October 4, 2011
Dec 2011 7 10:29pm
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 Russ Pelleberg, Asst. Manager
Jim Berger, Director Bonnie Kulp, Recorder
Gary Hutchcraft, Director Terry Miller, Attorney
Jim Gose, Director Gary Weatherly, JUB Engineer
CONSENT AGENDA: The following Consent Agenda was presented to the Board for approval:
Minutes September 6, 14, 28, 2011
- September Vouchers
#01 CID Revolving Fund $180,118.38
#02 JUB Engineers, Inc. $ 10,397.40
The meeting minutes of September 6th, 14th and 28th were addressed separately.
Sept 6, 2011: Jim Gose made a motion to approve the Minutes of September 6, 2011. Gary Hutchcraft seconded the motion and all approved. The motion passed.
September 14, 2011: Director Janicek requested specifics on the two options Manager Martin previously presented concerning assessment increases be included in the minutes.
Janicek also referred to the paragraph pertaining to the KID Contract. He requested the word “letter” be changed to “written comments” for the document he presented referring to the meeting minutes drafted by Attorney Miller. The comments also referred to the KID water carriage contract. Jim Berger made a motion to approve the minutes of September 14th with the changes to be made. Director Hutchcraft seconded the motion and it passed. The minutes will be retyped and presented for signature at the workshop meeting on October 18, 2011.
September 28, 2011: Pertaining to the Water Carriage Contract, Director Janicek requested changing the phrase “telemetry could be in the canal system” to “should be in the canal system”. Janicek also wanted a paragraph included in the minutes concerning CID adopting a fee structure for expenses not generated by the District. Gary Hutchcraft made a motion to approve the minutes of September 28th with the corrections made. Jim Berger seconded the motion and it passed. The minutes will be retyped and presented to the Board for signatures at the workshop meeting on October 18th.
Vouchers were reviewed by the Board. Director Janicek stated previous activity requiring office personnel to use their own vehicles for District business is not advisable. Manager Martin agreed that it creates a liability to the District and stated he would change the practice.
Director Sleater requested the vehicle number be included on the accounts payable open invoice report.
Jim Gose made a motion to approve the Vouchers. Jim Berger seconded the motion and it passed.
AUGUST FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
The August Financial Statement was reviewed by Manager Martin. It appears there will be money left over from the 2011 fiscal year budget. Decisions will be made after the next Board Meeting to determine what to do with the remaining funds.
OLD BUSINESS
Zelmer Relinquishment: Richard Zelmer has turned in his petition to relinquish his water rights. The next step is to measure the Olson property and give him the petition to add his land to the LID.
General Service Area Policy: Attorney Miller stated he circulated his letter and email to Mike Schwishow. He has not heard from Tom Myrum, President of WSWRA. Miller received a follow-up call from Senator Delvin asking where we were on this matter. Miller informed him there may be further progress after tonight’s meeting.
Assistant Manager Pelleberg stated he and Manager Martin met with Schwishow at the Tri-State meeting in Boise. Schwishow stated the RCW was written in a very broad sense and thought it fit the situation where CID is trying to establish the GSA. Schwishow stated he would discuss the issue with Tom Myrum and also with other councils. Director Janicek inquired how long it would be before hearing back from them. Manager Martin stated he hoped to hear comments at the WSWRA meeting in Sunnyside on the 19th.
KID Water Carriage Contract: Manager Martin reported Attorney Miller wrote an
Addendum to the KID Water Carriage Contract. Attorney Miller stated the draft calls
for assessing KID on a prorated basis based on 6 cfs and the O & M budget. This issue
was tabled until the workshop meeting on the 18th of October.
CID Sewer Crossing Agreement: – Status Report: Attorney Miller stated there
was a question from a council member because the agreement refers to compensation flowing
from the City to the District. Miller explained to Roscoe Slade via email since this is a City project not a District project there should be revenue and cost neutral to the District. The City should pay attorney and engineering fees and any other staff expenses. He has not heard back from Mr. Slade.
Fee structures for various projects were discussed. Manager Martin would like a set amount for the attorney and administrative fees. This matter falls into one of the policies Manager Martin is working on.
Ojeda and Latham Additions to District – Status Report: Attorney Miller will post the advertisements to begin the process of adding the Ojeda and Latham properties to the District. Manager Martin suggested the parcels for the West Richland project could be included in
the advertisement.
Workorders: Board members reviewed the work order list within their divisions. Director
Sleater stated his concern about a miss-located irrigation line that was hit during work being done. Director Janicek asked questions about shared lines. It was also suggested that CID publish recommendations on the internet about proper filters and equipment for patrons to use.
Policies and Procedures: Manager Martin stated the policies were edited with Director Janicek’s suggestions. Manager Martin will e-mail the policies to the Board for review before the workshop meeting on the 18th.
350 Acre Development, West Richland – Water Feature Reservoir: Engineer Gary Weatherly stated a design should be available by the end of next week. Manager Martin stated they will have a meeting with the developers and would like Attorney Miller and Gary Weatherly included to help work out details for the Agreement.
Benton County – Piert Road Extension Status Report: Manager Martin stated the County wants to begin the project in November. The right of way agreements need to be done within the next 15 – 20 days. Gary Weatherly provided Attorney Miller with a drawing for the basis of starting the agreement. Attorney Miller stated the properties being traded are long skinny slivers and not easily described for legal instrument purposes. Attorney Miller stated the best approach would be to incorporate the drawing into the recorded document which would require reformatting the drawing with acceptable margins for recording.
Mr. Weatherly explained the drawing to the Board and depicted the area of pavement the County will maintain should any damages occur while CID is in the process of cleaning or maintaining the canal.
