 Looks like we have all five of us We're waiting for anybody else Jennifer And then I'll go ahead and call the meeting of the Board of Public Utilities for the city of Santa Rosa to order If we may have a roll call, please Yes, Chair Galvin here Vice Chair Arnone here Board Member Baden Ford Board Member Grable here board member Walsh Here board member Watts Board Member Wright here Thank you. Good afternoon everyone Reminder to mute your phones and microphones when you're not speaking and to put away your cell phones and personal computers We'll move to item two, which is statement of abstention by board members. Do we have any seen none? We have no study sessions Next item is the minutes. We'll take public comments on the minutes for April 7th, 2022 If you wish to speak make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone, please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary Aether we have no public comments. Very good. The minutes will be approved and entered We'll now move to our staff briefing on 5.1 water supply update director Burke Thank you. Chair Galvin and members of the board Item 5.1 is our water supply update and deputy director of water resources Peter Martin will be making the presentation Thank you. Good afternoon chair Galvin and members of the board Happy to be here before you today with the water supply update if we could go to the next slide slide number two Just kind of working our way down the watershed gonna Provide some updates on our storage in lakes. No, excuse me. It's no more waters reservoirs As of today storage and Lake Minasino has been taking up a bit. It's about 46,275 acre feet Which is about 55% of storage capacities for this time of year That represents about a little less than a thousand acre feet change over last week. So Lake Minasino is picking up some storage As of today releases from Lake Minasino are at about 25 cubic feet per second Just a reminder that Snowmobile water is operating under an existing temporary change order Which allows them to reduce their releases from the two reservoirs based upon the storage in Lake Minasino As of today that storage threshold is 53,000 acre feet Next slide And then Lake Snowmastorage Actually has gained a little bit over the last week not much but better than The losses they're experiencing in the reservoir over the last couple weeks Storage is at 143,500 acre feet Which is about 58.5% of water supply capacity That represents about a 200 acre foot increase in storage over the last seven days and releases are currently at 60 cubic feet per second Next slide Just wanted to summarize our water savings for the city of Santa Rosa As you'll recall Back in July of 2021 the city council enacted stage three or a water shortage contingency plan Asking the community for a 20% community wide reduction in water use compared to 2020 In March last month Santa Rosa residents reduced their water by 10% compared to 2020 It was a very dry March if you'll recall So people have been irrigating but you know, we typically see those water savings really occur in the summer So have slipped a little bit in terms of our cumulative reductions Water use has been reduced by 20% compared to 2020. So we still are on target, but You know over the next few months we're really going to be out there in community asking folks to Do their best and really continue the good work that they did last year as well. So We can move on to the next slide I was hoping today to just provide a general update on the governor's executive order issued on March 28 A lot of the reasoning behind the issuance of this executive order was some frustration on behalf of the administration with progress on water usage across the state in January My understanding is that water usage actually was up compared to prior years. So What the governor did was take some actions that he could one of some of those impacting Santa Rosa are the fact that The administration directed Utilities to submit a preliminary annual water supply and demand assessment by June 1st of 2022 Um, I did provide an update to this board a few months back that there's a new annual water supply and demand assessment That's required every year And that was due on July 1st. So there'll be a preliminary Version of that report that's to be submitted by June 1st. Our staff is tracking this requirement Yet to receive the full set of tables and everything to submit, but we are planning to be prepared to meet that deadline And then further He instructed that All urban water suppliers should institute shortage plans consistent with an up to 20% conservation target As you know, we've been impacted by drought longer than other parts of the state. So this area is already at that target right now and then What's gotten a lot of press is this non-functional turf ban for irrigation Um, so he's instructed the state water resource control board to define non-functional turf and Put together some emergency regulations to ban irrigation of these areas Uh in the commercial institutional and irrigation customer classes Uh an emergency draft of those regulations has been released And there's actually a workshop going on right now and we have staff attending that and we'll continue to Provide updates this board on how we'll proceed if this goes into play the plan at the moment is to enact some sort of emergency regulations by The end of next month. I can't but there's a workshop coming up here