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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Stormwater Utility Commission - 8/18/2005 STORMWATER UTILITY COMMISSION (SWUC) MEETING MINUTES DATE: August 18, 2005 TIME: 8:30 AM LOCATION: Apache Room, Development Services, Town Hall Complex, 11,000 N. La Canada Oro Valley, AZ 85737 SWUC Commissioners Present: Peter Solonga, Thomas DuPlain, Glen Rockwell Oro Valley Staff Liaison(s) Present: Jim Hossley; Operations Div. Mgr., Rich Hawkinson; Storm Water Civil Engineering Tech., & Julie Smiley, Sr. Office Assistant for Public Works Guest: None Absent: KC Carter, Council Member 1. Call to order and roll call The meeting was called to order by Peter at 8:31 am. Roll call was taken. 2. Acceptance of the minutes from 6/24/05 and 7/22/05 The minutes for June 24, 2005, second revision were approved with one change to the second page, second paragraph. Item should read as "improving" not approving. The minutes for July 22, 2005 were approved with no changes unmanously. 3. CIP Pima County Flood Control Status Jim stated that there was no CIP meeting following the Flood Control Advisory Committee meeting on 8/17/05. It was reiterated that the projects for the first 2-3 years are already lined out in a time table. With the recent monsoon storms, Pima County staff has been busy with the clean up and they have not been able to finalize the table for distribution. The goal for CIP is to have Susanne Sheilds, Director of the Pima County Regional Flood Control District (PCRFCD), meet with each jurisdiction to discuss in detail the funding and timing of their drainage proposals. The meetings dates have not been set but will likely take place in October 2005. Peter asked about culverts along Oracle Rd. and 1St Ave. if they will be replaced due to standing/pooling water. This project is a State job and Town staff assumes that the old culverts will be replaced or renovated as a part of the current construction project. Regarding the question about standing water and infiltration potential, Jim stated that infiltration rates are controlled by underlying soil conditions. There are some areas in which infiltration is slow, water stands for more than 3 days, and thus it is necessary for the Town to implement mosquito control practices in these areas. Additionally, there has been some re-modifying of big box culverts that are not draining properly by either adding a v-notch or refilling scour holes with sand. Additionally, Jim and Rich discussed Rooney Wash, west of Oracle Road between Rock Ridge Apartments and the Oro Valley Country Club, as both a drainage and a safety challenge for the Town and the PCRFCD. The heavy vegetation in the Wash causes not only c:\documents and settings\lhersha\local settings\temporary internet files\olk8\swuc meeting minutes aug 18 05 revisions.doc 1 of 4 a possible conveyance problem for high flows but also a safety issue there was a fire in the Wash earlier this summer that caused a concern to the Apartment management. As an added challenge, the area below the box culvert outlets does not drain completely. Thus, it creates a breeding area for mosquitoes during the summer months. To help rectify the flow conveyance and fire concerns, the PCRFCD received permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove trees with basal diameters of less than four inches and all brush (desert broom) from the Wash. Following the brush removal effort, Town staff cleaned the outflow area from the culverts and constructed some small channels to help drain the pooled water. This effort was partially successful; however, some water still accumulates on the concrete splash pad that extends out about 10 feet beyond the culvert outlet. Until such time as ADOT reconstructs this culvert, perhaps associated with the Oracle Road widening, the Town will have some continuing mosquito control challenges in the area. Now that the vegetation and channel work has been completed, the Town hopes to get the Apartment management to conduct a thorough removal of debris in their wash and to maintain this condition through a joint adopt-a-wash effort involving apartment and Oro Valley Country Club residents. Additionally, the Town hopes to work with the U.S.G.S. in obtaining some cross-sectional information at about 6 locations between Oracle Road and the Wash's confluence with the CDO Wash. This data would be used in some hydraulic modeling to illustrate the effects of vegetation management on flow conveyance. 4. Stormwater Utility 2005/2006 Budget Status Jim referenced the handouts on this year's budget and last year's total expenditures. Glen asked why budget was higher than actual expenditure. This is due to some Pima County funded projects that were completed under budget and the funds were temporarily "housed" in the stormwater account. Also, grants are not included in the budget which helps to diminish the expenditures and there are some costs which are charged externally, for example, street sweeping. In the future, the Town wants to budget for a new street sweeper per the previous Town Engineer. Currently the Town has one street sweeper and another that does not operate well due to mechanical problems. The Town tries to sweep each street on a quarterly basis although some streets receive more attention. To keep up with sedimentation problems associated with stormwater runoff as well as street maintenance in newly annexed areas, a second street sweeper is likely to be needed. 