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Home My Public Portal About12-01-2016 Minutes WSAC Regular Meeting MEETING MINUTES WATER SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, December 1, 2016 7:00 PM Town Barn 101 East Orange Street · P O Box 429 · Hillsborough, NC 27278 · 919 732 1270 Members Present: Dan Barker, Artie Sprinczeles, Jim Parker, Saru Salvi, Aaron Butner, Scott Jennings Members Absent/Excused: Volker Mittendorf, Frank Cohen Guest(s) Present: Mayor Tom Stevens Staff Present: Will Baker, Kenny Keel, Heidi Lamay, Julie Laws, Veronica Wright, Catherine Wright, Jen Della Valle 1.1 Call Meeting to Order & Welcome to Guests Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM by vice chairman Dan Barker 1.2 Consideration of Additions/Changes to Agenda None. 1.3 Consideration and Discussion of Past Minutes Jim Parker moved to accept minutes as they stand, seconded by Saru Salvi 2.1 Reports from Committee Assignments for Previous Months October 10 – Regular Board Meeting – Volker Mittendorf (Saru Salvi, sub), Nothing water or sewer related. October 24 – Board Work Session – Arthur Sprinczeles (Frank Cohen, sub) No one attended November 14 - Regular Board Meeting – Scott Jennings did not attend. Mayor Tom Stevens reported on annexation of the Northside Mobile Home Park. There are 14 neighborhoods, includingTuscarora, to be considered for annexation once all criteria are met. November 28 – Board Work Session – Saru Salvi attended. WSAC issues that were discussed were Fathom billing system, and Kenny Keel’s report about savings on the dredging project. 2.2 Engineering Status Report Highlights Kenny Keel reported that the WFER is presently 5 inches below full. THMs at the water plant are back down in the lower range. At the Town Board work session, there was discussion about our top priority goals, and we are halfway done with our goal of reducing residuals. We only spent about $77K instead of the budgeted $120K, and are on target with this project. Saru Salvi asked about disposal of sludge. The sludge is taken for land application, mixed with topsoil. It’s Class A so it COULD be used on human consumption fields, but it is mainly used on golf courses, etc. 3.1 Review of Drought Rules Kenny stated that 2009 was the last time the rules were revised. The law has not changed since then, and we have not had to use them due to not experiencing droughts since then. In the past there were 7 stages of drought when Lake Orange (much smaller than WFER) was the only source of water. Now there are only 3 stages, which is typical of other surrounding systems. Aaron Butner asked how 101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • 919 732-1270 x85 the proposed Collins Ridge development would affect our supply. Kenny described the current water capacity plan/format that allows for increased population. Dan Barker and Jim Parker discussed that sewer capacity has also been improved, and would further support this growth. Scott Jennings wants to be able to provide a one-page FAQ-type document to help residents understand that capacity is good, even though we’re increasing the Town’s population. The Mayor agreed that this a good idea. Kenny also stated that the water supply status report goes out every month showing the days of supply. Saru suggested that the committee should review the capacity report and then discuss at a future meeting. In 2018, WFER Phase II construction should be completed, almost doubling our water supply. 3.3 Fathom Update Heidi Lamay gave an update on the conversion to Fathom’s billing system. There have been some snags and bugs to be worked out, but progress has been made. Below are negative and positives, as related by Heidi: Negatives: 1. Old account numbers did not transfer to the new system. Bills went out with old account numbers, but conversion happened after bills were mailed, and with NEW numbers. 2. IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system. 3. Customers were told they could not pay by check at the annex. This is not true. 4. Communication was not great so people didn’t really understand benefits of the new system. 5. Customers did not like billing being “outsourced” or closing the drop box at the annex. 6. Robocalls yesterday didn’t have caller ID, so people thought it was a scam. Today’s robocalls DID have caller ID, but no name on it. Most people won’t answer if there’s just a number and no text. Heidi will ask Fathom if they can add text, and if the text can read “Town of Hillsborough.” 7. Saru said the old website appeared to be LIVE to those with bookmarks. She also suggested not doing a changeover during the holiday season next time. Positives: 1. Fathom customer service reps are recorded, so their conversations with our customers have been used to retrain CSRs where they were not pleasant or helpful. 2. Some customers didn’t even know they could pay online before Fathom came online! Fathom also does not charge the convenience fee. More people have signed up for auto-draft now, and for recurring payments on their credit card so they can get more points. 3. Some people have been pleased that they can sign up for new service with Fathom instead of coming into the office. They must pay their deposit, then fax or email documents, such as leases, etc. 4. Customers are happy they can set up a payment arrangement by using the grace period. 5. CSRs can see notes on each account so they can see what other reps have done/said to customer. 6. Work orders are sent directly to crews in the field. 7. Robocalls were sent 625 customers today to remind they are overdue. Robocalls went out yesterday to customers who had not re-enrolled in draft payments. Letters are also being sent, in addition to robocall reminder that bill’s overdue. 8. Fathom was told to waive penalties this time because of payment confusion. All penalties will be waived all this month, no matter what excuse. Heidi will continue to monitor draft accounts and make sure they’re not getting behind. Staff had to enter some of the payments by hand because checks were mailed to the annex instead of to Fathom. 9. Heidi passed out printed FAQs to the WSAC. Committee members should get the word out by using NEXT DOOR sites. Julie will post on FB page. Catherine Wright will post more info and FAQs on Town website. 101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • 919 732-1270 x85 When committee members were asked of any problems with the new system, several commented. Aaron’s wife had a sour interaction with Fathom. Their phone number was listed with the last four digits of the phone number as the last four digits of her social security number. Heidi admitted this was an isolated error on the part of her department. Dan had an issue with account numbers, saying there was too long of a gap for changing them on the bills. Heidi says new bill comes out tomorrow and will have new account numbers on them. The timing issue of the changeover and the billing was our fault. WSAC thanked Heidi for information. FAQs will be on the website, with press release. 3.4 Utility Bill Assistance Program - Promotion Discussion Scott will send an email in a few days with suggestions for this program. 4.1 Suggested Future Agenda Items for Upcoming Months - Reimbursement of Deposits – proposed by Saru - Capacity Report and Discussion, with Kenny Keel in attendance – proposed by Saru - Fathom Update – by Heidi 4.2 Upcoming Board Assignments Dan plans to attend all the planning board joint meetings, as he is on the planning board also. Julie will rework the schedule and email to all members. December 12 – Regular Board Meeting – Scott Jennings (Arthur Srpinczeles, sub) January 9 – Regular Board Meeting – Arthur Sprinczeles (no sub) January 19 – Joint Public Hearing w/Planning Board – Dan Barker (Jim Parker, sub) January 23 – Board Work Session – Saru Salvi (no sub) 5.1 Adjourn Aaron Butner moved to adjourn at 8:20 PM, seconded by Artie Sprinczeles and ScottJennings. Next Meeting: February 2, 2017