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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 07/21/20161 Water Board Minutes July 21, 2016 Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes Thursday, July 21, 2016 Water Board Chairperson City Council Liaison Rebecca Hill, 970-402-1713 Wade Troxell, 970-219-8940 Water Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaisons Brett Bovee, 970-889-0469 Carol Webb, 970-221-6231 ROLL CALL Board Present: Chairperson Rebecca Hill, Vice Chairperson Brett Bovee, and Board Members Michael Brown, Kent Bruxvoort, Steve Malers, Phyllis Ortman, Alexander Maas, Andrew McKinley, Lori Brunswig, and Jason Tarry. Board Absent: Board Member Duncan Eccleston Board Member Jason Tarry joined the meeting at 5:31 pm. Vice Chairperson Brett Bovee arrived at 5:32 pm. OTHERS PRESENT Staff: Kevin Gertig, Carol Webb, Katherine Martinez, Mark Kempton, Liesel Hans, Lisa Rosintoski, Chris Donegon. Members of the Public: None Meeting Convened Chairperson Hill called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Public Comment None Approval of June 16, 2016 Board Meeting Minutes Board Member Kent Bruxvoort moved to approve the June 16 meeting minutes. Board Member Phyllis Ortman seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 5-0, with 3 abstentions.* (Board Members Bovee and Tarry were not present for the vote.) *Alexander Maas, Andrew McKinley, and Lori Brunswig abstained due to their absence at the June meeting. 2 Water Board Minutes July 21, 2016 Staff Reports Fort Collins Utilities Work Plans, Challenges (Attachments available upon request) Utilities Executive Director Kevin Gertig provided a quarterly update on Utilities 2016 priorities and objectives. Priorities include:  Chlorine Contact Basin, important component of water treatment facility.  Utilities 2016 priorities, including “Be the safest workplace in America”  Continue implementation of the Climate Action Plan  Continue adoption of Strategic Asset Management Plans and Principles  Continue to plan for our water future  Develop a defensible 2017-2018 Utilities budget. City Manager’s draft budget will be presented to City Council in August. Milestones included:  Safest Workplace in America. Status: on track.  Implementation of a near-miss program across Utilities  Conducting after-action reviews on safety incidents  Completion of safety audits  Resourcing safety programs (human and financial)  Training leaders in safety culture  Focus on storytelling Significant progress on major capital projects, such as Michigan Ditch Tunnel Project: the tunnel-boring machine is now 250 feet into an 850-foot tunnel; Chlorine Contact Basin; Drake Water Reclamation Facility Ultra-Violet (UV) Project; construction of the new 222 Laporte Avenue building is on track and is scheduled to be finished in October (will contain Utilities customer service and executive staff, Utilities Customer Connections Department, Sustainability Services, etc.) Discussion Highlights Board members inquired about various projects, including Climate Action Plan, Halligan Reservoir, etc. A board member inquired about whether Mr. Gertig sees the end in sight for the Climate Action Plan. Mr. Gertig mentioned challenges such as the fact that the CAP addresses multiple topics and requires critical data, and has lots of variables, but staff has a good track record and metrics. Utilities Department has a diverse energy portfolio. Water Resources and Treatment Operations Manager Carol Webb mentioned that staff can provide a mid-year update to Water Board. Another board member inquired whether Mr. Gertig would recommend a different process for Budgeting for Outcomes considering is takes a large amount of staff time to prepare. Mr. Gertig replied that the process improves every year, and it does take a lot of staff time due to the complexity of the issues involved. He commented he’d like a data scientist on the team but that 3 Water Board Minutes July 21, 2016 staff does a good job of “Plan-Do-Check,” adhering to the City’s “continuous improvement” philosophy. A board member inquired who will make the decision on Halligan Reservoir versus Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) for water storage. Mr. Gertig replied Halligan has always been an alternative and the decision ultimately belongs to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Webb commented that staff must consider the cost of buy-in to NISP, whereas the City has already has an agreement with North Poudre Irrigation Company regarding Halligan Reservoir. Water Conservation Updates (Attachments available upon request) Water Conservation Manager Liesel Hans provided an annual update on the progress made toward the current water conservation goal as