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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-07-2019 Minutes WSAC Regular Meeting Utilities Analyst Julie Laws 105 E. Corbin St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919-296-9630 | julie.laws@hillsboroughnc.gov www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Agenda | 1 of 3 Minutes Water and Sewer Advisory Committee 7 p.m. February 7, 2019 Town Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. Members Present: Dan Barker, Arthur Sprinczeles, Jim Parker, Saru Salvi, Daniel Rawlins, Jenn Sykes Members Excused: Barry Hupp Staff Present: Marie Strandwitz, Daphna Schwartz, Catherine Wright, Jen Della Valle, Cheryl Sadgrove, Julie Laws Guests Present: Mayor Tom Stevens, Will Johnson 1. Call to order and welcome of guests Meeting called to order by Chair Dan Barker, at 7:00 PM. 2. Agenda changes and approval None. 3. Minutes review and approval: December 27, 2018, and January 3, 2019, meetings Saru Salvi moved to accept both minutes as read, seconded by Daniel Rawlins, approved by all. 4. Reports from Board of Commissioners Meetings A. Meeting January 14: No one from WSAC attended. Tom Stevens shared that the proposed rates and credit card fees were discussed. B. Joint Meeting with Planning Board January 17: Dan Barker stated the discussion was mainly around new housing on west end of town, and hearings on code changes. C. Board Work Session January 28: Jim Parker stated that discussion was focused mainly on the Churton St. widening project and the future train station. 5. Updates A. Utilities status report highlights: Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz. Strandwitz is working on the RFQ for the collection system modeling. She is also working on the RFQ for the expansion/renovation of the Thompson distribution and collections facility. The reservoir project is going well, and all involved are working to close completed portions of the project. The town received a Notice of Violation for November’s sewer spill, and Strandwitz is responding to this. Howard Hobson and the Water Treatment Plant are receiving a Water Fluoridation Quality award from the CDC. The town will not do a press release due to some public misunderstanding of fluoride's properties. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Agenda | 2 of 3 B. Presentation of Various Rate Structures: Jeff Hughes, Director, UNC Environmental Finance Center. Hughes opened by asking for questions. Dan Barker stated that we’re trying to find equitable rates based on the reality of our utility. Tom Stevens shared that we’ve had to look at equity of out-of-town vs in-town rates. Barker said some are under the impression that the town can’t draw good businesses due to our high rates. Hughes discussed common billing practices. How many customer “classes” does the town want? He usually sees 3-4 classes in NC. Does the town want equal payment plans? Some systems believe that industries should have a lower rate to draw them, and this works out okay because they use higher volume. Seasonal customers? It takes a lot of money for a consultant to figure all of this out; money the town doesn’t have. State law says the town can charge different rates for inside and outside of town customers. Other states also do this, and there is no law against charging a higher rate due to lower density and the lack of tax money to fund system. The Water Sewer Advisory Committee is in place now to study this and recommend changes if possible. Hughes suggested the town should look at these different options now because they’re coming down the road. Pricing is going up all over now. Rates are really high for out-of-town customers. Hughes suggested that the town’s multiplier should probably be less than double for these customers. One way to make things more equitable would be to freeze the flat rate for outside customers for a while, even if raising inside rates, and try to equalize the 1,000-gallon rates over time. Raleigh is already working on this. Hillsborough also needs to work on boosting the customer assistance program. Should there be an establishment of class based on need (assistance)? Some of the larger cities (Chicago, NY, etc.) base water bills on income. Lots of people don’t agree with that. Salisbury has same rates for in and out, as well as Charlotte. What are the uncommon approaches to rate structuring? It’s very costly to have a system that allows for minute-to-minute readings; seasonal; peak set base, etc. Stevens stated that the town has looked at all approaches long and hard over the years, but size and scale of the town is not conducive to changing the structure as it is. There’s really no room to break it up into classes, segments, volume structures, etc. Hughes stated that one correction to the problem of taxes funding water cost is to pay 15-20% for fire protection. He said that the reality is that 20% of