pretty shortly Go to the next slide Further the executive order did have some measures to help address the existing drought Um, those included streamline permitting for groundwater recharge projects. So projects that may already be Uh in the process of getting permits, there's a streamlined permitting opportunity to get those projects into play faster Uh, interestingly it requires a consultation of with your local groundwater sustainability agency Uh for new private well permits. Um, and those are Uh for private wells that are above two acre feet of annual water usage per year So in this instance, uh snow water or excuse me snow county is the permitting agency. So they would need to Before issuing a permit have some sort of assurances from local groundwater sustainability agency that any new well, uh is consistent with the Groundwater sustainability plans that are enacted in that region. Um, so there will be some additional hurdles to get over If folks want to put in a private well, so just to note, uh, municipal wells would not be subject to this requirement So that's an important note to make as well And then further there's some provisions that help with the potential for emergency water hauling for failing water systems do the drought and resources Will be added to the state water resources control board to ensure their ability Uh to enforce illegal diversions against illegal diversion of water and rivers and streams And then there'll be calls for expedited agency approvals for actions that are specific to protecting fish and wildlife during this drought They go ahead and go to slide number seven I did also want to note, uh, there was some coverage on in the press democrat I believe, uh last week The state water resource control board did host a workshop to discuss how they would proceed with water right curtailments this year last year There were some challenges given kind of the The situation going on in lake minnesino and the upper russian river And ultimately the state water resource control board issued Blanket curtailments across the water the russian river watershed That were very impactful to a lot of agricultural communities and as well as other municipalities that derive their water from the upper russian rivers particularly And that was done through an emergency rulemaking And those temp those curtailments under that emergency rulemaking were suspended last winter And they were kept remain suspended into may but it is very like looking very likely or Not very likely it is going to happen is that the state board is looking to re-adopt emergency regulations in the coming months curtailment notices went out in march to Approximately 2,500 water right holders in the russian river watershed. Uh, that's the upper and lower State board presented information on a revised water availability analysis and projections This year is a little bit better than last year, but still definitely looking at Though the very much likelihood of folks not getting the water that they typically would be used to in a normal water Um, and then interestingly, uh, they are proposing the implementation of voluntary water user agreements A lot of the details still need to be fleshed out, but the proposal is to allow senior water right holders to take conservation measures on their properties or Where they take water and allow for some of that water to become available for junior right holders in the watershed So those junior right holders would typically be the first to be curtailed could make use of Perhaps some surplus water that would be made available through voluntary agreements Um, the proposed adoption of these revised emergency regulations is on may 10th. So coming up next month But I do want to highlight Uh, that where we receive our our water from Sonoma water Their deliveries will be governed by the temperature change order Um that exists right now and then of course, as I've mentioned before Sonoma water is looking to file Uh another six month Temporaries to use and change petition And receive in order going through the remainder of the year So, um this uh while this would be impactful to the region it would not necessarily Have any impacts on uh our ability to receive water from Sonoma water under their storage and water rights Next slide And then um, this is a Fun slide. I'm very excited. Uh, we are definitely out getting out In the community again And there's several events and workshops where we'll be participating in in a variety of ways The water smart insect investigation workshop At bear farm, which is going to be offered in bilingual in english and spanish is occurring on may 14th 11 to 2 You can sign up for that workshop At srcity.org slash water smart workshops. It is being sponsored by santa rosa water and coordinated through daily acts We also have our eco-friendly garden tour With several of the gardens that are going to be on display being here in santa rosa It is once again a virtual online tour this year That will be occurring on may 14th as well You can say but sign up for that at savingwaterpartnership.org slash eco-friendly garden tour and then The santa rosa water will be out at the city works festival to commemorate the return of the santa rosa wednesday night market on may 18th And I believe You might have the wrong time there so I I'm looking at that time. It doesn't seem correct So you may want to check on that but you can find out more information on