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Home My Public Portal About04-07-2016 Minutes WSAC Regular Meeting MEETING MINUTES WATER SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, April 7, 2016 7:00 PM Town Barn 101 East Orange Street · P O Box 429 · Hillsborough, NC 27278 · 919 732 1270 MEMBERS PRESENT: Frank Cohen, Dan Barker, Volker Mittendorf, Arthur Sprinczeles, Aaron Butner, Scott Jennings, Saru Salvi MEMBERS ABSENT: Jim Parker, excused STAFF PRESENT: Will Baker, Kenny Keel, Heidi Lamay, Julie Laws, Jenny Overman, Linda Daye, Veronica Wright BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Kathleen Ferguson GUESTS PRESENT: Jon Davis (Raftelis) 1.1 Call Meeting to Order & Welcome to Guests Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chair Frank Cohen 1.2 Consideration of Additions/Changes to Agenda No additions or changes to agenda 1.3 Consideration and Discussion of Past Minutes Dan Barker moved to accept as presented, seconded by Volker Mittendorf. All approved. 2.1 Reports from Committee Assignments for Previous Months February 8 – Regular Board Meeting – Covered by Aaron Butner; nothing to report. February 22 – Regular Board Meeting – Covered by Arthur Sprinczeles; nothing to report. Feb. 25 - Joint Hillsborough/Orange County Meeting – Scott Jennings covered and reported discussion about the need for a sewer extension under I-40 to develop properties to the south. March 14 – Joint Meeting with Planning – Covered by Dan Barker; nothing to report. March 28 - Board Work Session – Saru Salvi; nothing to report. 2.2 Engineering Status Report Highlights Updates were given by Kenny Keel, Town Engineer. We completed spring flushing on March 31, with a total usage of between 4.9-8.0 mg. Correct numbers will be forthcoming. Hwy 70 project is now complete. Waterstone tank is delayed due to a jurisdictions issue for inspection. Southern Corrosion performed an Inspection about the small dent, which was determined to not be problematic. 101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • 919 732-1270 x85 3.1 Fathom - Advanced Metering Infrastructure Heidi Lamay and Jenny Overman attended a demonstration by Global Water in Arizona. Currently, we are reading by AMR – Advanced Meter Reading - method. AMR reads from truck, downloads to computer, is then loaded to billing software, and then used to print bills. On the other hand, AMI – Advanced Metering Infrastructure - collects meter readings from antennae, and can get readings every hour instead of just once day a month. About 2 months ago, Fathom called Kenny, who talked with Heidi about the plan/program. Fathom developed the AMI system in AZ out of necessity. After proving to be such a success, they started sharing with other systems. Advantages of this system include:  showing discrepancies a lot sooner than once a month billing  data is accessible immediately (hourly)  detailed reporting with the program  eliminates duplicate work, i.e. work order generation  eliminates use of truck (and gasoline, time spent) to obtain readings  stabilizing revenue by finding leaks and meter problems immediately  using their customer service and call center based on Hillsborough’s current protocol, with escalated calls coming to our Finance office for resolution  system will work with our current in-ground equipment/meters, and we can change to other meters without any problems  customer service will be available to us in our own time zone  can view “traffic” on our pipes, and will extend life of our pipes as we can adjust loads based on trends and water flow in real time  software will throw up red-flag alarm if usage is out of proportion on a particular day, which can also be pushed to send messages to customers by text and email  leak policy can be re-written due to dramatic decrease in large leaks  information being read from antennae on water tanks, etc., with redundancy in case a read doesn’t get picked up by a certain location  work order system can also be made available to Public Works Kenny and Heidi talked with Fathom about our needs, and they gave us goals to provide a smart grid technology. Once we get the information from antennae, we can push information out to customers as necessary. Frank Cohen asked if we could test on a long-term basis. Heidi stated we can’t turn back from the system once installed due to the large investment for antennae and receiving equipment. ($938,000+ to be financed for the equipment.) Volker asked about the number of connections they serve; Heidi says over .5M connections at present. Heidi talked with other customers who answered all their questions to her satisfaction. Scott Jennings asked if we would be the eastern-most customer. They have customers in Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland, and we would be the first NC customer. Saru Salvi asked about budget if we’re not losing staff. Heidi stated that we’re going to save a lot of money by using this system in bill printing, fees for credit card payments, etc. She stated the savings will be apparent when we roll new construction developments into the system without having to hire more staff. Finance will be rearranging Customer Service staff to the projected Accounts Payable position since we cannot hire a new AP person due to budget. Part-time customer service positions will be eliminated. Fathom/Global Water will study our entire system, GIS each meter, and completely inventory our entire system. Artie Sprinczeles asked about hacking and security. Heidi has more data on security 101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • 919 732-1270 x85 if needed. Dan Barker asked about shareholders of company, and Heidi stated they are privately held. Volker asked about the timeline for implementation. Heidi will have public comment and presentation at next week’s Town Board meeting, and will get permission to negotiate a contract. Start to finish, Global can be implemented in 18 months. This will also eliminate the utility billing part of SmartFusion, which has been unreliable and has caused much frustration. Dan moved to close discussion and let Heidi take the proposal to the Town Board, seconded by Scott. Unanimously approved. 3.2 Raftelis Presentation – Capital Facility Fees Study Kenny Keel introduced Jon Davis to the group. Mr. Davis gave his presentation for updating the Town’s water and wastewater capital facilities fees. These CFFs are typically used to recover a portion of costs associated with reservoirs, water treatment plants, storage tanks, major trunk water distribution lines, wastewater treatment plants, and major sewer interceptors. By using CFFs, we are able to shift the cost away from customers’ monthly billing. Kenny is recommending that we do the 5-yr average CFF study so we don’t have such large increases when we decide to change the fees. Tap fees are the same for in-town and out-of-town customers because they’re using all the same equipment, i.e. trunk, PS’s, etc. Kenny stated these fees are reflected in the budget presentation to the Town Board. CFF should be looked at every 5 years, although rates per gallon could change more often. Dan moved to close the item for discussion, stating that the Committee doesn’t need to advise or endorse these numbers. Saru Salvi seconded the motion. All in favor. 3.3 Finance Software Deficiencies Heidi discussed adjustments and billing problems, and how the current software system wasn’t posting correctly. There are problems with both in-town and out-of-town figures. Customer service found 780 different transactions that need to be corrected. Harris has been contacted to fix these problems, and we expect everything to be corrected by the end of May. 3.4 FY17 Budget Discussion Eric Peterson gave the Committee an opportunity to discussion or answer questions. He is also optimistic about AMI because we won’t have to increase staff. Currently, each new staff member costs up to 20K in benefits alone. Scott asked about the proposed fiber loop, possibly attracting ATT and other providers to connect all Town facilities. Emily is learning more about IT and should have feasibility analysis back soon. 3.5 Blank Agenda Item None. 4.1 Suggested Future Agenda Items for Upcoming Months None. 101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • 919 732-1270 x85 4.2 Upcoming Board Assignments April 11 – Regular Board Meeting – Frank Cohen (Arthur Sprinczeles, sub) April 25 – Board Work Session – Aaron Butner (Dan Barker, sub) May 9 – Regular Board Meeting – Volker Mittendorf (Saru Salvi, sub) May 23 – Budget Work Session – Arthur Sprinczeles (Frank Cohen, sub) 5.1 Adjourn Dan Barker moved to adjourn at 9:10 PM, seconded by Aaron Butner. All in favor.