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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 02/20/1991WATER BOARD MINUTES September 20, 1991 3:00 - 4:45 p.m. Water and Wastewater Utility Conference Room 700 Wood Street Members Present Neil Grigg, Interim President, Ray Herrmann, Terry Podmore, Mark Casey, Paul Clopper, Dave Frick, MaryLou Smith Staff Mike Smith, Dennis Bode, Linda Burger, Keith Flmund, Ben Alexander, Curt Miller, Tom Gallier, Dave Meyer, Molly Nortier Guests Loren Maxey, City Council/water Board Liaison John Bigham, Agency Coordinator, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Dorothy Huff, Observer, Larimer County League of Women Voters Bob Kost, Light and Power Utility Director Members Absent Tom Brown, Tim Dow, Tom Sanders, Dave Stewart President Neil Grigg opened the meeting. The following items were discussed: Minutes The minutes of July 19, 1991 were approved as distributed. Neil Grigg introduced Light and Power Utility Director Bob Kost, who was observing the Water Board meeting to get a feeling for how a citizen advisory board operates. An Electric Board has recently been approved by the City Council. Mr. Cost said there are 14 applicants who will be interviewed in October, and seven will be selected to serve on the Board. Spirit of Cooperation with Natural Resources Board Dr. Grigg pointed out in the minutes that he had an assignment to call the Natural Resources Board president. He contacted their new president Will Smith and expressed the sense of the Water Board that they want to maintain a cooperative spirit between the two boards. He suggested that it would be good to meet jointly sometime when an appropriate opportunity arises. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District U ate John Bigham reported that Granby Reservoir remains at 60% of active capacity. The District Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 2 intends to draw it down over the winter for filling Horsetooth and Carter. They anticipate that it will be drawn down to about 37%. That would contrast with April of '91 when it was 25 %, and in '90 when it was down to 14 %. "We've gained storage by basically taking a conservative approach to quota setting," he said, and "we look at that as a real plus." The District Board has approved the continuation of the carryover program. They anticipate there may be as much as 80,000 Ac-ft which hopefully will not be drawn this fall and left in the CBT system. By the end of October, anybody who intends to draw on that needs to comply with the regulations. "Our storage is coming back," Mr. Bigham said, "but we're not out of the woods yet," he cautioned. The system is still not up to average this year for precipitation, and our combined storage of 54 % of active capacity is only 91 % of average. Mr. Bigham announced that the District hopes to have a director named by the end of September. There were quite a number of applicants for the position. The reports are out on the regional study, Mr. Bigham continued. He noted that is an item on today's agenda. Mike Smith asked when the District hopes to have the Northern Regional study completed. Mr. Bigham wasn't certain when it will be out, but he believes that it is being finalized. "Is there anything new on the negotiations with Broomfield?" Dr. Grigg asked. A number of interested people attended a study session at which they discussed the five possible routes for the pipeline, he replied. Two of the routes would follow the corridor where there are already easements. The other three, he believes, would require extensive negotiations because they involve private rights -of -way. The District continues to receive requests for information that could potentially lead to additional parties who may want the raw water delivered to the area, he said. "I suspect we will probably see something going east out of Carter and something going to Broomfield and probably something out as far as the highway 85 corridor. There is a lot of interest all the way to Brush," he related. Dr. Grigg said there were reports that Larry Simpson was in Fort Morgan. "Are there discussions going on there?" There were discussions at the request of the City Council and other interested people including Public Service of Brush and some of the rural domestics in that area. "Are there any issues that are coming up in the legislature that the District is flagging that the Water Board should know about?" Dr. Grigg continued. So far in the special session there doesn't appear to be anything, Mr. Bigham responded. Next January will be another story, however --there may be about 2 dozen bills drafted relating to some of the same topics we faced this year. 0 • Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 3 Dr. Grigg thanked Mr. Bigham for his informative report. Industrial Pretreatment Code Changes Keith Elmund, Environmental Services Manager, stated that the City has had an Industrial Pretreatment program for 6 years now. He said that the EPA has taken a, more aggressive position as far as enforcement of the pretreatment regulations. As part of that evolution in their thinking, they have arrived at the point where they are requiring the Utility to develop an enforcement response program. "Essentially what that does is allow both the City and the industries to write down in black and white what specific actions will be taken in response to violations