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HomeMy Public PortalAbout03-23-2009 Workshop Meeting March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 1 of 11 MINUTES Board of Commissioners Monthly Workshop Monday, March 23, 2009  7:00 p.m. Town Barn PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Frances Dancy, L. Eric Hallman, Brian Lowen, and Evelyn Lloyd. ABSENT: Commissioner Mike Gering, absence excused. WSAC MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Cheryl Thomas, Paul Kimple, Ron Butler, Stephen Beck, and Dan Barker. WSAC MEMBERS ABSENT: Vice-Chair Joe Phelps, James Watts, and Marshall Gray. STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager/Public Works Director Nicole Ard, Town Clerk/Director of Administration and Human Resources Donna Armbrister, Finance Director Greg Siler, Town Engineer/Utilities Director Kenny Keel, Utility Maintenance Supervisor Sammy Lankford, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Jeff Mahagan, Assistant Utilities Director Will Baker, and Utility Analyst Julie Vance. 1.Open the Workshop Mayor Tom Stevens called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2.Agenda Changes & Agenda Approval 7:03:01 PM Assistant Town Manager/Public Works Director Nicole Ard added an item regarding prioritizing potential projects for federal funding from the FY 2010 Appropriations Bill. She said Congressman Price had made the request, and projects submitted were for transportation funds, the Nash Street sidewalk project, and for Riverwalk. Ms Ard said regarding the rail station, Congressman Price had asked if the Town wanted to include that in the request. Commissioner Hallman added a discussion of a request to reschedule Hot Topics to a future workshop. 7:04:18 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the Board moved to approve the Agenda as amended by a vote of 4-0. The motion was declared passed. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 2 of 11 3.Committee Updates and Reports 7:04:35 PM Commissioner Lloyd said at the last meeting of the Fire Department they had reviewed their Charter and the service provided to rural areas and to the Town of Hillsborough. She said it appeared that services was almost equally divided between the two. Commissioner Hallman said he would like to have Ms. Ard provide an update on what was happening regarding the rail station. Ms. Ard said on Friday Commissioner Hallman had served as a panelist on the NC Railroad Progress in Motion Conference regarding passenger rail service. She said also attending was a contingent from the Town of Lexington, NC. Ms. Ard said the following day Congressman Price had attended a Rail Station Task Force meeting to learn more about the potential for a rail station in Hillsborough as well as a potential rail station in Lexington. She said they had been advised that it would be in both Lexingtons and Hillsboroughs best interests to jointly pursue funding, so Town Board members had been scheduling meetings with Lexington representatives. Ms. Ard said she would keep everyone informed as to any progress made in seeking out funding. Commissioner Hallman stated that Orange County and Davidson County were the only two on the corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh that did not have access to rail. 7:08:23 PM Town Manager Eric Peterson said regarding the request from the developers of Waterstone to consider a Special Assessment District, he had been working to determine what was the next best step. He said to that end he wanted to begin a list that identified possible private contributors as well as a list of concerns and questions and then to circulate that to everyone for comments with the purpose of bringing that back to the Board. Mr. Peterson said that may be the April meeting or possibly later. Mr. Peterson said there was another city in the State that was pursuing a Special Assessment District and were much further along in the process. He said he would try to talk with that City Manager tomorrow to gather more information. 4.Consider Approval of the Contract for Preliminary Engineering Services for the Wastewater Plant Upgrade and Expansion 7:09:57 PM Town Engineer/Utilities Director Kenny Keel said that due to a miscommunication representatives of the engineering firm were not present tonight. He said if the Board did not feel comfortable approving the contract this evening after the discussion, then it could be postponed until the regular Board meeting in April. Mr. Keel said he should be able to have the engineers attend the Water Sewer Advisory Board meeting next Thursday so that the WSAC would have more information and perhaps be more comfortable with the all the recommendations to the Town Board. Mayor Stevens asked had the WSAC had a chance to look at the contract. Mr. Keel said they had received it about the same time the Town Board had received it the middle of last week. He said considering the fact that some of the funding from the Stormwater Management Trust Fund March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 3 of 11 had been delayed there was no harm in waiting until the next Board meeting to consider the contract. Mayor Stevens said he believed there would be some value in hearing directly from the engineers. 