UTILITIES COMMISSION
March 13, 2007
7:30 p.m.

The Stafford County Utilities Commission met for its regular meeting on March 13, 2007, in Conference Room A,B,C in the Stafford County Administration Center. Commission members present were Joyce Arndt, Richard Carroll, Lloyd Chittum, and Juan Chaves. Bob Bos, Dale Allen, Nancy Collins, and Cheryl Giles were present for the Utilities Department.

1. Public Presentations – Attorney Charlie Payne spoke on behalf of his client Chris Stacy. Mr. Payne explained the impact ordinance O05-50 would have on plans already submitted and approved by the County for Mr. Stacy. Mr. Stacy also provided a background report on his situation and the costly affect the ordinance would have on him to develop the properties for connection to public sewer.

Mr. Ray Freeland of C.T. Park, Glen Raymond and Glenda Potter of Potter Homes and James Cowash of Cranes Corner Rd. each provided a background report on their situation and the impact ordinance O05-50 would have for their submitted plans to develop properties for connection to public sewer.

Robert Berner of Garrett Development explained that the ordinance would affect him quite differently because he is not sure if he should develop the land on the Widewater peninsula. Due to a possible shift that the land may or may not be included as part of the Urban Service Area in the Comprehensive Plan. Juan Chaves suggested that Mr. Berner present his concerns to the Comprehensive Plan Committee for discussion.

Mr. Chaves then thanked the public for their comments and closed the public presentations.

2. Approval of Minutes - Minutes for the January 9, 2007 meeting were approved as written.

3. Mandatory Water and Sewer Connections – Bob Bos distributed a draft of two versions of proposed revision options for Section 25-71 that had been updated by the County Attorney. Bob explained that the Board of Supervisors referred the issue to the Utilities Commission for review and for a recommendation.

Chairman, Juan Chaves commented that he would have to abstain from the voting decision because he conducts business with and knows several of the citizens in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Chaves explained that due to the fact that he would not be able to vote on the issue, there were not enough commission members present to have a quorum. Therefore, the item would have to be tabled until the next meeting on April 10, 2007.

Ms. Potter inquired about a timeframe for the matter to be resolved. Bob Bos responded that the ideal timeframe for the matter to be resolved would be if a recommendation was reached by the Utilities Commission members at the April meeting. Then a public hearing could be held in May followed by it being presented at the Board of Supervisors meeting in June.

4. Conservation Policy – Nancy Collins presented a proposed conservation policy which would include permanent odd-even watering restrictions from May 1 to October 31. Nancy reported that the average daily demand for water has continued to grow each year and that demand is highest during the summer. Nancy explained that a conservation policy would help to manage the challenges of summertime peak demand. The policy would also limit the types of activities that tend to result in excessive or wasteful use of water.

Lloyd Chittum made a motion to advertise a public hearing to be held in the Board Chambers on April 10, 2007 for the conservation policy. The motion was seconded by Richard Carroll and passed unanimously.

5. Financial Update – Nancy Collins distributed copies of the County’s 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and presented highlights relevant to the Utilities fund.

Statement of Net Assets:
· The equity in pooled cash and investments plus the restricted cash equals the total cash of $84.8 million, which is an decrease of $1.4 million.
· $30.9 million is for construction in progress. Consists of more than 50 projects.

Revenue, Expenses and Changes in Net Assets:
· Charges for services increased 16%.
· Operating expenses (not including depreciation) increased 10.4%
· $12.4 million in donated fixed assets.
· Availability fee income 2006 – $9.4 million; 2005 - $14.6 million

Statement of Cash Flows:
· Net decrease in cash of $1.4 million.
· Acquisition and construction of capital projects is $16.8 million.

6. Hydro-Electric Power for Rocky Pen Run Reservoir – Bob Bos reported that the Board of Supervisors requested the Utilities Commission consider the matter of using flow-by from the Rocky Pen Run Reservoir to generate electric power. Staff referred the issue to Dave Campbell, P.E. of Schnabel Engineering for consideration. Based upon Mr. Campbell’s analysis, staff recommends that the project is not viable and should not be included in the Rocky Pen Run project.

Lloyd Chittum made a motion to not include the hydro-electric power generation for the Rocky Pen Run Reservoir project. The motion was seconded by Richard Carroll and passed unanimously.

7. Preliminary Subdivision Plans – Dale reported that there have been nine preliminary subdivision plans received by the Planning Department for review between April 12, 2006 and February 14, 2007. Dale highlighted the Crown Lane, McCarty Forest, and the Williams plans. Dale stated that the McCarty Forest and the Williams plans are both affected by the mandatory connections to Utilities ordinance.

8. Public Utilities Administrator’s Report – Bob Bos reported the following items:
Mr. Root’s Deed of Easement for the Trail Ends Lane Waterline Extension project had been received.
The Board of Supervisors voted at their last meeting that rather than have the issue of building a dam on Rocky Pen Run go before the BZA, a public hearing would be held to get a Special Use permit from the Planning Commission.
Bob informed members that Gene Mayausky had verbally resigned from the Commission because of his move to Spotsylvania County. Bob commented that he would inform Gene that he should also submit a written resignation.

9. Commission Members Comments – Juan Chaves reported that he had received two complaint letters from utilities customers. The first letter was in regard to late charges incurred when paying bills online. Nancy Collins explained the process of what happens when a customer makes a payment online and why the customer received late charges. Juan suggested that the phrase “Allow three days for processing” be added to the website.

The second letter was in regards to monthly billing. The customer wrote that it would be more cost efficient if billing was done quarterly instead of monthly. Bob explained that there is not a substantial difference between the cost for a monthly and quarterly bill.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Joyce Arndt
Acting Recording Secretary