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Home My WebLink About2011-02-03 Water Advisory Committee MinutesCity of Ashland Ashland Water Advisory Committee 51 Winburn Way, Siskiyou Room February 3, 2011 Minutes L CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order by Chair Rich Whitley at 4:06 p.m. Committee Members Present: Pat Acklin, Alex Amarotico, Darrell Boldt, Lesley Adams, Don Morris, Amy Patton, Councilor Carol Voisin, Rich Whitley (Chair) and Absent: Kate Jackson, John Williams, Donna Rhee and Donna Mickley Staff Present: Brenda Barker, Mike Faught, Robbin Pearce, Nancy Slocum and Pieter Smeenk Consultants Present: Dave Kraska, Carollo via teleconference Guests: II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Amarotico moved to approve the minutes of January 19, 2011 with one correction to the minutes which Acklin seconded the motion to approve the minutes and it passed unanimously. III. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: Discussion items were changed to the following order: A: Conservation — Robbin Pearce (originally listed as E) B: Redundancy - Fire Chief John Karns (added at meeting) C: Open House Evaluation Summary — Brenda Barker (added at meeting) D: Update from January 19, 2011, Medford Water Commission Meeting (listed as C) E: Water Supply Options (originally listed as D) F: Review of the January 12, 2011 Town Hall Presentation (originally listed as A) G: Review of the January 19, 2011 Open House Presentation (originally listed as B) IV. DISCUSSION AND DECISIONS A. Conservation — Robbin Pearce Pearce reported that the Conservation Department formed the Conservation Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to review conservation from all perspectives including education, review existing regulations for contradictions, conservation incentives, water budget theory and rainwater harvesting. The TAC was currently on hold pending the Council's direction. Pearce took comments and questions from the Committee. Faught wondered the value of conservation in meeting water supply needs. He noted care must be taken to not under design the water system using unknown values. Page 1 of 4 ( Y's lc zzicic s ➢? �e�uloa�l �L 0i 1] D fi h( 1Viaud�ic doct« ,�+r� -��w „ewg4��€� #, h +ee...R. g;W VI,eA hcly b.:.� hfl.t ✓kee rw. ..... ........ ...... ....... ......... ......... ........ ....... 06 11....A..warA("'...3',v i+Ht+es-1 S7kkre B. Redundancy — Fire Chief John Karns Karns attended the open house and heard the question regarding the Oak Knoll fire (summer, 2010) and its affect on the water supply. He noted that the Fire Department had mutual aid partners and the use of water trucks to fight fires when water supplies were low. The Committee was concerned about a watershed fire or downtown fire depleting the water supply. Karns noted that multiple fires could tax the supply system, but could not say how much. He agreed with the need to implement a redundant environment in the case of a treatment plant outage. C. Open House Evaluation Summary — Brenda Barker Barker reviewed the open house evaluation forms. The results showed that the open house was effective using relevant materials and not being overly technical. Barker would email the comments to the Committee members. The Committee was pleased at the turnout and evaluations. D. Update from January 19, 2011, Medford Water Commission Meeting Mike Faught provided information on discussion of supply and distribution costs for TAP. Medford is looking at increasing rates. The City agency group is asking the commission to consider some additional points. 1. Conservation — Improvements at Duff, Master Plan 2. Equitable Rate Charge for Water — Should charge the same as supply 3. High Contingency Fund — Medford's strategy is to pay for everything in advance, the group wants to look at the option of bonding for some of the costs/expenses of projects. There could be rate spikes for advance monies or let people who are using water services at time of projects pay for then. 4. Master Plan — What improvements need to be made, what if any would the impacts be to water rates in order to achieve the necessary improvements? 5. Technical Advisory Committee — Faught asked to have a seat at the table. Faught attended the meeting on January 19''. The Medford Water Commission was beginning their Master Plan update and was raising rates for those jurisdictions that buy water from the Commission. These jurisdictions have formed a coalition and Faught asked to join. The MWC was using high density population figures in their master planning without planning for increased transit use. The option was a supply option with ongoing costs for hook up. The cost estimates for TAP have not been annualized yet. One option to meet future water demands (an estimated 619 ac/ft shortfall) is to tie into the TAP (Talent, Ashland, Phoenix) pipeline. Adams' email of February 3, 2011 asked about water rights needs for this option. Smeenk answered that the total from TAP will be 688 ac/ft and City shortfall is 619. Water rights are already in place and are commingled between Lost Creek and Big Butte. With the City being higher in elevation and geographic location, the water would most likely come from Big Butte springs. Page 2 of 4 ( Y's lc zzicic s ➢? �e�uloa�l �L 0i 1] D afl: h( 1Viaud�ic doct« ,�+r� -��w „ewg4��€� #, fh +ee...R. g;W VI,eA hcly b.:.� hfl.t ✓kee rw. ..... ........ ...... ....... ......... ......... ........ ....... 06 11....A..warA("'...3',v i+Ht+es-1 S7kkre Smeenk mentioned the intergovernmental agreement between Talent and Ashland to supply each other emergency water needs. Even in a curtailment situation, all users still have the same rights. Ashland would not be required to fluoridate water from Medford. E. Water Supply Options The four water supply options are: 1. Recycled Water 2. TAP Pipeline 3. Groundwater 4. Water Treatment Hardening Whitley noted the need for a decision on which water supply option the consultants would research at the next Committee meeting. Smeenk summarized the four remaining options. #1 Recycled Water+ Emergency Supply Recycled Water Emergency Supply (2/3 TAP or groundwater) WTP Expansion (includes Tcapacity and storm/flood wall construction) # 2 TAP Pipeline Assumes 619 of available TAP Pipeline WTP Expansion # 3 Expanded TID Supply + Emergency Supply Ashland Canal Piping Recycled Water to Imperatrice Properly Emergency Supply WTP Expansion # 5 Potable Groundwater * assumes reliable groundwater supply proves feasible; a $50K well test is needed Low estimate Groundwater WTP Expansion High estimate Groundwater WTP Expansion All packages include an upgrade to the Water Treatment Plant. Smeenk noted that neither hardening nor slope stabilization was included in all packages. The Committee Page 3 of 4 ( Y's lc zzicic s ➢? �e�uloa�l �L 0i 1] D afl: h( 1Viaud�ic doct« ,�+r� -��w „ewg4��€� #, fh +ee...R. g;W VI,eA hcly b.:.� hfl.t ✓kee rw. ..... ........ ...... ....... ......... ......... ........ ....... 06 11....A..warA("'...3',v i+Ht+es-1 S7kkre asked City staff for a recommendation along with a list of pros and cons for each option. Faught voiced hesitancy for making a recommendation; however, a consensus agreed. F. Review of the January 12, 2011, Town Hall Presentation No discussion was held for this agenda item. G. Review of the January 19, 2011, Open House Presentation No discussion was held for this agenda item. V. PUBLIC FORUM: No public comment at this meeting VI. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: The next Committee meeting was tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, 2011. A doodle notification will be sent out to confirm which date will work best for the majority of the committee. March 2, 3, 9, 10 were given as choices. VIL MEETING ADJOURNED: 6:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Brenda Barker, Administrative Assistant and Nancy Slocum, Accounting Clerk I Page 4 of 4 ( Y's lc zzicic s ➢? �e�uloa�l �L 0i 1] D afl: h( 1Viaud�ic doct« ,�+r� -��w „ewg4��€� #, fh +ee...R. g;W VI,eA hcly b.:.� hfl.t ✓kee rw. ..... ........ ...... ....... ......... ......... ........ ....... 06 11....A..warA("'...3',v i+Ht+es-1 S7kkre