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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2 - Minutes, 3/28/05 CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING SUMMARY FORM NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Water Resources Advisory Board DATE OF MEETING: March 28, 2005 NAME/TELEPHONE OF PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Robin Madel, 303-441-4073 NAMES OF MEMBERS, COUNCIL, STAFF, AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS – Gil Barth, Kenneth Wilson, Jim Knopf, Bart Miller, Robin Byers STAFF – Ned Williams, Douglas Sullivan, Paul Heppler, Floyd Bebler, Paul Lander, Robin Madel, secretary WHAT TYPE OF MEETING (BOLD ONE) [REGULAR] [SPECIAL] [QUASI-JUDICIAL] Agenda Item 1– Introductions The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. Agenda Item 2 – Swearing in of new board member and election of new officers. Robin Byers was sworn in. Elections for new board members were held. Ken Wilson motioned to amend the WRAB By-Laws, Section 1.3 to read, “The officers shall be elected by the Board at its first regular meeting after the City Council appointment of a new member.” Bart Miller seconded. Bart Miller noted that the location should be changed in the By-Laws and he pointed out a grammatical mistake in Section 5.1. Bart Miller motioned to change section 1.5 to read, “The Board has scheduled regular th meetings at 7:00 pm on the third Monday of each month at the 13 Street Conference Room th located at 1720 S. 13 St.” Also, a (c) should be added to Section 5.1 between “Board” and “coordinate.” Ken Wilson recommended a change to Point 3 in Section 1.4, which reads, “…recommendations to the city manager…” to delete “to the city manager.” Ned Williams said he would determine if this is language in the code. Jim Knopf motioned to make all the changes at suggested. Gil Barth seconded. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. Board elections. Ken Wilson nominated Gil Barth as the WRAB chair. Jim Knopf seconded the nomination. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the nomination. Gil Barth nominated Ken Wilson as WRAB vice chair. Jim Knopf seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the nomination. Ken Wilson nominated Jim Knopf for WRAB secretary. Bart Miller seconded the nomination. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the nomination. Ken Wilson nominated Bart Miller for WRAB assistant secretary. Gil Barth seconded the nomination. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the nomination. Agenda Item 3 – Meeting Minutes The minutes from Feb. 7, 2005 were approved as written. Ken Wilson motioned to approve the minutes. Jim Knopf seconded the motion. The vote was 4-0 in favor of the motion. Robin Byers abstained because she was not a member at that meeting. Agenda Item 4 – Public participation and WRAB comment There was none. Citizen Participation was closed. WRAB Summary March 28, 2005 1 Page No. Agenda Item 5 – Staff briefing and WRAB discussion on the Valmont Butte Project –Community and Environmental Assessment Process (CEAP), including the proposed Biosolids Composting Facility. Douglas Sullivan gave the presentation and discussed the background and history of the project, as well as the biosolids component that the WRAB will be asked to vote on at a subsequent meeting. WRAB Questions WRAB questions covered the following topics: The purchase price and funding source; Banning of land application of biosolids; Potential Boulder County 1041 Permit issues; The total city investment to date; The top public comments and concerns; Fallback plans in case the site is not approved; Contents of the CEAP report; Items of concern from the EPA; and Ecological Concerns. The item will be brought before the WRAB at a subsequent meeting. The item will also be the subject of a joint meeting of five advisory boards to provide an opportunity for the public to only have to comment once. Agenda Item 6 – Matters from Staff and Board Matters from the Staff Ned Williams said that the Diagonal Water Line project construction should be complete in two- three weeks but won’t be fully operational until the fall. Ned Williams said that although it is too early to know the status of the water supply for certain, at this point it seems to be in good shape. A final estimate will be prepared in May 2005. Ned Williams said that the Lakewood Pipeline is operational and doing fine and the city will be going to mediation with the contractor beginning the week of April 4. Ned Williams said that the staff is making progress on the new rate structure and billing systems and has hired an IT project manager to head up development of the billing system development. Matters from the Board Jim Knopf said he met with a man who does audits, irrigation systems and water budgets. Knopf said the man recommended focusing on at irrigation accounts first in establishing water budgets. Jim Knopf brought information about a water meter reader that can be used by water customers. Ned Williams said that all of the Single Family Residential meters that have been replaced are not compatible with the type of reader that Knopf had presented but as meters get replaced a more compatible model will be used as the replacement. If residential customers want to install the new meter ahead of the replacement schedule, the city will install the new meter for a fee. The board discussed the rate structure pilot project proposal that the staff prepared. Each of the board members felt that valuable information would be learned from the project but discussed several changes such as extending the project through September. Chuck Howe, with CU-Boulder, said he feels the project has confounding objectives and would not provide clear and useful information because in the project, the new rate structure would be used but participants would be billed under the current rate structure. WRAB concerns included the following: Conducting a qualitative versus a quantitative study; o The value of the study and whether it is worth conducting; o Water bill information privacy; o Illegal occupancy and the appeals process; and o Other legal ramifications of the water budget. o motioned that the WRAB recommend that the city proceed with the Pilot Project Jim Knopf as outlined in the memo. Ken Wilson seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. Ken Wilson discussed the fluoride issue and said that there is a small group of people lobbying to end drinking water fluoridation. Wilson said he feels the WRAB should wait until the National Research Council completes its study of the issue and he is disappointed that the citizen group has WRAB Summary March 28, 2005 2 Page No. started a petition process now. Wilson said he believes the City Council is against spending any funding on the issue at this time. Robin Byers said she wanted to know if the petition would require signatures from customers within and outside of the city limits. Agenda Item 7 – Adjournment Bart Miller motioned to adjourn the meeting. seconded the motion. Jim Knopf The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting: thth Monday, April 18, 2005 – 7 p.m., 1720 13 St. (13 Street Conference Room) Minutes approved by: ____________________ Date: ____________________ WRAB Summary March 28, 2005 3 Page No.