wednesdaynightmarket.com and then a wildfire preparedness event is occurring on courthouse square on may 21st Details to come on that as well But we plan to be present there talking about water use efficiency And as well as the hydration station, which hasn't been out for a couple years. So we're very excited about that too as well Next slide Oh, uh I realize it's a five to eight thirty for the wednesday night market. So Apologies for that mistake on my side. So So finally, uh santa rosa water is here to help you save You can go to srcity.org slash watersmart Uh or look for the latest drought updates srcity.org slash save water That concludes my presentation. I'm happy to take any questions you may have Thank you deputy director martin any questions or comments from the board All right, and we'll open it up for public comments on item 5.1 If you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone Please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary atha we have no public comments Great. Thank you We'll move to the consent calendar There are four items on the consent calendar. If nobody wishes to pull any of them. I will entertain a motion I'll move that we adopt the consent calendar I will second Wait a second I think we have a motion by board member right and a second by board member walsh Any questions or comments from the board Okay, if not, we'll open it up for public comments on item 6.1 6.2 6.3 and 6.4 If you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you dial in via telephone, please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary atha there are no public comments. All right, and may we have a roll call vote, please chair galvin I vice chair anoni Sorry, I Board member grapill I board member walsh I Board member right I That carries with five eyes Thank you very much. That takes care of the consent calendar We will now move to item 7.1 Which is a report item director Burke Thank you chair galvin and members of the board I'm actually going to introduce both item 7.1 and 7.2 right now because there's one presentation But you will be acting on them individually So we will have a report item on our fiscal year 2022 23 water and local wastewater operations and maintenance and capital improvement budgets A recommendation to city council and then item 7.2 is our fiscal year 2022 23 Regional water reuse system operations and maintenance capital improvement and debt service budget and allocation of house recommendation to city council and making the presentation will be Nick harvey our administrative analyst Thanks director Burke and good afternoon chair galvin members of the board today. We're going to be going over the 2022 23 fiscal year budget to request a recommendation to city council Just for your information the proposed budget does remain consistent with deputy directors Zunino's study session that was brought forth in april 7th Before I get into the actual presentation. I just want to touch on a couple housekeeping items As director Burke said we provide two staff reports resolutions for the budget because of the need to take the regional budget to city council prior to the formal Budget adoption so that we can notify our partners at the preliminary approved allocations by may of each year And we provide you with one presentation So you can see the budget as a whole since the wastewater fund does provide center as a water's portion of the regional budget and at the end of the presentation I'll go ahead and recommend or request rather each recommendation separately Next slide, please So today we're going to go over all three of our enterprise operating reserves budgets reserves CIP planned appropriations and our regional partner allocations And then we'll finish up with the budget schedule Next slide, please So these are the on m categories we're spending where we're expecting rather a largest year over year increases in the expenditure budget The mo u colas wellness payments and various component failures at the treatment plan as well as the general Climate of that that we're seeing in the rising costs for goods and services As well as our environmental compliance Requirements out at the plan are all contributing to the increases we're seeing here as explained by deputy directors Zunino at the last meeting And the last item there is the increase in the purchase of water and just a note that we'll be reviewing those increases in a later slide Next slide, please Our proposed staffing changes for the next fiscal year have been preliminarily approved by the city's executive team And these are the increases we'll expect if ultimately approved by city council Next slide, please So this is a high level fund by fund view the overall impact of the increases to each of our enterprise operating funds With the largest obviously being in the sub-regional fund as a result of the on m projects and professional service increases due to the addition Of uncontrolled increases as discussed on the the previous slide Next slide, please So this is our total anticipated on m budget for the Santa Rosa water as a whole so so all the funds And uh these numbers haven't changed since you last saw them Next slide, please So as previously explained by deputy directors Zunino We're expecting water use to remain flat year over year due to drought reductions with a six percent increase the wholesale water rate As passed by Sonoma water As a reminder though Santa Rosa water did develop a current rate schedule based on a six percent increase by Sonoma water So this is already incorporated in our long-range financial model and won't have an effect on our customers Next slide, please So this graphic represents a proposed on m expenditure budget by category for the water operating fund next next please And then this graphic represents on m expenditure budget by category as well for the local sewer operating fund Next slide, please This graphic represents overall expenditure budget by category for the regional operating fund This is reflective of the budgeted five point four million dollars projected miscellaneous revenues expected to be collected in the regional enterprise And those are revenues that collected to go directly to the regional funder and removed from the on m allocations to the partners An increase is required in the on m reserves to achieve a 15 percent reserve per policy Which is shown in here as well And we've also included debt service in this total The allocation of these total expenses to the partners will be shown on a later slide Next slide, please So each year now we like to show you the revenue to expenditure slides Which you'll see indicate higher expenditures and revenues on the water side This is due to the decrease in revenue from the drought as well as the increased expenditures Related to the drought as well And we're proposing the use of undesignated fund balance to cover this which avoids a need to impact our customers rates Next slide, please So the wastewater fund has the same need to cover expenditures as shown here And we propose providing the same coverage from fund balance with no effect to customer rates I will point out that you you also see Santa Rosa waters contribution to the regional fund on this slide Because it is our local wastewater fund that pays for Santa Rosa waters contributions to the the regional system Next slide, please And here's the summary of the reserve balances in each of Santa Rosa waters three Enterprise operating funds and these are as of june 30th 2021. So finance adjusts these After each fiscal year end as of that fiscal year end And as explained at our last meeting the good news is that while we see increases in on m budgets and reductions in revenue this year We have sufficient amount of undesignated fund balance to cover them without adverse impacts to our ratepayers And all of our other reserve balances remain at the existing policy levels And then we can jump ahead two slides revert if we could. Thank you So now we're going to go over the regional contribution allocations in our regional system to ourselves and the partner agencies And so this chart provides a total budget except debt service. It's allocated to the partners It includes our on m budget the cip budget the increase to the on m reserve to keep Our reserve level at the target 15 percent of expenditures balance As well as a removal of the miscellaneous revenue from the on m budgeted expenditures So the very bottom number the 44.65 million is a net amount of regional expenditures to be allocated to us As well as the partner agencies after netting out the miscellaneous revenues that we mentioned in a previous slide Next slide please So this chart provides all the proposed budget expenditures for our regional system Which includes cip and debt service figures Each of the various components of the total expenditures are distributed in different ways as defined by the subregional agreement On m costs are distributed based on the last full year of actual wastewater flows to the Laguna treatment plant And we determined the total on m expenditure budget net out the budgeted miscellaneous revenues as discussed And add the additional reserves To meet that 15 percent requirement and then we allocate Those costs based on the percentage of flow by each partner agency The cip budget is allocated by percentages as defined in the agreement And our debt service payments are based on the projects that debt was issued for This year some of the partners are going to Apply some of their uh refund reserve to lower their net increases While this isn't part of the budget approval because the partners may choose How to use their portion of the reserve And how it affects their own rates I pointed out because Santa Rosa water is proposing the use of $400,000 from that reserve Which was reflected on our revenue to expenditure slide Next slide, please And we're going to touch on the Capital improvement program for the upcoming fiscal year Next slide, please So this slide just gives you an idea the significant scope of our system that our staff work each and every day to maintain And deliver quality service to our ratepayers Just a reminder of all the assets out there that we're responsible for and we maintain and make significant investments for each year Next slide, please So this chart gives you the proposed water cip budget broken out by project category As a reminder the project details were provided to you at the study session on april 7th Those cip funding sheets reflect our five-year spending plan for the cip budget However, the only recommendation that goes forward For consideration to city council is year one City council only approves and appropriates the year one funding in all the future years are essentially a planning tool For internal purposes Next slide, please And here's the proposed local wastewater cip budget broken out by project category Um very obvious that that we're looking at sewer trunks as a main priority in the in the local sewer system for 22 23 Next slide, please And finally the proposed regional cip budget by category I'll point out that this year the cip is nine million dollars of cash funding And as we have been for several years, we've been increasing The cip the plan cip appropriations for the regional system by one million dollars year over year as agreed upon by the partners And it's also important to note that this slide doesn't include regional's largest cip project that being the eb disinfection system replacement project We're going to council later this month to appropriate the remainder of our 2020 wastewater bond funds prior to the construction contract being brought to you for award Is this will be a mid-year appropriation It's not reflected in the fiscal year 22 23 budget totals, but we thought we thought it important to point that out to you all Next slide, please And our budget schedule So as we look forward Um, hopefully we're getting your recommendation to city council today. It will go The regional budget will go to city council on april 26 for the preliminary approval of the regional budget for the purposes notifying our regional partner agencies of their allocations by may 1st Be going to council on may 10th and 11th for the budget study sessions And hopefully having our budget budget adopted by city council on june 21st Next slide please Okay, and due to the need to separate the two recommendations as a reminder. I'm going to first request The first recommendation and after chairman gallup and completes the comment and voting period I'll come back with a second or as a recommendation for the proposed regional budget And with that said it is recommended by senator as a water in the budget review subcommittee that the board of public utilities By resolution recommend that the city council approve the fiscal year 2022 23 Water fund and local waste water fund operations maintenance and capital expenditure appropriation requests Thank you very much. Mr. Harvey At this time, I'll open it up for any board member questions or comments On item 7.1. All right seeing none. I'll ask for a motion on item 7.1. Please Mr chairman move that the board of public utilities by resolution recommend the city council approve the fiscal year Water fund and local waste water fund operations and maintenance And capital expenditure appropriation requests second Thank you. We have a motion by Board member walsh and a second by board member grable at this time We will open it up for public comments on item 7.1 If you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone Please dial star nine to raise your hand Secretary ether do we have anyone we have no public comments All right, maybe we have a roll call vote. Please chair galvin. Hi vice chair anoni Hi Board member grable Hi Board member walsh Hi and board member ray Hi That carries with five eyes Thank you We'll now move to item 7.2 and open it up for any board member questions or comments I'm sorry. Mr. Harvey. Did you want to do the recommendation on item 7.2? Absolutely. Thank you. Um, it's it's recommended by center as a water the sub regional wastewater technical advisory committee and the budget review subcommittee that the board of public utilities by resolution recommend that the city council approve the preliminary fiscal year 2022-23 regional water reuse system operations and maintenance capital improvement and debt service budgets and allocation of costs For the purposes of notifying the regional water reuse agencies their allocation of such costs by may of 2022 Thank you with that. I'll now open it up for any board member questions or comments Seeing none. I will entertain a motion Mr. Chairman I'll move that the board of public utilities by resolution recommend that the city council approve the preliminary fiscal year 2022-2023 regional water reuse system operations and maintenance capital improvement and debt service and allocation of costs For purposes of notifying the regional water reuse user agencies their allocation of such by may 2022 I'll second Thank you. We have a motion by board member waltz seconded by board member right At this time, we'll open it up for public comments on item 7.2 If you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone, please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary etha there are no public comments May we have a roll call vote, please? Chair galvin Hi Vice chair anoni Hi Board member grable Hi Board member walsh Hi Board member right Hi That carries with five eyes Great. Thank you all and mr. Harvey. Thank you for the presentation Thank you for your time Very well done Item 8 is public comments on non-agenda items If you wish to make a public comment, please dial or Comment via zoom. Please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone. Please. Please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary etha do we have anyone? We do not Okay, that'll take care of public comments. We have no referrals We have no written communications. I don't believe we have any subcommittee reports Does anybody have a subcommittee report? No Board member reports Anyone Very good. We will move to the director's report Thank you chair galvin and members of the board. I have a few items to update you on Pardon me first Sonoma water in response to immediate and future drought relief needs is advancing its efforts to upgrade existing production wells in the santa rosa plain groundwater basin So in support of this effort santa rosa water has helped facilitate a connection to our sewer system That will allow the well water that is flushed during startup and other maintenance Activities to be treated at the laguna wastewater treatment plant And this is also a benefit for us because we can beneficially reuse the water for our customers So I'm just let the board know about that that has occurred Second I wanted to let the board know about a new contest that we will be unveiling So beginning april 20th and lasting through july 8th Santa Rosa water will be holding a contest to encourage customers to sign up for our new water smart portal The contest will be promoted on social media bill inserts and digital advertising After the contest window ends on july 8th. We will be picking five registered water smart portal user accounts They will be randomly selected to win a 200 credit on their water bill Early adopters and those that have already registered will also be included in the contest and Please note There are certain rules and requirements in that city employees and I believe board members are not eligible for the contest The water smart portal allows customers to track their hourly daily weekly and monthly water use and create customized notifications for high usage This tool has become very useful for engagement of customers during the drought and improves the interaction with our water billing and water use efficiency staff To help our customers save water. So if you're interested Customers can go to srcity.org Slash water smart portal to sign up today and we highly encourage folks to do so I also wanted to remind the board that this saturday is our earth day event And that'll be from 11 to 2 at courthouse square. It's a family fun event and we encourage folks to come on out and participate in our earth day event And then last I wanted to recognize one of our long-standing employees who We are very happy for him that he will be retired, but it will be a big loss to the water department So allister blifes came to the city in 2000 as a temporary professional working on the water conservation team And then moved to the stormwater and creeks team as a civil engineering technician He was promoted to environmental specialists in 2002 To serve as the first creek stewardship coordinator and is responsible for creating our vibrant and thriving creek stewardship program For 20 years allister has led this partnership between sonoma water and the city to educate the public on the benefits of creeks Inspire volunteers to protect water quality and wildlife habitat Improve the creek trail system and enhance public safety along the 100 miles of creeks in the city It's hard to capture what a force for good and inspiration allister has been in this community He is so well known and beloved that when other members of the city's creek staff meet with members of the community They are usually met with the phrase. Oh, do you work with allister? Another thing allister is known for is his extensive data tracking. So in honor of that Here are some stats for just a few of his many accomplishments In allister's career here. He has reached and engaged over 120,000 people in our community Harnessing 73,000 volunteer hours Leading to the removal of 13,000 cubic yards of trash and debris from santa rosa's creeks That's enough to fill 464 garbage trucks Allister will be missed not just by his colleagues in the city, but by the thousands of local Community members. He has inspired to help keep our creeks clean It's been my honor and privilege to work with allister and I wish him all the best in his retirement And that is my director's report and I'm happy to answer any questions that the board may have Thank you director burke any questions or comments for the director or member right Well, uh, congratulations to allister. I work with him. Also. I uh Allister's a good guy will be he will be missed also, uh, director burke, uh Does sonoma water believe that all their wells will be online for this summer? With their projects or what's the status of that? Uh, it's my understanding that we believe that or they believe they'll have two of them online for this summer And they're working very hard to have the third one potentially up and running by the fall Um, and that's a very tentative timeline Thank you Any other board member questions or comments board member walsh Yes, thank you, mr. Chairman. I just too want to also thank um allister fly fist for his excellent work and his career um helping people Keep keep our environment in order and enjoy the creeks. It's a it's a big deal to help people appreciate that And his influence will carry on for a long time through others and for that i'm thankful Thank you for your comment any other board member questions or comments Or the director All right, we will now take public comments on item number 13 if you wish to make a comment via zoom Please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone, please dial star nine to raise your hand Secretary etha there are no public comments All right, that concludes our agenda. So I would like to adjourn our meeting in honor of allister blyphus May he have a long and Healthy retirement and we will miss him and Good luck. So with that we stand adjourned See you in may Thank you everyone. Thanks, folks