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Home My Public Portal About10-04-2018 Minutes WSAC Regular Meeting Utilities Analyst Julie Laws 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919-296-9630 | julie.laws@hillsboroughnc.gov www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 1 of 3 Minutes Water and Sewer Advisory Committee 7 p.m. October 4, 2018 Town Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. MEMBERS PRESENT: Saru Salvi, Volker Mittendorf, Jenn Sykes, Daniel Rawlins MEMBERS ABSENT (excused): Dan Barker MEMBERS ABSENT (unexcused): Jim Parker, Arthur Sprinczeles GUESTS PRESENT: Barry Weston, Barry Hupp, James Schweitzer BOARD MEMBER PRESENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Marie Strandwitz, Joel Lashley, Daphna Schwartz, Julie Laws 1. Call to order and welcome of guests Meeting was called to order by Volker Mittendorf at 7:02 pm 2. Agenda changes and approval Introduction of new Utilities Director, Marie Strandwitz, by Julie Laws. 3. Minutes review and approval As there was no quorum, approval of August minutes will be delayed until the December meeting. The four members who were present recommended no changes at this time. 4. Reports from Board of Commissioners Meetings A. Meeting August 13: Arthur Sprinczeles (Daniel Rawlins, substitute) Arthur was not here tonight to give an update on that meeting B. Work session August 27: Jen Sykes (Jim Parker, substitute) Jenn Sykes attended meeting that lasted 4 hours. Budget amendments and transfers were approved, as were the formalized Jordan Lake Partnership fee and dues. There was a long discussion regarding the Colonial Inn, with the potential of moving a fire hydrant, and moving a water line on Margaret Lane. A spring was found on the Habitat lot on Latimer St., and the board decided this could wait for later discussion. No hard decisions were made on any items that night. C. Meeting September 10: Saru Salvi Saru Salvi attended and reported that all discussion revolved around the Colonial Inn. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 3 of 3 D. Work session September 24: Daniel Rawlins (Volker Mittendorf, substitute) Daniel Rawlins attended and reported that discussion contained sandwich boards, smokers, outdoor seating rules, and nothing about water. 5. Updates A. Utilities status report highlights: Utility System Supervisor Joel Lashley There have been no reportable sewer spills. The reservoir project is going well with 161 days of supply at this time. The project is about 25% complete and is approximately 13 days behind schedule due to heavy rain. The DOT project on Efland-Cedar Grove will be completed by the end of October. THMs are still in compliance, and there are no water restrictions. Fall flushing had a late start due to Hurricane Florence. We are now 60% done in Central Zone and beginning to move out to the south and north zones. September saw no main breaks, and only a couple of service leaks. The outfall mowing is completed, and there are two areas left for clearing, to be scheduled in couple of weeks. We should be 95% cleared on all outfalls now. Volker Mittendorf asked how many acres/miles of clearing we have on the outfalls. Julie will begin working on the tally for this. Joel discussed how our budget is now broken up into “grounds” and “rentals,” and that we’ve started letting contractors clear due to time constraints with ongoing water and sewer emergencies. The booster pump station at Forrest Ridge is still not up and running. Marie talked with the designer, and our next call will be to the developer. The Arcadis project on Orange Grove St. is going out for bid soon and will include hydrant work. The review process was at 50% in early September. Marie has also reviewed plans for Collins Ridge, Phase 1-A. B. Billing Software: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz We are on schedule for Tyler to take over our software, and they are currently looking at all our data to do the mapping for the conversion. Not a lot is being done on-site right now, but around the first of 2019 they will come to train our employees. D-day is projected as March 1st. Fathom calculated the months they would be serving us by using the date the contract was signed, and this had pushed us further into the future for the switchover. We will be running data simultaneously with Tyler before switching. Any differences will be quickly corrected by Tyler so we can switch over as soon as possible. Fathom has been cooperative so far. Volker asked if services were better or worse since the settlement with Fathom, and Daphna said the billing portion is working okay, but the customer