HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.09.24 WRAB MinutesWRAB Minutes
09/09/2024
Page No. 1
CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES
Name of Board / Commission: Water Resources Advisory Board
Date of Meeting: 9 September 2024
Contact Information for Person Preparing Minutes: Karen Sheridan, 303-441-3208
Board Members Present: John Berggren, Amy Broughton, Katie Bridges, Steve Maxwell
Board Members Absent: Steve Maxwell
Staff Present: Joe Taddeucci, Director of Utilities
Joanna Bloom, Utilities Deputy Director of Policy and Planning
Chris Douglass, Utilities Engineering Manager
Chris Olson, Wastewater Engineering Supervisor
Karen Sheridan, Board Secretary
Agenda Item 1 – Call to Order [6:00 p.m.]
Agenda Item 2 – Approval of 15 July 2024 Meeting Minutes [6:01 p.m.]
Motion to approve: Broughton Seconded by: Bridges
Vote: 3:0
Agenda Item 3 – Public Participation and Comment [6:02 p.m.]
Lynne Segal: I’m upset, as Joanna knows very well, about my water bill being a hundred dollars a
month. You know first of all, I don’t even irrigate. And I know we have sewer and stormwater and
floodwater. I get all of that. But there’s got to be a better way of like being more equitable with elders
(I’m 71) or with lower income people or fixed income people so proportionally they pay less of those
fees, which make up 90% of my bill. I mean we’re always pushing for DEI in Boulder, right. And with
housing prices, the insurance going up, the property taxes going up, and this Jared Polis thing isn’t even
going to get done. Do you know that was $260 or $280 million savings rather than $3.4 billion savings
is what he could have done. It seems like that’s kind of a cheap fix on the part of Jared for our property
taxes, and so they settle out of court, the court being public opinion. But it’s pretty crippling. It’s kind of
like upping the minimum wage, you know? And the people want to delay it and not bring it up too high.
But you know what, that’s an overnight bang. As soon as you give people free money they spend it like
bang, and then your economy goes bang, you know? So, there are ways to solve these problems. The
other thing I’m thinking you could or should (I don’t like to be pedantic, I come from a family of
educators and I hate when people educate me), but these micro apartments and efficiencies are very
costly for water. The water that it takes to make things, to make toilets, for a house to have 5 to 10
toilets, you know, like they should have to pay for having more toilets than they have people. It’s utterly
ridiculous. And the same for washers and dryers. Laundry facilities take a lot of water to make. Water is
life. My daughter is a water artist. She takes geographical data and transforms it into structural, three-
dimensional boards to demonstrate to people how they’re using their water. So I couldn’t ask for more
because my name means water. My brother was a water treatment guy with the city for his career. You
know he’s a water chemist. Thanks. Just try to branch out to the broader picture of what’s happening
because water gets used so much everywhere and so inefficiently.
Agenda Item 4 – Matters from Board [6:08 p.m.]
No matters were presented.
Agenda Item 5 – Matters from Staff [6:09 p.m.]
• Council letter provided in packet outlining 11 priorities
• What’s Up Boulder
- Held at East Boulder Community Center on September 7.
- Utilities maintenance demonstrated water meters.
- Flood team presented project information.
- Water Resources team attended.
• Main Sewer Improvements Project, presented by Chris Olson
- Western side of town offers advantageous downhill topography.
- System is gravity with exception of one lift station.
- Local sewers collect, flow to larger-diameter trunk sewers, which are collected on the east
side of town in main interceptor.
- Main interceptor runs from southern side of town north to the Water Resource Recovery
Facility.
WRAB Minutes
09/09/2024
Page No. 2
-Earliest project references date back to 1960s.
-Existing line constructed in 1968, some line lost in 1969 flood.
-System remained intact with heroic efforts during 2013 flood.
-Compromised section of existing interceptor relocated in 2015.
-Wastewater Collection System Master Plan developed 2016 to 2020.
-Project addresses capacity, condition, flood vulnerability, risk reduction.
Agenda Item 6 – Discussion of Future Schedule [6:29 p.m.]
•October: Backflow Prevention Program Code Updates; Upper Goose Creek Flood Project
Update.
•November: Retreat likely to move February 2025; Town of Nederland Wastewater IGA;
Possible tour of 63rd Street Water Treatment Plant Upgrades.
•December: No meeting.
Agenda Item 9 – Adjournment [6:30 p.m.]
Motion to adjourn by: Bridges Seconded by: Broughton
Motion Passes 3:0
Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting:
The next WRAB meeting will be held in hybrid format on Monday, October 21, at 6:00 p.m.
APPROVED BY: ATTESTED BY:
Board Chair: _________________________ Board Secretary: ____________________________
Date: _______________________________ 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 via the Access Meeting Agendas and Materials link.
Water Resources Advisory Board | City of Boulder (bouldercolorado.gov)
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