Baltimore City Wire

Baltimore City Council Stormwater Fee Committee met July 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Attendees:

Eric Costello, Chair of the Committee

Adam Lindquist

Adeline Hutchinson

Carl Simon

Elisabeth Hyleck (via conference call)

Fran Flanigan

Peter Auchincloss

Phil Lee

Rupert Denney

Sean Davis / Joshua Sharon

Kim Grove, DPW

Marcia Collins, DPW

Kristyn Oldendorf, DPW

Channa Williams, DPW Fiscal Capital Programs

Justin Lane, Staff to the Committee

Absent:

Bonnie Sorak

Dawn Rhodes

Jim Kraft

Pierce Flanigan

Introductory Remarks

Eric Costello convened the meeting at 6:05pm. [Quorum, 9/14].

Elisabeth Hyleck joined via Conference Call. [Quorum, 10/14].

Sean Davis introduces the Committee to Joshua Sharon, who will represent him at these meetings. [At this time, no provision has been made to allow proxies to vote and therefore count toward quorum].

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from January 29 approved unanimously, 10-0.

Recommended Changes in Agenda

Eric Costello brought it to the attention of the committee that a member had suggested that the agenda distributed prior to the meeting would have been repetitive of past meetings, and that the committee ought to be moving forward on several different issues. Members reacted favorably to this suggestion, which was moved and approved unanimously by members of the committee, 10-0.

New Agenda to include:

 (III) DPW Fiscal Presentation;

 (IV) Coming up with a Set of Agreed-upon

There is currently $10MM--$12MM in PAYGO, which funds capital projects; by FY2020, there will be $19MM.

There is a plan to increase capital investment.

According to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Schedule, projects are going to construction.

MS4 compliance deadlines come into play.

The cash balance is $30MM--$33MM.

Debt service/proposed bond issuance is $3MM--4MM through FY2020 $5.4M thereafter.

[The floor is opened to questions].

Rupert Denney asks if it is a given that the revenue and debt service will go up to those specified amounts in FY 2020.

Marcia Collins says that this will go in front of the Board of Estimates for approval. Mentions water and wastewater process…

Eric Costello confirms that the City Council will exercise no control over this.

Further questions about the rate increase are asked.

Discussion of WIFIA Projects [Sean Davis leaves the meeting; Quorum, 9/14]

Kim Grove discusses County Transportation Bonds. The City used ZTB funding for Race Street.

Phil Lee wants to know if DPW doesn’t use these bonds if the bonds roll back into the General Fund.

Kim Grove says that if DPW doesn’t use the bonds, then DOT gets a shot to use them. If both of them don’t use the bonds in time, the City loses the bonds.

Channa Williams says that the CIP Schedule is just catching up with the funding; DOT tends to spend County Transportation Funds more quickly than DPW does.

There are capacity issues with pipe lining, and an inability to replace like with like.

Storm drains are never well-funded; the department needs to get into good sustainable practices.

This is what the 10-year program will be.

[Sinkholes, deferred maintenance costs discussed].

Peter Auchincloss asks if the City is being proactive and sustainable.

Kim Grove mentions the Federal government. She says that once quality is there, we can get back on gray infrastructure.

Channa Williams anticipates…the bond market in 18-24 months, as this is cyclical.

[The Fiscal Discussion is closed].

Coming up with a Set of Agreed-upon Facts

Fran Flanigan expresses the need for a Fact Sheet.

Rupert Denney says that two things will need to be on it:

1. The City needs money to fulfill the MS4 permit requirements; and

2. The City needs money for infrastructure improvements.

R. Denney notes that these two things are not mutually exclusive.

Kim Grove uses a weight loss metaphor: the initial moves toward meeting the MS4 permit are easy, but at a certain point, the results of these efforts begin to plateau.

Rupert Denney mentions the 800lb gorilla in the room is the MS4 contribution, and the need to balance ongoing upgrades with emergency reserves.

