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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-05-30 - MinutesCity Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 1 of 8 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coady Ward 1 Position 1 - Robert Reynolds V10 Ward 2 Position 1 - Kyle rt Cook CityAttorney Kit Williams 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell Tave e Ward 4 Position 2 -Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Water & Sewer Committee Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Water & Sewer Committee was held on May 30, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Kyle Cook, Chair; Alderman Robert Reynolds, Alderman Robert Ferrell; Alderman Lioneld Jordan STAFF PRESENT: David Jurgens, Gary Dumas, Steve Davis, Susan Thomas, Ron Petrie Chairman Kyle Cook called the meeting to order. 1. Approval of Minutes Alderman Ferrell moved that the minutes of the March 14, 2006, April 10, 2006 and May 11, 2006 Water & Sewer Committee meetings be approved as distributed. Alderman Jordan seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. 2. WSIP Update a. West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant. David Jurgens said work on the West Side treatment plant is progressing and going very well. This is a tribute not only to the contractor but to an excellent design and an excellent team which includes McGoodwin, Williams & Yates, Stan Williams from OMI and the Brasfield Gorrie group. b. Subproject WL -5, Force Mains from Hamestring Lift Station to West Side WWTP. David Jurgens said the contractor and subcontractor are working on putting the boring across Wedington Drive and beginning to lay some pipe. They will be close to the plant within the next three or four weeks. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 2 of 8 c. Subproject WL -1 and 3, gravity lines from Old Wire Road to Gregg Avenue and from Porter Road to Hamestring Lift Station, combined as one contract. David Jurgens said Oscar Renda has started construction. They have been stringing out pipe close to Sunshine Road, going toward Mt. Comfort Rd. d. Subcontract WL -4, gravity lines and force main from Gregg Avenue Lift Station to Hamestring Lift Station. David Jurgens said that Oscar Renda has ordered the pipe for this project but has not yet started the work. They will be moving forward on this project as soon as the pipe starts coming in. e. Subproject EP -1, Noland Plant Renovation. David Jurgens said the work being done by Archer Western is still going well. They are on schedule. Change order #1 will be coming forward to the Committee soon. There are some additions and deductions from the project resulting in a net cost reduction. f. Subproject WL -6, Hamestring Lift Station David Jurgens said bids were opened on this project last week. The bids were in the neighborhood of $6,200,000. However, an addendum on this project was put out with deductions in it that did not meet Arkansas State purchasing law. After discussion with the City's purchasing manager, it was determined that we had no choice but to throw the bids out. The project will be rebid and the bids will be opened on June 29. The prices came in well under the engineer's estimate. All three bids were close which indicates a very good specification. In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said the addendum was put out by RJN, the engineers doing the lift station design. The City will not bear the cost of the rebids. All the costs associated with putting the bid back out, including travel, etc. will be born by RJN. Unless material prices change significant, Mr. Jurgens believes we will get three more good bids. 3. Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project Update a. Basin 1-5, 18 & 19 Sewer Rehabilitation Construction David Jurgens said this rehab is underway. T -G Excavating has three crews on site and is making very good progress. They are working near Old Missouri Rd., on top of Mt. Sequoyah and in the vicinity of Andrew, going down towards Maple. b. Farmington Area David Jurgens said the latest project update from RJN was attached to the agenda for this meeting. In developing the design for this project, he said the consultants were instructed to treat the Farmington system just as they would the Fayetteville system. They are now looking at doing all three tiers of construction that were in the initial report done for Farmington whereas the initial cost estimate was only for the first two tiers. He said the change order he is bringing forward is only the engineering change order. We don't have to do all of the construction. Some 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 3 of 8 can be pulled out as necessary. That is part of the Fayetteville -Farmington discussions that are going on Alderman Cook said the initial estimate was a lot less than what we are seeing now but that was just an estimate. The current figures are based on engineering estimates. Alderman Ferrell noted a footnote on the cost breakdown that indicates that the estimate does not include the cost of City crews reattaching lateral lines. He asked if there will be a time the cost will be charged to the WSIP. David Jurgens said this project is rehab and not WSIP. Alderman Cook said the cost breakdown is based on the arbitration agreement between Farmington and Fayetteville. Alderman Reynolds moved that this item be moved forward to the City Council. