderson): Water Conservation Committee (Board Member Phelan): Legislative, Finance and Legal Committee (Board Member Pillard): Instrearn Flow Committee (Board Member Wockner): Water Supply Committee (Board Member Gessler): Other Business None Water Board Minutes 4 July 15, 2010 Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:49 p.m. Submitted by Robin Pierce, Executive Administrative Assistant Fort Collins Utilities Approved by the Board on g , 2010 Signed: Board Secretary Date Water Board Minutes 5 July 15, 2010