CALL TO ORDER - AT OR AFTER 6:00 P.M.
Vice Chair Davis introduced Rick Verlaque as the new Water Utility Commissioner as of January 1, 2012 and that Mr. Verlaque will attend his first meeting January 9, 2012. He is a local member of the El Conquistador Resort Patio Homes Homeowners Association and has been directing the H.O.A water conservation program since 2007.
CALL TO AUDIENCE - At this time, any member of the public is allowed to address the Water Utility Commission on any issue not listed on today’s agenda. Pursuant to the Arizona Open Meeting Law, individual Commissioners may ask Town Staff to review the matter, ask that the matter be placed on a future agenda, or respond to criticism made by speakers. However, the Water Utility Commission may not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during "Call to Audience." In order to speak during "Call to Audience" please specify what you wish to discuss when completing the blue speaker card.
Commissioner Milkey requested a minor correction to page 5 under the Director’s Report.
MOTION: A motion was made by COMMISSIONER MILKEY and seconded by COMMISSIONER TUSTISON to Approve the November 14, 2011 minutes as corrected.
MOTION carried, 5-0.
Mr. Saletta reported that the design work for the Interim Delivery of CAP Water to Oro Valley was expected to begin the week of 12/26/11.
All pumps and motors are under order from Tucson Water and the instrumentation and control equipment will be installed early January.
Permits for recovery wells are in process and expected by the end of the year. Staff contacted the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) today, and all permits should be complete and in place prior to the operation of CAP water interim delivery.
Information about this project was submitted to Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) there will be no requirement at the new entry sampling point because of the proximity of the nearby sampling site near Tucson Water's well at the Naranja and Shannon C-Zone reservoir.
A routine sampling point and monitoring station near Tucson's Water system connection will be required.
The public information and process have included numerous Commission meetings about the CAP water interim deliveries, a CAP open house was held 11/14/2011 as well as presentations in the areas such as Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce (NPCCC) and Sun City. There will be two other presentations scheduled 1/28/2012: Oro Valley Country Club HOA and 2/2/2012: Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce Government and Policy Group.
This project is on schedule for January, 2012 and we expect to begin CAP Water deliveries January 23, 2012.
Question and answer session occurred.
-Is the new entry sampling point an additional point Oro Valley would be responsible for? (Commissioner Reynolds). Mr. Saletta mentioned that the new entry sampling point requires more rigorous sampling requirements; we will only be required to have a routine sampling point off our distribution system.
Mr. Ruiz also mentioned that the routine sampling point will be used to track and confirm the Town’s water quality. Commissioner Reynold agreed that water quality and total dissolved solids (TDS) are very important in monitoring what is going on down stream.
There were no further questions, Mr. Saletta ended his report. No action required on this item.
Ms. Seng presented the Countryside AMI project map and gave some background information on the project. She pointed out that the Countryside area was broken down into 5 phases to facilitate the meter installation for staff and the contractors. Staff also generated color coded work sheets matching different phases of the project. Staff will use these worksheets to document plumbing issues that arise during the installation.
To date phases 1-4 are finished with phase 5 almost completed. It is expected that all meters will be installed by Saturday, December 17. A total of 2,024 have been installed with approximately 220 left to be installed.
There have been no major problems during the installation process.
Customer web portal - Staff is scheduling a demonstration of a new customer web portal developed by Sensus. Staff is also interested in another web portal designed by Kortech Consulting a California based company. In January staff will schedule back to back demonstrations on both web portals.
Once the web portal is in place in late spring, staff will be scheduling a training session at the Countryside recreation center to show residents how to access their personal data. This will enable them to detect leaks and use the web portal as a tool for conservation.
Leak detection and tamper reports will be completed every day Monday through Friday. The meters will record data every hour on the hour and transmit the information to the Utility every 4 hours.
Question and answer session occurred.
-Are there any plans next year to install these meters elsewhere? (Commissioner Tustison) Ms. Seng mentioned that the Utility will need to finish the web portal first. However we would like to obtain at least a year’s worth of data to determine how the project is performing and whether we are truly recovering our costs. There are several other funding options such as grants from the Bureau of Reclamation (B.O.R.) and possible low interest funding options through from WIFA because the project is considered to be a green project.