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. c. Insituform Term Contract Renewal David Jurgens said he hasn't taken the time to get the changes to the last amendment to this contract. He expects to have this ready in July. 4. Mr. Geary Lowery Sewer Rate Appeal Alderman Cook said he recalled that about two years ago the sewer rate policy was discussed by the Council. He believed that staff had looked at other options but the decision was made not to change the policy because the Council did not feel that other methods of calculation were any more effective or beneficial than what was already in place. However, Mr. Lowery does not agree with this and is appealing his rate. Geary Lowery said one of his concerns is that the City of Fayetteville does not have what he considers a level of service that is appropriate for the blue-collar citizen. Most of the tier rates are leaning toward commercial, industrial and business type developments. He said other cities throughout the United States have a tier level system whereby you get a small amount of water at a lower cost than what you would normally get it for. That lower level is generally because the average individual needs about 2200 gallons of water a month for his or her personal needs. And you don't always use all that at home, some comes from your workplace, school, etc. He said that the American Waterworks Authority, as well as several cities throughout the U.S. figured that if you give a citizen a lower rate to begin with for their basic needs, then they would not be against an increase in charge as they used more than what is required for their basic needs. A tier system would charge more for each level of usage. The more you use, the more you would be charged. He said the City of Fayetteville charges for 10,000 gallons of water at $2.81 per 1000 gallons. That water costs the City of Fayetteville $1.16 per 1000 gallons. Alderman Cook asked Mr. Lowery where he got the $1.16 figure. Geary Lowery said it came from Alan Fortenberry. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 4 of 8 David Jurgens said that $1.16 is what the City pays the Beaver Water District. That is the wholesale rate. Geary Lowery said he doesn't understand why the Fayetteville Water & Sewer division charges the customer $1.70 per thousand gallons to fix the water lines. Alderman Cook said that you have to also figure into the equation the infrastructure costs the City has to pay for building those line. Alderman Lowery continued to talk about the costs of water and his concerns about what the citizens are charged. He believes the City needs a base rate that is manageable by everyone. He said that industrial customers get water cheaper than the individual citizen. He thinks the City needs a tier system where the customer pays more as they use more. Alderman Cook asked for comments from the Committee and the staff on this issue. Steve Davis said the City has just entered into a contract with HDR -EES for a rate study. If this Committee would like for them to produce a report on what the rate design for Fayetteville would look like under a tiered rate system, HRD-EES could do that. In answer to a question from Alderman Cook, Steve Davis said the City has the capability of moving into a tiered rate system. It might take a little bit of programming and certain policy decisions would have to be made and ordinances enacted. Alderman Ferrell asked if the communities north of Fayetteville are on a tiered rate system or one similar to ours. Steve Davis said he believes they are on a system that is similar to Fayetteville's system. In response to a further question from Alderman Ferrell, Steve Davis said a study of the tiered system would probably change the cost of the rate study that HDR -EES is performing for us. He went on to explain that the water system needs around $12 to $14 million per year to operate. There are only a few customer bases from which to collect that money — residential, industrial, commercial, and apartment dwellers. How you shift the cost around among those customer groups is a policy decision to be made by City Council. Alderman Ferrell asked Mr. Lowery if his initial concern was the months that were chosen in determining the sewer charges for a customer. Geary Lowery agreed that was one of his concerns. He said he is also concerned that the City does not have a conservation method in place for use of water. He talked about the recent drought and said he believes a tiered system can easily address that need. Alderman Ferrell said that staff has talked about some type of conservation measures. But from what he read from Beaver Water District, we were not in any jeopardy with our water supply during the recent drought. Once you get to a point where there are concerns, that is when you start implementing conservation measures. He said if there is any way we can address the issue of balancing the sewer rates and the months used to determine the rates, he would support looking into it. However, at this point the City has an enormous task before it with the 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 5 of 8 wastewater project and we have to make sure we have the financial wherewithal to accomplish the task. Alderman Cook said he would be willing to ask HDR what it would cost to give us a report such as Mr. Davis mentioned. Steve Davis