well as a presentation of the prior year’s water conservation programs, activities, and water savings. Staff also highlighted key changes to activities in 2016 (e.g. sprinkler audit program). The Water Conservation Planning 2010 Goal was 140 Gallons Per Capita Per Day (GPCD) by 2020. The new 2015 Goal is 130 GPCD by 2030. Water Conservation Program 2015 savings: 50 million gallons total. Ms. Hans also summarized the Water Efficiency Plan implementation, water use public outreach, and sprinkler audits. Staff is using new customized software for audits and generating new customized reports. As of July 12, staff completed 136 audits and had scheduled 88 audits. Information: fcgov.com/sprinkler-audits. Other notes: The 2015 Water Conservation Annual Report has a new format and style: 10 pages of content instead of 24; it refers customers to the Water Efficiency Plan for more detailed info and data. Fort Collins will be featured in a water efficiency documentary film. Discussion Highlights Board members inquired about various related topics, including how savings are calculated. Ms. Hans replied staff estimates based on the old fixture versus a new one, such as the amount of water that flows through a faucet or a toilet using a certain amount of gallons per flush, and data gathered from on-site visits to residents’ homes. Another board member commented on and made suggestions for the report’s format and content. Other board members inquired about rain barrels, which will become legal on August 10, how the City will provide information to the public (Ms. Hans replied that staff is reviewing options and the best approach), and citizens’ calls about people who are wasting water, such as leaving a hose running. The hotline for reporting water waste is (970) 416-2881. Utilities received 1,000 calls last year about waster waste. Re-Appropriation of Surplus Funds from the Chlorine Contact Basin to the Water Fund and to the Microhydro Generator Project (Attachments available upon request) Water Production Manager Mark Kempton summarized the Chlorine Contact Basin (CCB) project ($10,720,000), a 2.50 million gallon tank that will be used to provide chlorine contact 4 Water Board Minutes July 21, 2016 time for treated water, and which frees space in existing storage tanks. The CCB was approved as part of a 2014 Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) offer and is currently under construction. The purpose of this agenda item is to appropriate surplus funds from the Chlorine Contact Basin project to the Micro-Hydro Generator project at the Water Treatment Facility. The CCB has a projected budget surplus of approximately $777,105 primarily due to a relocation of the project to a location with a smaller, and cheaper building foundation system. The Microhydro Generator project, which was part of a separate 2014 approved BFO offer, is currently in the design phase and has a projected budget shortfall of $356,606 due to a previous manager’s plans to use capital replacement program funds for part of the project costs. Budget offers are now required to include a written cost estimate. Mr. Kempton and Ms. Webb emphasized the City’s philosophy of transparency; the public has a right to know the actual cost of the project. Staff is proposing an ordinance to City Council that will appropriate approximately $400,000 of surplus funds from the CCB project to the Microhydro project to cover the budget shortfall. Staff requested Water Board’s feedback and approval of this proposed Ordinance. The agenda item is scheduled to go to City Council on August 19. Discussion Highlights Board members inquired about various related topics, including basin design, the amount of time water spends in the basin, the budgeting process, and the required monetary contribution to Art in Public Places. Board Member Steve Malers made a motion that the Water Board recommends the adoption of the ordinance by City Council to allow for the appropriation of surplus funds from the Chlorine Contact Basin project to the Micro-Hydro Generator project. Board Member Kent Bruxvoort seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 10-0. Future Agenda Review  Water Board agreed to cancel the August 4 Work Session. Agenda items will be rescheduled to the September 1 Work Session. o The September 1 Work Session will include a one-hour Budgeting for Outcomes discussion.  Budget hearings are scheduled for City Council in August, September, and October. o Board members can tune into the September 13 Work Session for water-related issues under the outcome area of Environmental Health.  The September 20 City Council regular meeting agenda will contain the second reading of the Utilities Low-Income Assistance program Income-Qualified Rate.