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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12-05-2019 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 2 Minutes Water and Sewer Advisory Committee 7 p.m. Dec. 5, 2019 Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan Barker, Barry Hupp, Daniel Rawlins, Saru Salvi, Arthur Sprinczeles, and Jenn Sykes MEMBERS ABSENT: Paul Cough and Barry Weston STAFF PRESENT: Utilities Analyst Julie Laws and Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz GUEST(S) PRESENT: Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd 1. Call to order and welcome of guests The meeting was called to order by Chair Dan Barker at 7:05 p.m. 2. Agenda changes and approval There were no changes. 3. Minutes review and approval: Nov. 7, 2019, meeting Member Jenn Sykes moved to approve minutes as presented, seconded by Member Saru Salvi. 4. Reports from Board of Commissioners meetings A. Meeting Nov. 12: No one from the committee attended this meeting, but Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz shared that the Jordan Lake allocation agreement was signed by Town Manager Eric Peterson. Awards were given to several members of the Utilities Department staff. B. Board work session Nov. 25: Sykes reported there was no discussion pertinent to utilities. 5. Updates A. Utilities Status Report Highlights: Strandwitz gave updates regarding water restrictions. Mandatory water withdrawal restrictions have been lifted, but the voluntary water restrictions will remain to allow the reservoir to fill up. Sykes had questions about the most recent total trihalomethane (TTHM) results as levels were predicted to be higher due to not proceeding with the fall hydrant flushing. Strandwitz stated that the fall sample results were slightly elevated but within the state’s limits. Barker asked if the highlights report spreadsheet could have a new column showing “new items.” Salvi suggested color- coding. These changes will be incorporated in the next monthly report. B. Drought Policy and Capacity Chart: Strandwitz and Barker suggested moving this item to February or beyond since members had just received the spreadsheet this week and may not have had time to study the chart. Member Daniel Rawlins asked how the town determines the rate of releases and the days of usage remaining during a drought. Strandwitz described how this is calculated based on lake level, rainfall, release rate, and current daily usage. There was some discussion regarding droughts and river levels throughout the town’s history. C. Rate structure model: There was brief discussion about the information provided by Stephen Lapp of the UNC Environmental Finance Center. It was determined that some attachments were missing. These will be obtained and shared. Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes | 2 of 2 6. New and schedule-based business A. New water leak detection equipment: Member Arthur Sprinczeles shared information about leak detection. Roughly 65% of homes have some kind of leak. Sprinczeles gave statistics on how toilets and leaky faucets waste millions of gallons of water every year. He presented several consumer devices that can be placed in the home for leak detection. One product by Flume is a wifi-enabled device that includes a base station for the home and a transmitter which is strapped to the water meter. Strandwitz expressed concern about a homeowner attaching a device to the town-owned meter. The main concerns are damage by a homeowner to the meter and interference with the town’s drive-by radio reads. Strandwitz will gather feedback from the town meter reader and other utilities and report back to Sprinczeles about his intention to try it. 7. Public comments No one from the public attended. 8. Future agenda items A. Discussion of UNC rate model ― January and February B. Presentations of alternate rate models ― January and February C. Customer skip rates ― March (Daphna Schwartz) D. Emergency preparedness update ― March (Marie Strandwitz) E. Budget retreat topics ― March 9. Upcoming assignments for Board of Commissioners meetings A. Meeting Dec. 9: Saru Salvi (Arthur Sprinczeles, substitute) 10. Adjournment Sykes moved to adjourn at 8:10 pm.