of the pretreatment regulations that EPA promulgates or those in the City Code," he explained. In developing our Enforcement Response Plan (ERP) it became evident that there were certain sections in the City Code that needed to be revised, updated or expanded in order to address the specific EPA requirements. The result of that is the draft of the code changes which Board members received in their packets. Dr. Elmund added that this information has been shared with our significant industrial users. Dave Meyer, the Industrial Pretreatment Supervisor, went into more detail about the code changes that have been proposed. He began by saying that as yet they have not received any comments from the industrial users. "Whether that is an indication that they are comfortable with the document or they are still reviewing it, I don't know," he said. As Dr. Elmund related, the plan is based on new federal requirements as well as a fairly extensive guidance document published by the EPA. Mr. Meyer sought input from other cities to determine what sorts of plans they were developing. He also asked for input from the rest of his staff, Keith Elmund, Mike Smith and the Support Services staff. In addition, he received helpful contributions from the City Attorney's Office. He pointed out that this plan is not a completely new idea in the City's pretreatment program. The EPA had suggested for many years that pretreatment use a system such as this for enforcement responses. "We had a simplified version of this that we have used for the past few years," he said. The proposed changes are far more extensive, and much of what is included now is due to the specific requirements in the federal regulations. There are four sections involved in the plan, he continued. The first section discusses identifying violations and how they are tracked. The second section briefly discusses the types of enforcement actions that the City has available to it, the people that are going to be responsible for taking those actions, and the time limits for those actions. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 4 The third section includes general comments which discuss the details of how some of the common situations involving violations will be addressed. It is necessary to have some flexibility in addressing each situation, he stressed, because each situation is unique. Also in that section there is a brief discussion of the criteria to be used in determining the seriousness of a particular violation, he added. Finally, the last section is the actual outline of the City's responses that are anticipated based on specific types of violations. "You will see that the more minor or simple violations often have only the enforcement response listed, and a more complex, serious violation will offer a range of possibilities to allow you to select the most appropriate response," he explained. Mr. Meyer said the City Attorney's office has been very helpful in providing guidance and input so the proposed ERP will comply with the City Code. He also mentioned that upon approval of the City Council, the EPA also must approve both the ordinance changes and the ERP before they become an official part of our pretreatment program. President Neil Grigg pointed out that the Water Board is requested to recommend action on this item for the City Council. He asked for questions and comments. Paul Clopper asked how many permitted users the City currently has, and who the significant members of that permitted community are. There are now 13 different permitted industrial users, Dave Meyer replied. There are a few of those who have separate permits for 2 or 3 sites, so there are a few more permits than there are users. The major users include HP, Woodward Governor, NCR, and Anheuser-Busch. "There are others we permit for cleaning up underground storage tanks, which includes some of the gas station owners." We also permit the discharge from Poudre Valley Creamery and the CSU Vet Hospital, he added. Does this cover businesses like restaurants and car washes? Mr. Clopper asked. "Not directly," Mr. Meyer responded, "but potentially it does." The pretreatment regulations apply to permitted industrial users and all industrial users. "If there were to be an instance where an industrial user violated some of our local pretreatment regulations, theoretically this ERP would be used, and any violations associated with them would probably be of a minor nature. "You will notice that the plan starts out at a very low level —usually with a phone call or a letter. This helps to educate people about what is required. This ERP essentially has nothing to do with the NPDES or storm water, Paul Clopper began, or are there hooks between the two?" Would they be using a similar response plan for unauthorized discharges to the storm water system, for example? "The wording that we used for the ordinance changes makes these enforcement options that appear in the City Code, available to any permit issued within the Utilities," Mr. Meyer responded. "So they can adopt a similar set to work within their framework?" Mr. Clopper asked. "Whether they will do that Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 5 or not, I don't know," Mr. Meyer replied. The ordinances within the City Code could apply, but the ERP is specific to the pretreatment program, he explained. Ray Herrmann said he assumes that the ordinances are