Mr. Saletta expressed his appreciation to Shirley for administering the contract, Bobby Drew for his management and Tony Spino for working with the contractor out in the field.
Ms. Seng explained there was considerable preliminary preparation that needed to be completed by staff such as installing risers for buried meters. Field staff took a leadership role in this project. Their preliminary work was extremely organized and it streamlined the installation process. Additionally, field staff trained the contractors to replace the meters in an efficient manner.
-Will it become easier when there are other future developments? (Vice Chair Davis). Ms. Seng mentioned there may be areas that could be done differently if the 16,000 meter replacement project is approved in the future.
-When will the Countryside web portal be installed? (Commissioner Shapiro). Ms. Seng mentioned the web portal may be available late spring.
-Are meters now being read automatically? (Commissioner Shapiro). Ms. Seng indicated that not all meters were being read electronically, but they could be ready for staff by the end of the month.
Staff will also print out billing journals before the actual bills are mailed.
There were no further questions, Ms. Seng ended her report. No required on this item.
Mr. Jacklitch presented several photos on Capital Improvement projects.
-N. La Canada 3.0MG concrete buried Reservoir: This project went on line September 2011 last month the masonry wall around the reservoir was completed. -The open space has been hydro seeded and landscaping is in. King Air to Moore Road has been paved. All of the major work has been completed and the project will be closed end of the month.
-Is the open space for another future reservoir a posibility and where will it go? (Commissioner Milkey). Mr. Jacklitch pointed out the area where the future reservoir would be built. There are also plans to built an additional booster station, electrical controls etc.
Mr. Jacklitch explained that the contractor was hired out of Phoenix and that he had built over 30 reservoirs in the past. He was also very pleased how the project was executed.
Lambert Lane: The project began in October and approximately 3,000 feet of plastic pipeline has been installed. The project is proceeding slowly, there are box culverts and other obstacles around several subdivisions that to be addressed. The contractor is Eagle Rock.
The Water Utility's portion of this project is scheduled for completion next fiscal year.
El Conquistador Booster Station: The existing 1980's booster station has been demolished. All of the underground water lines and electrical have been completed. A temporary booster station is now in service.
Mr. Jacklitch gave a brief overview and displayed photos of Vista Del Sol E-zone existing booster station, Tucson Water Naranja Reservoir Site. He also mentioned that Tucson Water’s cooperation in this project has been outstanding.
Mr. Jacklitch ended his report. No action required on this item.
Mr. Saletta gave an update on the structure of the Chair and Vice Chair positions scheduled for nominations and election at the next Water Utility Commission meeting January 9th. If required an election will be held if there are two or more candidates nominated for Chair or Vice Chair. If there is only one person nominated for each position, then the Commission could make a motion to close nominations and elect those nominees. The nominations, elections and vote results will be administered by Staff, Director and the Senior Office Specialist.
Mr. Saletta opened the item for discussion or questions to the Commission.
Commissioner Shapiro indicated she was not interested in the positions but was willing to accept possible nominees via email or phone call. There were no further questions, Mr. Saletta ended his report. No action was required on this item.
There were no Town Council members present.
Commissioner Tustison had no report.
Commissioner Milkey reported on three agenda items.
1. Discussion on water conservation education program for local area schools
Ms. Seng and Ms. Boyce have researched several conservation program options particularly those in Tucson Water. Tucson Water uses a non-profit educational group known as the Environmental Educational Exchange group to help with their outreach to schools. This program targets grades 1-3 in elementary schools and will cover topics such as the need for conservation and also provide educational materials.
Commissioner Milkey indicated it was very important to take a close look at this program. We have a need for a long term conservation program in order to educate our residents and children. He felt that conservation would become more of an issue especially if the population continued to grow.
We have an obligation to our community and its future to educate the children in our community. Commissioner Milkey suggested presenting this item as an agenda item in January or February.
We also discussed the need to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementing a 3 year pilot program, including classroom materials and education outreach to schools.
-Investigated comparative costs by other local water utilities regarding conservation efforts. We received some information but we are not sure of the budget costs or whether it includes personnel costs. Staff will be getting some more precise information.
