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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.a. November 14 2016 Minutes UTILITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES November 14, 2016 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the regular Utility Commission meeting of the City of Rosemount was called to order on November 14, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. in the Conference Room of the City Hall, 2875 th 145 Street West, Rosemount. President Connolly called the meeting to order with Commissioners McDonald and Nelson, Rosemount Mayor Droste, City Administrator Johnson, Public Works Interim Director John Morast, Recording Secretary Erin Fasbender, Environment and Sustainability Task Force (ESTF) Members Rebecca Higgins and Mark Glende, Bolton & Menk Seth Peterson, Council Member Vanessa DeMuth attending. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA AUDIENCE INPUT President Connolly provided a brief reminder of his President’s Report from September 19, 2016 meeting on how he intends to manage Utility Commission meetings. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Nelson Second by McDonald Motion to approve the minutes of the October 17, 2016 Utility Commission meeting Ayes: 3. Nays: 0. Absent: 0. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS None 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.a. Water Supply Plan Updates Bolton & Menk was chosen to update the plan by December 31, 2016. The Water Supply Plans must be updated and submitted to the MnDNR for approval every ten years. Once the Water Supply Plan is complete, it will go to the city council for approval to submit to MnDNR by the end of the year. Utility Commission has from now until the end of the year to review this template and provide any input. The MnDNR and Metcouncil review this document and use all the data and analyze it on a regional basis. The goal of the Water Supply Plan is to implement long term water sustainability and conservation measures along with develop critical emergency preparedness measures. Rosemount needs to know what measures will be implemented in case of a water crisis. A lot of emergencies can be avoided or mitigated if long term sustainability measures are implemented. The City has last updated our plan in September 2007. Peterson is managing the process and provided an overview of the template he is using. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) developed the template to be used to standardize the updates and submittals for the Water Supply Plans. In addition, the MnDNR requires Metro Area Water Suppliers (which Rosemount is considered) to complete an added task to help determine consistency with the Metropolitan Land Use Planning Act. The City of Rosemount Water Supply Plan update will consist of four parts:  Part 1 – Water Supply System Description and Evaluation  Part 2 – Emergency Planning and Response Procedures  Part 3 – Water Conservation Plan  Part 4 – Metro Area Water Suppliers Peterson refers to table 2 in the template and states Rosemount is doing a great job accounting for our water, as anything under 10% is great. A part of this accountability success is making sure our meters are calibrated and maintained. Table 3, records Rosemount’s large commercial and residential volume users. The benefit of looking at these large users is the ability to work with them and see if there are ways to be more efficient with water usage. Water conservation is discussed in the Water Supply Plan along with determining what Rosemount will need for infrastructure (wells, storage, water treatment plan, etc.) based on current numbers. The Met Councils goal is to aim around 75 gallons per residential capita demand and our trend shows that we are averaging around 75 gallons per residential capita use. There has been a trend showing it was higher back in 2007 and 2008 and now it is slowly declining per capita uses. This means our rate structure we have in place and the education we have been implementing have had an impact on the change. The climate and the amount of rain also have an impact on the declining trend. Connolly stated he is looking for Bolton & Menk staff to review the suggested improvement items and then inform Utility Commissioners what items are generally achievable for the City of Rosemount based on our finalized plan. Peterson states the biggest impact that we can have on water conservation is the education piece and our increasing rate structure. Higgins suggests we engage the schools and survey students on their own water usage at home. By engaging the schools, we may get more results versus asking residents to respond to a survey on their own. McDonald informed all that starting in January we will be discussing our water conservation plan and we plan to brainstorm ways to educate residents. 6.b. Surface Water Management Plan The City of Rosemount developed a Stormwater Management Plan in August 2007 to meet local watershed management planning requirements of the Metropolitan Surface Water Management Act and Board of Water and Soil Resources Rules 8410. It was also developed to be in compliance with the requirements of the local Watershed District and Watershed Management Organizations, Metropolitan Council requirements and applicable State and Federal Laws. The Stormwater Management Plan is comprehensive in identifying resources, assessing conditions, developing goals and setting priorities and implementation plans. Section VI of the plan includes capital improvements, water resource programs, and water resource studies. The plan has been periodically updated and the stormwater system improved and extended. The growing stormwater infrastructure requires ongoing planning, maintenance, repairs and improvements. Part of Morast’s plan this winter is to identify all of our stormwater ponds and reclaim those as it is a better way to manage our ponds. Many of the capital improvements are development driven and include developer contributions and some are complaint driven. A portion of the CIP-1 project was constructed with the Connemara Trail Extension and Prestwick Development in the last 5 years or so. Other CIP projects have been added, such as Horseshoe Lake Lift Station which was completed this year. The City’s Comprehensive Plan updates over the next year will also include stormwater updates. We are currently updating the Keegan Lake feasibility study to see if this is something we want to move forward with ahead of the other projects and allows us to determine if it is the best way to spend our money. As the City gathers information and starts plan updates, stormwater facilities and programs will be included. Morast’s question to the commission is how do we want to move forward with recommending a priority matrix for future improvements as it could have an effect on our stormwater utility. Connolly stated that any potential damage to private property, especially if there is a higher likelihood a rain event could cause them damage, should be the highest priority only in the sense that it is not to the fault of the property owner. Keegan Lake is potentially the only project to happen this next year. Morast stated as the City’s Comprehensive Plan gathers information over the next year; we will use the findings to weigh in on the priority matrix as well going forward. 7. PRESIDENT’S REPORT None 8. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT 8.a. City Projects Update  Well 16 – Drilling of the production well is complete. th  145 Street Pedestrian Improvements – The mainline extension is in, but the progressive line is not in. The sidewalk work will begin after railroad work.  Danbury – Project is complete.  Horseshoe Lake – Lift station is online and running and punch list items only remain.  Wells 4 – Converted into an observation well.  Wells 5 – Has been drilled out and is ready to be sealed in the future. 8.b. 2016 Well Pumping Report There is a downward trend from September to November which is part of the historical trend. 8c. Set Next Meeting Agenda for January 23, 2016 December 19, 2016 meeting is cancelled. OTHER UPDATES None ADJOURNMENT Connolly adjourned the meeting at 6:56 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Erin Fasbender Public Works Secretary