5. Discussion of Fee Structure Jim distributed copies of an updated Stormwater Program Costs, Storm Water Ordinance Draft, and Detention/Retention Basin and Stormwater Quality Technology Data Form while Rich discussed the email packet on the Florida fee structure. The Florida document provides an excellent overview of fee structure considerations and approaches. The approach recommended by the SWUC in July 2002 which is based on impervious area and apportions fees between residential, commercial, and religious/educational developments is quite consistent with recommendations in the Florida report. The key to community acceptance of the fee structure is education regarding the new charges they will be incurring why they exist and what they cover. The fee structure approach was approved by the previous Town Council but not implemented because there was a concern about adding too many fees to the resident's water utility bill at one time. Next, Jim and Rich addressed a preliminary estimate of the revised stormwater program costs mentioning that the estimated budget would be roughly$300,000 per year which would come out to be about $1.25 per month charge (plus or minus a few cents) to OV residents. This figure includes some basin and stormwater maintenance but does not include administrative c:\documents and settings\lhersha\local settings\temporary internet files\olk8\swuc meeting minutes aug 18 05 revisions.doc 2 of 4 assistance. Jim expressed the benefit to obtain a ROW permit to take over the maintenance only of basins from the HOA's, since it seems they are not maintaining detention basins on a regular basis. Currently the Town is not required under our permit, which expires in December 2007 to document maintenance however, with the growth of the Town it would be in the best interest to start now instead of waiting. Additionally, in developing a revised fee structure, the Town and SWUC will need to develop a budget that will reflect a 5 year revenue structure as opposed to a yearly budget. Taking into consideration the potential growth of the Town as well as annexations, the budget should be developed in such a manner that fees will not need to increase over the 5 year term. Once the proposed budget and fee structure is completed, it will be presented to the Town Council by the SWUC and Town staff. Jim mentioned with the budget that they would like to accumulate "seed money" which would aid in the funding for grants from Federal or State as well as for Pima County when partnering on flood projects. Currently the outlined budget does not contain capital improvements that the committee may want to include in the budget. It was suggested that it may be necessary for the SWUC to meet more frequently, i.e., on a 2-week basis, to develop the fee structure with recommended fees that will be presented to the Council. Rich commented on a national project called W.E.T. (Water Education for Teachers). This program allows the teachers following completion of a 1-2 day training session to present educational modules to students on various aspects of water resources including water quality. The goal is to explore opportunities to incorporate this program into the Amphitheater Schools. Tom interjected to state that his Rotary Club and/or the like clubs would be interested in receiving training on this matter to help in the aid of stormwater prevention. This matter carried over the discussion to the current stormwater activities. 6. Current Stormwater Activities As mentioned above, the benefit of non-profit clubs and teachers to assist in stormwater pollution prevention activities would improve the stormwater program's cost effectiveness since it is done on a volunteer basis. Peter spoke of the effectiveness of the radio ads developed by the PAG and member jurisdictions. The radio stations that were advertising the ads during the am/pm rush hour times until August 20, 2005 were; KMXZ FM 94.9, KWMT FM 92.9, KUAZ FM 89.1 and KCUB AM 1290. It was reiterated that stormwater pollution prevention was also being addressed through posters at bus stops, advertisements on bus benches, and posters in all City buses. Addressed next was the PCRFCD IGA to provide Oro Valley with funds for 3 drainage improvement projects which will be going forward to the Pima County Board of Supervisors for final approval on September 6, 2005. Finally, the detention/retention data form was discussed. ADEQ is requesting information on the retention and detention basins as a part of the NPDES stormwater program. PAG has developed a program, based on jurisdictional input, to store information on retention and detention basins. Unfortunately, the information is not easily accessible for previously completed projects as it has to be obtained by reviewing old drainage reports. Jim and Rich proposed the new data form to the Acting Town Engineer asking to have the form incorporated with new plans as they are submitted. The response was the suggestion that the c:\documents and settings\lhersha\local settings\temporary internet files\olk8\swuc meeting minutes aug 18 05 revisions.doc 3 of 4 data base form could be incorporated with other items into a revision of the Town's Drainage Criteria Manual. 7. Set September meeting date/time It was unanimously agreed to have the next meeting on Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 8:30 am in the Apache Room. Meeting date would change to September 15th, only if information was ready regarding the budget. Members would be notified in advance. 8. September proposed agenda items 1. Call to order and roll call 2. Acceptance of the minutes from 8/18/05 3. CIP Pima County Flood Control Status 4. Discussion on 2005/2006 Budget 5. Discussion on Fee Structure 6. Set October meeting date/time 7. October proposed agenda items 8. Adjourn 9. Adjourn A motion to adjourn was made and unanimously approved. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:08 am. • Minutes Prepared By: Julie Smiley Julie Smiley,Senior Office Assistant c:\documents and settings\lhersha\local settings\temporary internet files\olk8\swuc meeting minutes aug 18 05 revisions.doc 4 of 4