HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 06/16/20161
Water Board Minutes
June 16, 2016
Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes
Thursday, June 16, 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 and Board Members Michael Brown, Kent Bruxvoort,
Jason Tarry, Steve Malers and Phyllis Ortman
Board Absent: Vice Chairperson Brett Bovee and Board Members Alexander Maas, Andrew
McKinley, Duncan Eccleston, and Lori Brunswig
OTHERS PRESENT
Staff: Jason Graham, Mark Kempton, Donnie Dustin, Lance Smith, Chris Donegon, Jon
Haukaas, and Katherine Martinez
Members of the Public: None
Meeting Convened
Chairperson Hill called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
Public Comment
None
Approval of April 21, 2016 Board Meeting Minutes
Board Member Michael Brown moved to approve the April 21 meeting minutes.
Board Member Kent Bruxvoort seconded the motion.
Discussion
A board member inquired about the City Council agenda item regarding proposed changes to the
cash-in-lieu rate and raw water requirements under Future Agenda Review in the April minutes.
Mr. Dustin replied it was postponed until the October 25 City Council Work Session.
Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 4-0, with 2 abstentions.*
*Board Members Steve Malers and Phyllis Ortman abstained due to their absence at the April
meeting.
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Staff Reports
Drinking Water Quality Report and Annual Consumer Confidence Report
(Attachments available upon request)
Water Production Manager Mark Kempton summarized the two reports, 2015 Drinking Water
Policy Annual Report and the 2015 Drinking Water Quality Report (also known as the Consumer
Confidence Report)(CCR). Mr. Kempton reported Utilities was in full compliance; no violations.
He mentioned one issue on page 6 of the Consumer Confidence Report. The HAA5 (haloacetic
acids) sample that City staff collected at one site was lost by the private lab that performs the
analysis, resulting in an inaccurate value of zero for February 2015. The lab didn’t notify City
staff, who found out several months later. The state requires City staff to report the incident.
Board members inquired about several topics, including why giardia would be present in
untreated source water from Poudre River samples, as mentioned on page 5 of the CCR. Mr.
Kempton replied it would come from elk, deer, and other mammals. Another board member
suggested staff include further explanation on page 10 of the policy report regarding Water
Quality Complaints that some of the complaints could possibly be due to issues with
homeowners’ service lines as well as the City’s distribution lines, to clarify it’s not a City water
quality issue. Mr. Kempton agreed and also commented that complaints regarding lead may
simply be residents expressing concerns about lead, not that lead was found in that residents’
water. The board member also commented he realizes the City has good water and reporting, but
in the interest of transparency, in light of the Flint, Michigan issues, staff should provide a
reference in a footnote about where to find further information. Another board member
suggested having a roadmap to show governing policies and other topics that flow out of it. Mr.
Kempton replied there is one policy and multiple plans on various topics, such as source water.
Water Resources Monthly Report
(Attachment available upon request)
Water Resources Manager Donnie Dustin presented the monthly Water Supply Report, which is
included in the board meeting packet, with a verbal report given quarterly. He stated that weather
was cooler in May, and therefore water demands were about 80% of projected, but with recent
hot weather June has seen water demand of 110% so far. Snowpack melted out at Deadman Hill
on Sunday and Joe Wright Reservoir today. He stated Poudre River flows peaked for the year on
Sunday at 3,870 cubic feet per second (cfs) and are now at 2,500 cfs. Colorado-Big Thompson
project reservoirs may or may not fill; City staff will find out in the next few days.
Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) Windy Gap Units
(Attachment available upon request)
Water Resources Manager Donnie Dustin summarized a May 12 memo from Mr. Dustin to
Mayor Wade Troxell and City Councilmembers following up on the question asking staff to
consider if purchasing Windy Gap units currently held and not used by PRPA would be an
option for Fort Collins. The staff analysis is that those units do not provide drought protection or
firm yield, thus would not provide a benefit to Utilities. The memo outlines the reasons.
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June 16, 2016
PRPA owns 160 units of Windy Gap, but without firming storage, Mr. Dustin explained they
wouldn’t be productive for Utilities. Board members inquired about various topics, including
requesting staff to explain the Windy Gap Firming Project. Mr. Dustin replied that the Windy
Gap unit owners had to pick the number of shares they wanted to firm. Firming requires unit
holders to show a purpose and need, just as Fort Collins must do for the Halligan Project. It’s an
independent choice for owners.
Halligan Quarterly Report
(Attachment available upon request)
Water Resources Engineer Adam Jokerst summarized the report: the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers continues to make progress on the Halligan Project’s Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS), and presently anticipates to release the draft EIS in June 2017. City staff has reviewed
numerous technical report drafts in recent months. The critical path to getting an EIS published is
the water quality study, which includes two parts: a mass balance model and a dynamic
temperature model. Staff has discussed sharing the dynamic temperature model for the mainstem
of the Poudre River being developed for the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) with the
Halligan Project. In the next couple of months, staff may ask City Council to consider an
intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Northern Water for this purpose. Mr. Jokerst discussed
some of the initial terms proposed in a potential IGA.
