April 5, 2011
May 2011 4 10:40pm
CALL TO ORDER: The Board meeting of the Columbia Irrigation District was called to order at 6:00 pm at the District office by Vice President George Janicek. Present at the meeting were:
George Janicek, Director Keith Martin, Manager
Gary Hutchcraft, Director Russ Pelleberg, Asst. Manager
Jim Gose, Director Bonnie Kulp, Recorder
Jim Berger, Director Gary Weatherly, Engineer
Terry Miller, Attorney
GUEST: Mr. Michael Davidson owns two properties at 2527 N Columbia Center Boulevard.
He requested the District either provide him irrigation water or not bill him for service and also give him a refund for past years he did not receive service. Options presented to Mr. Davidson were for him to go to the point of delivery or form a local improvement district (LID). Mr. Davidson requested we give him an estimate of what it might cost for him to go to the point of delivery. The District will investigate the situation and get back with Mr. Davidson within two months. Mr. Davidson would like to be put on the relinquishment list contingent on water availability and cost.
PETITION TO JOIN LID 62: Manager Martin reported to the Board that Luis Ojeda submitted a petition to add his 1.2 acres of land to LID 62. The addition of land was pre-approved by JUB. Jim Gose made a motion to accept the petition to add the property to LID 62 and Jim Berger seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The District will advertise and set the hearing date for the next monthly board meeting.
CONSENT AGENDA: The following Consent Agenda was presented to the Board for approval:
- Minutes March 1, 2011
- March Vouchers
#01 CID Revolving Fund $139,505.46
#02 WSWRA $ 17,949.04
#03 Benton REA $ 30,846.67
#04 LDF Concrete $162,105.46
#05 JUB Engineers $ 9,264.24
#06 Ray Poland & Sons $ 7,133.72
Total Vouchers $366,804.59
3. February Financial Statement
Jim Gose made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Jim Berger seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
DITCH INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT: Assistant Manager Pelleberg reported projects have been set aside while spring water start-up is taking place. Maintenance through the summer will be more canal rehabilitation at the end of the canal.
SAFETY AND LABOR ISSUES: The spill retention containers have been ordered and payment has been mailed. Director Berger asked about the procedure used when emergency call-outs are issued. Assistant Manager Pelleberg stated the staff will be covering the procedure in the next staff safety meeting.
INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS: Manager Martin stated the Sewer Crossing Agreement is one of the first procedures he will be doing. He has asked the council at WSWRA to start the process of standardizing these procedures for all irrigation districts to follow.
Manager Martin followed Terry Miller’s suggestion to make a public records request from KID, asking for the assessment rolls for the 954 homes within the 4 LIDs serviced by the water carriage contract. This prompted KID to request the water diversion records from CID. KID is looking for available water to move to Red Mountain. Gary Weatherly concurred with Manager Martin that KID pumped a total of 6.8 cfs as their pump stations were designed to do. Mr. Weatherly also suggested CID have in place accurate flow meters and mechanisms to regulate KID water usage to prevent them from taking more water than they have a right to.
Gary Hutchcraft entered the meeting at 6:45 pm.
BOARD ROOM REMODEL: City and L & I Electrical permits were obtained for the board room. Initial inspections by the building inspector and fire marshal were completed and approved. Occupancy was approved for 49 people. L & I inspected and approved the electrical and Moore Electric is upgrading existing sub-panels to meet required codes.
IN STEP CHURCH: Clarification was made on ownership of the line installed for In Step Church. The line is considered a CID line from the manifold to their service valve. In Step Church will be invoiced $500.00 per acre for hook-up fees.
Attorney Terry Miller entered the meeting at 6:55 pm.
SALE OF RIGHT-OF-WAY PROPERTY: Doug Kubik is re-thinking his request to purchase District right-of-way after learning what the cost would be and the process the District would go through to sell the property.
KEENE POND LETTER: Director Janicek wanted clarification on the letter from Attorney Miller concerning the KID-West Richland drainage. The letter was written as a result of the Interlocal Agreement initiated by the City of West Richland to pump the excess accumulation of water in Keene Pond to a different location. Manager Martin explained that CID, KID and West Richland had each contributed to high water in the pond. The Inter-local Agreement was to share in pumping down the pond.
ECOLOGY LETTER: Director Janicek asked about the letter to the Department of Ecology concerning the District’s use of the excess water from Keene Pond. Manager Martin stated no letter has been written at this time but it is something that should be done if the District wants to help those people affected by flooding issues from Keene Pond. The matter has been put on hold until a later date.
SAFETY ITEM CHECK-OFF LIST: Director Janicek requested a line item adjustment on the budget for the safety issues and a check-off list for the Directors to see. Assistant Manager Pelleberg suggested he bring the list to the next board meeting showing items that have been addressed. He also stated issues addressed thus far have been applied to canal maintenance in the budget. Janicek stated safety issues from a governing agency point of view can not be put off until next year’s budget.
OAK/BOWLES CANAL REPAIR: CID Patron, Dave St. John, has concerns about the canal repairs made upstream from his property but not at his property where he has had a continual problem of water leaking into his barn. Manager Martin and Director Janicek visited the canal site, took pictures and asked Mr. St. John to keep an eye on the situation and inform the District if water appears again. Manager Martin stated the problem is a combination of CID water and ground water flowing underneath the canal. He suggested installing more collection units to take care of the water. Two drains are currently in place just upstream from the property. Janicek suggested CID keep the matter on the list of things that need to be done and periodically go out to check if water is running and or accumulating. Manager Martin suggested Mr. St. John contact Director Jim Berger to keep him apprised of the situation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ON POLICY AND PROCEDURES: Manager Martin submitted a Resolution on how policies and procedures will be made. Jim Gose made a motion to approve Resolution 11-01 and Jim Berger seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Martin presented a list of policies and procedures for the Board to prioritize and assign accordingly. He also presented an 11-step process to develop policies and procedures on the list submitted. The two documents are attached and made a part of these minutes. Jim Berger suggested Manager Martin take one long term policy and two smaller policies.
The four sets policies and procedures assigned to begin with are:
4.3 and 4.3.1 Protection of CID Right of Ways and Easements
7.1 and 7.1.1 Illegal Use of Water, Hookups and Modifications
10.1 and 10.1.1 Purchasing and Spending Authority
10.6 and 10.6.1 Purchasing Land
Director Janicek suggested we put an article on our website concerning illegal use of CID water.
Manager Martin questioned the ownership of private lines installed in the 1930s. Martin suspects the old concrete lines and wooden flumes were originally installed by the District and over time referred to as private lines. Gary Weatherly interjected past history indicated as long as the lines were operational, without problems, the ownership was considered to be CID. Once the lines were non-functional they became private lines.
Attorney Miller reminded the Board that absolutely no work can be done on private lines. He suggested a review be done to ascertain which lines are private. Miller stated not knowing whether the line is private or CID owned is not a good answer. Gary Weatherly thought he might have some mapping that would help answer ownership questions. Attorney Miller stated he had some information from the National Archives.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, Vice President Janicek adjourned the meeting at 8:15 pm.