consistent with the pretreatment plan, but there is another question that follows. The letter talks about up to a $10,000'fine, but the plan only specifies a $1,000 fine. "A $10,000 fine would have to be leveled in conjunction with a civil suit that the City would bring against a user, and that's in the ordinance," Mr. Meyer responded. What's been your past history of violations and problems with the regulated community? Paul Clopper wanted to know. " We generally have very few problems, "Mr. Meyer replied. "The main benefit that I see in this plan, is that it is going to provide us with tools that will allow us to respond to some of the intermediate sorts of violations, and some of the minor violations that are repeated by some of the industrial users," he believes. He went on to say that in the past there have been industrial users that were reluctant to cooperate even after they had been told what was needed. The options Pretreatment had in the past were to continue to send letters or turn off their water. In some instances the lower levels weren't getting the response we needed; yet it wasn't appropriate to shut off their water or take them to court. In the future that kind of situation will be covered, he said. He assured the Board that they don't have a lot of violations. In a usual year, if you want to count even the most minor violations, like sending in late reports, perhaps 5-10. Violations of any consequence are 0-2 or 3 per year. "The most problems we've had were with an industrial user who is no longer in business," he related, "so we may have fewer problems in the future." "Is this the first time the director of the Utility has been given the enforcement ability of levying civil penalties?" Neil Grigg asked. Mike Smith clarified that he doesn't levy any civil penalties; just administrative orders. Dave Meyer explained that the civil penalties would be processed through the City Attorney's office. Mr. Meyer added that these are in the EPA guidelines. Dr. Grigg asked Mike Smith if he saw any conflict in having two roles in dealing with industries. "No," Mr. Smith replied. Dr. Grigg also asked the consequences if EPA doesn't approve the plan. "We'll have to quickly revise it to meet their expectations," Mr. Meyer replied. "What is their hammer over your head to make you comply in the first place?" Neil Grigg asked. "If we do not maintain an approved pretreatment program, they could levy fines against the City of $25,000 per day," Mr. Meyer responded. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 6 "Doesn't the Colorado Department of Health have delegated authority for all of the Clean Water Act?" Dr. Grigg wondered. "Not yet," Mr. Meyer replied. The Health Dept. has been working on obtaining delegation of the pretreatment program in conjunction with the NPDES program. Linda Burger explained that it overlaps. Compliance with the federal pretreatment requirements are included as a discharge permit condition, but they can also be enforced by EPA. It's kind of an evolving thing as the State takes over the pretreatment program, she added. Even acceptance of the State program doesn't keep the EPA from fining somebody later on, Mike Smith pointed out. Paul Clopper moved that the Water Board recommend to the City Council that they accept staffs recommendations on the response plan as presented. Ray Herrmann seconded the motion. Paul Clopper said that he thinks the plan is very clearly spelled out as to the severity of the infraction and the frequency of those violations, and how they would be dealt with. He wonders what the impact will be as far as staff hours in tracking this. Mr. Meyer said it's been a requirement all along for the pretreatment program to carefully track industrial user non- compliance. "If this has any effect on the Utility's program, it will be somewhat of a time-saver which will allow us to take action sooner to get the situation resolved," he stressed. "We'll have more clout and our industrial users know that we don't ask things of them that aren't possible," he concluded. Neil Grigg called for the question. The vote was unanimous to recommend staffs Enforcement Response Plan (ERP) to the City Council. Review of 1991 Water Board Work Plan President Grigg asked for comments from the Board on the 1991 work plan included in their packets. Molly Nortier explained that the City Clerk's office requires that all boards and commissions submit a work plan for the next year by November of the preceding year. In other words, the Water Board needs to discuss their 1992 work plan at their November meeting, so it can be submitted to the Clerk's office by November 30th. The work plan included in the packets was the 1991 work plan, some of which has already been accomplished, she added. Dr. Grigg proposed that staff provide a draft of the 1992 work plan for the November meeting, and the Board can approve it then. As far as the 1991 work plan, he suggested that the Board review today what progress the Board has made and any revisions that need to go on the '92 work plan. Neil Grigg suggested that the work items correspond, to some extent, with committee action. The Water Supply Committee, for example, recently came up with a list of issues that chairman 9 Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 7 Mark Casey will report on later. He acknowledged that there may be come items that don't fall within a sub -committee's