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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin 08-06-07CITY OF UKIAH MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE UKIAH CITY COUNCIL AND UKIAH VALLEY SANITATION DISTRICT CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS 300 Seminary Avenue Ukiah, CA 95482 August 6, 2007 2:00 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL 2:06:31 PM The Ukiah City Council met at a Special Joint Meeting with the Ukiah Valley Sanitation District on October 17, 2007, the notice for which being legally noticed on August 4, 2007. Mayor Rodin called the meeting to order at 2:06 p.m. Roll was taken with the following Councilmembers present: Thomas, Crane, McCowen, Baldwin, and Mayor Rodin. Absent: None. Staff present: City Manager Horsley, Rick Kennedy, PE, Project Manager, City Clerk Brown. Also present representing the Ukiah Valley Sanitation District were Directors Wattenburger, Delbar, and Crane, and Kristy Furman, Recording Secretary. Public Expression Opened: 2:07 p.m. Judy Hatch commented on her recent sewer bill showing a substantial monthly increase. From a business perspective, she may be forced to close her mobile home park due to the water/sewer increases recently in effect. As a result of the water/sewer increase, the City could stand to lose 38 low income mobile home housing units because she would not be able to afford water/sewer bills at the current new rate of $3,746 a month to subsidize the mobile home park. She understands usage was based upon January 2006 figures wherein the mobile home had a substantial water leak from the very cold weather that month. She supports coming to some sort of fair and equitable way for commercial establishments to be able to subsist with the rate increases. Jimmie Rickel resides in the G & O Mobile Home Park and even with his C.A.R.E.S. public assistance discount he does not meet the required baseline rate. He recommended review of circumstances where persons living alone having low incomes and/or have medical situations and do no use much water. Janet Mabray, resident manager of Deep Valley Mobile Home Park stated the sewer fees increased from $1,000 to $4,000 per month, which equates to approximately $60 per space where most residents have families and live in a singlewide mobile home. While some of the tenants are retired, most are lower- income, working families. The Deep Valley Mobile Home Park is old meaning the water/sewer lines are also old. It is very costly to upgrade the existing system and repairs are made based on need. She is diligent about monitoring the water lines for exterior water leaks on a monthly basis that occur underground. The installation of individual water meters making each family responsible for their usage is not an option for the mobile home park according to the water company that services this park unless the park is responsible for reading each meter and billing the tenants accordingly. Therefore, individual billing for sewer is not an option. In her opinion, all reasonable efforts to minimize water usage allowing for a lower sewer bill have been exonerated. The tenants simply cannot afford to pay the increased sewer rates. She asked Council to consider this dilemma as a result of increased sewer rates. Chair ofthe Board Wattenburger and Director Delbar favor review of flat rate information in conjunction with the new rate structure particularly as it relates to mobile home parks. The issue of water consumption and water leakages and associated waste water while related is a separate issue and needs to be addressed by the respective water districts and the City. The problem with mobile home parks is the tenants are paying the penalty for the lack of appropriate infrastructure improvements because of old and failing systems and this is not fair. This is part of the new rate structure that needs to be addressed and corrected. Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council & Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page I Councilmember McCowen stated rate differentials for those people who knowingly allow water leaks to continue should likely be evaluated whereby the owner is penalized rather than the tenant. He supports consideration for rate differentials that are more equitable as follows: • A property owner having four residential units or less on one water meter is charged'/. of the rate structure based on a flat fee per resident unit and the remaining Y. calculated on water consumption. • Five residential units or more have a separate rate structure possibly having one flat fee and the rest calculated on consumption. Public Expression Closed: 22728 PM 2. ITEMS OF DISCUSSION 2a. Discussion of Funding for District Administrative and Governance Expenses Rick Kennedy, PE, Project Manager presented this item and made three corrections/clarifications to the staff report as follows: 1. Any reference to tax collector auditor is a controller auditor. 