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Home My Public Portal About2014_tcwsmin0721 Council Work Session July 21, 2014 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd presiding. Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, David Butler, Thomas Dunn, Marty Martinez, Kevin Wright and Mayor Umstattd. Council Members Absent: Council Member Hammler. Council Member Martinez arrived at 7:39 p.m. Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Deputy Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Director of Utilities Amy Wyks, Deputy Director of Utilities Aref Etemadi, Information Technology Manager Annie Carlson, Director of Economic Development Marantha Edwards and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green AGENDA ITEMS 1. Work Session Items for Discussion a. Leesburg 311 Annie Carlson stated Leesburg 311 is the mobile application for information and service requests. She demonstrated how a member of the public can put in a service request Key Points: • App will allow staff to see issues that are being reported by the public • Way to get information to the public • Simple work order management system • Will start with four departments • Soft launch on July 7 without any advertising Council Comments/Questions: • Does the town want everything shared on Facebook? Staff answer: It is a fast way to notify people of safety issues • Would like to be able to monitor activity • Will things be posted on Facebook? Staff answer: The process with Facebook has not been completely worked through, but staff can return with a report on how the two can work together • Expectation of response time needs to be set • There needs to be back up so that if someone is out of the office, requests are still answered b. Economic Development Ambassador Program Jim Sisley, Chair, Leesburg Economic Development Commission, gave a brief presentation on the Commission's proposed Ambassador Program. Key Points: l Page Council Work Session July 21, 2014 • Ambassador program announced at business forum where all town businesses are invited. • Ambassadors are selected and trained • Information packet available for new businesses Council Comments/Questions: • Has this been done in other localities? Speaker answer: Yes. Creative localities use this to try to make the business community feel wanted • Ambassadors will be looking for trends, not individual issues—what is happening in general in the business community • Town staff will still be reaching out to businesses? Speaker answer: Yes. They will work together. • Ambassadors are not recruiting businesses • If there is a potential new business that wants to come into town, lead would go to staff and staff would foster that lead • Who decides which businesses and how many businesses that an ambassador visits? Speaker answer: It would be nice if they could visit one per week, but realistically, these are volunteers. • Let the ambassadors, the EDC and the economic development staff develop this program without Council interference • Would rather the EDC choses the ambassadors, not Council. • Could encourage other commissions to develop ambassadors to assist businesses in their field • Gap analysis goes back how far before it is released? Speaker answer: Information is collected on an annual basis • Have done a good job dealing with the potential for conflict of interests There was Council consensus to vote to support this program. c. Comprehensive Parking Program Vice Mayor Butler stated that there was a recommendation to postpone this item until all Council members have an opportunity to respond to the survey. There was Council consensus to postpone this item to the August work session d. Utility Rate Discussion John Wells stated the ad for the public hearing has been placed and provides for the maximum amount of flexibility. He stated that Council can vote tomorrow evening, if they so choose. Council Questions/Comments: 2IPage Council Work Session July 21, 2014 • What is the total annual operating expenses in dollars that the utility has to cover? Consultant answer: Roughly$14 million in FY14 and it goes up about 5%per year. Forecast shows gross requirements (including debt service)would range from$17.5 million and increase to $33 million over an 11 year period. This combines water and wastewater. • Based on the rate scenario recommended tonight, what is the total annual income anticipated by fiscal year? Consultant answer: Directed Council to Table 14 that shows forecasted revenues. • If the proposed rates cover too much, are you anticipating that there is too much conservation and the usage rate needs to go down and the fixed rates need to go up, will there be any extra to cover the small CIP projects? Consultant answer: The forecast is a reasonable forecast to cover the operating expenditures and the CIP needs. It is not targeted to generate a surplus. That is not programmed into the forecast. We assumed that there is a need to transfer a certain amount of money for capital reinvestment. Will need to be evaluated annually, but would hope to meet or exceed the forecasts. • Doesn't the 30,000 gallon rate cap for sewer usage keep the residential customer from getting a break? Consultant answer: Yes, but we were looking at it as a rate structure methodology. Effectively for the customers below the cap, they would get billed 1:1; however, the recommendation of 30,000 was based upon the level of service. • Is the 30, 000 gallon sewer cap a fair amount? Consultant answer: It is a very dynamic thing—if we raise one thing, something else will lower. There is an equal offset someplace. • Have all the miscellaneous fees been adjusted? Staff answer: Some of the miscellaneous fees cover the cost of services provided. Some are to document an ordinance that was approved in the past, but was not added to the Town Code. These will be outlined in the presentation tomorrow night. • Rates are fair in comparison with other jurisdictions in Loudoun County. • Would like to know what the curve looks like for commercial customers Consultant answer: Can prepare a chart to show this information • Would bringing a new business into town would have a greater impact on the utility system than bringing new houses into town? • Would additional usage impact the rate increase? Consultant answer: Currently user fee revenues generate 6-7% fixed charge recovery, so the remaining 93-94% come from flow charges. If 2-3% growth in flows occurred, revenues would go up by a corresponding amount and would offset whatever rate increase was 3IPage Council Work Session July 21, 2014 identified; however, the revenues would need to be sustainable. Flucuations in usage underline the recommendation for increase in fixed charges rather than flow charges. • Don't want to put a greater burden on the residents by reducing what the commercial rate payers pay • Believe that the out of town differential should be significantly higher than for in town users • Is there an alternate scenario should Council choose not to increase the fixed rate to the level that is recommended? Consultant answer: The simple answer is no, but because the methodology was to identify the amount of costs and associated revenues that would be required, then the second step was to design rates. Costs would need to be recovered from usage revenues • What would happen if there was no cap on the wastewater? Consultant answer: There would be more billing units over which to recover the same amount of projected costs—it would lower the unit rate, but more units could be charged. 2. Additions to Future Council Meetings Mayor Umstattd stated that Rod Williams cannot attend tomorrow night's meeting, but a Resolution of Appreciation can be passed and presented to him at his going away event. Council Member Burk requested that all Council Members sign this Resolution. Council Member Martinez noted that the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting caused him to be late for the Council meeting. He further noted that there is a walking trail that is being used by horseback riders through the area on Edwards Ferry Road. Vice Mayor Butler requested that the Standing Residential Traffic Committee look at making Hope Parkway in Stratford a two lane road with parking on both sides. The Town Manager will have to send it to the SRTC for consideration. There were four members that agreed to have this done. Council Member Dunn requested a discussion about providing water to Raspberry Falls. There were not four members wishing to discuss this topic unless a request comes from Loudoun Water. 3. Adjournment On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Wright, the 4 mee '•' was a ' rned at 10:04 p.m. vii NJ,.a Clerk of C.un it 2014 tcwsmin07 4IPage