utilities are in the red, like Hillsborough. Barker asked if there’s a way to collect property tax on out-of-town customers—the answer is NO. Sykes asked about multi-family meters, and not raising their rates. This could go either way, helping or hurting. Hughes talked about connection fees, tap fees, etc. to deal with affordable housing. The town could base capital facility fees on square footage of house instead of using size of meter for pricing for everyone. We could use assistance program to better advantage/beef it up instead of changing minimums. Barker wants to look at minimums and other ideas to get a better feel for what could work or not. The town also needs to look at inside-town and out-of-town minimums (and gallon rate over minimum) and how this will be affected as well. Hughes suggested raising minimum for in-town, and then making amounts over the minimum the same. Stevens asked about stormwater being incorporated, and Hughes said there’s a movement for “One Water.” Some systems integrate garbage svc, electric, etc. for billing purposes, but they’re still separate entities. Hughes closed discussion and said he would be happy and willing to come back for further discussion. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Agenda | 2 of 3 C. Town Code Changes: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz Schwartz had previously sent the changes to the WSAC via email, and asked if there were any questions about the code changes? Barker said there were changes referring to rate schedule that were not already in the rate schedule. Schwartz said they were trying to make changes that wouldn’t require updating the policy every year. Rawlins had questions on the following items. Regarding item 14-7 a. The town can’t charge fees that are not on fee schedule. Regarding 14-26 14.13.a., Rawlins wants a date in the policy. He’s okay with leaving policy change as presented but says wording should say # of days (2 weeks?) after bill is mailed. He also has questions about 14.29. Schwartz wants good faith payment (not limited to % or certain amount), which is up to staff discretion, before placing a customer on a payment plan. Rawlins asked about the last sentence in 14-30.a.iii. Why take out the words “giving notice”? Staff doesn’t remember ever putting this in practice in over 15 years. Does WSAC want to take out? Rawlins wants to know if it should be handled by SOP, and discussion led to approval of SOP. Sykes suggested collection agency runaround is not worth cost of the bill. Salvi suggested the town has a responsibility to notify other residents living there so they’re not caught off guard. Consensus is that it should be handled by SOP. D. Review of Recurring Items List: Utilities Analyst Julie Laws -- defer to next month due to not having attachment. 6. Recurring items A. Water Sewer Assistance Fund Review: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz. No concerns or questions on handout B. Customer Skip Rates: Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz. No historical data located. Barker asked what’s a “good” skip rate, and Swartz said other systems don’t do these reports. C. Annual Spills Summary: Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz. There was a spill in November 2018 of 600 gallons due to the bottom of pipe breaking out and leaking into the storm ditch. Storm ditch spills require being reported. 7. Future agenda items A. Topics for Press: Achievements: PIO Catherine Wright. The town needs to get out good information about the system, as well as boosting the bill assistance program. Which topics should be brought up periodically? Fatbergs, rags, etc. The Public Information Office is doing “special” promotions every month. Stevens said it’s been a hard year with billing, Fathom, rates, etc. The town also spent a lot of time and energy on bonds. Even posting information about potential changes in rates elicits strong opinions. The committee will come back to this next month with topics and ways to promote and share with the public. Sykes suggested sharing awards and good things the town is doing to counter bad conversation about rates, etc. Stevens said the town should share success stories as much as possible so the public can get more positive opinions than what everyone sees on social media. WSAC members’ homework for the month is to think about topics, and address these at the March meeting. 8. Upcoming assignments for Board of Commissioners meetings • Meeting February 11: Barry Hupp (substitute, Dan Barker) • Joint meeting cancelled on Feb. 14. • Board Work Session February 25: Arthur Sprinczeles (substitute, Daniel Rawlins) 9. Adjournment Barker shared that the WSAC needs an out-of-town candidate to replace Volker Mittendorf, who has resigned from the WSAC due to work commitments. The PIO department will post a notice about the vacancy. Sykes moved to adjourn, seconded by Salvi at 9:20 PM.