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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-04-2021 Minutes WSAC Regular Meeting WSAC 12.2.21 Item 3 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919-732-1270 | www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov WATER AND SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES | 1 of 3 Minutes WATER AND SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE Remote regular meeting 7 p.m. Nov. 4, 2021 Virtual meeting via YouTube Live Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair Arthur Sprinczeles, Vice Chair Jenn Sykes, Paul Cough, Saru Salvi, Barry Weston, Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd Absent: Barry Hupp (excused), Daniel Rawlins (unexcused) Staff: Assistant Town Manager Margaret Hauth, Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz, Finance Director Tiffany Long, Administrative Services Director Jen Della Valle, Public Information Officer Catherine Wright 1. Call to order and welcome of guests Chair Arthur Sprinczeles called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. Agenda changes and approval No changes were presented. Motion: Member Saru Salvi moved to approve as presented. Member Paul Cough seconded the motion. All in favor. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: 5. Nays: 0. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meeting on Oct. 7, 2021 Motion: Vice Chair Jenn Sykes moved to approve as presented. Member Barry Weston seconded the motion. All in favor. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: 5. Nays: 0. 4. Updates A. Director Strandwitz asked if there were questions regarding the utilities report. She highlighted the progress on the funding applications for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant and also on staffing, the reservoir level and the upcoming budget kickoff. B. Strandwitz reported the in-town member vacancy solicitation has been posted. Cough asked how the member solicitations were distributed and if the Citizens Academy participants were specifically targeted as he found that a valuable program. Weston concurred. Public Information Officer Catherine Wright indicated Facebook, Nextdoor, Twitter and the bill insert. She will check with Administrative Services Director Della Valle about the Citizens Academy members and if they are on the Email subscription list. Strandwitz stated there was one former in-town application on file. There is a potential application WATER AND SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES | 2 of 3 coming from Waterstone and two out-of-town applications have been received. It is anticipated that the vacancy would be filled by April or May if not earlier. C. Salvi updated the group on the outreach subcommittee activities. She has scheduled a meeting with Public Information Officer Catherine Wright. She is also looking at existing videos on the town website an developing a schedule that works with the communications schedule. Sykes reiterated that the questions people ask, even if simple, should be answered after Salvi noted several. Questions include, what are these big protrusions in Gold Park (manhole) and how do I find a leak before my bill? Why don’t my taxes pay for water and sewer? Salvi felt it was hard to find things on YouTube. Wright indicated she could make a YouTube channel dedicated to water and sewer. An elevator pitch is needed. Salvi mentioned the town does hang a door tag when the bill is higher than usual. Several other questions to answer were thrown out. Simplicity is key. Weston said, Hillsborough, it is in our name – we have more hills than other areas and thus needing more pumping stations. Need to explain simple features of the system. D. Strandwitz reviewed the provided proposed CIP and larger projects list for the upcoming budget and already in the budget in whole or part. She said the focus will be on the collection system needs. E. Strandwitz went over the town board assignments for next year and attendance report. The percentage of attendance may be calculated incorrectly. 5. Discussion Original Agenda Items A and B were switched for the discussion A. Assistant Town Manager Margaret Hauth presented ideas for equity through annexation. She highlighted three modest neighborhood examples that may gain the benefit of lower water rates through annexation and benefit the town. These are Wildwood, Heritage and Cedar Creek complexes and Locust and Tuliptree Roads. She explained the policy on annexation. It must be a voluntary petition with 100% commitment. Areas are not necessarily annexed parcel by parcel. Additionally, involuntary annexation is not a process the town chooses to employ but the ability is there. Member Salvi indicated she liked this voluntary annexation idea as another tool towards equity. Vice Chair Sykes suggested looking at all neighborhoods. Hauth discussed general benefits of annexation to residents. B. Rate structure priorities – Sykes just Emailed the decision matrix previously discussed to Strandwitz. Salvi felt the categories were already discussed. Sykes said she thinks the top priority is relief and feels the board may differ on the differential aspects. She is unclear how they may lean towards relieving commercial customers. Strandwitz suggested taking the general ideas and voting on them to take to the Board. Member Cough stated he was not ready for a motion and that his priority is cost recovery. He reviewed the general categories previously discussed (equity, business friendly, affordability and conservation) and thinks there will be subcategories. Sykes assumed cost recovery is inherent to all options. Salvi felt equity, affordability, and business friendly seem to be the top three. Cough felt affordability, business friendly and conservation are important and that these things need to be defined clearly. Weston concurred about conservation. The group decided to have a memo prepared to the Board to request what information would be helpful for future discussions. Strandwitz again offered to facilitate an outside person to come in and discuss rates further. She said it is a big undertaking with many other tasks to accomplish to find an answer. Cough agreed to call Stephen Lapp at UNC to see if there is more information on the definitions of rate goals. Motion to prepare a memo to the Board of Commissioners requesting more insight to expectations on the rate discussion: Weston moved to approve. Cough seconded. All in favor. WATER AND SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES | 3 of 3 Vote: 5-0. Ayes: 5. Nays: 0. Motion for Cough to contact UNC Environmental Finance Center to gather more data on rate goals: Salvi moved to approve. Weston seconded. All in favor. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: 5. Nays: 0. 6. Future agenda Items A. Rate structure prioritizations B. Communication subcommittee C. December recurring items 7. Member reports Member Hupp was not present to report on the Board of Commissioners meeting. Sykes discussed the joint public hearing with planning board members. Weston was not aware he was to attend the workshop. 8. Assignments for other meetings All main assignments for upcoming meetings were accepted (Sprinczeles on November 8, Salvi on November 22). 9. Adjournment Sykes motioned to adjourn. Salvi seconded. All in favor. Chair Sprinczeles adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted, K. Marie Strandwitz, PE Utilities Director Approved: Dec. 2, 2021