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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Stormwater Utility Commission - 8/23/2007 MINUTES STORMWATER UTILITY COMMISSION (SWUC) REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 23, 2007 CONCORDIA CONFERENCE ROOM 680 WEST CALLE CONCORDIA ORO VALLAY, ARIZONA 85704 CALL TO ORDER: at or after 4:00 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: James Dunn, Chair David Parker, Vice Chair Glen Rockwell, Commissioner George Glos, Commissioner(arrived at 4:15 p.m.) COUNCIL LIAISON: Kenneth Carter, Council Member STAFF PRESENT: Phil Trenary, Operations Division Manager Rich Hawkinson, Stormwater Civil Engineer Tech. Linda Hersha, Senior Office Assistant MINUTES: MOTION: A motion was made by Commissioner Rockwell to approve the minutes from the July 24, 2007 meeting. Commissioner Parker seconded the motion. Motion carried, 3-0. REVIEW OF ONGOING STORMWATER UTILITY FEE Chair Dunn distributed a document entitled"Acceptance of the Stormwater Utility Fee" dated August 10, 2007. The following is an outline of the information contained within the document: • Acceptance of Stormwater Utility Fee—August 10, 2007 1. Presented plan to Town Council for implementation a. Proposed budget for fee of$1.90, $2.40 (a middle range fee) and $2.90. b. Identify start-up costs and proposed budget items to cover start-up costs. c. Show proposed billing procedures(s) The Stormwater Utility Commission (OVWU) proposes to have the billing done exclusively by the Oro Valley Water Utility. The non-Oro Valley Water Utility customers will be billed quarterly whether residential or commercial. The concept is to save mailing costs by billing quarterly and to streamline the process for OVWU. All OVWU customers will be billed on a monthly basis. Discussion with the Metro Water and Tucson Water Companies 8/23/07 Stormwater Utility Commission(SWUC) 2 Minutes regarding their billing our SWU fee did not yield satisfactory results. d. Proposed Regulation for implementation, including definitions. e. Described staff functions, proposed costs for staff and line responsibility. f. Demonstrate how Stormwater Utility dovetails into Public Works efforts and vice versa. g. Meet with Town Manager and Mayor prior to hearing and study session. 2. Prepare documents for public education prior to public hearing. 3. Meet with homeowners associations. Operations Division Manager, Phil Trenary reviewed the three (3) cost scenarios for the "Stormwater Utility 5 Year Revenue Forecast" based on $1.90/ERU, $2.40 ERU and $2.90 ERU. This document was created and submitted by Wendy Gilden, the Town's Management and Budget Analyst. The report contained the following categories: Revenue, Expenses, Total Expenses, and Ending Balance/Contingency Reserve. Each category contained sub-categories such as Personnel, Contract/Services, Supplies and Capital Outlay. The following topics were identified and discussed: • Temporary services cost and recurring jobs. • Outside Professional Services. • Equivalent Residential Unit(ERU) FEE. • "Revenue funding for outside sources" and if it should be increased. • Future Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). • Review of items listed under the "Contract Service" listed in the 5-year forecast. • Staff support for the Stormwater Utility and how the Stormwater program will develop financial stability to accommodate staff salaries. • Developing the Stormwater program and the supporting components that will be used for the program's funding. • Postage, office supplies, software maintenance and internal projects cost will be increased in the projected "Stormwater Fund 5 Year Forecast". • Equipment, amortization of equipment and minor assets item cost will be adjusted. There was discussion regarding whether the amortization equipment item should be moved from the "Contract Services"to the "Capital Overlay" category. Phil will contact Wendy to review the matter. There was discussion regarding how the billing of the Equivalent Residential Unit Fees (ERU's)would be implemented. Operation Manager Phil Trenary reported the Oro Valley Water Utility, and staff agreed that the Oro Valley water customers should be billed monthly and non-Oro Valley customers would be billed quarterly. He explained that the Commission should determine whether or not the customer should be billed quarterly or if the Town should allow customers the opportunity to pay on a six month or yearly basis. 8/23/07 Stormwater Utility Commission (SWUC) 3 Minutes There was discussion regarding those customers who could potentially become problematic. It was the consensus of the Commission to include in the resolution a clause to address late fees, bad checks and other penalty (insufficient funds) related issues affiliated with Stormwater costs. Chair Dunn distributed a copy of the "Stormwater Utility Regulations" dated August 10, 2007 for the Commissions review. He explained that the following data were an outline of how the Commission would possibly proceed with the project as discussed in previous meetings: A) Fee- l) Each parcel in Oro Valley will be assessed a monthly fee for the amount of surface rainwater runoff related to the impervious surface on the parcel. 