7:12:52 PM Mr. Keel said they had begun the process of searching for an engineer just after Christmas when they sent out the Request for Proposals, with eleven firms responding. He stated he and Jeff Mahagan then selected the two most responsive proposals and conducted interviews that included other select staff such as Ms. Ard and operators at the plant. Mr. Keel said they had agreed unanimously that Hazen and Sawyer was the right choice. He said the contract before the Board tonight had been negotiated over the last few weeks. Mr. Keel said during the process of interviews and then negotiations, much was discussed about how much the project would cost and how totally unbearable it would be if they had a $25-$30 million project with no more customers than they now had, and as a result they wanted to bring the cost of the project down so that the cost was not so great at the present time. He said that Hazen and Sawyer had done many such projects and had vast experience including phasing such projects by breaking them down so that what was needed to be done was done over time. Mr. Keel said typically with wastewater treatment plant upgrades a great deal of money was spent to do upgrades that would last for 20 years, and then at the end of the 20 years you had to do it again. He said in times past when prices were not so high and funding was more available that was the best way to do it, but that was not the case now. Mr. Keel said for that reason they had wanted to break the project down and do what was necessary in steps. Mr. Keel said the plant was working extremely well right now; however, they were very close to the point where it would be difficult to keep the discharge where it needed to be with no violations. 7:16:10 PM Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor Jeff Mahagan said they had conducted an evaluation of the plant and estimated the actual flow capacity based on each component of the plant and how much water could actually be put through there. He said the result was approximately 1.22 million gallons per day, based on the average daily/monthly maximum flow. Mr. Mahagan said last year their highest peak month was 1.1 which was right on the cusp, and so far this month they were already exceeding 1.2. 7:17:25 PM Mr. Keel said on the surface it might be an easy decision to not do anything yet since they did not know what would happen with the grant. But, he said, he believed they needed to take a step forward and at least determine what could be accomplished in an initial phase that was affordable and would meet their more immediate needs, and then look at Phase 2 at some point in the future. Mr. Keel said once they had more customers, more flow coming in, and more ability to stretch that cost out they could go forward with the next phase to meet ultimate needs for the next 20 to 25 years. Mr. Keel said that was the approach they had taken when looking at the contract, and had then discovered that the CWMTF grant was uncertain. He said that had prompted them to look at March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 4 of 11 accomplishing only the preliminary design in order to determine what facilities needed to be constructed initially in Phase 1 of construction and what that might cost so that they would have a better picture of how to move forward. Mr. Keel said it was hoped in that intervening time that they would know the outcome of the CWMTF grant. He said the grant was $419,000, and they had $500,000 already allotted in the current budget with $200,000 coming from operating revenues and $300,000 transferred from the Capital Fund. Mr. Keel said what the Board was being asked to approve at this point was the preliminary engineering design. 7:21:49 PM Commissioner Lloyd said if they did not get started and they began to accumulate violations it would only be more difficult to resolve. She said she believed it was a good idea to begin the process by approving this first step as recommended. Mr. Keel said if they did end up with some violations down the road it would be much better for the Town if they could show that they were moving towards solutions and making progress. Commissioner Dancy stated that much of the federal stimulus funding was for infrastructure and hopefully some may be available to the Town. 7:23:55 PM Mr. Peterson asked Mr. Keel what effect this might have on the capital fee structure. Mr. Keel stated he did not know at this point. Mr. Peterson stated they could use the estimates now available to develop the coming years budget and then begin charging the new rates. Mr. Keel stated if they could move forward by the April Board meeting he believed they would have enough information to provide a better estimate at that time. Responding to a comment from the Mayor regarding the contract, Mr. Keel noted that the contract was in the standard form used by architects and engineers that was used almost universally. He said that universal contract was used by Hazen and Sawyer and had been perused many times by legal professionals, so he did not anticipate any issues in that regard. Mr. Keel said he had not gotten any feedback from the Town Attorney, but would ask him to provide comments. Mayor Stevens said he did not recall the specifics, but he believed they had in the past had some engineering costs for projects that had not gone well and there had been issues with the contract, so he wanted to make sure that the Town Attorney had an opportunity to look over the contract and provide the Board feedback before a decision was made. Mayor Stevens said that the Board would expect to have this on the agenda for the April meeting and assumed that the representatives from Hazen and Sawyer would be able to attend to respond to comments or questions. 