Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 12-08-2009 special — reading text

WID MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA STORMWATER UTILITY ISSUES DECEMBER 8, 2009 INTRODUCTION A special meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at 5: 00 p. m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, with the following members present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Virgil Miller, Bill Garvie, Bobby Nabors, Bill Patterson, and Dick Rynearson Absent: Dennis Reeves Also Present: Bob Mearns, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Toni Craig, City Attorney; and Department Directors PURPOSE The purpose of the Special Council meeting is to discuss stormwater utility issues. CALL TO ORDER/ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Mayor called the meeting to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Garvie moved to approve the agenda as the business of the day. Mr. Rynearson seconded motion it and carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Garvie, Nabors, Patterson, and Rynearson in favor (Reeves absent). PRESENTATION OF STORMWATER UTILITY ISSUES Michael Beedie, City Engineer, presented background on the Stormwater Management Utility which began operating on October 1, 2008 as a City utility enterprise fund to allow for the maintenance, design, construction, regulation, and inspection related to stormwater management facilities for the City. Mr. Beedie explained the fee would be charged to all developed property within the City that contributes stormwater runoff, and that the Equivalent Residential Unit ( ERU) is used as the basis of calculating the user fee for each property in the City that has an active water meter account. Mr. Beedie continued the basis for calculating the ERU was determined by Tetra Tech, the City's engineering consultant for the Stormwater Utility Study, who determined the original gross impervious area for one ERU was set at 2,700 square feet in Ord. 1768. However, during an internal quality assurance /quality control review of the stormwater utility database received from Tetra Tech that was used for billing purposes for the Stormwater Utility, the City determined that the properties used in the original engineering analysis for the ERU calculation should have been 3, 200 square feet and not 2, 700 square feet, and it was also determined that the square footage of impervious surfaces that were originally digitized by Tetra Tech using aerial photography were also incorrect. Mr. Beedie informed there is a net annual financial decrease in the Stormwater Utility revenue due to errors made by Tetra Tech which have little to no effect on the operations of the Stormwater Division. K11 Special Council 12 -08 -09 STORMWATER UTILITY (CONT) Mr. Beedie reported no Council action is requested at this time, and that Staff will bring forth an amended ordinance for the Stormwater Management Utility in January to correct issues discovered during the City's quality assurance /quality control review of the original billing database. Michael Bomar, Vice President of Tetra Tech, advised they met with Staff to determine the errors and that they are being corrected by Tetra Tech. Mr. Bomar apologized to Staff and Council on the errors that were made, and that Tetra Tech is committed to implementing the corrections on the City's behalf. Discussion included the errors made by Tetra Tech were based on a sampling error; that Staff will return in January with a revised ordinance to incorporate the corrections plus either crediting or refunding accounts; that approximately two to three weeks worth of work by Tetra Tech was used to correct the errors; and that residential property ERU' s will not change. The Mayor asked for public input. There was none. The Mayor confirmed this was for information and that Staff will return in January with an action plan for corrections and any adjustments or resolutions. ADJOURN Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:20 p. m. APPROVED: MAYOR: I' Ia AJ10 ATT T' M CITY CLERK Ive