Public Hearing to Consider Introduction of Ordinance Revising the City’s Sewer Service Charges.  (Public Works 602)
Thank you. Thank you, Staff. Nice to see you. And then we will move on to item six. Be Madam Quick. Public Hearing to consider introduction of ordinance revising the city sewer service charges. All right. And is that his present? Is that Mr. Garland? And this accord myth we're promoting. All right. Yes, I think there's an announcement right soon. When I say anything. City manager. He loves it. When I put him on the spot. Tour and I this was one of my few announcements I was going to make in my same manager report. But today we decided, I announced Aaron Smith is going to be the interim public works director when Liam leaves. All right. Yes. All right. Well, with that, may we call on Nick Smith to give the report on item six be? Hello, everyone. Can you hear me? I can hear you. We can't see you. Yeah, I don't know why. Oh. Oh. I know it. I miss everybody. At like I see your face on the screen, but maybe. There we go. There you go. See? I can see you. Wonderful. Good evening, Madam Mayor. Vice Mayor, members of the council, and Aaron Smith, a current deputy soon to be interim public works director. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. Tonight is public hearings for proposed revisions to our sewer service charge. I also will keep things brief. I appreciate the agenda shifting as we do have a staff member downstairs. Back in April, we presented a rate study to council that was prepared by our consultant, Bartle Wells. That rate study looked at funding needs and revenue sources for the sewer program and recommended a 3% annual increase over the next five years. That's 3% per year for the next five years. Just to be clear, the objectives of that rate increase are multifold. One is sufficient funding for pipeline replacement, capital improvements and operating costs. We want to maintain sufficient operating and capital reserves to meet any debt coverage requirements that we have and of course, mitigate impacts to ratepayers smoothing out the rate and avoiding rate spikes in the future. I want to take just a minute to highlight some accomplishments of the sure program since the federal consent decree was in place in 2014. We have met and exceeded all requirements. And just to refresh memories, the two primary objectives of our consent decree are is to reduce the amount of stormwater entering our sewer system, particularly during rain events where that excess flow exceeds the regional treatment capacity and partially treated wastewater discharged to the bay. The other objective is to minimize or eliminate overflows from our collection system onto streets or back up in people's properties. So to date, in the last six years, under federal court order, we've replaced 20 miles of old sewer main. That's about 15% of our collection system. That shifts the average age from nearly 90 years to 55. So a significant accomplishment, but a lot more to be done to avoid failures. A reminder that this work is guided by a 20 year rehabilitation plan that's in our sewer master plan that is prioritized based upon condition assessment. It's also renovated nearly 80% of our 32 excuse me, 34 pumping facilities. And with the island flat, dependable pumping facilities is essential for continued service. We need to continue forward with this good work. And the study identifies the 3% increase in order to do so. Back in April when the rate study went to council. Council also adopted a resolution declaring their intent to revise the sewer service charge. Shortly thereafter, we sent over 20,000 notices to affected property owners, announcing the public hearing this evening, giving instruction for submission of protest. As of 530 this evening, we had 14 protests and just texting the individual downstairs. We've received none this evening. So that leaves 14 total protest, which is not the majority, which allows council to move forward in voting on the ordinance, which puts forth the rate increase. And with that, I can answer questions and report. Thank you, Miss Smith. Any council questions for staff? Do we have emotion? Do we have any public comment? I'm so sorry. I try. Okay. We have no comment, so we're all right. I'm not. Okay. So no public comment. We'll close up a comment and and I will initiate a movement motion. So move gets then move by Councilmember Odie. And do I have a second? People are going to be here a long time. Councilmember de 6 seconds. With a. Comment. Yes. Comment. Councilmember Desai, quick comment. When you look at the bottles and well study in table three, we have a comparison of the city of Alameda, monthly service charge for a single family residence and it compares it against Berkeley, Oakland, Albany and Piedmont. And we come out pretty favorable in terms of how it what our rates are. The typical monthly rate is for a single family home. Emeryville has a much lower rate than Alameda. But when you look at Alameda relative to other cities in North Alameda County, we come out pretty well. So. So that's why I, I certainly support this and we're paying it right now. And the new amount that we're going to pay next year at 3% increase is relatively reasonable. All right. Thank you for your comments. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Maybe we have a roll call vote, please. Councilor Dayton, Guy Knox White. Hi. Hi. I may as I carry five fi. All right. Thank you. And please call your staff member inside. Thank you. I'm back. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Nice to see everyone. Staff and consultants. And then with that, we move on to item six. See? Public hearing to consider an appeal of certain conditions of approval imposed by Planning Board Resolution Number PB 2010 approving a waiver of the Universal Residential Design Ordinance Alameda Municipal Code Section 30, Dash 18 for the proposed development and 2229 to 2235 Clement Avenue and adoption of related resolution.