January 3, 2012

CALL TO ORDER: The Board meeting of the Columbia Irrigation District was called to order at 6:35 pm at the District office by President Jerry Sleater. Present at the meeting were:

OATH OF OFFICE: 

Attorney Miller administered the Oath of Office to Directors Jim Gose and Gary Hutchcraft. 

REORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD:  Director Gose nominated Director Janicek for the position of Board President.  Director Hutchcraft seconded the nomination and nominations were closed.  Janicek was unanimously elected president.  Director Hutchcraft nominated Director Sleater as Vice President and Director Janicek seconded the nomination.  Nominations were closed and Director Sleator was unanimously elected Vice President.  President Janicek resumed the role as President.

The Board of Directors appointed Manager Martin as Secretary to the Board.  Attorney Miller administered the Oath of Office to Manager Martin.

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

Minutes of December 6 & 19, 2011

1. December Vouchers 
         #01 To Reimburse Revolving Fund:  $131,154.62
2. November Financial Statement

Director Sleater made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.  Director Gose seconded the motion and it passed.

OLD BUSINESS

KID Water Carriage Contract – 1931 Contract Addendum Re-Draft – Manager Martin reviewed the options previously discussed for the water carriage contract and asked the Board to make the determination which way CID should bill KID for the water carriage.  Attorney Miller has stated it would be best to keep the billing as it has historically been billed in the past, on a per acre basis.  Miller has stated the proposed reservoir will create the leverage to increase the dollar value of the carriage contract for the portion of the canal that feeds the reservoir.  Manager Martin would like to change the billing process and charge by the cfs.

Attorney Miller reviewed with the Board, the water KID runs down the canal is KID water right.  The 1931 contract was for carriage to the designated pumps only.  If KID wants to carry water further down the ditch CID will have the leverage to negotiate something other than what has been done in the last 75 years.  Miller suggested one contract with two parts and recommended establishing a formula that can be interpreted for some period of time.  It can be enforced for the existing delivery of roughly three cfs to the four pumps, and should be equal to the current dollar amount or net annual charge.  In part two the District can establish what it wants from KID in regards to the reservoir and set the new charges with over-usage penalties.   

Director Sleater made a motion to modify the contract with two parts.  Jim Gose seconded the motion and it passed.

Benton County Piert Road Extention Agreement
Manager Martin introduced Malcom Bowie, Benton County Public Works and Travis Marden, JUB Engineer, who appeared before the Board to review and answer questions on the Benton County Piert Road Extension project.   Mr. Bowie reported the contract for the project had been awarded to All Star Construction.  The 1500′ of canal lining will be completed by the time water is flowing down the canal.    

Attorney Miller questioned the earlier drawing showing the sliver of land being deeded from the District to County for the road right-of-way and another similar sliver of land almost identical in size for the new right of way for the realigned canal.  Gary Weatherly clarified County records show CID owns all property from the canal to the railroad right of way.    The County will put together an Enter Local Agreement and will provide it to Miller and Martin.

Work Orders by Division
The work order reports were not available for the meeting.  Manager Martin stated he would e-mail or hand deliver them to the Directors.   

Policy & Procedures – General Service Area Policy
Manager Martin reported he is re-drafting the policy to be done without additional cost.  Director Gose suggested a work shop to further discuss strategies.  The topic was tabled for the workshop.

400 Acre Development in West Richland – Water Feature Reservoir
The Developers are anxious to get going on the project and are still in the process of pricing supplies for the project.    

Wanawish Dam – Ferc
There was nothing new to report and will be removed from future Agendas.

Cross Connection Status
There was nothing new to report and will be removed from future Agendas unless others surface.

West Richland Sewer Line Crossing
Gary Weatherly reported the work crew was back on site this very day building a manhole cover over an existing sewer pipe.

Oak & Bowles Liner Project
Manager Martin reported the liner was laid in place, seamed together, floated on top of the water and sunk with ballast to hold in place.  Director Hutchcraft asked about the bubbles in the liner and Martin explained as ballast rock was dropped in, the crew worked it forward, smoothing out the bubbles.  Martin explained on the down gradient side of the canal the existing pump is working less and felt the liner was already working.

