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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Commission - Minutes - 12/16/2021 WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING December 16, 2021, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Online via Zoom 12/16/202 1 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL • Commissioners Present: Kent Bruxvoort (Chairperson), Greg Steed (Vice Chairperson), Michael C. Brown, Jr., Tyler Eldridge, Randy Kenyon, Phyllis Ortman, Jason Tarry • Commissioners Absent - Excused: Paul Herman, John Primsky • Staff Members Present: Theresa Connor, John Song, Mark Kempton, Jason Graham, Rhonda Barton, Allison Becker • Members of the Public: None 3. AGENDA REVIEW • Chairperson Kent Bruxvoort briefly summarized items on the agenda 4. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION • None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES CHAIRPERSON BRUXVOORT ASKED FOR COMMENTS AND REVISIONS ON THE NOVEMBER 18 MINUTES. Commissioner Ortman moved to approve the November 18 minutes. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: it passed unanimously, 7-0 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Staff Reports (Attachments available upon request) i. Financial Monthly Report (meeting packet only) Discussion Highlights A Commissioner inquired about lapsing and non-lapsing expense. Interim Utilities Executive Director and Interim Deputy Director Mark Kempton WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 12/16/2021 –MINUTES Page 2 responded that non-lapsing accounts are capital accounts, whose funds don’t lapse at the end of the year, while operating accounts do, meaning they revert back into reserves and to general funds to be reappropriated the following year. Ms. Connor also noted that the City incurred an extraordinary expense when the Anheuser-Busch (AB) waterline was hit and repaired, and the City is hoping to recoup funds from the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association (PVREA) whose contractor hit that line. ii. Water Resources Monthly Report (meeting packet only) iii. Interim Utilities Executive Director Quarterly Update Interim Utilities Executive Director Theresa Connor highlighted some of the City’s bigger initiatives this past year and what to look forward to next year. She started out with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts that Utilities is making, using non-traditional or creative ways to engage all of the City’s residents and employees. She also focused on recovery and assistance programs to help residents who were and are impacted by COVID, looking also to the America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to especially address workforce development in the face of an aging infrastructure. She touched on the challenges of staying on course during extremely high rates of turnover throughout the City and the nation in general, known commonly as the Great Resignation. She segued into a metaphor, illustrating the fortitude of trees that have an interconnected system of roots to withstand hurricane winds, to refer to efforts to form Northern Colorado regional water interconnects to achieve regional resilience. She spoke about technological milestones and lessons, such as the Maximo implementation and the need for commercial off-the-shelf systems for cybersecurity. This past Monday, the City launched a new billing system for Connexion customers to provide an online portal, but there is a contract in default with the previously attempted billing system. She hopes to achieve greater digital transformations to become a competently digital city with a secure system. She then touched on the hiring process for the new Utilities Executive Director to hopefully onboard in March, currently down to five candidates. Lastly, she spoke on hopes to bring on an artist-in- residence in 2022 for an Arts in Public Places initiative embedded in Utilities. Discussion Highlights Commissioners expressed high praise and gratitude all around for Ms. Connor and Utilities’ efforts for all these initiatives and lessons learned throughout the year and congratulated her for her part in them. WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 12/16/2021 –MINUTES Page 3 iv. Partnership for Clean Water Program Water Reclamation and Biosolids Director Jason Graham and Technical Services Supervisor Allison Becker introduced Rhonda Barton, Industrial Pretreatment Specialist, who presented on the Partnership for Clean Water Program, an optimization and recognition program for wastewater utilities. Developed by utility members and supported by utility peers, the Partnership for Clean Water Program launched in 2016, analogous to the Partnership for Safe Water, to which the Water Treatment Facility has been a member for 25 years. The program primarily focuses on optimizing plant performance by improving effluent water quality, providing safety margins beyond regulatory requirements, and achieving its goals in an energy-efficient manner. Discussion Highlights A Commissioner commented on how the plant treats water on a much more stringent basis than regulations require, and they wondered if that affects the longevity of equipment and energy intake to achieve those levels. Ms. Barton responded that there is the need to strike a balance between achieving the cleanest effluent while maintaining optimal energy usage and acknowledged that producing the best of the best quality could end up using too much energy and would not be ideal. Optimization in this program includes efficient energy usage, and so the operations and maintenance groups monitor that closely alongside water quality. Mr. Graham also mentioned that, though there is no specific energy or process optimization source, the system has to be considered holistically to determine the appropriate metrics to steer optimization for all their systems, e.g. flow, cost, and asset management. Ultimately, the Water Reclamation Facilities have historically decreased energy cost and usage consistently for nearly the past decade. Lastly, the Commissioner inquired about the longevity of staff members who may feel pressured to achieve and maintain high levels of production for recognition or awards, citing high levels of turnovers within the City and elsewhere. Mr. Graham assured the Commissioner that, though proud of past awards, they’ve moved on from trying to achieve certain accolades and turned to the Partnership for Clean Water Program to be the one aspiration for their groups, as it would allow for just one set of goals and ownership from staff. Ms. Barton further commented that the Partnership for Clean Water Program incorporates goals from all the different programs, and the optimization of systems through this program will help streamline efforts and control pacing, thus ultimately serving the staff. WATER COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 12/16/2021 –MINUTES Page 4 7. COMMISSIONER REPORTS None 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. 2021 Annual Report Chairperson Bruxvoort briefly outlined the timeline for the 2021 Annual Report, which is due to the Boards and Commissions office by January 31, 2022, and will share a draft prior to the January Regular Meeting to Commissioners for final comments and approval. 9. RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING WATER COMMISSIONERS a. Commissioners Phyllis Ortman and Michael Brown, Jr. 10. ADJOURNMENT 6:54 p.m. These minutes were approved by the Water Commission on January 20, 2022.