Rochester Hills Legistar System

Non-Voting Members Present: Roger Rousse, Sahar Emambakhsh, and Ann Ruggiero

Non-Voting Members Absent: Ed Anzek, Scott Cope, and Kathryn Tignanelli

Committee Member Cope provided previous notice he would be unable to attend and

asked to be excused.

Others Present: Jack Dalton, Council President; Mark Nottley and Dalene Sprick,

Rehmann Robson Consultants; and Terry Woodward,

Mr. Mark Nottley, Rehmann Robson, gave an update by discussing an outline of the

accomplishments to-date which are attached to this file. He highlighted the following:

* The road conditions and costs have been analyzed

* Several funding options have been analyzed which included:

- Public Act 51

- Special Assessment Districts

- General Fund Subsidy

- Major Roads Subsidy

- Federal and State Funding and Grants

* More feedback may be needed from the elected officials in the future

* Feedback from focus groups was gathered through presentations

Mr. Nottley noted that the final report will be ready in approximately two (2) weeks. It will

* Consist of a comprehensive section including a public education campaign, as well as,

a marketing section

* Present a firm recommendation for a millage rate or a logical outcome of the analysis

* Show a value rating of all the roads from five (5) years out

The Committee discussed the pros and cons of going forward with a road millage for the

November 2004 ballot which included the following points made:

* Mayor Somerville has expressed support for a millage request in 2004

* It may take one (1) year to educate the residents to support a millage

* Short of General Fund transfers or raising the millage rate, there is no other

alternative but to reduce funding for road maintenance by fifty percent (50%) for

2005

- The City may have to balance between minimal road maintenance and no road

maintenance because of legal responsibilities

- The Local Road Fund administration costs will also have to come from other funds

within the City's budget and/or the City will have to make budget cuts

- City employees in the Local Road Program will be displaced due to layoffs

- New funds are needed for road maintenance as well as road reconstruction

because the City has fallen behind in repairing the deteriorated roads

* Typically, residents do not decide on a millage until just before an election

* A millage campaign has to be 'championed' by someone

* The City cannot advocate a millage one way or another, but simply present

information from a public education standpoint

* It may be better to allow the residents to make their choice regarding a millage before

cutting the budget and reducing road services

* If a millage is placed on the November 2004 ballot and it fails, the City will make

cutbacks and then by Spring 2005, the residents will have experienced the cutbacks

which will validate the "political point-of-view". Then a millage can be put on a Spring or

Summer 2005 ballot

* Homeowner association meetings should be scheduled now to show the presentation

that was developed by Rehmann Robson. Mr. Rousse, and other employees in the

DPS Department can also deliver the presentation as well

* Residents could be given the choice of a millage for a road program or a one percent (

1%) administration fee

* Residents need to hear "real dollars" not just "mils"

The Committee consensus was to meet jointly with the Financial Services Committee on

May 20, 2004 to discuss the final report from Rehmann Robson along with making a

decision to go foward with a millage request on the November 2004 ballot.

Discuss Water Reservoir Construction Project - Update on Communication

from DWSD re: City's plans to construct reservoirs

CDV Draft Min Excerpts 012204.pdf; Water Distribution 012204.pdf;

Water Distribution Outline & Presentation 042204.pdf

Mr. Rousse introduced Mr. Terry Woodward from Arcadis which is formerly Finkbeiner,

Pettis & Strout (FPS).

Mr. Woodward distributed an outline and gave a presentation (electronically attached to

Legislative File #2004-0122) regarding the progress of the feasibility study of the water

reservoirs which included the following:

* Rochester Hills is the first community to request documentation from Detroit Water &

Sewer Department (DWSD) related to water rates and water storage issues

* After the proposed model was resubmitted under the DWSD criteria, their engineering

staff issued a verbal approval to accept the proposed model and approve the City's

water storage facility. The verbal engineering staff approval will be followed by a written

approval letter no later than May 3, 2004

* DWSD requires that a new storage system has one (1) year's worth of operating data

before they will set the new water rates. The City's current water rates are set by using

a four (4) year average.

* The first two (2) years of operation are critical and will take into consideration summer

droughts and wet seasons which may affect maximum daily demand. Rates may

fluctuate over the first four (4) years.

* There are two (2) other factors that DWSD uses to determine the rates:

1) The hour of the day that they pump the most water to determine the rate. The off

-peak hours may be between 10 AM and 2 PM, and

2) The size of the reservoirs; the larger the size the longer it takes to fill it

* The rates may fluctuate over the first four (4) years. However, there would be some

control during dry summer seasons by implementing water restrictions

* The proposed two (2) reservoirs would hold two (2) million gallons and three (3)

million gallons, respectively

* The goal is to have a twelve (12) hour fill and a twelve (12) hour draw and install

speed controllers to keep the reservoirs as full as possible; therefore avoiding DWSD's

peak hourly rate as much as possible

* There would also be basic flow restrictions on the incoming feed lines from DWSD

which can be overridden in case of needing more water for a fire. However, that would

impact the water rate charged from DWSD

The Committee also briefly discussed the propose reservoirs as a long-term goal of

capping future rate increases that would be able to fund future capital improvements.