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City Council Utility Committee <br />Meeting Minutes <br />Friday, September 28, 2018 <br />Page 2 of 3 <br />Discussion of items not on agenda. <br />Mayor Muckle asked about the possible ordinance changes related solid waste <br />handling. Mr. Kowar stated that the City is modeling language similar to how <br />Boulder County governs waste. The current plan is to advertise the contract <br />hauling services RFP in November with a presentation to City Council around April <br />2019. Councilmember Stolzmann suggested a Utility Committee member should <br />serve on the RFP selection committee. This opportunity will be provided to <br />Councilmember Keany, with Mayor Muckle volunteering if Councilmember Keany <br />was not available. <br />VII. 2019 Utility Rate Workshop <br />Mr. Kowar started the discussion by outlining the various rate projection iterations <br />that have been completed and the desire to finalize this process in preparation for <br />a recommendation. Councilmember Stolzmann asked for a walk through of the <br />scenarios. Mr. Peterson explained the baseline is the rate model from last year <br />that we used to adopt 2018 rates. Councilmember Stolzmann expressed a desire <br />to have future baseline scenarios to represent the amended budget. Mr. Kowar <br />commented that the scenarios are very dynamic and there is some difficultly in <br />matching the other financial projections perfectly. Discussion continued about <br />projections, percentages and expenditures. <br />Mr. Kowar went on to say the rate model matches the CIP that have been <br />previously reviewed by Council and represents the Operational Budget that <br />Council is currently reviewing. The major difference between the financial <br />projections and the rate model are tied to more up to date revenues and <br />expenditures as well as the delay in tap fees. <br />Councilmember Stolzmann sought clarification on why the budget plans for <br />approximately 3-5% growth in operations increases and a rate increase is <br />recommended at 0% for the water fund. This would indicate the reserve funds <br />could be used for operations. Councilmember Stolzmann recommended that a <br />rate minimum should be developed that would cover at least the increases in <br />operational expenditures. Mayor Muckle was in favor of this recommendation. Mr. <br />Peterson completed a quick calculation showing that the changes in operational <br />costs in the water fund represent about at a 0.1 % change in the overall rate. Mr. <br />Kowar stated that additional detail will be added to the rate model, showing the <br />portions related to operational and capital expenses. The Committee agreed to <br />this approach. <br />Councilmember Stolzmann inquired to a large increase shown in the wastewater <br />O&M budget for Wastewater Engineering. The total for this program is $71,000 in <br />2018 and $146,000 for 2019 and back to $71,000 in 2020. Mr. Kowar explained <br />this increase is tied to $75,000 for additional sewer video inspection. <br />The discussion moved on to stormwater, where Mr. Kowar provide a summary of <br />the various stormwater CIPs. The first project discussed, was the BNSF <br />underpass. Mr. Kowar highlighted the percentage spilt between the stormwater <br />4 <br />