purview and those need to be identified. He also stated that the conservation item should be updated to fit the Demand Management Committee recommendations. Terry Podmore mentioned that the DCM suggested that any additional items be taken to the Water Board Conservation Committee for consideration. Mike Smith pointed out that much of the effort next year will be in starting construction on projects that have been in the planning and design phases. The sludge management plan should remain on the work plan, as well as water quality, he advised. Ray Herrmann suggested that the format be revised to some extent, so that all four committees be noted as working in those areas while the other areas "stand alone." Neil Grigg agreed that it would be a good way to lay it out; it would give the committees some charges as well. Linda Burger wondered what involvement the Water Board would have in financing of the construction of the wastewater expansion project. The Legislative and Finance Committee may be the logical choice, Mike Smith suggested. "We could put the committee on there for any possible involvement," Dr. Grigg said. He thinks it would be a good idea to organize the work according to the committees, plus a general category. "One category I would like to see us add is something related to `liaison,' like the business of meeting with the Natural Resources Board," he said, "and if we put it on the plan as a goal, we are more likely to do it," he added. Also the tradition of meeting with the regional water boards should be included as a goal for the year. "Perhaps we should also include as a goal to improve the attendance of Water Board members," he said. Discussion of Relationship with City Council The Water Board was fortunate to have Council Liaison Loren Maxey at the meeting to discuss the Water Board's relationship with the Council. Neil Grigg said perhaps Mr. Maxey can tell us what the Council's "marching orders" are. Councilman Maxey began by saying there aren't any marching orders from the Council. Their expectations are that the Board provide a work plan annually, as well as an annual report. If external issues arise, such as Thornton, or the Excalibur Case in the past, they expect to be kept informed. When there are issues that the Council originates, they usually recommend a joint committee made up of Council and board members to work on those issues. We have seen three such committees in the past four years with the Water Board: The Water Supply Policy Committee; the Wastewater Master Plan Committee and the Demand Management Committee. They evolved out of events and Council work plans. Mr. Maxey went on to say that the Council recognizes that the issues of the Water Board require more experience, involvement and commitment, then many of the other boards and commissions. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 8 "As you know, the terms of service limitation are higher for the Water Board, so there is more continuity." He pointed out that some Council involvements are going to be higher than others because of personal interests and goals, and this may give rise to certain policies, and the so called "marching orders," at those times as indicated. "Some Council liaisons never meet with their board or commission; others may go to meetings often," he said. "I hope that my involvement is somewhat in the middle." There is more policy development that emerges from the Water Board -Council relationships, than from some of the other boards, he said. President Grigg asked for questions or discussion for Mr. Maxey. He said that the Water Board is mainly an advisory board, but sometimes it is called a policy board. Water Board has some operating responsibilities, but they are minimal compared to their role as -a policy board when they look at issues and pass their recommendations on to the Council, as they just did for the Industrial Pretreatment changes. It seems to Dr. Grigg that for the Water Board to be effective, there need to be good communication channels, so what we're doing is exerting some influence with the Council. As a result, the Board doesn't feel as if it is "just spinning its wheels to make work for a citizen board." Dr. Grigg mentioned that he is the interim president and wondered when new officers will be elected. Mr. Maxey said that most boards have their elections at this time of year because the appointments are made in July, and the new people need some time to get oriented. Elections are usually held in September, October or November. The election time is supposed to appear in the bylaws. "When we elect a new president and vice president, they will need to know what the expectation of the Council is in terms of establishing communication," Dr. Grigg said. The legislative issues are an important part of that. "We need to be coordinated on that," he stressed. Mr. Maxey related that he and former president Henry Caulfield met several times for lunch, and he wanted to extend that direct communication option to whoever the new president may be, as well as any other Board member who would like to arrange a meeting with him. Mr. Maxey went on to say that he suspects that most of the Council members read the Water Board minutes because of the magnitude of the involvement there. He knows there are questions that have come up generated by what they have read in the minutes. He mentioned that "we also have outside