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Home My WebLink About17 March 2014 Final WRAB MinutesCITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES Name of Board / Commission: Water Resources Advisory Board Date of Meeting: 17 March 2014 Contact Information of Person Preparing Minutes: Laurel Olsen -Horen 303.441.3203 Board Members Present: Chuck Howe, Ed Clancy, Vicki Scharnhorst Board Members Absent: Dan Johnson, Marls Squillace Staff Present: Jeff Arthur, Director of Public Works for Utilities Bob Harberg, Principal Engineer - Utilities Bret Linenfelser, Water Quality and Environmental Services Manager Annie Noble, Flood and Greenways Engineering Coordinator Douglas Sullivan, Engineering Project Manager Pieter Beyer, Civil Engineer II Ken Baird, Utilities Financial Manager Laurel Olsen- Horen, Board Secr Meeting Type: Regular Agenda Item 1— Call to Order [7:01 p.m.] Agenda Item 2 — Approval of the 12 and 24 February 2014 Meeting Minutes: [7:01 p.m.] 12 February minutes: Motion to approve as presented. Moved by: Scharnhorst, Seconded by: Clancy Vote: 3:0 24 February minutes: Approval of the 24 February minutes was tabled due to less than three members in attendance at the February meeting also being present at the March meeting.. Agenda Item 3 — Public Participation and Comment [7:01 p.m.] Public Comment: Payson Sheets: Mr. Sheets is concerned with the planned expansion of the Eldora Ski Area, particularly the north side. Water quality maintenance is of significant importance to Mr. Sheets. Particulate erosion is of great concern. The original master plan for the ski area; (the US Forest Service accepted the plan) everyone agreed that the ski area would not expand beyond their boundaries. The Forest Service and Eldora came up with their own revision to the Master Plan in 2011. This revision did not include any public process. If the ski area expands clown close to the creels, the ski area will be placing skiers close to the creek. The new grading of the ski area will mean sediment eroding into the creels. The use of SnoMax, which is used by the ski resort to assist with snow making, and Carbaryl, applied to address pine beetles, would also impact the creek. The ski area has not been compliance for spraying Carbaryl near water sources. Ski wax compounds would also impact the creek. The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) states that the first three years would be the extent of impact time before vegetation would grow enough to control erosion. Questions from the board: • The EIS does not mention the use of SnowMax in the use of making snow. • Alternative 2 will have a negative impact on Middle Boulder Creek. City response: Bret Linenfelser will be responding on behalf of the city. The city's response will be focused around water quality and quantity. Alan Mole: Mr. Mole is concerned about the debris that came down during the flood in September in Bluebell Creek. The water and debris that the flood carried was massive. Cars were moved down Mariposa during the flood. Mr. Mole is concerned with the lack of warning and lack of mitigation during the flood. There is no mitigation planned that Mr. Mole is aware of such as debris removal. As mitigation fees are included in monthly utility bills, Mr. Mole would like to see a warning system, a mitigation plan and a full hazard analysis to scope the possibility of mud /rock slides, debris removal and an overall mitigation plan. WRAB Minutes 17 March 2014 Page No. 1 Warren Heim: Mr. Heim would like to compliment the city and staff. Mr. Heim resides near the King's Gulch. The floodplain maps for that area were extremely accurate which allowed Mr. Heim to plan accordingly prior to the flood. Mr. Heim is a private consultant and would like to give praise to Katie Knapp as she is a testament to the auality of work being done in the Citv. Agenda Item 4 — Information Item — Stormwater and Flood Management CIP Preview [7:35 p.m.] Bob Harberg and Utilities staff presented the item to the board which included a Powerpoint presentation. Executive Summary from the Packet Materials: This information item is intended to provide an update regarding Stormwater and Flood Management Capital Improvement Program (CIP) issues ahead of the formal budget process by providing: ❖ Background information Flood update •A Project updates ❖ Schedule of key milestones The formal CIP budget discussion will begin in April with a WRAB recommendation scheduled in June. Therefore, no formal action by the WRAB is requested at this time. WRAB Discussion Included: • There are different ways at looking at acquiring the needed funds required for completing the action plan of the CIP. Rates may or may not impact what the city is able to do on a broad scale. • Even at 70% rate increases, the city will not be able to afford to bring all improvements up to 100 -year flood mitigation. • There is an under - appreciation of how many homes were saved by improvements already made to the City's drainageways. • Clark County, Nevada (which includes Las Vegas) passed a' /4¢ sales tax post flooding to fund improvement programs. To bring the populated parts of the City up to 100 -year flood mitigation would require an enormous amount of money. • How is Boulder County doing work on private property with FEMA backing? Staff response: Boulder Co. was successful in obtaining a different funding source from FEMA. They must acquire a Right of Entry. The County's program with FEMA may not have any feasibility in the city. • The community rating system — Boulder is a 5 on a scale between 1 and 10. Boulder residents receive a 25% discount on flood insurance premiums due to the city's rating on the community rating system. Agenda Item 5 — Matters [8:57 p.m.] From the Board: Board member Clancy brought up the below matter(s): • For spring run -off — is the city prepared? Council will be receiving an update on this topic at tomorrow night's City Council meeting. Board member Scharnhorst brought up the below matter(s): • Pleased to read the article in the Camera over the weekend on the aftermath of the flood, which included the message (in the article) to encourage community members to purchase flood insurance and sanitary sewer backup insurance. From Staff: [8:59 p.m.] • There is room for one board member to attend an April 28 meeting related to the city's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities grant. _ Agenda Item 6 — Discussion on Future Schedule 19:01 p.m.] WRAB Minutes 17 March 2014 Page No. 2 April will have a brief update on water supply. Bear Canyon Creels, Harrison Avenue Levee along with the preliminary CIP discussion are likely topics. Agenda Item 9 — Adjournment [9:02 p.m.] There being no further business to come before the Board at this time, by motion regularly adopted, the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. Motion to adjourn by: Clancy; Seconded by: Scharnhorst Motion Passes 3:0 Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting: The next WRAB meeting will be Monday, 21 April 2014 at 7:00 p.m., in the Municipal Service Center Conference Room; 5050 E. Pearl unless directed by staff or the board. 6151 I/9 Date ATTESTED BY: Board Secretary R.6 I q Date An audio recording of the full meeting for which these minutes are a summary, is available on the Water Resources Advisory Board web page. WRAB Minutes 17 March 2014 Page No. 3