Agenda Item No: L.1
AGENDA REPORT
DATE: May 6, 2025
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: David Gassaway, City Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution 2025-70 Adopting the Public Utility Master Plan
Adopting the Completed Comprehensive Water System Plan that will Serve as a Guidance Document for Near-Term Investment and Long-Term Planning
Funding Source: N/A
Contact: Michael Hether, (707) 428-7493
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt resolution.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE
Fairfield Municipal Utility (FMU) provides water to the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville on a continuous basis and is responsible for maintaining the existing water system, as well as ensuring that it is designed to meet future growth. Water system master plans are the best management practice for water utilities and serve as a guidance document for both near -term capital investment, and long-term water resource planning. In the coming decades , the City must plan to ensure that the water system is designed to meet the needs of the general plan. Based on these specific factors, the planning horizons of 2030 (near -term) and 2050 (long -term) were utilized.
DISCUSSION
FMU employs staff who are responsible f or maintaining a n infrastructure valued at over $500 million, which exists in the form of two water treatment plants, 12 storage facilities, 17 pump stations, nearly 400 miles of pipelines, and various fixtures such as hydrants and valves. The water system is operated by talented, dedicated, and highly trained staff who operate extensive and well-maintained facilities that incorporate redundant design features, ensuring reliability with few service interruptions or emergency repairs.
Over the past several decades, the water system has been kept in good operating condition through ongoing investment and proper execution of preventative maintenance and repair activities. However, based on the useful life of our current water system, it is expected that FMU will begin to face large, annual, and ongoing capital funding needs starting approximately eight to ten years out, which will progress over time. Specifically, significant investments will need to be made in the unseen buried pipelines and fixtures as they approach the end of useful life.
As the water system ages and continues to expand through development, there is a need to establish a comprehensive planning and guidance document to help steer future decisions regarding the water system. To plan for the next 25 years, FMU and the Community Development staff aligned to update the City’s general plan, which resulted in the creation of the Public Utility Master Plan (PUMP). PUMP is the long -range water master plan that conforms to the City’s general plan, which includes but is not limited to technical data about water system assets, results from field investigations, assessments, and projections necessary to guide future decision making as the City fulfills its general plan objectives.
The purpose of PUMP was to evaluate the existing water system, incorporate impacts from near- term (2030) and long-term (2050) planned growth, and use it to develop a comprehensive road map for the water system Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Additionally, it wi ll be used as a guideline to ensure that FMU can meet all operations and maintenance expenses, debt service, and reserve requirements.
The primary objectives of PUMP are to:
Develop future water demand projections based on the future planned growth inclu ded in the city’s general plan update
Evaluate current and upcoming water system regulations and policies that could require major changes to water treatment plant processes
Review and refine performance and planning criteria used to evaluate the water sys tem and define recommendations for future facilities
Perform a condition assessment of the City’s water system assets, including evaluating criticality and likelihood of failure, consequences of failure, and risk exposure to water system assets (i.e. water treatment plants, reservoirs, valves, pipelines) Evaluate the need for improvements to the existing water system to provide adequate service based on the performance and planning criteria (i.e. pressure, fire flow) Evaluate the need for new backbone water facilities (including pipelines, storage facilities and pumping facilities) to serve buildout of the city’s general plan Define and prioritize needed improvements to the water system, and their associated costs for the CIP
Develop water rates necessary to cover the costs of providing water service
PUMP was prepared by a multidisciplinary team whose members combined FMU staff’s knowledge of the water system with qualified consultants who specialize in water utility systems, operations, and financial analysis. Completion of PUMP signifies the most extensive and detailed condition assessment ever conducted by FMU. Recommendations within PUMP are expected to direct decision-making over the next 25 years.
Adoption of PUMP formulates the basis of the cost of service and the recommended rates schedule. To implement PUMP, FMU staff intends to engage in a public education process over the next several months and in advance of the legal notification process required by Proposition 218. Upon completion of the public education and legal notification process, FMU staff will return to the council to seek approval of a new water rates schedule.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The adopted version of PUMP will be used to finalize the cost-of-service study and recommended rate schedule.
PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION
The recommended rates schedule will be reviewed through a public hearing and the legal notification process required by Proposition 218.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
The City Council may choose not to adopt the resolution, but in doing so would ignore the basis of the cost of the service and rate schedule and thus undermine FMU’s future financial security.
COORDINATED WITH
Community Development and Finance Department
STAFF CONTACT
Michael Hether, Assistant Public Works Director-Utilities (707) 428-7493
[email protected]
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 2: Proposed Resolution
Attachment 3: Public Utility Master Plan