Board members inquired about various related topics, including timeline, public comment
period, and the cost of sharing the models; Mr. Jokerst replied it would cost about $100,000 to
share the NISP dynamic temperature model, but that developing a similar model independently
for the Halligan Project may cost roughly $500,000.
Water Reclamation & Biosolids Manager Jason Graham explained that temperature of surface
water is becoming a bigger issue; as a result there’s more instream monitoring. Various City staff
members belong to professional industry organizations and keep an eye on industry news related
to this and other water quality topics.
2009 Wastewater Revenue Bond Advanced Refunding
(Attachments available upon request)
Financial Analyst Chris Donegon summarized the information he presented at the June 2 Water
Board Work Session regarding refinancing 2009 wastewater revenue bonds, and requested the
board recommend City Council adopt an ordinance to allow for pre-refunding of the 2009
Wastewater Revenue Bond.
• Revenue bonds were issued January 29, 2009
• 20-year bonds, final payment in 2028
• Coupon interest varied from 2.0% to 5.0%
• Not callable until December 1, 2018
• Original issue: $30,655,000
• Current outstanding: $24,405,000
• Eligible for prepayment: $20,080,000
• Estimate new rate of 2.11%
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• Savings of $2.4 million
• Net Present Value savings of $2.1 million
• Percentage Savings of refunded bonds: 10.6%
o Debt Policy requires at least 5% savings before refinancing
• Waiting until December 2018 to refinance would only yield another $398,000
• That assumes market interest rates do not change over the next 2.5 years
Timeline
• June 16 Water Board provides recommendation to City Council
• July 5 Bond Ordinance first reading at City Council meeting
• July 19 Bond Ordinance second reading at City Council meeting
• July 21 Publish:
o Preliminary Official Statements
o Notice of Sale
• August 2 Competitive bond sale (online auction)
• August 18 Projected Closing and Delivery of Bond Proceeds
Board Member Steve Malers made a motion that the Water Board recommends the
adoption of the ordinance by City Council to allow for the pre-refunding of the 2009
Wastewater Revenue Bond.
Board Member Phyllis Ortman seconded the motion.
Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 6-0.
Discussion Highlights
Board members inquired about related topics, including whether there was any way to get the
bond refinanced faster, due to the possible change in interest rates because of the possibility of
Great Britain pulling out of the European Union. Mr. Donegon replied there is not, but the
process has moved fairly quickly.
City Code Updates to Chapter 26 Pertaining to Service Lines and Metering
(Attachments available upon request)
Water Engineering and Field Operations Manager Jon Haukaas explained that a change was
made to the Building Code requiring residential fire suppression in single family attached homes.
A new Plant Investment Fee rate to allow for larger sized services to provide sufficient flow
needs to be created to recognize the residential nature of the actual water use but not overcharge
this customer class. The two additional items are less time sensitive but are necessary updates to
the Code; they clean up metering language that is no longer relevant.
Sec 26-94 Individual service lines for each building required. Allowance of ‘common
private service lines’ adopted in 2014. This update clarifies language that this change was
intended for both water and sewer. The existing language was unclear.
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Sec 26-98 Water meter requirements and installation. Updates the requirements for
metering services by deleting several paragraphs that no longer apply since the metering
program was completed and also includes specific information on the location of meter
installations.
Sec 26-128 Updates the water plant investment fee schedule to create a new residential
rate allowing a 1-inch service to accommodate flow requirements of residential fire
suppression.
Discussion
Board members inquired about various topics, including the 1ʺ residential line for residential
with fire suppression systems, conservation organizations, and if Utilities will have a database
that shows whether a particular residence has fire suppression or has taken advantage of any
rebates, for example. Mr. Haukaas replied that the City will have that info in the Utilities
database. A board member inquired about the almost imperceptible revisions to the code and
suggested edits to clarify. Another board member inquired about whether a lot of residences
don’t have water meters. Mr. Haukaas replied that the language refers to the old metering
system; staff is 99.9% sure everyone is metered.
Board Member Kent Bruxvoort moved that the Water Board recommend adoption by City
Council of code modifications to Sec. 26-98 Water meter requirements and installation and
26-128 Schedule C, water plant investment fees.
Board Member Phyllis Ortman seconded the motion.
Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 6-0.
Other Business
None
Future Agenda Review
July 21: Utilities Executive Director Kevin Gertig will give his regular update
June 21: City Council will address a Climate Action Plan off-cycle appropriation to
advance initiatives discussed during the March 10 Council Work Session
June 28: City Council Work Session will address the community recycling ordinance
July 5: Bond ordinance first reading at City Council meeting, regarding the 2009
wastewater revenue bond advanced refunding
July 19: Bond ordinance second reading at City Council
Board members inquired about various topics, including the Michigan Ditch reconstruction
project (due to last year’s landslide). Mr. Haukaas replied that alignments for tunnel drilling at
Michigan Ditch occurred on Tuesday, drilling started on Wednesday, and the drill is now five to
10 feet into the hill. Board members also inquired about construction progress of the new
Utilities Administration Building at 222 Laporte Avenue. Mr. Haukaas replied it is actively