said he would write up a scope of services and ask HDR to price it. Gary Dumas suggested that the consultant might give us an objective side by side comparison of tiered system versus our rate structure instead of getting into the details right now. Maybe just a comparison of what the pros and cons are of each type of rate structure. He asked if this was something they could do for a nominal fee or within the current contract. Steve Davis said he would talk to the consultant about it. Geary Lowery said the second item he wants to address is his sewer bill. For the past five years he has averaged a use of about 4400 gallons of water during the winter time averaging months. Because of the drought situation, he has had to water his lawn and shrubs. He said he doesn't mind paying for the extra water to do that. He is upset that the water & sewer division does not go to the citizen who has a leak or is using an inordinate amount of water and let them know there is a potential problem. Alderman Cook said he disagrees and knows they have done that before. Geary Lowery said it is very rarely done. He knows of several people who had water leaks and didn't know they had leaks until they got their water bill. Returning to his initial concern, he also talked about which months are used for the water averaging for sewer rates. The months listed in the ordinance are December, January and February but he was told by staff that it is January through March. Alderman Cook explained that the apparent difference is simply a difference in when the meter is read and when it is billed. Steve Davis said the consumption on the meter for December is read in January, etc. That's why the billing department uses the January, February and March for their results. Geary Lowery said his main point is that he not be charged for something he didn't use. The water he used on his yard did not go down his sewer and he doesn't want to be charged for it. Steve Davis said that according to the ordinance, the appropriate venue for this appeal is to the Water & Wastewater Director. The Water & Wastewater Director has the authority to adjust the sewer average if the customer believes there is an error in the calculations. Alderman Cook asked if he is correct in thinking that, since we do the cost averaging in the winter when water usage is typically the lowest, we are actually giving the customer a break. He believes that was the intent of doing the winter cost averaging. Steve Davis said that this is correct. He explained that the system is set up so that if your average is 4200 gallons a month and you use less than 4200 gallons, you pay for the lower of the 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 6 of 8 two amounts. You should never be billed above the average. He believes that Mr. Lowery is requesting that his 2006 winter average be set at 4200 gallons rather than the computed average Alderman Reynolds asked if Mr. Lowery had followed the procedures as outlined by Mr. Davis. David Jurgens said he had looked at the numbers when they came to him and he did not see an error in the calculations. He understood that according to the ordinance, that took it out of his hands and it became a policy question to bring before the Committee. Since we did have a drought this year, the sewer average went from 4,400 per residence to 4,800 per residence, which is a bigger jump than we would normally see. Steve Davis said when we talk about establishing conservation rates, in most cases in the south irrigation is limited. There is typically a limit to when you can irrigate and a fine for violation. He believes that all these issues are somewhat interrelated. If you want a conservation policy, you need another policy that requires that irrigation meters be used. Another element is addressing customer complaints when we have a dry season such as this past year and they have made the choice to water their lawns. The water probably went into the soil and not down the sewer and the sewer utility should not be artificially enriched because of that event. So it would be reasonable and fair to look at past history for the individual customer. If all residential customers increased by 10 percent this year, you could do a 10 percent increase on this one customer and make an adjustment based on that computation. He thinks that if the Council establishes a parameter, staff can make decisions within that parameter on an individual basis. Alderman Ferrell moved that staff do a two-year average on a per request basis and make an adjustment on a customer's sewer rate. Alderman Reynolds reminded the Committee that Mr. Lowery is also asking for a refund. Steve Davis said the refund would only be for the months that the new sewer average would have been in place. Alderman Cook said he is not opposed to that but he would like to see more specific parameters. He asked if staff could give the Committee something in writing based on Alderman Ferrell's motion. Alderman Jordan agreed. He said he is not disagreeing with what anyone is saying but he feels the Committee needs more time to consider. Steve Davis said he would put something together for the Committee. 5. Water Line Cost Share Ron Petrie said this is on the City Council agenda. This cost share is with BMW Investments, LLC for upsizing 860 feet of 8 inch waterline to 12 inch waterline at the cost of $14,500. The line is located in the Clabber Creek subdivision where we are cost sharing to widen Rupple Road. This particular line is the crossing under Clabber Creek which connects phase one to phase two. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 7 of 8 Alderman Jordan moved that this cost share be approved by the Committee. Alderman Reynolds seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 6. Water/Sewer Rate Study Status Steve Davis said the City has awarded the rate study contract to HDR -EES. They are scheduled to start work on July 1, 2006. They should be done by the end of February 2007. This committee will be seeing this item on their agenda several times between now and February and will get the results as they are available. Alderman Ferrell said when the results of this study come out he does not think that a water and sewer rate increase will be passed by the Council. He thinks the City has another alternative which would be extending the 3/4 cent sales tax to pay for the remainder of the WSIP. Alderman Jordan asked how long it would take for an extension of the tax to cover the needs of the project. Steve Davis said his guess would be four years. Alderman Reynolds said from the contact he has had with his constituents, he believes they are in favor of this alternative. Alderman Cook said he agrees but is hesitant to stretch out the extension very far because he feels that the street bond issue is also a priority. He would like to see if we can find other money within our current budget or CIP or anywhere else. Alderman Jordan suggested we look at some combination of extension of the sales tax by two years and whatever cuts can be made in the CIP. He mentioned looking to see if there is money that can be cut out of this project or money to be found in other capital improvement projects that might be put off until a later date. He asked Steve Davis if he could provide some scenarios for the Committee. Steve Davis asked if the Committee wants to also see possible scenarios for addressing portions of the street program. Alderman Jordan said he would like to look into the possibility of extending the 1/4 cent sales tax for the WSIP until the cost increases on that project are covered and adding a '/4 cent tax for the streets now. Alderman Ferrell said the constituents with whom he has spoken want the treatment plant to be built the way it was designed; they don't want to see it cut back. He would prefer to look at capturing money from other areas rather than making any kind of significant cut in the project. Alderman Jordan said he would agree with that. He just wants to look at all the options. Steve Davis said he thought he could put together some information for the committee. Ron Petrie suggested having a joint Water & Sewer and Street Committee meeting to discuss this issue. The Street Committee has a meeting set for Monday. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes May 30, 2006 Page 8 of 8 There was discussion about when the money must be available for the west side plant and how the schedule would work if a sales tax extension/increase was sent to the public for a vote. It was determined that there would be a joint meeting of the Water & Sewer Committee and the Street Committee on June 5 to discuss the subject and make a recommendation to the Council. 7. Water and Sewer Ordinance Update a. Water Conservation David Jurgens said our water conservation ordinance has not had to be invoked for more than 14 years because there has not been a situation that warranted it. He said that even this year we were not close to needing to implement water conservation. However, he said the ordinance is somewhat out of date. He said it makes sense to have a tiered system with several levels of conservation. Staff will be looking at updating the ordinance and compiling some information to bring before the committee over the next six to nine months. b. Miscellaneous Items David Jurgens said that there are other items in the Water & Sewer ordinance that need to be updated. Staff will be bringing those before the Committee periodically over the next year in order to get the ordinance updated. 8. Farmington Contract Update Steve Davis said the negotiating team feels they have discussed all the issues between Farmington and Fayetteville. The next step is getting something drawn up in writing before this committee and to the Farmington sewer committee. He has drafted up a list of the points discussed and it is now being routed to all the negotiating team members for review. He will write up a bullet point list for each group to go over with their respective city attorneys. Any questions the city attorneys have will be clarified and at that point the list will go to the respective sewer committees and then on to the City Councils. The Farmington negotiation members have asked that Alderman Cook and Steve Davis attend the Farmington City Council to answer any questions that may come up when this issue is discussed. 9. Scheduling the Next Water/Sewer Committee Meeting There will be a joint meeting of the Water & Sewer Committee and the Street Committee at 6:00 p.m. on June 5, 2006. An additional Water & Sewer Committee is scheduled for July 11, 2006. Tim Conklin requested approval of the Committee to take a contract with Duncan & Associates to update impact fees to the full Council on June 20, 2006. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org