5.Joint Meeting with the Water & Sewer Advisory Committee 7:27:29 PM WSAC Chair Cheryl Thomas said that the Committee had discussed the contract at length over the course of several meetings and were in support of approval of the contract. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 5 of 11 She stated that they also wanted to express their support of the ongoing efforts to update the meters across Town, noting that it was believed that revenue was being lost because of the age of the older equipment. Ms. Thomas said they as always supported the work of the water and wastewater staff and the training that was necessary for them to remain up-to-date. She said they would also like to confirm that the work they were doing was acceptable and appreciated any feedback the Board would like to offer. 7:30:16 PM Mr. Peterson said the policy was that the water fund budget at the bottom was 20%. He said there was not a general rule as there was in the General Fund regarding Fund Balance, noting you could get by with a lower savings level in the Utility Fund because you had revenue coming in every single month, but property taxes came in only once a year so it was more of an issue. Mr. Peterson said they would use basically the same policy of 20% to 60%, but they normally did not fall below 20%. Mr. Keel asked was 20% to 40% the average. Mr. Peterson said at the moment it appeared higher than it really was because of encumbrances that had artificially inflated the percentage. He said for budgeting purposes, and because no one wanted a rate increase, they had identified a dollar limit in order to protect the savings. Mr. Peterson said if for some reason the economy did not rebound next year then they would have no option but to use savings. 7:32:16 PM WSAC Member Dan Barker remarked that they had estimated the number of old meters currently in use that may be reading slow, and the WSAC had determined that replacing those meters would help to increase revenue. He said they also needed to better account for were the water flowed, and asked for an update. Mr. Barker said in theory if they were measuring more accurately, they could move forward more efficiently and with less difficulty. Mr. Barker said the WSAC had also discussed focusing on the commercial customers first, causing less pain to homeowners. He said they had also discussed just how 20-year-old devices were operating, and had estimated they were likely getting only about 50% of the true reading. 7:33:46 PM Assistant Utilities Director Will Baker said most of the meters had between a 10 and 15 year life, and as time went on there was a gradual wearing so it was not noticeable. He said if funding was available, the meters should be changed out every 15 to 20 years. Mr. Baker said many municipalities set aside funding each year so that when it was time to replace the meters the funding was available. Mr. Barker said the more accurate the meters the more accurate the revenue, and believed they needed to find a way to fund that and to keep funding it as Mr. Baker had described. 7:35:01 PM Mr. Peterson said just as a reminder, at this point he had not seen any budget requests so he did not know what they were facing. He said his comment to Mr. Keel and Mr. Siler was that if they could figure out a way to get it into the budget and meet the bottom line goal then they would make it happen. Mr. Peterson said there were a certain number of commercial meters that were using a high percentage of the water, estimated at $68,000, so as March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 6 of 11 they got into the budget process there were some options to consider such as the debt service on the project. But, he said, until he saw an estimated cost he did not know what the response would be. Ms. Thomas asked if there were any questions for the Town Board from WSAC members. Mr. Barker said he was interested in hearing some direction from the Town Board, such as were they doing okay and what they should be paying attention to 7:36:49 PM Mayor Stevens said the work of the WSAC was demanding and very much appreciated. He said he would like for the WSAC to stay informed regarding issues affecting water and sewer and to be the Towns knowledgeable eyes on such issues. Mayor Stevens said he also believed this might be an opportunity to develop a checklist of issues the Board may want the WSAC to pursue which first and foremost would be ways to save water. He said the second was that they might want