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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 6/25/2012 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 MONDAY,JUNE 25,2012 6:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. by Michael Ashcraft, facilitator. He reviewed the agenda and gave a brief explanation and anticipated timeframe for the evening's events. ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MAY 21, 2012 MEETINGS Sally Melling, Water Services Sr. Secretary, asked for approval of the Final Minutes for the May 21, 2012 meeting from the Task Force. The minutes were approved as written by a majority voice vote. Mike Ashcraft asked those members who attended the tour of the reclamation facility and viewed the divisional demonstrations for their comments. One member commented on how thorough, in-depth, and detailed the tour information was. Another commented on what a great idea it was that residential meters are monitored and elevated, and how meters can be used for almost twice as long by properly maintaining them. Commissioner Livingston remarked on the good functionality of the facility but questioned how service can be provided when the Enterprise Funds are taken for other purposes. One member suggested that instead of buying more trucks that crews also use the resources during the night to get double shift work out of the equipment. Commissioner Loya complimented the staff that put on the tour and demonstrations, saying she liked how the tour was broken-up, she had a good time and was impressed by the knowledge of the employees. Commissioner Garland also complimented staff on the tour and on their attitude. Kerri Logan addressed the Task Force's wish to get copies of the Master Plans developed for Water Services. She showed the members a small section of the volumes that comprise the Plans and asked if they still wished to have copies made. The Task Force decided they did not want copies made for them. Members were informed that they could always come down and study them for as long as they wished. Craig Johnson explained that the Plans remain relevant until the time that a decision is made to update them. FACILITATED EXERCISE: WHAT IS A POLICY? Michael Ashcraft walked the members through the differences between a policy, a law, and a procedure. A policy is a formal or informal expression of intent, something that should be. It guides decision makers to a desired outcome. It is the suggestion on what a city, county, or June 25,2012 Ad Hoc Citizen Task Force on Water and Sewer Minutes Page 2 department should do. A law is a formal requirement for a specific idea, goal, or vision; and can have penalties attached to it. A procedure is the step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish a policy. Members were directed to the handout summarizing the blue/red dot polling information. The Dot Polling results were briefly discussed, specifically members' concerns dealing with clarifying department policies. Craig Johnson provided more detail on the tasks that the members will be undertaking in dealing with the Water Services Department policies. WATER DISTRIBUTION PRESENTATION John Henny, Water Distribution Superintendent, presented information on the water distribution process. Several members had questions on information he presented. What is the percentage of pipes in the city that are polyethylene and need to be replaced with copper? (60%) How much unaccounted for water does the city have? (6.5%. Allowed national level is 10% or less, with possible fines for exceeding.) What kind of appeals are there? (Low pressure, high water use, we bench test meters to make sure they are functioning correctly.) What is the cost vs. revenues ratio? Craig Johnson referenced the Cost of Service document that was sent to all members. He explained that revenues are put into a general fund account, that there aren't individual little pots that it goes into. It's used to fund operations and balance the debt service. He explained that individual divisions' budget aren't parceled out like individual little pots of revenue and again referred members to the Cost of Service document. Each division is a portion of the budget as determined by a process using past information. Water Services is required to maintain 1.2 debt service coverage. Currently, it sits at 1.7. The fund balance right now is well over $12M. More in depth info will be presented when the Finance and Billing presentations are given. What percentage of loss does leaking water equal? (2-3%. The last annual total available for all unaccounted-for water is 6.8%, or about 15 million gallons.) A question was asked about Water Distribution's Professional and Contractual costs. (WD outsources several things such as the pavement restorations that must be done after a water line repair or replacement.) John was asked about the "All Other" budget item of almost $1M for WD. [This pays for Line supplies for WD which includes such items as fuel charges, vehicle and equipment maintenance, hydrants (one hydrant costs $1,700) and related parts and repair kits, dirt fill, ABC, valves, etc.] More information was requested on the 140 unknown miles of water pipes. (There are no as-built records for those pipes available. WS knows they're there but has no detailed figures on them; and has them on the radar for monitoring.) What about getting more water pressure in certain areas? (If you live at the top of Zone 3, your pressure will be lower because the water is gravity fed.) Does the city have any major commercial users that aren't paying their water bills? (No, we don't have that many and typically, a reminder gets the balance paid.) How many of the FTEs are Admin positions? (Of the 53 FTES, there are 4 supervisors and 1 superintendent (John's position) are included in that total. The rest are line staff.) What is the single biggest challenge facing WD? (Training and keeping staff.) WASTEWATER COLLECTIONS PRESENTATION Mark Fortkamp, Wastewater Collections Superintendent, presented information on Wastewater Collection procedures. He explained CMOM (Capacity, Management, Operation, Maintenance) that are accepted WWC practices throughout the national industry. It was established in the 90s June 25,2012 Ad Hoc Citizen Task Force on Water and Sewer Minutes Page 3 to minimize sanitary sewer overflows (SSO's) by setting proactive hydro-cleaning goals and affects over 19,000 cities in the country. It is a self-audited program but proof is required to be submitted to the EPA to show that it is being followed. A systematic proactive approach to hydro-cleaning the lines has a direct link to lowering the annual number of SSO's. The city is cleaned on a quarter-section by quarter-section schedule with grease problem areas being paid special attention. Roots in the line are also a continuing problem. CCTV program prioritizes manhole issues for rehabbing. Hydrogen peroxide is used to control odors. Doses are increased during the summer season and Odorknocker equipment is used to monitor the dosing success at each location. Roach control dusting is applied to approximately 6,500 manholes within the city during each calendar year. The remaining 6,500 manholes are done next year. The budget for Waste Water Collections includes slightly over $1M for professional and contractual services which are outsourced such as the roach/manhole dusting and pavement repair when sewer line and manhole repairs must be done. The All Other category includes fuel and vehicle charges, and costs for supplies and equipment. Many members had questions on the WWC system. Does the 67% cause of SSO's from Fats, Oils, and Grease come mainly from restaurants? (Not necessarily due to the efforts of the Pre- Treatment Division. Certain areas of southern Glendale without very many restaurants have a large number of grease blockages and are mainly residential.) What is the extent of storm water flow into the system? (Storm water is not generally measured in Glendale as our sewer system is not a "Combined System", where sewage and storm water are carried in the same line. The source of infiltration for Glendale would usually be just through the "Pick Holes" on the manhole covers. Glendale is not concerned as the Arrowhead Ranch WRF does not show uncontrollable spikes during wet weather events and the West Area bypasses all the flow to the 99th Avenue interceptor except for what the plant is set up to treat. Neither WRF has had a"wet weather" incident which has caused an S SO.) The CCTV truck is getting older and having issues. Is that affecting the low number of sewer pipe miles inspected each year? (Yes. Mark would like to see 40 miles per year.) Are seven hydrogen peroxide sites adequate for the entire city? (Yes, that covers the entire city but ideally two more sites would be added.) Is there a chemical or enzyme that a homeowner could dump into the sewer to break up the grease? (Some work, some are snake-oil claims. Mark recommends the best method is just not putting a huge amount of grease and/or running items down the garbage disposal that will clump up and cause clogs. Hot water only melts the grease so long until it cools and congeals further on down the line.) FACILITATED EXERCISE ON PRESENTATIONS Members were asked to come up with initial policy suggestions and ideas that came out of the information presented and also any additional ideas that need to be presented to staff. This information was captured by the facilitators and will be compiled by staff. June 25,2012 Ad Hoc Citizen Task Force on Water and Sewer Minutes Page 4 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sally ling, Recordin ecretary