2. The statement regarding a job description for the pending general manager for the District included job duties consisting of plan checking and inspection, wherein the RFP written for Mr. Cayler, the duties cited were not specifically stated in the job description, including reference to a 'Registered Civil Engineer' as expressed by the Board so that in the future the registered civil engineer could be the 'District Engineer.' Accordingly for interpretation/clarification purposes, District Ordinances Nos.1 and 12 have not been repealed; Section 1-6 of the current Ordinance No. 12 says unless or until a separate appointment is made, the Director of Public Works for the City shall perform all of the duties of the sewer inspector. Currently, the City Sewer Inspector does perform all the plan checking as well as the field inspections. Wherein most of the provisions of Ordinance No. 1 have been incorporated into Ordinance No 12, reference to 'Manager' in Ordinance No. 1, section 116, states "Manager shall mean the person or persons appointed by the Board to administer and enforce the rules and regulations of the District," and is currently being performed by the Public Utilities Director, who is the current District Manager. Section 113, Inspector, states, "Inspector shall mean the inspector acting for the Board and may be a member of the Board, the Manager, the Engineer or Inspector appointed by the Board or may be an employee of the City pursuant to any agreement for the maintenance and operation of the system by the City." In accordance with the 1995 Participation Agreement, this service is currently being provided by the City via Mr. Rick Sands. Section 111, Engineer, states "Engineer shall mean the Engineer appointed by and acting for the Board and shall be a registered civil engineer." 3. Page 3 of the report indicates the current annual revenue for the special property tax that is managed by the controller auditor is $42,170 rather than $38,000, as indicated in the report. Recommended Action: Discuss the issues and provide direction to Staff for development of the appropriate budget amendments. The District is looking for Council to consider use of Fund 612 for all or part of their expenses because the funds available to them from the 641 Fund and the Special Property Tax Fund on an annual basis is insufficient. There was a discussion about Fund 641 in connection with right-of-way fees: • There have been questions about the intended purpose of Fund 641 relative to which agency should pay the right-of-way fee, wherein payment is based on the fact that the District sewer collection lines run through the City's Maintained Road System. Staff noted the fee is paid by the District members who are within the City and City residents also pay their fair share in the sum of $141,000. Essentially, every user within the City limits pays aright- of-way fee. Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council & Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page 2 Public Comment Opened: 3:02:36 Ptvi Public speaking to the item: John Graff, and Lee Howard. Public Comments Closed: 3:13 p.m. By Consensus of the City Council and UVSD Board for the UVSD to delay recruiting for the District General Manager position allowing time to possibly review the performance of the City Public Utilities Director and develop performance objectives. It was noted if the District decides to move forward, it will be in contact with the City. 2b. Discussion and Possible Action on the Formation of a Joint/City District Ad-Hoc Committee for the Sewer Lateral Program Deputy CEO Paul Cayler presented the item. His directive has been to improve governance issues within the District so that District Board members are better informed. Council/District members discussed the proposed formation of a Joint/City/County Sewer Lateral Committee. • It was recommended a joint City/UVSD meeting be held on August 15, 2007 with Mary Grace Pawson, Winzler & Kelly in attendance Public Comment Opened: 3:54 p.m. Public speaking to the item: Jim Ronco, Mike Johnson, John Graff, and Lee Howard. Public Comment Closed: 4:08 p.m. Councilmember Thomas supports that formation of an Ad Hoc Committee allow for a wide range of interests and that the interests are balanced. Council desires to move forward on the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee. Board Member Delbar recommended the Chair of the District Board work with City staff regarding the formulation of the Committee. 4:10 pm Councilmember McCowen recommended Sandra Liston, Howard Eagan, John Graff, Mike Johnson, and Jim Ronco serve on the committee and leave discretion to the UVSD Board Chair to work with staff to identify other interests that should to be represented, as well as identify who the individuals might be. Councilmember McCowen and District Member Crane agreed to serve on the Ad Hoc Committee. Chair of the Board Wattenburger supports the names referenced above be approved today so they can start moving forward with recommendations. He supports allowing for at least two more members to the committee panel. Councilmember Thomas stated the committee should have a member representing environmental concerns. Councilmember McCowen recommended the District Board work with staff to identify two more members to represent the environmental community and construction trade industry, if this is possible. M/S CranelThomas to recommend Councilmember McCowen serve as the City's representative. Motion carried by an all AYES voice vote. Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council & Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page 3 M/S CranelMcCowen to approve the recommended Ad Hoc Committee members. Motion carried by an all AYES voice vote. 2c. Discussion and Possible Direction to Staff Regarding the Cost Participation between the UVSD and the City for the Mattern Property Acquisition 4:16 pm Rick Kennedy, PE, Project Manager presented the item. Recommended Action: 1. Discuss conditions of the counter proposal and reach agreement as to the conditions, or 2. Direct the City Attorney and County Counsel to draft an agreement for the financial participation in the acquisition of the Mattern property for submittal to the UVSD Board and City Council for approval and execution. • On April 25, 2007, the UVSD received a request from City Council that the District participate in the associated costfactors forthe Mattern property acquisition to accommodate Phase II ofthe WWTP expansion project. • The Board responded with a counter proposal and submitted to City Council whereby there have been two subsequent City/Board discussions in this regard. • At these meetings, City Council expressed concern about certain aspects of the counter proposal. Among the concerns expressed was the District's desire to share ownership in the Mattern property, but was not willing to share all of the acquisition costs relevant to mediation and escrow costs and attorney fees. • Councilmember McCowen was of the opinion that as long as the property was being used for the intended purpose, the District and its customers were receiving benefits regardless of how title was held. • City Attorney Rapport has pointed out that sharing ownership of the property to be used as a part of the WWTP conflicts with the Participation Agreement and every agreement between the City and the District going back to 1955, which have consistently provided that title, management, and control of the WWTP shall remain with the City. He recommended to the Council that if it agreed to share ownership of the Mattern property with the District, the required written agreement should also address management of the property and the terms under which the City could acquire the District's ownership interest in the property upon termination of the Participation Agreement. • City Council expressed that the conditions of the counter proposal be discussed between the City Council and Board members in a joint meeting. The District Board/Council discussed cost participation between the UVSD and City for the Mattern property: • Councilmember McCowen commented the parcel configuration and neighboring property disputes/lawsuit in conjunction with the WWTP expansion, poor communication between the City and District Board, lack of a City Public Utilities Director are some of the emblematic problems associated with the property acquisition process so far. • Chair of the Board Wattenburger commented the agency, UVSD, was not considered and/or involved until the agreement regarding the property acquisition had already been reached. As a jointly operated system, the UVSD Board should have been more informed about the process whereby the only time the Board participated was when it was time to pay the District's'/ fair share of the property acquisition costs. Therefore, the Board was of the opinion they were not indebted to pay the associated fees connected with the purchase. He agrees with the City Attorney's opinion only on the issue that an agreement shall address the terms under which the City can acquire the District's ownership upon termination of the Participation Agreement. The District desires to be included in all processes in connection with the WWTP expansion where the overall intent is to improve the WWTP system. • Mayor Rodin asked the question whether the District is penalizing the City for not having included them in the acquisition process for not wanting to pay acquisition costs for negotiation/mediation, escrow and attorney fees. • Chair of the Board Wattenburger stated the District is willing to pay 50 percent towards the purchase of the property. It is the Board's contention to work jointly with the City for successful Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council & Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page 4 operation of the WWTP. Because the Board was not informed of the process, they did not have financial responsibility thereof. • Mayor Rodin stated many costs were incurred leading up to the purchase of the property. • Councilmember McCowen commented the District had no role in the negotiation proceedings/discussions leading up to the purchase of the property so the District could argue they also have no financial responsibility for purchase of the property. An option the City could take would be not to ask the District to participate in its 50 percent share of the purchase cost, thus retaining ownership. Furthermore, the point at which the land is needed for use by the WWTP the City can bill the District for all costs incurred regarding purchase of the property. • Director Delbar has no documentation/knowledge the property acquisition was necessary. However, since the City has gone as far as it has, the property is likely necessary wherein the District was not part of the discussion. • Mayor