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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 5/1/2012 (5) . MINUTES CITY OF GLENDALE AD HOC CITIZEN TASK FORCE ON WATER AND SEWER PALO VERDE ROOM ADULT CENTER 5970 W. BROWN STREET GLENDALE,ARIZONA 85301 TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2012 6:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. by Michael Ashcraft, facilitator. He reviewed the schedule and gave a brief explanation of the events planned for the evening. ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE APRIL 30, 2012 MEETING Sally Melling, Sr. Secretary for Water Services, asked for approval of the Summary Minutes from the Task Force. Mike Ashcraft asked members for their input and concerns on the previous night's meeting. Several concerns noted prior were addressed by the start of tonight's meeting such as a second microphone being made available. Craig Johnson, P.E., Executive Director, Water Services Department first provided information requested from Task Force members at the April 30 meeting. Commissioner Rod Williams requested financial information for the department. Craig asked what their preferred method would be to receive the financial information that was requested. The majority of the members wanted it sent by email/Internet access. Several members requested that a printed copy be mailed to them. They were asked to give their names & information to Kern Logan. He then answered Commissioner Livingston's question on the purchasing process. City departments purchase products and services in 3 ways: Water Services uses the Engineering Depailment for Capital Improvement Plan projects if purchasing professional services (under ARS §34-603), we work through the Purchasing Dept., and use pro-cards. The city's Purchasing Department provides services, commodities, and purchases such as chemicals, by using cooperative agreements with sister cities, and piggy backing on their bids. Council has approved working under those cooperative agreements. For purchases over $50,000, Council approval must be requested at the evening Council meetings. If purchases are between $5K-50K, three quotes must be obtained by putting the bids out to the public. The Purchasing Dept. assists in this process also. For amounts up to $5,000, city credit cards are used for daily purchases. Craig stated that members will be sent a link to the Purchasing Dept. website showing the purchasing procedures. The question was asked if there was information to compare Glendale's financial info to comparable sized cities. Craig stated that all cities publish it as public information and it • May 1, 2012 Ad Hoc Citizen Task Force on Water and Sewer Minutes Page 2 is available on the Web. Purchasing water is separate process that will be discussed in further detail at Meeting #4 during Doug Kukino's presentation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN & FACILITATED EXERCISE Michael Ashcraft walked members through the timeline of the City of Glendale from 1892 when it was established to present day, discussing water service topics and population growth. Task Force members participated in an exercise to determine the growth and development of the community by being fast-forwarded to Glendale in the year 2032. Craig Johnson shared his history with the members and a quick overview of the Water Services Department. "LIQUID ASSETS"AWWA VIDEO Craig presented a 16-minute video with the Task Force and discussed the national importance of water and sewer infrastructure in relation to the City of Glendale water and sewer systems. He gave the members an overview and tie-in information to the department, giving facts and figures for each division specifically and the department as an Enterprise Fund in general. He discussed conservation and water recharging, and assured water supply and how supply meets peak demand of 65M gallons per day (g/d). Water is tracked daily and accounted for. He stated that Glendale's unaccounted for water figure is below the national average of 10%, Glendale sits at 7%. The infrastructure is out of sight, out of mind but it is monitored constantly. The irrigation system of roughly 23 miles is old and in need of repairs. The rate structure will also be discussed. A TF member asked what percentage of sewage is sent to the 91st Avenue/SROG plant for treatment. Craig explained that Glendale's part ownership portion of SROG is 13.2M g/d. We send 1/3 that amount daily for treatment or 4.4M g/d. The question was asked: What can enterprise funds be used for, just for water and sewer services or other things? Craig replied that the fund money is under the control of the city manager to be used as he determines it is needed. Water Service has primary ownership of that money but it belongs to the city once it's brought in. More information on this subject will be presented during the Financial presentation (Meeting#9 on September 17). Another question asked was: What is the service life of pipes? Average is 28-30 years. Craig replied that we are okay right now. Since he's been with the city (1997), many miles of pipes have been replaced. He stated that we are missing complete records for approximately 100-140 miles of older pipes but we know exactly where they are located. Those pipes are monitored and are being worked on; and have not caused any issues yet. The break out exercise was conducted to report those issues that TF members are focused on and should be particularly addressed by staff during the upcoming presentations. Each table was asked to present up to three topics of importance for that group. Commissioner Livingston May 1, 2012 Ad Hoc Citizen Task Force on Water and Sewer Minutes Page 3 voiced concern that some topics would be overshadowed by others deemed more important to the group. Michael Ashcraft assured the members that all information would be captured as presented. Each group presented their three top items. All topics, including secondary items that were not designated as top interest, were captured by staff. The top topics of interest as prioritized by the TF members in a blue/red dot exercise were: Complete Planning of System/ Infrastructure; Strive for Long-term Sustainability through education/conservation; Identify a community with higher standard of benchmarking; Are we appropriately situated for growth? (New technology); Consumer rate costs vs. city production costs?; Economics of Water; $Money$-Rate structures, how is the money managed, and what is the impact of the current budget situation and where is it leading; and Costs-Financial planning and disclosure, and understanding cost application/billing procedures/and accountability. These will be addressed in subsequent meetings. Members were asked to wear comfortable walking shoes on the tour and invited to ask for any information needed to get to the tour site. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. The next meeting scheduled is the tour of Pyramid Peak Water Treatment Plant, the Water Quality Lab, and Conservation and Sustainable Living presentation, on May 12, 2012. Respectfully submitted, Sally ening, Record' Secretary