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HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-01-2019 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 Minutes | 1 of 3 Minutes Water and Sewer Advisory Committee 7 p.m. August 1, 2019 Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan Barker, Paul Cough, Saru Salvi, Arthur Sprinczeles, Jenn Sykes, and Barry Weston MEMBERS ABSENT: Barry Hupp (excused), Daniel Rawlins (excused) STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Assistant to the Town Manager Jen Della Valle, Utilities Analyst Julie Laws, Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz, and Public Information Officer Catherine Wright GUEST(S) PRESENT: Commissioner Mark Bell and Al Carnavale 1. Call to order and welcome of guests Chair Dan Barker called meeting to order at 7 p.m. and welcomed guests. 2. Agenda changes and approval No changes were made to the agenda. 3. Minutes review and approval: June 6, 2019, meeting Member Jenn Sykes moved to accept minutes from the June 6, 2019, meeting as written, seconded by Member Barry Weston. All were in favor. 4. Reports from Board of Commissioners meetings A. Meeting June 10: Member Arthur Sprinczeles reported that the meeting focused on a road collapse and that property along N.C. 86 by the Sheetz convenience store property is now annexed. A Dodge dealership is proposed to move to the lot beside Sheetz. B. Board work session June 24: Member Paul Cough reported that no water or sewer issues were discussed at this meeting. 5. Updates A. Utilities Status Report Highlights: Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz handed out the utilities status report. Highlights were: • The sluice gate at the West Fork Eno Reservoir will be repaired the next week by a diver who specializes in this type of work. The gate has been leaking since 2001. • Water release rules state the town may have to change the amount it releases from the reservoir after seven days of a low river stream. The town is in Day 4 of having a low stream, but rain is expected the upcoming weekend. • The reservoir clearing project is mostly completed and now consists of picking up wood chips. • The North Carolina Department of Transportation is in possession of the 100% plans for road work to be done on Carr Store and Mill Creek roads, necessitated by raising the water level of the reservoir. Strandwitz has a meeting with an NCDOT representative Friday. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 2 of 3 • The Churton Street/Orange Grove Street sewer replacement has been pushed back a few months. Several contractors have been contacted, but there was not much interest. An initial consulting estimate is thought to be too high, so the town is seeking other quotes on this project. • The raw water pump station generator looks great, and a startup request was sent to the generator vendor. Startup will occur in the next week. • The town received eight submittals for the modeling project, and Merrick was selected as the vendor. Strandwitz is working on the scope and fee negotiation. • The Financial Services Department has provided Calendar Year 2018 data for the model update being developed by UNC School of Government. It was decided to use data from then because of billing discrepancies since that time; the data will be more accurate to work with. Strandwitz is condensing the data so customer data is not shared. There was discussion about confidentiality, and Strandwitz will add a statement in the model update agreement to cover this. • Research and development will start soon for the Adron F. Thompson Facility upgrade by conducting on-site evaluation and testing. The conceptual report on options for this facility is expected by the end of September. 6. New and schedule-based business A. Unaccounted-for Water Progress: • Strandwitz shared the annual water audit, which shows unaccounted-for water trends. The town’s numbers are within the standard range, and crews will continue to repair leaks and address complaints as they come up. Barker would like to see the trends over several years, and Utilities Analyst Julie Laws will provide this information to the committee. Staff is attempting to obtain better reporting from Financial Services, the Fire Department and other sources of usage to tighten the numbers. • Orange-Alamance Water System would like to schedule routine weekly purchases from Hillsborough’s water system, but Strandwitz will need to consider any possible complications as long-term purchases could force the Hillsborough water plant into a premature upgrade. An interim plan and a long-term plan will be considered, and Strandwitz will update the committee as these plans progress. Orange- Alamance can also purchase from Swepsonville, Graham and Mebane. Strandwitz will discuss Orange- Alamance’s agreements with those systems before committing anything to the system. B. Planned Upgrades of Equipment and Lines in FY20: • Strandwitz reported that McAdams Road has historic failure on a 2-inch line that serves about 10 houses. The Fiscal Year 2020 budget has $75,000 allocated for the project. A 6-inch line was planned and permitted in 1986 but was never installed. There is no record of why the installation didn’t occur. Commissioner Mark Bell asked if there was any previous budget or minutes that alluded to the 1986 plans. • The FY20 budget has $200,000 set aside for line rehabilitation and replacement. Strandwitz noted it would be good to have the new modeling plan in hand to identify lines for use of this money. The Water Treatment Plant is replacing some variable frequency drives and turbidimeters. The budget also allows for an emergency generator for the Durham interconnect booster pump station. C. Town Budget Comparisons: Assistant to the Town Manager Jen Della Valle sent a document to the committee prior to tonight’s meeting. Bell shared that he hears complaints about cutoffs and rates and would like more data than what has been provided. Della Valle suggested asking Financial Services Director Daphna Schwartz for those figures. Cough asked about the line item for membership fees, and Strandwitz shared information about the different organizations to which staff members belong. She explained how these organizations help with the town’s allocations from Jordan Lake and how these committees coordinate activities that the town participates in which help the town’s utilities system. Cough asked about debt service, and other members discussed bonds, the Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade, and loan payments. Bell asked about communication to citizens regarding the big picture of the town’s expenses to explain rates, such as information on bond rating. Sykes stated people are quoting the news releases regarding Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 3 of 3 rates to each other and the rate change seems not as shocking to the public as the last increase. Public Information Officer Catherine Wright indicated a large amount of information is online on the frequently asked questions page about rates and information has been posted to social media, but her office would welcome ideas for condensing information to one page. 7. Future agenda items • Wholesale water sales and interconnects • Officer elections • School of Government’s modeling tool update (Stephen Lapp) • Discussion of how much interaction the committee wants with commissioners. Bell had questions about how future agenda items are determined and about how much interaction was desired. • Preparedness update for January 2020 agenda 8. Upcoming assignments for Board of Commissioners meetings A. Meeting Aug. 12: Saru Salvi (Barry Weston, substitute). Salvi will be out of town for business. Barker or Sykes will be there as Planning Board members already due to a public hearing at the meeting. B. Board work session Aug. 26: Daniel Rawlins (Arthur Sprinczeles, substitute). Rawlins confirmed via email that he will cover this meeting. 9. Adjournment As the committee was preparing to adjourn, guest Al Carnavale asked to speak about sprinkler system charges. He would like to only be billed for his usage on the sprinkler meter and not the minimum for months the sprinkler is not in use. He noted low water pressure is another issue he has discussed with Strandwitz; she is still trying to help find a solution for this issue at the Forest Ridge development. However, the Town has done about as much as it can through field testing at the meters and does not think that the issue is on the public side. Barker noted the sprinkler system comments would be kept in mind as the committee studies possible options for rate structures. Sykes moved to adjourn at 8:20 p.m., seconded by Salvi.