Rodin stated the City can document all costs for the District to review to ensure all costs incurred are justified. • Councilmember Crane stated when Council was confronted with the Matterns not being willing to relinquish the land, he understood the intent of the acquisition was to benefit the City for future use because the land was valuable/necessary for future WWTP expansion and did not take into consideration that the acquisition would be from joint funds. He was looking at the matter from the City's point of view rather than a joint undertaking that the problem of acquisitioning of property was a potential asset that affected the future of the City. At the time, he had no knowledge that Fund 612 was involved. When the matter finally came forward at the District level, he and the District were surprised funding would come from account 612. • Councilmember Thomas inquired regarding the most effective approach to 'repairing' the relationship between the City Council and the District Board in this regard. • Councilmember Baldwin addressed the matter of City Council accepting the District as co-owner of the newly acquired property and waiving the financial responsibility forthe extra fees incurred and moving forward, and questioned the use of the term 'we' by the District members as relating to County government or the County when approximately 95 percent of County are City sewer constituents. • Councilmember McCowen would be willing to forego the Board having to pay the acquisition costs since the bigger issue is how will the City and the UVSD hold title and/or provide assurances that the District will not be disadvantaged and that its interest will be protected and that it will receive any future share of value based on the ownership of the land. He supports coming up with an equitable solution/mechanism that assures the UVSD will receive value for the land regardless of what the future disposition may be and that the proportioned District share will be protected by putting the UVSD on the title. • Chair of the Board Wattenburger concurred with Councilmember McCowen's statement. • Director Crane stated if the City is the only agency holding title, as is the WWTP, the City Attorney's original suggestion concerning the District's interest concerning whatever disposition was that all part of the parcel revenue generated accordingly would go into Fund 612. If the title is held in both names, ie., City and UVSD, there is a need to develop a set of rules for the disengagement of portions of that parcel, in the event the parcel will have other applications as opposed to exclusive use for WWTP purposes. He supports formulating an agreement for the financial participation relative to the Mattern Property. • Director Delbar stated his role/responsibility is to represent the rate payers and would support formulating an agreement if it means that the best interests of the rate payers are protected. By Consensus City Council and UVSD Board supported Recommended Action 2. Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council 8 Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page 5 2d. Presentation and Possible Discussion of Revised Equipment Schedules for Equipment Used in the Operation and Maintenance of the Combined Sewer Collection System and the WWTP Rick Kennedy, PE, Project Manager presented the item. This matter is being reviewed at the request of Chair of the Board Wattenburger relative to modification of the equipment list concerning equipment operated by the City water/sewer maintenance crews and the WWTP. The intent of the modification request is to ascertain better descriptions of the associated fund account numbers so that City Departments can be charged appropriately. Recommended action: Receive the Revised Equipment Schedules. Chair of the Board Wattenburger addressed his request, and for the list to continue as additional equipment is acquired. He supports the fleet schedule formulated by staff for the City Water/Sewer Maintenance Department and the WWTP, as provided for in Attachments 1 and 2 of the staff report for this agenda item. Councilmember McCowen recommended including the relative fund numbers under the description of the fund account for clarification purposes. Also, the list would reflect changes in the event an item of equipment is disposed of. The City Council received the report. 3. OTHER BUSINESS 4:48:14 PM 3a. Set the next Joint Meeting of the Ukiah City Council and Ukiah Valley Sanitation District City Manager Horsley recommended e-mailing Councilmembers and Board Members regarding setting a City Council/UVSD joint meeting. It was noted the Ad Hoc Committee meeting will meet Wednesday, August 15, 2007 with consultant Mary Grace Pawson attending. There was discussion about setting a meeting regarding the selection of a consultant for the 'SSMP' in advance of the regular City Council meeting on August 15, 2007. 4. ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING There being no further business, Mayor Rodin adjourned the meeting for City Council at 4:50:13 PM. -~ ~- _~~ Linden, epu y City Clerk ~~'~+ `~ ' i~E ~- Cathy EI wadly, Transcr tionist Minutes of Special Joint Meeting August 6, 2007 Ukiah City Council & Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Page 6