observers to make sure communication is going on as well." Neil Grigg said the Board appreciates Mr. Maxey's attendance at certain meetings. "We know that it isn't always possible to be here." Mr. Maxey said he derives some personal benefit from Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 9 it as well. He explained that on Thursday morning he had the opportunity of flying part of a party to whom Fort Collins, Inc. was showing the area, and of particular interest to this group was the water system. He was excited about pointing out, from the air, all the bodies of water in the area for water supply, he said. He suggested that the Heritage Corridor plan be a part of the Water Board work plan as well as the involvement with other boards and commissions who share an interest in the plan. Mr. Maxey recently took the City video photographer Mike Schultz in his airplane to get some aerial shots of the Poudre Basin area. "For the fast time I viewed the confluence of the poudre and the Platte rivers," he said. Seeing the area convinced him that it's definitely a sign of a working river. The Heritage Corridor video is now available for viewing . He offered to narrate the video if the Water Board is interested in seeing it. The Board was interested so staff will obtain a copy of the video and make arrangements to show it at the October meeting. Dr. Grigg suggested the possibility of a dialogue with the whole Water Board and several Council members to exchange views if Mr. Maxey thinks there is a need for it. There have been work sessions in the past where the Council has invited the Water Board, and they have been productive meetings. "We'll leave that up to Mr. Maxey in case that is something desirable," he concluded. When Council gets to board appointment times, Mr. Maxey suggested that Water Board members may want to inform their liaison about what areas of expertise and influence they want for their new appointments. "It's not unusual for boards to do that," he said. Dr. Grigg observed that the complexity of the water business has a tendency to scare off many applicants for the Water Board. The complex issues do require study, he acknowledged. President Grigg thanked Loren Maxey for his considerable input. "We'll strive to have good liaison with the Council with your help," he concluded. Follow-= on Status Report on City's Sludge Management Plan In August a memo was sent to Board members giving them a status report on the City's sludge management plan. In October, 1990, the City Council authorized purchase of Meadow Springs Ranch. The ranch is located 25 miles north of Fort Collins. It consists of 18,130 acres of deeded land and improvement, plus an additional 7,550 acres of land leased from the Colorado Board of Land Commissioners. Council instructed City staff to conduct a detailed analysis of the property to establish its suitability as a base for long range sludge management programs. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 10 meeting was held on August 13th. Fifteen to twenty people, representing about 12 organizations and a couple of individuals as well, attended the meeting. Staff answered a number of questions, and received guidance from the participants on items they would like to address. A week later staff went to Council with an intergovernmental agreement with CSU for test plot research. That was approved on consent. .."We have 60 test plots in place now at 15 meters square," he said. Some of them are controls that have no application, and others may have varying application rates up to an equivalent of 15 dry tons per acre. There are three different types of test plots: some that have pure wastewater sludge or de -watered sludge; some that are composted sludge; and some that are a mixture of dense sludge from the water treatment side and the wastewater sludge. There is a fenced parcel on the ranch that is about 25 acres, with a few cattle and wildlife, he said. CSU has collected all the initial data, and over the next 3 years, they will be collecting additional data. "We will be putting in some additional test plots next year on some different areas of the ranch, specifically looking at different slopes." he explained, "and we'll be doing some testing of run-off and CSU will be responsible for that also." The consultants, RBD Engineers and their sub -consultants are also doing some additional environmental monitoring of all the test plots throughout the ranch. They are looking at ground water quality and soil moisture. They have installed some environmental equipment to measure precipitation, evaporation rates, and eventually when there is additional equipment, they will measure, on a rudimentary basis, air quality, and the impact of sludge and compost application. The program is up and going, and everything seems to be on schedule, he said. We intend to form an advisory committee, he said, and he has received responses from 10 organizations so far: such as Northern Colorado Water Association, EPA Region 8, Colorado Dept. of Health, Chairman of the Weld County Board of Health, Larimer County Health, and Soil Conservation Services of both Fort Collins and Greeley. "We have a pretty good mix," he added. The main thing Mr. Gallier would like to see now is an interest from the Water Board and the Council. Perhaps staff could arrange a field trip to the ranch for the Water Board, he said. There appeared to be general interest in doing that. Mark Casey asked if "we are now open for business," "We are not open for business on the site as far as regular sludge application," Mr. Gallier replied. "We have all the facilities we need currently; the ranch is long term." There are two key events we are looking for, he continued: one is the study which will be completed in about 3 years, and the other is the publishing of the final version of the new EPA sludge disposal regulations. One of our staff picked up some good information at a recent conference she attended in North Carolina on these regulations. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 11 Mark Casey also wanted to know what the projected life of the ranch is. The minimum under the most restrictive calculations is 55-60 years; the maximum, depending on how it's handled, could be indefinitely, Mr. Gallier responded. His guess is that the site life is going to go up considerably with the new regulations. However, there are a number of management controls that simply haven't been defined, that could have a major impact, he concluded. Neil Grigg thanked Tom Gallier for his report and commended him for how well the project is going. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Regional Study Dennis Bode commented about some of the supply numbers in the study regarding the City of Fort Collins. Some of the projections in the report compared supplies that were available with different communities, Dennis Bode explained. One of the problems the consultants had in doing it, was having enough time to spend on sorting out the supplies on an individual basis from one community to another. As a result, there are differences that make it look like Fort Collins is fairly short in its supply. "If you get a chance to look at that, don't be too alarmed, because there are reasons it looks that way," he stressed. Part of the reason was that the supply was based on 1988 figures. The City has acquired substantial water supplies since that time. Another reason is that some cities have done drought studies and they used a safe yield based on those studies. For others they used the 1950s as a comparison. For example, some of the cities used a CBT 100% quota in a dry year. Fort crollins, on the other hand, used a 1-in-50 type drought, which resulted in a 50% quota for some years. Mr. Bode explained that there wasn't a lot of time spent on the supply in the study; there was more time spent on the demands for raw water. The study basically looked at the projected deficits if no additional supplies were acquired. He invited anyone with questions about those numbers to call him. Neil Grigg commented that the regional study will be a major issue for the Water Board in the future as it relates to regional development and cooperation, and the many things the District will face in the future. "Water and Economics" Symposium Dr. Grigg took the opportunity to make an announcement about a water event the Chamber is organizing, since it involves regional cooperation. The symposium titled "Water and Economics," will be held on October 21st at the University Park Holiday Inn, and will begin at 9:30 a.m. Brochures will be sent to Water Board members, Council and staff. He briefly described what will be included in the one day session. There will be a per person charge of $20 to cover expenses. He urged everyone to attend. MaryLou Smith remarked that it seems like such a good idea to educate the business community about water. "Water probably has more to do with what happens to Northern Colorado than any other factor," she believes. Dr. Grigg said he sees the Water Supply Committee of the Chamber Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 12 related to the Water Board. "The Committee sees that the Chamber of Commerce needs to be concerned about the future water supply of the area as it relates to the development of the region," he stated. The symposium relates first to the need for water, and it also relates to different perceptions of citizens of the region about what water ought to be used for to insure the best quality of life. "This is the kind of cross cutting issue that the Water Board ought to be involved in," he contends. Staff R=rts A. Treated Water Production Summary Treated Water Production summaries were provided in the packets. Dennis Bode reported that for August our water use was 87% of our projected use. For the year we are approximately 91 % of average. He said the rains have been very timely, even though we are slightly below average for this time of year. "The rains have made a big difference in the demands," he added. Mr. Bode pointed out, however, that precipitation amounts have varied throughout the City. The official rain gauge the City uses is at the CSU campus, he explained, "but we get precip. readings from a couple of other locations." B. Report on Thornton Trial Mike Smith began by saying that the first part of the trial is finished. He said that Dennis Bode, Andy Pineda and Linda Burger have attended a number of sessions. The next phase for the objectors starts Nov. 12th. In between now and then Thornton will be taking depositions. Dennis Bode commented that "the trial is interesting, but very tedious because they spend a lot of time just getting everything on the table." He said that it's too early to conjecture about how the judge will react. C. Environmental Fair Mike Smith