service portion has slacked off to almost nothing. C. Credit card fees and Town code changes: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz In the spring (budget time) this issue came up to WSAC. The majority of the committee felt customers should be charged to use credit cards. The board responded that they wanted rate recommendations, specifically as to a flat fee vs a percentage. Daphna conducted some research and the only thing we can do legally is charge a convenience fee for electronic handling payments. Charges are 2-2.5% of payment. Based on the average card payment of $110, we could charge $2.75 for each transaction. There is no fee on automatic draft payments. Before Fathom, we charged $3.00 surcharge on credit cards but did not charge on face-to-face debit transactions. Daphna is looking for recommendations from WSAC to take to the board. We are trying not to hire more staff to take payments by check and credit card. Finance employees are already concerned that if customers want to avoid paying the online surcharge, they’ll start coming to pay in person with cash or checks. Jenn asked where we would use the money taken from these fees, but Daphna says we wouldn’t collect enough to even cover our costs. Saru Salvi stated that out-of-town customers might balk at paying more since they’re already paying double for their water. She also feels like older residents won’t be able to pay these fees. Daphna says we need to notify the public at least 30 days before we start charging these fees. She is hoping to take the recommendation to the board by January 2019 so that we can start accepting payments with Tyler in March. Discussion will continue at the December meeting, although Saru won’t be here. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 3 of 3 D. Vacancy to WSAC (in-town): Julie Laws We still have one in-town vacancy on the committee. When Dan Barker returns to town, he and Julie will get together to discuss the applications on hand and make a recommendation to the board to fill the vacancy. 6. Recurring items A. Officer Elections: There was no quorum and this item was deferred until December. B. Interconnection Status: Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz Connections were checked before the most recent hurricane. Durham and Orange Alamance connections are okay, but we cannot receive from OWASA until pump-around is completed. We’re now at a higher elevation than OWASA and they would need to pump to us. We can still send water to them if necessary. C. Water Sewer Assistance Fund Review: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz Daphna Schwartz, handout on data of the state of the fund. Daphna asked if we want to move this recurring item to February 2019 so that we can calculate a full year. Someone?? suggested Hillsborough Magazine as being a good place to publicize the assistance fund, although residents don’t get this publication unless they’re with an HOA. Will Tyler be able to handle publicizing on bills and asking for contributions to this fund? Daphna will need to find out this information. Saru and/or Daphna will work on finding out how OCIM receives and distributes funds. Saru has talked with them in the past and they gave out $10K for water bills one year, although some of that comes from other sources besides the town. Daphna suggested that Saru talk with Shannan Campbell and Catherine Wright about publicizing this program. 7. Future agenda items A. Officer Elections: December 6, 2018 B. GIS Mapping Show and Tell: January 3, 2019 – Marie Strandwitz and Al Robertson C. Town Code Changes – January 3, 2019 – Daphna Schwartz D. Topics for Press: Achievements and Conservation Suggestion: February 7, 2019 (?) we should have Catherine and Cheryl address us and discuss public perception. We’ll also need for them to help prepare the public for the Tyler switchover. Marie brought up the “Did You Know” series as a way to get the word out to the public. E. Fiscal Year Balanced Score Card: December 6, 2018 – Marie Strandwitz F. Water Sewer Assistance Fund Review: February 7, 2019 – Daphna Schwartz 8. Upcoming assignments for Board of Commissioners meetings • Meeting October 8: Jim Parker (Arthur Sprinczeles, substitute) • Joint Public Hearing with Planning Board October 18: Dan Barker and Jenn Sykes • Work Session October 22: Jenn Sykes (Jim Parker, substitute) • Meeting November 13: Volker Mittendorf (Saru Salvi substitute) • Assembly of Governments November 15: Arthur Sprinczeles (Daniel Rawlins, substitute) • Work Session November 26: Jenn Sykes (Jim Parker, substitute) 9. Adjournment Volker Mittendorf adjourned the meeting at 8:20 PM.