AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY April 5, 2016 City Council

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1 Agenda Item 13 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY April 5, 2016 City Council STAFF Kelly Bernish, Director, Safety, Security & Risk Mgmt Mike Beckstead, Chief Financial Officer SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 042, 2016, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the General Fund for Pool Chlorination System Conversion at Three City of Fort Collins Pools. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to appropriate $200,000 from prior year reserves in the General Fund to switch pool chlorination systems from chlorine gas to liquid chlorine. During a routine safety audit of the City pools, it was discovered that gaseous chlorine is being used to treat the pool water at all City pools except the Senior Center pool. As safety standards have evolved, best practice is to avoid gaseous chlorine due to the hazard posed to employees and citizens in the event of a failure incident. Conversion of the three City pools now using chlorine gas will enable the City to follow this updated best practice. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance of First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION In the past year, the City has renewed its commitment to safety, part of which involved hiring a Safety Professional who coincidently is also an Aquatics Safety expert. As part of that renewed focus, regular safety audits are being conducted. During one of those audits, it was observed that the City is still using chlorine gas to treat the pool water at City recreation facilities, with the exception of the Senior Center (newer construction). As safety standards have evolved, technology at the City has not entirely kept pace. Currently, other local pools have changed to liquid or tabs and new construction of pools does not generally include the use of chlorine gas at all. From a safety and immediate financial perspective, it is more efficient to migrate the three City pools at EPIC, Mulberry and City Park to liquid chlorine than to stay with gaseous chlorine. During this process, staff has explored the options of liquid and tabs. Tabs generally were less efficient and more difficult from a maintenance perspective, as learned from CSU. Liquid chlorine appears to be the best option from an efficiency and transition perspective. The conversion from gas chlorination will entail a minimal cost increase from a day-to-day operations perspective, as chlorine gas is generally less expensive than liquid or tabs. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS The estimated cost of the three pool conversions is $200,000. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION This item was discussed at the February 22, 2016 Council Finance Committee meeting. It was recommended by the Committee to place the appropriation request on the City Council Consent Agenda. Item # 13 Page 1

2 Agenda Item 13 ATTACHMENTS 1. Council Finance Committee minutes, February 22, 2016 (PDF) Item # 13 Page 2

3 ATTACHMENT 1 Council Finance Committee Excerpt of Minutes February 22, 2016 POOL SAFETY APPROPRIATION Kelly Bernish and Ken Mannon presented the Pool Safety Appropriation request to address safety concerns regarding the usage of gaseous chlorine to treat our City pools. Kelly Bernish presentation: Started with a complete overlook & overhaul of the way safety is handled across the City. A full Safety plan is in development. Currently gas is used at EPIC, City Park & Mulberry. The Senior Center doesn t use gas. At the time the pools were built they used the correct current standards, but standards have changed. Chlorine gas is dangerous and is a potential hazard to the community. New construction has moved away from chlorine gas. There were three alternatives that were looked at: 1) stay with gas, 2) use chlorine tabs or 3) use liquid aka bleach. Liquid is considered the best option with the fewest hazards. Ken Mannon update: EPIC has a down-time coming due to construction starting in May. City park pool & Mulberry pool can have the new systems installed and then be down for only 1-2 days to switch over to the liquid. The request consists of asking the Council Finance Committee to consider a Mid-Cycle Appropriation of approximately $200k to change the three pools to liquid chlorine. Mike Beckstead update: The money being asked for will come out of general fund reserves. Ross Cunniff question #1: what are the additional operational costs? Kelly Bernish answered: slightly higher cost. Tracy Ochsner also responded: the cost will be roughly $12,000 per year for all of the pools. Ross Cunniff question #2: will additional training be needed to handle the chlorine liquid compared to the gas? Kelly Bernish answered: less training will be needed than what is currently given. Full hazmat suits and masks won t be needed as they currently are for handling the gas. Ross Cunniff comment: it is important to note that approving this mid-budget cycle will save us money in the long run since EPIC will be down anyway. Council Finance Committee was unanimously supportive of bringing forward the appropriation to convert the City s three pools to liquid chlorine.

4 ORDINANCE NO. 042, 2016 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES IN THE GENERAL FUND FOR POOL CHLORINATION SYSTEM CONVERSION AT THREE CITY OF FORT COLLINS POOLS WHEREAS, the City operates and maintains four public swimming pools; three of these pools are currently treated with chlorine gas; and WHEREAS, a safety best practice is to avoid gaseous chlorine, due to the hazards posed to employees and citizens in the event of a failure incident; and WHEREAS, the systems at the City pools using chlorine gas can be converted to use chlorine liquid or tabs for sanitation; and WHEREAS, the estimated cost for the conversion of all three pools is $200,000; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9, of the City Charter permits the City Council to make supplemental appropriation by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year, provided that the total amount of such supplemental appropriation, in combination with all previous appropriations for that fiscal year, does not exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues to be received during the fiscal year; and WHEREAS, City staff has determined that the appropriation of the revenue as described herein will not cause the total amount appropriated in the General Fund to exceed the current estimate of actual and unanticipated revenues to be received in that fund during any fiscal year; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9 of the City Charter permits the City Council to appropriate by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not previously appropriated; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that improving the safety of operating public City swimming pools by converting to non-gaseous chlorine sanitation systems is in the best interests of the City and the general public, including patrons of the City s swimming pool facilities. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. -1-

5 Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated from prior year reserves in the General Fund the sum of TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($200,000) for expenditure in the General Fund for the City of Fort Collins conversion of three pool chlorination systems from chlorine gas to chlorine liquid. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 5th day of April, A.D. 2016, and to be presented for final passage on the 19th day of April, A.D ATTEST: Mayor City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 19th day of April, A.D ATTEST: Mayor City Clerk -2-