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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_11/30/2015 MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA WORKSHOP November 30, 2015 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by Assistant to the Village Clerk Deanna Mayo. Present were: Mayor Abby Brennan, Vice Mayor Vince Arena, Council Member Steve Okun, Council Member Tom Paterno and Council Member Frank D'Ambra. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Council Member Okun moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Council Member D'Ambra. Motion carried unanimously. 1. Discussion Regarding Adopting a Schedule of Fees and Charges for the Provision of Water Services Rendered by the Village of Tequesta. Manager Couzzo started the discussion by stating there may be annual rate increases in order to support the Village water utility. He added that this did not include the AC pipe program. He further explained that CIP stood for Capital Improvement Plan which applied to infrastructure improvement needs for the entire system, not just the Village of Tequesta. In addition, the Village has a conservation rate schedule that has been put in place to encourage water conservation. Those rates could be adjusted as could the 15 year CIP. Manager Couzzo also mentioned having Council discuss the issue of the asbestos cement pipe and the option of doing a five year increment to fund a project of that nature. Council Member Paterno asked if the numbers represented the standard for the industry. Mr. Sam Heady, Deputy Director of Utilities, answered that it was based upon industry standard. Manager Couzzo added that the current conditions far exceed the industry standard and that it should be used as a guideline only, as the replacement schedule was a plan and not an absolute. Council Member Okun asked if the numbers represented the overall cost of the water system. Manager Couzzo answered that it only represented the capital improvements and did not include any of the operating costs. Council Member Okun further inquired as to whether the security oversight system and technology update were included in the numbers. Mr. Heady answered that there was $50,000 set aside for those updates. Manager Couzzo stated that this was our best assessment currently. Council Member Paterno asked if personnel costs would go down as software and other controls were implemented. Mr. Heady answered that a B rated water plant needed a person on site 16 hours a day and that the added technology would not eliminate that need. Village Council Workshop Minutes November 30, 2015 Page 2 Vice Mayor Arena inquired as to what an approximate amount would be to represent ten percent of the revenue per year. Mr. Heady and Manager Couzzo agreed that it was approximately $500,000 per year. Council Member Paterno asked if it would be correct to ascertain that Mr. Heady would need approximately $900,000 per year for the next 15 years. Mr. Heady cited that the current revenue that was generated only allowed approximately $250,000 in CIP per year. Manager Couzzo added there were many unknown variables such as grants and awards that could affect that amount. Council Member Okun asked if the water utility plant was built out or if there was room for expansion. Manager Couzzo explained that there was very little room for expansion. Council Member Paterno wondered if the $250,000 CIP would be deducted from the $1.4 million dollar improvement amount. Council Member D'Ambra explained that the rate increase that would go into effect now, would go towards capital but after this fiscal year, only 3.8% would go towards the capital. Council Member D'Ambra summarized that the AC pipe replacement would not be a part of the seven percent rate increase and that the Village would be looking at an estimated $40 million dollar capital investment over the next 14 years. Manager Couzzo added that it would be reasonable to do the work "in house" as it would dramatically reduce the cost of the project. Council Member Paterno commented that according to the numbers that were presented, it appeared that the Village would not have the funds to do the project. Manager Couzzo stated that the funds in reserves had to be factored in as well. Council Member D'Ambra questioned the type of grant that was applied for this year. Manager Couzzo stated that is was a State of Florida, EPA grant. He added that a strategy was needed before a plan could be devised for acquiring financing. Council Member D'Ambra counseled that he believed the Village should be proactive on having the AC pipe replaced. He further stated that he did not want to delay the project and have someone else deal with it at a later date. Council Member D'Ambra inquired as to the condition of the current wells and wondered why we would need to drill additional wells. Mr. Heady answered that eventually the wells would be depleted and that salt water intrusion was a possibility. Manager Couzzo added that the current system was in good condition with the exception of the ac pipe. He did not foresee any other AC pipe replacement issues for the next five years. Manager Couzzo added that you could also adjust the water rate tiers to generate more revenue. Council Member Paterno countered that the increased cost for water customers would be substantial. Council Member D'Ambra suggested raising rates in 12,000 gallon increments. Village Council Workshop Minutes November 30, 2015 Page 3 Vice Mayor Arena inquired as to the possibility of having the ratio of saltwater to freshwater being adjusted to generate more drinking water. Mr. Heady answered that it had already been adjusted properly. Council Member Paterno expressed concern that all the small increases added up to become a large increase very quickly. He cited that it may be more cost effective to simply contract with the Town of Jupiter for the Village water supply. Council Member D'Ambra countered that Jupiter would be faced with the same issues as the Village and he felt it was extremely important to have clean water available as it was an increasingly valuable resource. Council Member Paterno questioned the water plant administration cost of $1 million and asked what it entailed. He further questioned the dollar amount the water utility paid towards the general fund in total. Council Member D'Ambra reminded Council that the important thing was that the charges for services were appropriate. Council Member Paterno also wondered which items on the list were "wish list" items vs. "must have" items. Mr. Heady informed the Council that most all of the items on the list were at least five years past due from the original condition assessment. He explained that some of the parts that were due for replacement had already exceeded the projected life by 50 percent and that those items were already giving them problems. Mayor Brennan stated that the focus should be on improvements that were needed minus the AC pipe. Vice Mayor Arena asked for clarification regarding the surcharge and tax for residents and non residents. Manager Couzzo explained that the surcharge was for nonresident water customers and the tax was applicable only to Village resident water customers. Council Member D'Ambra suggested an adjustment be made to the water rate usage tiers so that the lowest water usage customers would have minimal rate increases. Mr. Doug Chambers, Public Works Supervisor, added that maintaining good, quality water was an important resource and educating the public was imperative. Council Member Paterno requested that Mr. Heady provide a breakdown of water usage as it related to the rate tiers. Manager Couzzo offered that the Village was in the bottom 25 -30% of local area utility rates and that the increase was to maintain the system. Mayor Brennan suggested that Council give Manager Couzzo some direction in going forward with Mr. Robert Ori, of Public Resources Management Group, Inc. Ms. JoAnn Forsyth, Director of Finance, added that a decision should be made regarding the scope of work so that Mr. Ori could provide the actual increase figures. Sam reported that the initial increases, without consideration of the AC pipe, would be over a time period of five years and that they would represent each year at a rate of seven and a half percent, five and one half percent, five and one half percent, five and one half percent, five and one half percent respectively, thru the year 2020. These rate hikes would also include reserve funds. He Village Council Workshop Minutes November 30, 2015 Page 4 offered the ability to add the AC pipe replacement at a rate of nine percent for five years. Manager Couzzo revealed that the figures did not include indexing. Council Member D'Ambra suggested using the seven /seven /seven percent plan and to revisit it again going forward from year three, onward to 2030. Council Member Paterno asked for a copy of the five year plan including the adjustment and tiers which should include the number of customers at each tier. Manager Couzzo offered to supply a report showing a one month representation of the requested information. 2. Discussion on Sale of Remembrance Park Property Ms. Nilsa Zacarias, Director of Community Development, reported that there had been no interest in the sale and purchase of Remembrance Park. Manager Couzzo suggested that a real estate brokerage company become involved so that the property could be sold. Council Member Paterno suggested the Village hold on to the property. Council Member D'Ambra felt that this could be an opportunity to sell the property at a reasonable price and create housing that would generate tax revenue. He added that the Village was currently in very high demand for housing. Manager Couzzo mentioned that the asking price was $250,000 for the lot. Ms. Zacarias indicated that she would work with Clerk McWilliams in obtaining a brokerage firm to list the property. 3. Discussion on Pathway Pole Lighting Manager Couzzo described the type of lighting that would be installed along the walkway between Country Club Drive and First Presbyterian Church. He informed the Council that the lighting would be a bollard style, LED, concrete aggregate which also had anti — graffiti properties, plus offered a five year warranty. Doug Chambers, Director of Public Works, also added that many different types of lighting were considered and with the budget of $50,000 this was the best option. Solar lighting was also considered but was not a realistic option due to the amount of daily direct sunlight needed. Mr. Chambers also stated that for this type of lighting fixture, he was about $10,000 to $15,000 over budget. However, much of the work was being performed "in house ", which offered significant savings. Council Member Paterno asked if sidewalks would be improved while the lighting project was being performed. Mr. Chambers answered that there was no reason to blend the two projects unless there was additional funding available. He further stated that he did an assessment report of all of the sidewalk areas on Tequesta Drive and would go over the report with Manager Couzzo. Manager Couzzo reassured Council that if there were any repairs to be made, they would be accomplished, but that this was a standalone project. Council Member Paterno passed around a hand out that showed some of the sidewalks on Tequesta Drive that were in need of repair. He was concerned with the width of the Village Council Workshop Minutes November 30, 2015 Page 5 sidewalks and the fact that they were only approximately 2 feet from the street, along with the fact that there was landscaping further crowding the area. Mayor Brennan advised that Council take a look at the colors of the new lighting fixtures and to choose something that would blend with the upcoming US 1 project. Doug mentioned that the lighting had 3 color choices; black, green or bronze. ANY OTHER MATTERS: Council Member Arena expressed interest in asking the US Highway 1 project contractor for a price to complete the Tequesta Drive paving work at the same time. He also asked that Council discuss the code enforcement brochure, that was previously discussed, and that it be distributed to residents accompanying their water bills. He further encouraged Council to consider inviting restaurants to provide food at council meetings. Lastly, he wanted to research the possibility of "Village of Tequesta" branded merchandise that would be available to the public for purchase, at cost. Council Member Paterno inquired as to where we stood on the drone and the 605 budget issues. Manager Couzzo confirmed that the Village did purchase one drone. ADJOURNMENT Council Member Okun moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Vice Mayor Arena. The motion to adjourn carried unanimously 5 -0; therefore, the meeting was adjourned at 7:58 pm. Respectfully submitted, A Deanna Mayo, CMC Assistant to the Village Clerk Note: These summary minutes are prepared in compliance with 286.011 F.S. and are not verbatim transcripts of the meeting. A verbatim audio record is available from the Office of the Village Clerk. All referenced attachments are on file in the Village Clerk's office.