to be wise long-term with how they used their assets and infrastructure, noting they wanted to be cost-effective and receive value as they moved forward. Mayor Stevens said the third thing was that the WSAC had been forward-thinking and there may be issues that the Board had not thought of but that the WSAC would like to study, such as water policies that the Board should be looking at, whether that be conservation or something having to do with infrastructure and the like. He said he would encourage the WSAC to continue to look out towards the future so that the Town Board could remain informed. Mayor Stevens said he believed it was on the agenda for the joint meeting, and he had spoken to the County Board Chair regarding that. Mr. Peterson said if it was the desire of the WSAC and the Town Board, when it came down to the end of the fiscal year if there had been no action then they could encumber that $25,000 and bring it forward into the next fiscal year. Ms. Thomas said that would be her preference. 7:41:17 PM Commissioner Hallman asked was there anything the Town Board could do to help in the interim, such as getting the word out to the public. Commissioner Lowen said there were many issues that went into how the rates were set and why they were what they were, and there was a lot of research involved in that. He said that the WSAC along with Town staff provided the research and information that allowed the Town Board to make decisions, and it meant quite a lot to him and to the entire Board to see how dedicated the WSAC was. Commissioner Lowen said their work was very important and he applauded their commitment, noting it made the Town Boards job easier because they knew that the WSAC had studied the issues and discussed it over long periods of time, and by the time a recommendation came to the Town Board they trusted that the WSAC had done their homework and that the recommendations offered were strong and backed up by good information. WSAC Member Ron Butler said there were so many levels of things to be considered, such as building that had occurred and conservation and what would happen once the economy bounced back. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 7 of 11 Mr. Barker stated he wondered if the Board had a first issue that was the most pressing for the WSAC to study. The general consensus was that rates were the top priority. 7:45:07 PM Commissioner Lowen said he had been interested in where Hillsboroughs water rates were ranked State-wide, noting it was thought by many that the Town was one of the highest in the State but he believed they were farther down the list. Ms. Thomas stated that thth Hillsborough was 57 on the list in water rates and 77 in sewer rates on the list of all participants. Commissioner Lowen said for a person struggling to pay their water bill they did not really care where the Town was on the list, but it may help somewhat to say that other communities outside of Hillsborough had rates higher that the Towns and then to name those communities. He suggested that could be a blurb on the Web site, and perhaps such information would dispel that notion that Hillsboroughs rates were very high. 7:46:32 PM Mayor Stevens agreed they needed to change that perception, as well as the perception that water was something that came cheaply and was available to anyone who wanted it. He said on the other hand the cost needed to be qualified and justified. Mr. Butler said one important fact was that the Triangle area was one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and there had been a great debate in the Governors office about taking their water and their other resources and using them elsewhere. He said they needed to figure out how to protect their resources and keep that from happening. Mayor Stevens said it was also important that citizens were satisfied with services and that staff and the WSAC had the information they needed to look for less expensive ways to provide those services and to address infrastructure issues. 7:49:18 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked if the WSAC had any comments regarding the contract being considered by the Town Board regarding the wastewater treatment plant upgrade. Mr. Barker stated it was a standard contract, it was a standard contract created by an engineer, and it was the standard contract used by the State so he did not believe there was much thinking that had to go into the language contained in it. Commissioner Lloyd asked in the WSACs mind, was the Board on the right course and was there something else they would want to add to that. She asked if they believed the sooner they could get started the better off they would be. 7:50:21 PM WSAC Member Paul Kimple said they could not continue to delay and do nothing, noting they were operating right on the borderline as it was. He said the longer they waited the longer it would take to accomplish anything, and he agreed they should get started as quickly as possible. Mr. Butler agreed, noting they had a responsibility to step up and move forward. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 8 of 11 Mr. Barker said the only danger in the whole discussion he had identified was that their numbers may not be low enough to qualify them for the big grants, but that was not a bad place to be. 7:51:34 PM Mr. Kimple said another concern was the risk of violations and the cost to the Town. Mr. Keel said in the past they were out of compliance quite a bit due to a lot of issues surrounding treating waste adequately, He said he did not believe they had suffered any monetary fines even though the violations looked bad to the public and they did have a failing wastewater treatment plant. Mr. Keel said generally speaking the Town had gotten very few fines levied by the State, noting the largest was around $8,000 after an ice storm and they had some sewer spills that occurred at pump stations due to that. He said he was sure there had been others but none specifically came to mind. WSAC Member Stephen Beck said one concern beyond the monetary impact of fines was to simply be able to meet any safety standards at the plant. Mr. Keel said right now they had a very good relationship with the Eno River Association and the Eno State Park and shared information, and when they did not meet the limits with what was discharged from the wastewater plant, which went into the Eno River, it affected any recreational uses of the river downstream. He said so there were more things that were affected when those limits were violated than just monetary fines to the Town. Mr. Baker said he believed the wastewater plant had performed well in the past as far as meeting State standards, but the State had also let them know there were concerns and they would be levying fines should conditions worsen. 7:55:04 PM Mayor Stevens said that the WSAC had a special role in assisting the Town with looking for new ways of doing business, and at the same time to protect the water and sewer services being provided to citizens. He said the Board thanked the WSAC members who had participated tonight. Commissioner Lloyd requested an update regarding the wells that had been reported as contaminated and asked if the grant had come through. Mr. Keel responded yes, the grant had come through and they were in the process of finalizing the paperwork. He said the grant would pay all the capital fees for those 44 homes and within the next few weeks crews could begin installing the taps and switching people over. 6.Other Added Item  Prioritizing Projects for Federal Funding from the FY 2010 Appropriations Bill 7:59:15 PM Mayor Stevens said the issue was essentially that they were adding the rail to the Towns request to Congressman Price for FY 2010 funding. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 9 of 11 Commissioner Hallman said he understood they had to prioritize projects. Ms. Ard said all of their requests were coming through Appropriations, and the only one added regarding sidewalks through HUD. Commissioner Hallman asked if they had gotten some of the stimulus funding for the Nash Street project. Ms. Ard said that Congressman Prices office was out of the loop as far as the stimulus funding, noting that the MPO was working on that. Ms. Ard said they had received $583,000 and there was about $210,000 remaining which could also be applied towards Nash Street. She said with the local match from the original $583,000 that would leave about $212,000 that needed to be funded through some means. She said they were working through the State to identify how the stimulus funding would be distributed, and it was hoped that funding coming to the MPO could be used for that as well as Riverwalk. Ms. Ard said going through the process took a long time and it would be some time before they knew what would happen. She said they were anticipating funding, but right know did not know when or how much. 8:02:12 PM Commissioner Hallman if the appropriations process dragged on could the Town go ahead and complete the Nash Street project. Ms. Ard said as far as the Appropriations Bill, applications were due in to the MPO by October 11 and whether or not it would work for the Town to wait for that Appropriations Bill was the luck of the draw, although she believed they were in a good spot. Ms. Ard said working with the Town of Lexington would hopefully give them more leverage and a bigger piece of the pie in terms of having a multi-jurisdictional effort. Commissioner Lloyd said she had thought the Nash Street project would be done in phases. Ms. Ard said it could be done in phases. Commissioner Lloyd asked could they do the first phase and then wait to see how the funding went. Ms. Ard said they could do that, noting that the request to the MPO for stimulus funding could be requested in phases. She said the only catch was that they had not entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the State for the original fund that they were approved for last year, because they had been waiting for the design work to be completed. Ms. Ard said the State had recommended holding off on the Memorandum of Agreement when the stimulus funding became a possibility, so that was where they were now. She said they could go forward with what they had now, and if they got additional funds through the Appropriations process or through future