announced that the Environmental Fair will be held on Saturday, September 21st at Library Park from 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Water and Wastewater Utility will have several impressive exhibits. Ten to twelve staff members from different divisions, have spent considerable time and effort in preparing for the fair, and will be present to answer questions and perform demonstrations. There will also be treats for the kids. He encouraged everyone to stop by. D. Wastewater Treatment Expansion Model Engineering Division Manager Curt Miller provided additional information about the wastewater expansion model occupying the center of the table. He began by saying that the model will be on display at the Environmental Fair. He explained that the project is at a 50% design review time and they are anticipating construction to begin in March 0 Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 13 or April of next year. President Grigg suggested that the Water Board may want to see the project in some stage of construction. Mike Smith said that can be arranged. Committee Reports Water Supply Chairman Mark Casey said that the Committee met just prior to the Water Board meeting. What they accomplished was to set an agenda for some long term issues that need to be addressed. Those issues include the Poudre Project, Halligan Reservoir, the Thornton Project, Water Rental Rates and the Regional Water Supply Study. Two other items they listed were to monitor the effectiveness of the Water Supply Policy and to make recommendations as needed, and to periodically check the key assumptions underlying the policy --one of those being population growth. They also discussed Halligan and decided we need to spend more time on it. In working with North Poudre Irrigation Company, we can choose one of two general options: drop the project and our involvement or proceed with our commitment to pursue it. If we choose the latter option, we would need to put up some option money. Given the urgency of Halligan and that agreement, the Water Supply Committee will meet again at 2:00 p.m. just prior to the Oct. 18th Water Board meeting. Neil Grigg observed that the Committee has a large number of items to work on. He encouraged any Board member who has an interest in any of the items, or would like to help the committee, to contact Mark Casey. Legislative and Finance Mike Smith said that the next thing we have coming up which will concern the L&F Committee is the resolution on the Water Resources and Power Development Authority revolving loan program. She said that the City Council Legislative Affairs Committee is preparing for their annual meeting with area legislators, and the Utility will be briefing them on the need for the resolution in order for us to qualify for the revolving loan program for the wastewater treatment plant. That will go to the Council Legislative Review Committee and will be mailed to Water Board members for comment. Water Conservation and Public Education Chairperson MaryLou Smith reported that the joint Council/Water Board committee, formed to look at demand management issues, will meet perhaps for the last time on Sept. 26th to take another look at the final report. They will re-examine zero interest loan possibilities to encourage metering, and perhaps some of the recommendations regarding soil amendments. Hopefully following that meeting, the resolution and report can be finalized and sent to Council for adoption. Water Board Minutes September 20, 1991 Page 14 Neil Grigg asked if there is any relationship between our work and the new state office of water conservation. Ms. Smith responded that the only connection she is aware of is that we are required to come up with a conservation plan, and we are already doing that. Dennis Bode said that Water Conservation Specialist Jim Clark will be following closely what is happening in that office. Dr. Grigg heard there were grants available from the Conservation Board Construction Fund. Linda Burger pointed out that it's not certain there will be a construction fund left when the special session of the legislature is concluded. Dr. Grigg suggested that the Water Board may want to invite Kim Hout, the staff person for the conservation committee, to a Board meeting to "tell us what they are doing." Other Business Public Notice Requirement Molly Nortier announced that along with posting all regular boards and commission meetings, it is now required that all committee meetings, workshops, retreats, and special meetings, be posted at City Hall in advance as well. She will be responsible for doing that, so she would like Committee heads to inform her of any meetings. Neil Grigg announced an unusual water conference coming up at CU on the 27th and 28th of September. It will convey its message by means of historical acting that will bring some of the famous western "water characters" alive. For example, there will be a mock hearing about a project similar to Two Forks. It should be very entertaining, yet informative, he said. Ray Herrmann wanted it recorded in the minutes that "all government employees don't goof off." He was at the Nature Center near Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2 about 7:00 last Friday night, and the wastewater utility employees were still working diligently at their tasks! Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Water Boar Secretary