2) Said fee will be billed periodically to the property owner as determined by the latest Pima County Property Assessment listing. 3) The fee will be used to offset the cost of the Stormwater Utility operations. B) Fee Determination 1) The fee will be based on the number of Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs) for the parcel. Each ERU will be for an impervious surface area of 5,000 square feet. 2) Every single-family residential parcel of greater than 5,000 square feet will be assessed. (One ERU) Rationale: The size of a residential parcel does not materially affect the cost of the stormwater operations in Oro Valley, The cost per unit(ERU) whether 2,000 square feet or 10,000 square feet is the same for single family units. The concept of tiering the single-family units does not make sense for the above reason. In addition, the cost and time involved to determine the exact impervious area will be about $30K and six months, respectively. It is therefore more equitable to have only one tier for this classification. 3) Multiple Family Unit, Commercial, School, and Non-Profit Use Parcels with over 5,000 square feet of impervious surface will be assessed at the rate per number of ERU's and the fees will be divided into three tiers based on size of the impervious areas. The tiers will be divided at the following number of ERUs: • Tier A: 2-10 ERUs • Tier B: 11-20 ERUs • Tier C: over 20 ERUs Rationales: Large parking lots have more traffic and drainage structures and a proportionally larger chance to have the Town's employees involved in the operation and maintenance of the systems. The larger the square footage of the parking areas and roofs, the greater the runoff and more important, to monitor the outfall of potential pollution and periodic maintenance. So the cost to the Town both initially and on an"ongoing"basis will be more than single-family residential units. Note: The tier breakdown needs further review. Tier A would go up to 50,000 square feet, Tier B would go from 50,000 to 100,000 square feet, and Tier C would encompass everything over 100,000 square feet of impervious area. 4) The amount of ERUs on a parcel will be determined by the latest aerial photography available to the Oro Valley database. 8/23/07 Stormwater Utility Commission (SWUC) 4 Minutes 5) Parcels with a nonprofit function and ownership will be assessed at 25 percent of the standard fee rate providing that its owner participates in an annual or ongoing stormwater education program. 6) Parcels with"First Flush"technology will be given a fee reduction of 25 percent, providing that the stormwater drain system is maintained as designed and approved by the Town of Oro Valley. An annual inspection and report of the proper functioning of the system is required in order to obtain the reduction. Phil Trenary reported that he recently attended a Stormwater Conference where he discussed the issue regarding "flat rates" and the "tier system". He explained that most utilities do use the "flat rate", which is do-able and the "tier system"would be more expensive. He said the majority of utility services use some type of a credit system and the average credits are less than 3% of the overall budget. He explained that if a credit system is used an application would be necessary in addition to application fee. He said the biggest issue would be the public buy-ins, such as the Homerowner's Association and the Oro Valley Country Club. Discussion followed regarding: • Should non-profit organizations be included in the tier system? • Should more tiers be added to the ERUs? • Should price breaks be eliminated or should there be credits designated across the board? • Giving different percentage rates as credit with a maximum percentage of 25%. • Developing more segments in order to facilitate the way a customer would receive credit and make the credits less per segment with a maximum credit of 25%. • Arranging a meeting with Civil Town Attorney Joe Andrews for input about the tier system. • Should the ERUs be made increased and should there be more than 3 tiers? Phil will check with Carolyn Schneider, Customer Service Supervisor, to discuss how many tiers should be utilized. • The Commission will create a definition of staff function that will provide support to the Stormwater Program and identify their responsibilities. Vice Chair Parker gave a brief overview of the "Proposed Stormwater Utility Fee" PowerPoint presentation. The Commission is scheduled to meet with Town Council on September 12th, 2007. SET SEPTEMBER MEETING DATE/TIME The next study session will be held on September 6th at 4:00 p.m. to run through the "Proposed Stormwater Utility Fee" PowerPoint presentation. The proposal will be presented in a Study Session with the Town Council on September 12, 2007. The next regular meeting is scheduled for September 20th, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT 8/23/07 Stormwater Utility Commission (SWUC) 5 Minutes Chair Dunn moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:43 p.m. Commissioner Rockwell seconded the motion. Motion carried, 4-0. Prep ed by• .4M Y cd - inda Hersha, Senior Office Assistant