Keene Pond – WDOE Permission to Pump
Manager Martin reported CID received a letter from the Department of Ecology giving CID permission to pump out of Keene Pond. Martin reported he requested a letter from KID granting permission to CID to pump the water out of the pond within KID boundary and tie it back into the Belmont System.  Martin stated the amount of water could be as much as 400 GPM.  Gary Weatherly stated there is enough water to consistently pump into Belmont and in addition there may be enough water to serve the area in Section 6 where landowners are interested in getting irrigation water.

Pat Loftus – Accepted Lead Position
Manager Martin reported Pat Loftus accepted the new position of Operations Lead.  Martin spoke to the other three applicants and thanked them for being part of the interview process.  The position is for a one-year trial period and may be ended by either party. 

Roger Miller – Declined One Year Consulting Position
Roger Miller declined the offer of a one year consulting position.

NEW BUSINESS

Administrative Report
Bonnie Kulp reported the staff is in the process of preparing assessments.    Assessments are to be certified to the Treasurer on the 15th of January.

Operations Report
Manager Martin gave the Operations Report . 

Line Item #61 Project 2012-1 Canal Rehab - Finley to Haney Road is about 80% complete.  The Russian Olive trees that were knocked down need to be burned.  Director Sleater cautioned about the burning concerning the Clean Air Authority.

Line Item #62 Project 2012-2 Repair Escalator Lateral 2 – Work has not started yet as the designs requested by Russ Pelleberg have not arrived.

Line Item #63 Project 2012-3 Construct/Install Escalator at the Divide – Gary Weatherly gave Manager Martin some specifications previously prepared for this project. 

Line Item #64 Project 2012-4 Main Canal Lining at Oak/Bowles – The project is 90% complete.  The trenches on the sides still need to be covered and still need to put ballast down for about 300 more feet.

Line Item #66 Project 2012-6 Reconstruct Hidden Meadows Pump Station – LID #37 pump station is 95% complete.

Line Item #67 Project 2012-7 Reconstruct Concrete Pad at Hitchock LID4 – The Concrete Pad Reconstruction may require less modification than what was planned.   

Line Item #68 Project 2012-8 SR 240 Right of Way Clean-up – Right of Way Cleanup is continuing at about 200 to 400 feet daily.  This work will continue into West Richland.

Line Item #100 Project 2012-10 Remodel CID Front Office – waiting for design and permit.

Line Item #101 Project 2012-11 Construct ADA Restrooms – waiting for design and permit.

Manager Martin reported the installation of the garage doors at the shop is finished.

President Janicek discussed the timing of the financial statement being two months behind.  He would like to see a better, up-to-date picture of the budgeted projects.  Manager Martin assured the Board he would have reports and current schedules prepared for the work shop meeting.

The Board discussed the equipment/vehicle list and charges applied for using them on a project or work order. 

Engineering Report
Gary Weatherly reported he reviewed and provided comments to the Developers for Viewridge Development E.  He did minor work with the West Richland Sewer Crossing, the Piert Road project, LID 39 and provided Manager Martin with the plans for a traveling screen that were put together in 2003 for the Divide Gate.  Weatherly also talked with Martin about putting together the pump station for the Keene Pond and how the District might complete the GIS system quicker than planned. 

Legal Council Report
Attorney Miller reported activity in December was mostly related to crossing agreements.  Manager Martin asked Miller if the City of Kennewick had approved the Rhodes Sewer Crossing Agreement.  Miller stated he had not seen it yet so will need to contact them. 

Board Replacement
Manager Martin introduced guest, Howard Ellison, who is interested in the Board position Division #3 vacated by Jim Berger.  Jim Berger unexpectedly sold his property therefore became unqualified as a Director. 

Attorney Miller read the Statute to the Directors stating the position is filled by appointment by the County Commissioners for the remaining year.  At that time an election would be held for the remainder of the unexpired term.

President Janicek requested Martin contact the Tri-City Herald and request an article be put in the paper with a deadline for those interested in applying for the position.  The article should request the applicant include a resume with a statement of why he/she would like to be a director.  The Board will review the applicants and make a recommendation to the County Commissioners.

The workshop was set for January 24, 2012 at 1:30 pm.  Topics of discussion will be the selection for the appointment to Division #3, project schedules and the GSA policy.

The meeting was recessed at 8:30 pm until Tuesday, January 24, 2012.