stimulus funds, or even if they wanted to finance the project some other way, then they could continue to move forward. Ms. Ard said there were a lot of different options on the table, and right now it was hard to know which route to take. She said it depended on what they wanted to do and how quickly, but given the environment no one knew what to anticipate. Commissioner Lloyd asked what the least expensive option would be for the Town to take if they choose to move forward now. Ms. Ard said ideally if they were able to get the stimulus funds that the MPO was trying to distribute now, that would reduce the burden on the Town in terms of the actual amounts they would need to finance, which was about $212,000. She said the other option would be to take that original allocation fund of $586,000 and matching it or waiting to fund it in a future year. But, she said, water and sewer would become much more expensive in the future. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 10 of 11 8:07:53 PM Mr. Peterson said as far as priorities, the first question he had asked himself was which request had the ability to have the biggest impact on the community, and the answer was the rail station. He said they already had a good amount of funding for the Nash Street sidewalk project with a lot of options. Mr. Peterson said to him the biggest potential impact and the biggest potential payout was the rail station and that was what he would go with. Ms. Ard said as well, there would likely be other opportunities for future stimulus funding, and if they could get rail station funding as well as Nash Street funding, then all the better. But, she said, if you thought about the US 70 corridor and the Churton Street corridor and trying to lobby for economic development funds to bring those conceptual plans forward, there were a lot of different ways to seek funding to do that. Commissioner Hallman said he had thought that the $500,000 appropriation was an annual appropriation for capital projects by municipalities. Ms. Ard stated she did not know but would look into that. Mayor Stevens said it appeared that they could move forward with the information they had now, noting he did not believe they could make a bad decision either way. Ms. Ard said the point was to try to get some of the funding, noting the rail station was very important as were other projects. Added Item  Hot Topics Discussion 8:12:20 PM Commissioner Hallman suggested that the Hot Topics identified be rescheduled to a future workshop. 8:14:37 PM Commissioner Lowen remarked regarding the Assembly of Governments Meeting Agenda containing nothing that pertained to Hillsborough. He stated this was another example that all of their time was valuable, and there was not one thing on the agenda that had any relevance to Hillsborough. He said the only thing that might be relevant was the library, but he did not believe that would generate much discussion. Commissioner Lowen said he did not believe any of them would be available, and if that looked bad then so be it. He said these were regularly scheduled events, but it appeared that they were searching to find things to put on the agenda. Commissioner Lowen said he hated to sit through a meeting of a few hours and not have anything to contribute and have no new information offered. Mayor Stevens said everything that happened regarding Jordan Lake they would be informed about, so he understood Commissioner Lowens point. 8:16:17 PM Mr. Peterson said the issues on the agenda were important issues, and Hillsborough was a small player in the County. He said he believed everyone understood that sometimes agenda items did not apply to or interest everyone, and did not believe anyone would be offended if there was a minimal presence by Hillsborough representatives. March 23, 2009 Monthly Workshop Approved: May 1l, 2009 Page 11 of 11 7.Closed session Closed Session as authorized by North Carolina General Statute Section 143-318.11 (6) regarding two Personnel Matters Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the Board moved to go into Closed Session by a vote of 4-0. The motion was declared passed. 8:17:17 PM Mr. Peterson said he had two items, the first of which was that fortunately they had received good news on Gary Phelps. He said all the details had now been worked out and he would officially retire on the last day of this month, March 31. Mr. Peterson said beginning April 1 he would begin working part-time. Mr. Peterson said the second issue was that he had come to a decision regarding Equipment Operator Chris Dorthy. He said his decision was to terminate, noting that the primary issue for him was the customer complaints and what his research into one of those complaints had revealed as well as issues regarding actions and attitude that were inappropriate, lack of work ethic and loss of initiative, offensive language, exhibitions of anger, incidents of reported theft, and lying. 8.Adjourn Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the Board moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. by a vote of 4-0. The motion was declared passed. Respectfully submitted, Donna F. Armbrister, MMC Town Clerk