August 2, 2011

CALL TO ORDER:  The Board meeting of the Columbia Irrigation District was called to order at 6:30 pm at the District office by President Jerry Sleater.  Present at the meeting were:

George Janicek, Director                                Keith Martin, Manager
Jerry Sleater, Director                                     Bonnie Kulp, Recorder
Jim Berger, Director                                        Gary Weatherly, JUB Engineer
Gary Hutchcraft, Director                              Terry Miller, Attorney
Jim Gose, Director                                         

CONSENT AGENDA:  The following Consent Agenda was presented to the Board for approval:

1.      Minutes July 5, 2011
2.      July Vouchers
#01      CID Revolving Fund              $163,927.13
3.   June Financial Statement 

Director Jim Gose made a motion to approve the minutes. Director Jim Berger seconded the motion and it passed.  Vouchers were reviewed by the Board followed by a motion from Director Janicek to approve the vouchers and seconded by Director Berger.  Motion passed.

The June Financial Statement was reviewed by the Board. 

RENEW INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT:  Manager Martin requested the renewal of the Inter- local Agreement with Benton County for the year 2011 to remove rock from Owen’s Pit.  The agreement is a five-year permit to be renewed annually and the renewal for 2012 will be done at the end of the year.  Jim Gose made a motion to renew the permit and Gary Hutchcraft seconded.  Motion passed.

OLD BUSINESS

ZELMER/OLSEN STATUS REPORT:  Director Gose asked about the Zelmer water right transfer.  Manager Martin will confer with Engineer Gary Weatherly to determine if the transfer to Khris Olsen can be done.  If it is feasible, Mr. Zelmer will be given a Water Right Relinquishment Petition. 

Director Gose requested this item remain on the agenda until the matter is finished.

GENERATOR:  Manager Martin presented a copy of a legal advertisement from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary permit application to study the feasibility of the Horn Rapids Dam Hydropower Project.  The advertisement is made a part of these minutes.  Manager Martin received advice from WSWRA to submit a petition to intervene in the process to protect the ability to get our water.  The permit application came from the federal level and though the process is in the preliminary stage Manager Martin stated the intervention could be costly to the District. 

Gary Weatherly stated there are several companies identifying potential hydroelectric sites through the FERC process.  They can tie the sites up for five years and find people that will develop the facilities.  He did not think we would lose control of the dam. 

GENERAL SERVICE AREA POLICY:  Attorney Miller reported he reviewed the legislation of  RCW 87.03.0175, the house bill report and the final report.   Miller contacted the office of Senator Jerome Delvin, one of the six co-sponsors of the bill, to get his comments.  Miller reviewed the Attorney General’s opinion process and stated it would be necessary to go through a legislator to work with the Attorney General.  Senator Delvin has offered his assistance and cooperation.  

Attorney Miller will explain to Mr. Delvin what the District would like to do and get Delvin’s feed back from his involvement in the bill itself.  Questions prepared for the Attorney General will be sent to Manager Martin for review.    

KID WATER CARRIAGE CONTRACT:  Manager Martin was not able to meet with Chuck Freeman as he was out of the office.  Director Janicek made a request to expedite the joint meeting with the KID Board.

CID SEWER CROSSING AGREEMENT:  Attorney Terry Miller reported he has revised the crossing agreement for the William Rhoades Subdivision and has submitted it to the Kennewick City Attorney and the Public Works Department.  When Attorney Miller receives the comments back from their review, he will bring it back to the Board to finalize and then take it to the Kennewick City Council.  Miller stated the Dayton Street Bridge agreement will be handled in the same manner.    

The Piert Road agreement will be similar to the previous Twin Bridges project due to the re-routing of the canal and having to give the District property for right of way.  Manager Martin asked if the District needs to have an Interlocal Agreement with the County for the Piert Road Project.  Attorney Miller stated the functions of the agreement are to insure the project does not interfere with the canal system during operation; to be held harmless should someone go off the bridge into the canal;  to cover the operations and maintenance of the box culvert.  The agreement should be a one-time agreement rather than an inter-local agreement for this project.  Miller stated he will work with Steve Becken.  

OJEDA AND LATHAM ADDITIONS TO DISTRICT STATUS REPORT: Attorney Miller stated the add lands procedure draft needs to be acted upon.  There are four up-front fees to be collected: publication of notice for add-lands meeting, publication of notice of action, $50 boundary review board fee, and District administrative costs. Miller recommended $400 for the legal administrative fee. 

Manager Martin requested we waive the extra fees for Ojeda or Latham as there was no upfront discussion concerning additional fees.

Director Hutchcraft suggested a policy be prepared to include a fee schedule.  Martin stated he would have it at the next Board Meeting and Attorney Miller stated he would identify fees from the statutes.

WORK ORDERS BY DIVISION:  The Board reviewed and discussed the work order lists within their divisions.   

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:   Manager Martin reported the first four policies and procedures assigned are in draft stage ready for Board review.

WEST RICHLAND 350 ACRE DEVELOPMENT:    Manager Martin reported he held a meeting with the developers and the city planning department to discuss the project.  The developers want to go forward.  Manager Martin met with Gary Weatherly and one of the developers to select the land site for the reservoir and the park.  They also discussed where the responsibilities will lie.  There is 300 acres petitioned with about 95% of the land undeveloped.  For the few parcels that are developed, owners will have to be approached to see if they want to come into the District.

NEW BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT:   Bonnie Kulp reported assessment payments have been very slow.  The final assessment billing will be sent out within the next two weeks. 

OPERATIONS REPORT:   Manager Martin reported Engineer, Gary Weatherly spoke on the Oak & Bowles project at the monthly all-staff meeting.  Strategy and options were discussed on how to attack the issues.   Manager Martin reported crew members have since removed brush and trees and found an existing ditch used to transport water to the sump pump plugged with grass clippings.  This has been cleaned up and hopefully the drainage problem was partially solved.  That area of the canal is scheduled to be relined during the off season next year.

ATTORNEY REPORT:   Attorney Miller reviewed his May – June billing.  Out-of-ordinary expenses included time to go to Prosser to review the microfiche records on the old CID/KID water carriage contracts.

ENGINEER REPORT:    Engineer Weatherly reviewed his billing statement which consisted of  time charged on the Piert Road project, reviews of the Westwood and Hyde Park subdivisions, and the time charged for drawings on the Oak & Bowles property.

SAFETY AND LABOR ISSUES:   Jim Berger asked if the secondary containment system was in place.  Manager Martin stated we didn’t have the fork lift yet but the containers are under lock and key.  The totes are covered with protective metal screens. 

ADJOURNMENT:   The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.