Channa Williams addresses this.

Rupert Denney asks if it’s worth it to put the budget (in the form of 2 buckets) on the fact sheet.

Channa Williams replies; FY19; RFP Process – there is a two-year widow in which something can happen.

Peter Auchincloss comments on the Fact Sheet, etc. He mentions opportunities, the amount of city-owned property, and meeting the requirements of the MS4 permit.

Peter Auchincloss: Prince George’s County was formerly a leader in MS4 compliance. Then, they ran out of projects that met the criteria for MS4 [cf. Kim’s weight loss metaphor]. Is the City currently in a comparable boat? We need to think outside the box—schools, housing, private sector. To marshal all of the Best Available Technologies (BATs) and Best Management Practices (BMPs), we need to figure out a way to move more private sector investment. We need to motivate certain communities. Are there ways to incentivize the right things? [He mentions credits from trees, rain gardens, etc.].

Kim Grove says that the Stormwater Fee is cheaper to pay than BMP/BAT.

Kim Grove: Anne Arundel County is proceeding with a Pay for Performance model. They set an easement [this is clearly something I wrote down incorrectly] for county to maintain, waiting and watching.

Anne Arundel is a very transparent county government. Private funds and debt service to fund project; MBE, WBE, etc.

Phil Lee: Getting back to the Fact Sheet, we need to know the fiscal impact of the projects in the next 10 years, and how this matches up with the MS4 requirements.

Eric Costello: We need to decide which documents to include. We can put together what we want.

The following “set of facts” is to be researched:

 The present situation;

 The present direction;

 The MS4 permit requirements;

 Infrastructure failures; and

 Emergency expenditures.

The Committee will use the determined set of facts to give recommendations to the City Council and to the Administration pertaining to:

 Public-private partnerships;

 Pay for Performance model used by Anne Arundel County;

 Nutrient, trash, and sediment objectives;

 Incentives for private inclusion; and

 Alternatives to current MS4 proposals to include BMP/BAT.

Question to the Members (Costello): Who is going to take the lead on collecting this information for the“set of facts” from DPW?

[Carl Simon and Phil Lee volunteer to spearhead this effort. Eric Costello directs Justin Lane to send C.

Simon and P. Lee the necessary documents already in the committee’s files. C. Simon and P. Lee to send E. Costello and J. Lane their findings in approximately 3 weeks].

Adeline Hutchinson: Will they have to comply with the current consent decree?

Peter Auchincloss: That’s on the sewer/wastewater side, not on the stormwater side.

Eric Costello: We can start working on all of this tomorrow. We want something concise.

Phil Lee: We cannot make recommendations without facts, on which we all must agree.

Peter Auchincloss: Adds language.

[Eric Costello excuses self for another engagement. Quorum, 8/14. Carl Simon takes over as Chair].

When to Meet Next/Other Housekeeping Items

Peter Auchincloss: We want to be having this meetings every 2 months.

Channa Williams: Is the anticipation that recommendations are done by the end of the calendar year?

Fran Flanigan: We hope so.

Peter Auchincloss: In three weeks, we can draw up a fact sheet (July 2), two weeks after that (July 16)…we could look at 30 July. [A. Lindquist notes that he will not be able to make it. E. Hyleck will be available].

Motion: Peter Auchincloss moves that the SFC next meet on Monday, July 2. This is seconded and unanimously approved by the Committee, 8-0.

Motion: Peter Auchincloss moves that the SFC amend the bylaws: “to allow individual members appointed to the committee to designate one other individual to represent their views and vote on their behalf on motions on the committee.” Adeline Hutchinson seconds the motion. The motion carries unanimously, 8-0.

Adjournment

Move to Adjourn: Carl Simon asks if he hears a motion to adjourn. Peter Auchincloss moves

adjournment. Rupert Denney seconds the motion, which carries unanimously, 8-0.

file:///C:/Users/Hero/Downloads/Minutes%20(6).pdf