Director Janicek asked if the CID needs to recover engineering and attorney fees on this
project. Gary Weatherly referred back to his earlier conversation with the County
when they agreed to concrete line the entire section of the canal within the project.
Wanawish Dam – FERC – Hydropower Permit Intervention: Attorney Miller stated he has not heard any more on this issue.
NEW BUSINESS
Marion Byrne Add Land to LID #32 Petition: Marion Byrne petitioned to add her property, parcels 1-1289-101-0016-001 and 1289-101-0016-002 to LID #32. The property is 1.37 acres and is located at 128 W 14th Avenue. Director Hutchcraft made a motion to allow adding the properties into LID #32. Director Janicek seconded the motion and it passed.
Ryan Perault Add Land to LID #63 Petition: Ryan Perault has submitted a petition to add his property to LID #63. Because there are several undeveloped properties within the LID, the District does not know whether the system has the capacity to add new properties. Director Janicek suggested Perault be added to the list of those individuals wanting water. There are about ten other people interested in obtaining water in that area and Gary Weatherly suggested there may be ways to shift the water around with the new development project.
One of the concerns discussed was people hooking up to irrigation lines without CID knowledge. Manager Martin recapped the findings of a patron who had hooked up to LID #02. Manager Martin also stated there may be patrons tapping into LID #34.
Director Janicek suggested we put information on the internet concerning stealing water and
emphasize a felony could be charged against them if caught.
Attorney Miller suggested the best course of action to take with water theft is for the District to investigate. If CID believes theft is occurring, estimate the value and file a police/sheriff report, then let the prosecutor deal with it. If the prosecutor does not want to pursue the issue then it becomes a civil matter. Director Sleater asked if the issue could be filed in small claims court if the prosecutor did not want to do anything. Attorney Miller stated it could but in order to enjoin them you’d have to go to Superior court where the judge could assess the damages and issue an injunction to prohibit any further theft.
Administrative Report: Bonnie Kulp reported that CID Accountant, Tom Owen gave CID the year-end entries for 2010. Changing to the fiscal year will allow more time for preparing assessments Also a change will be made to use preprinted, stamped envelopes for mailing assessments to decrease the number of hours required for extra help.
Operations Monthly Report: Assistant Manager Pelleberg reported field crew are getting ready for the end of the season and preparing to blow out lines. Rock is still being hauled out of the County pit for the rehab project, reshaping the bottom end of canal. The planned projects have been scheduled and ready to begin in November. Pelleberg reported the purchase of a new 375 cfm diesel compressor.
Attorney Report: Activity reported by Attorney Miller on his latest billing was primarily the crossing agreements.
Manager Martin told the Board he and Miller met with Roscoe Slade about the water at the Keene Pond. Miller explained that Keene Pond is located at the south end of Belmont where the Belmont LID abuts Keene Road. A small pond within the CID boundaries, located on the north side of Keene Road and on the east side of Highland Drive is filled with ground water being piped to a much larger pond on the south side of Keene Road, located in KID boundaries. It appears the KID is running a lot of water into the pond. Slade, himself, has uncovered the drain from the KID lines that run into the pond. The City of West Richland has two pumps running continuously, about 800 gpm, 24 hours, non-stop. If the CID got permission from the Department of Ecology and installed a pump CID could re-use the water. The down side would be if the KID shuts off the water flow. Miller feels the KID needs to be a part of this process. Manager Martin stated when the City approached KID about the water, KID did not acknowledged the water as theirs.
Miller reported the City’s position is the high water in this area (the Polo Club) is the result of irrigation from both CID and KID. The City does not care whose water it as long as they do not have to deal with it. It has already cost more than a million dollars putting in dewatering wells and for studies on the problem. The City’s plan is for CID to build a pump station and take care of the water to alleviate the flooding of basements in this area.
The Department of Ecology has granted temporary, conditioned approval to let the CID pump the water and reuse it. Miller stated the pond has been determined a wet land so Ecology is requiring a minimal water level from 2002. Pumping would be done only to a range to avoid water in the crawl spaces. Miller suggested before spending a lot of money and making long range plans, CID should know exactly how much water the KID is putting into the pond. Another potential problem is water rises at the first of year. By spring it may not be there until
it’s replenished when irrigation water starts running.
Engineer’s Report: Gary Weatherly reported most of JUB’s efforts has been on the West Richland irrigation project. He has reviewed LID #42 and created a stamped approved drawing required for a building permit to install the garage doors at the shop.
Accept or Decline Request by L. Dahlman to Join LID #42: Manager Martin reported previously Lyle Dahlman had requested to join LID #42. He would have to run a ten-inch line 1000 feet to access the water from the LID. Martin requested a motion to allow him to join the LID on the condition they install the line. Director Sleater requested, first inform Dahlman of what his requirements are going to be and see if he agrees to do it. The Board will act on a motion. Director Berger asked Gary Weatherly if there is enough water. Weatherly reported since the upgrades of the pump stations within the LID were done, there have not been any pressure problems and there is enough pumping capacity to serve him.
SAFETY AND LABOR ISSUES: Pelleberg reported the first priority on the safety list is to install the new doors at the shop to keep pigeons out. On labor issues, decisions need to be made for when Roger Miller retires.
Director Berger asked if there is any clean up planned for the yard area. The matter is being addressed.
AGREEMENTS, REQUEST AND CONTRACTS: Manager Martin stated there were no more issues to discuss. He did advise the Board two elector divisions, #4 and #5, were up at the end of the year. Petitions are due the first Monday of November.
Executive Session: President Sleater moved the meeting into executive session at 8:05 pm to
discuss performance review. The meeting returned to regular session and 8:15 pm.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was recessed to October 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm.