Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 05-08-2007 regular agenda — reading text

1 - completed Track 2 - completed Track3: - Task 2. 1. 6 and Task 4 7. 1: Petra lAhneril al oti \cate\ the stormwater char~etoeachOfthe existing utility accounts. Stornwaterl. itygcounts will be esta.pIiSh~ dJorparcels that may not currentlyberec~ ivi.l1gmunicpglservic . J2 En~.ineeringlNiIIgssist with any field work neededtoiCOl11pletethecustomer billing database. Petra will be on call to coordinate and support the uploading and testing of the stormwater customer billing information. ProjE!ctStaff Assignment Summary On the following page is our team' s project assignment summary.  Engineering/ Consulting Services, Stormwater Utility Study, RFP 113 07.. Project Manager Technical Resource - Mission Statement Milwaukee, WI Regional Utility Evaluation John Ferris Rate Methodology Development Billing System Modification Ordinance Develo ment Storm water Program Costs Establish Level- ot-Service Chuck Boehm Milwaukee, WI 5- Year Cash Flow Development QA/QC Mana er Stormwater Program Costs Bill Duffy Fort Walton Beach, FL Establish Level- ot-Service CIP Cost Estimation Technical Resource - Mission Statement Alex Macbeth Fort Walton Beach, Regional Utility Evaluation Communit Interviews GIS, Database Development Petra Ahnert Milwaukee, WI Customer Billing File Development Policy and Procedures Manual Development Public Education and Outreach Facilitator - Mission Statement Community Interviews Gina Bennett Roswell, GA Development - Printed Material Coordinator/ Facilitator 0 en Houses and Public Meetin s Field Measurements ot Impervious Area Assist Development ot Program Costs J2 Engineering, Inc. Valparaiso, FL Assist with Open Houses and Public Meetings Development and Printing Outreach Material  Engineering/ Consulting Services, Stormwater Utility Study, RFP 07- 113 or John Ferris' Stormwater Utility EarthTech has completed over 40 stormwater utility projeGts. The status of those Experience ( Completed Projects): projeGts~ ndalist of the services performed are. indiG~ tedinthe table on the Ferris, II Hillsborough Co, Fl follovvin9P~ge. Priorto joining Earth Tech, oUrProjeGtM~n~ger, John completed< 2;3~ tQrrnw~ ter utility investigationsiprirn~ rilyjrt .FIQrid~ and the southeast <Thisbrin9s the total project experienGeofthe Earth Tech Team to around 68 communities in 12 states throughout the country. In general, mosLstormwater utility projects involve the same five components, a ordinance, progr~ m>an~ lysis, ' a rate structure analysis,. the( dr~ftin90fan development of a customer billing file and some amountofpublic outreach. Fl II Kissimmee. nt Progr"" IY$ is: Services are compared to, thejnfr~ stn.lc: ture and regulatory An"" Melbourne, Fl ornrnunity to Gome up with a multi- ye~ rbudgetfortheprogram. The neecjsofthec: II Miami. cOrnbinationof the program Analysis and the RateStruc:tureAnalysis is usually II Oakland Park, Fl sumrnarizedasa multiyear cash flow analysis, which predicts the rate( s) that II Ocala, Fl wouldpe necessary to fund the desired program. Palm Port St lucie, Fl testructure R"" Establishes the algorithm by WhiGh an individual Analysis: customerJsbilled. Usually one of three generaLrnethodolpgiesis chosen, ERU, II Fl EHA, orJD. . Of most importance is that the Jairrepresentation of the al90rithrnisa. cost of services that are provided to each Gustomer. Earth TeGh t~ilors these II Jefferson lA unique character oftheGommunity' sstormwater TX II methqcjol09ies to reflect the TX Aparcel- by- parcel analysis is usually performed to determine the II progr~rn. Henrico Co.. VA financiaJimpacts on customers and to predict how much revenue the user fee mightbe able to generate. Drafting( ofthe Ordinance: Establishes the legal frameworkoftheutility. Besides the basics, who will be responsible and how the fees are determined, are two very critiGalpieces of the legislation. They are the aPpeals process. and the credit policy. Both will be frond and center issues for the community should there be any sort of challenge. Customer Billing File: Is a detail audit of each and every parcel in the community compared to at least one utility customer aCGountAttirnesJheinformation can be compiled from information in assessor files, while in many communities we build the files from aerial photography and GIS coverages. The ability of the billing software to accept the new charges and all ofthe supporting documentation can at times be challenging. Using our experience in working with the large databases we tailor the data in such a way that the communities will be able to maintain. Public outreach: Take many forms. To do them all would cost as much as the most project itself. What we have learned from our experience is that the successfulo. utreach efforts are those that put the community in direct contact with the individuals. What is affectionately referred to as the " Rubber Chicken Circuit". ThiSN\ ould include presentations to the Chamber of Commerce, Civic Clubs, Homeowner' s Associations and other professional and social groups. However,  Engineering/ Consulting Services, Stormwater Utility Study, RFP 07- 113 Earth beefl involved with high end Techhi.;\~ rnedii.;\ igns as well that ci.;\mpi.;\ included:\ Neb~ jtecle:v opment, public service. m i: nouncements, open- houses, brochure~, slogans, and press releases to name a few. The ble ~hows a listing of all stormwater utility studies accomplished for followingJi.;\ other government entities.  Engineering/ Consulting Services, Stormwater Utility Study, RFP 07- 113 Expert Witness Examples the Earth Tech' s ProJect Manager, John Ferris, was retained by two communities ( City of West Allis) to provide expert testimonies to assist City ofEauGlaireancUhe the communities in defending themselves against challenges to their stormwater utility fees. Wisconsin had consulted with Earth Tech In the. firsticase, the City of EautoClaire, the that the City staff abouttec.hnicatissues relating stormwaterutiIityprogra.rn A paper company complained to the NViscpnsin Public Service wasdevelpping.< PSC) that the City' s stormwater · charges were " unjust and ComrnissIql1( and did unreasq.naple" because their site drained directly intotheChippeWclRiver, not enter the City' s storm sewer system. This wastheitirstcase to be brought before the PSC the reasonableness of stormwater utility charges in involving Wisconsin. The cityofEau Claire retained Mr. Ferris as an expert witness and to assist City of Sta.ff withresplvingtheJechnical issues of thechaUenge. · After several rounds discussiPnsbetween PSC staff, City staff and. earthT~Gh, City staff proposed a new credit methOdology. The City' s stormwaterGpstsWO\.dd) berecovered using three. ..cPrnppnents. The first, the Base. the annual CompOnentinGluded admini.strativecosts, management costs and waterqljalIty. Gosts and would be paid by all proPerty in the City with impervious area.