Chair Davis mentioned it appears if you spent more money in water conservation education the amount of water used per capita goes down annually, these are several things we must look at.
2. Discussion of the Water Conservation Outreach Volunteer position
-Need to publicize the position through additional forms of media and evaluate whether the description of the position is effective for the recruiting process. Staff has not had any success in finding volunteers for this position. However, if there is any interested candidate they can contact Karn Boyce or Shirley Seng at the Water Utility. This position is part of the Town’s volunteer program.
Commissioner Tustison suggested contacting the Sun City "Tipster" monthly publication for their help and that staff forward and prepare a short description of the Water Conservation Outreach Volunteer position. Ms. Seng felt Commissioner's Tustison suggestion was a great idea.
3. Discussion on the rainwater harvesting interpretive sign
-The sign will be outside by the Water Utility entrance and will describe the harvesting cisterns. We reviewed the budget, layout and specifications for the design and installation of the sign.
Commissioner Milkey ended his report.
Commissioner Reynolds had no report.
Ms. Seng reported the following:
Customer Service Report November 30, 2011
Total Metered connections = 18,536
Projected Meter Installations for FY 11-12: 35
Actual New Meter Installations as of 11/30/11: 34 Current Month: 6
Projected EDU’s for FY 11-12: 44
Actual EDU’s as of 11/30/11: 44 Current Month: 8
Meter Replacements
Meter Replacement FY 11-12: Current: 1544
Total 3,165 (since meter replacement program began FY 08-09)
Ms. Seng ended her report.
Mr. Ruiz reported on various monthly reports and graphics:
2011 Well Pumpage Monthly Report - November 2011
-Exceeded Sustainable rate 5,500 AFY - November usage = 7,224 AFY
Annual Well Pumpage Report - November 2011
-Exceeded Sustainable rate of 5,500 AFY - November Usage = 7,224 AFY
Potable Water System Overall Reservoir System
-Total Reservoir Storage Average: Increased to 10.0 million gallons of storage
Mr. Ruiz mentioned that typically staff pulls two wells out for service and maintenance every year.
Reclaimed Water System - November 2011
-November's Demand Total: 24,196 million gallons. Significant decrease in November.
-Yearly total: 716,122 million gallons.
Annual Reclaimed Water Use - November 2011
-Yearly Total: 2200 AFY
Potable Water System Daily Demand - November 2011
-Daily Demand: Overall storage 7.0 million gallons of storage
-Precipitation: 4 rain events recorded
Mr. Ruiz ended his report.
Colorado River Streamflow- November 2011
Mr. saletta pointed out the normal and above normal stream flows in the Colorado River area. He also mentioned that the Snowpack area reports for Arizona and Colorado were not available.
Mr. Saletta reported that at the Central Arizona Project (CAWCD) Central Arizona Conservation Water District meeting there was consensus of the CAWCD Board to continue with the ADD Water project. There was discussion as to how much staff time would be needed, the costs to obtain additional Colorado river water and the possibility of wheeling it through the Central Arizona project canal.
The ADD Water board has agreed to keep moving forward with ADD Water in two key areas;
1. Working with the Bureau of Reclamation (B.O.R.) on a wheeling agreement of additional non-project water such as Colorado River water through the CAP canal.
2. Work with ADD Water Stakeholder Coalition which is comprised of municipal water users, mining interest, agriculture and development interests and working together to obtain additional Colorado River Water.
3. Another component of ADD Water known as "Just Water". This group includes counties such as Maricopa, Pinal and Pima that are not able to obtain water directly off the canal but want to acquire water for their communities as part of a state-wide group. They are only looking to get CAP water but not direct delivery through the CAP canal. Mr. Saletta mentioned that in addition to representing Oro Valley Water Utility, he was the local representative for the Southern Arizona Water Users Association on the ADD Water Stakeholders Coalition representing entities from the southern Arizona area.
-Town Council: December meetings canceled
-1/04: Town Council Meeting
-1/09: WUC Meeting
Handout:
-1/24: Water Resources Research Center 2012 Conference. Commissioners will gain valuable training credits and can contact the office to schedule for registration.
Mr. Saletta thanked the Commissioner for their valuable service to the Water Utility Staff and Town of Oro Valley and ended his report.