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08/21/2000 - Minutes TIGARD WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING August 21, 2000 Members Present. Norman Penner, Beverly Froude, David Strauss, George Rhine, and Gretchen Buehner Staff Present Mike Miller Visitors Present None 1. Call to Order Commissioner David Strauss called the regular meeting of the Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call and Introductions The new chairperson Commissioner Strauss called roll, with all present except Commissioner Gretchen Buehner who notified staff that she would be late. 3. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Norm Penner motioned to approve and accept the minutes of the July 24, 2000, meeting. The minutes of the meeting were voted on and unanimously approved. 4. Visitor's Comments- None 5. Intergovernmental Water Board Update Commissioner Penner reported on his first meeting as the TWD Representative. • Regional Water Consortium membership discussion, The Tigard Water Service Area is paying a total of$14,000 per year for membership. There was discussion about whether the IWB was getting their money's worth, but it was decided they would continue and renew the membership. The Consortium is made up of 26 water-related organizations within the greater metropolitan area. It was decided it was better to be 'at the table' than not. The membership fees are based on the population, the growth factor and how much water is used during the summer months. Mr. Miller added that the Consortium has merged with the Columbia/Willamette Water Conservation Coalition and the fees now include those membership fees. It's the same basic amount, but paid in one check rather than two. • Aquifer Storage Recovery. Beaverton has a test program underway. They have been pumping water into the aquifer and are now withdrawing water through their wells. The results have been TWD Meeting Minutes - 1 - August 21, 2000 good. It's a good way to buy excess water cheaply in the winter months, storing it and bringing it back up in the summer. The IWB authorized the Tigard Water System to issue an RFP to seek a contract for a consultant to study the feasibility of doing ASR in the Tigard wells. ■ Lonq Term Water Supply Reviewed the ongoing discussions and negotiations with South Fork, JWC and Portland. ' South Fork - MSA is exploring whether there are any fatal flaws to prevent a contractual relationship with Tigard and the South Fork Water Commission. None are anticipated. They hope to have a Memorandum of Understanding drafted by early September. On September 21 there will be a workshop for elected officials to review the terms of the MOU. Y JWC —has agreed to sell water to Tigard Water System up to 1.5 mgd. The hot weather has pushed back that process, but it should start soon. The Tigard City Council will be holding a work session on October 17 to discuss a draft IGA between Tigard and the JWC. The Commissioners of the TWD Board are able to participate in that. Portland — Negotiations continue. Tigard has engaged the services of Integrated Utilities Group to help with negotiations. Bedrock principals have been sent to all the wholesale buyers outlining criteria necessary for the next wholesale water contract. The bedrock principals in the proposed contract are:: • There will be no sale of existing City of Portland assets. • There will be no negative impacts to retail customers nor major or significant rate shocks. That means Portland retail customers. • The contract will be fair and equitable as it relates to growth. Includes growth pays for growth are those who benefit pay or adherence to cost of service principals. • There will be no sale of existing City of Portland assets. • We will encourage best management practices. • Conservation must be addressed. • Contractors will not be opposed to regional cooperation. (Wholesalers) • We want financial predictability for our wholesale customers. • There needs to be ease of administration. • The contract must be legally defensible. One of the principles of the IUG, Paul L Matthews, has individually filed suit against the Willamette River and is seeking legal redress against the Citizen's for Safe Water. This is an administrative decision and should not be put up to the citizens for a vote. He is doing this as a private citizen, not in his role as an officer of IUG. Commissioner Strauss thought that several months ago there was information given that South Fork would not be a possibility. Mr. Miller stated it has been on a slow track. He explained that South Fork is made up of Oregon City and West Linn and one of the councilors was opposed to transferring water from the Clackamas River basin to Tigard. That person has since reevaluated his opinion and now thinks it would be beneficial to South Fork with all the infrastructure they need to improve to supply their growth needs they can do economies if scale at reduced rates. Commissioner Strauss thought there was a transmission or water rights situation involved. Mr. Miller stated that was not the case and indicated that water rights were fairly extensive on the Clackamas River. TWD Meeting Minutes -2 - August 21,2000 Commissioner Buehner stated she read that there are concerns with endangered species and fish runs in the Clackamas and increasing flows would reduce the availability of water in the river. Mr. Miller indicated that cutthroat trout would be listed soon on the endangered species. The reviews have found no fatal flaws. They are looking forward to groups pulling together resources, but the main issue will be who will have senior rights. A lot of the problems on the Clackamas are in the fall, not during the peak season. There are concerns over temperature and (TMDL) total maximum daily loads in the river. The good news is that South Fork has already improved their intake facility and it will be one of the first on the Clackamas that will be permitted under the new guidelines. Commissioner Penner informed the board that he also received numerous informational items that were available for their review. The items were primarily newspaper articles about things happening on the water scene. Commissioner Buehner asked Mr. Miller about the law suit Paul Matthews initiated and requested he keep her informed so that she could attend the hearing. 6. Utility Manager's Report • Mr. Miller distributed the report on the water usage for August. There may be a few hot days still to come, but for the most part the hot weather is behind us. The City of Lake Oswego is doing maintenance work at their water treatment plant for ADA and seismic structural activities. They shut down for a number of days in order to complete the work. They didn't notify us in advance of the shutdowns. • The newsletter and survey were distributed and discussed. They will begin going out tomorrow. Commissioner Strauss asked how many customers are in the district. Mr. Miller informed the board members that there are approximately 1,650 connections. Commissioner Buehner asked about how many more were anticipated being added in the next six to twelve months. He stated it was hard to determine. There was a brief discussion about the heading of the newsletter. Commissioner Strauss expressed gratitude for the work put into the newsletter. Mr. Miller said he would have some of the newsletters dropped off at mobile home parks and apartments within the area. Commissioner Froude said the newsletter was very nice and thought it should be the first of continued communications with the constituency. She thought there should be a follow up after the election and after the first of the year, perhaps have three per year distributing pertinent information. • Pascuzzi issue has been resolved. The water line was placed on private property on North Dakota and Fanno Creek. The settlement was for half the cost he was requesting. The only outstanding issue is relating to easement. Commissioner Rhine asked if there were other hidden water lines. Mr. Miller stated he expected there are others. He knows where all the lines are, but unsure whether there is an easement for them. Commissioner Rhine asked if it was policy to clean the easements up as they are found or proactively try to find them. Mr. Miller indicated he did not have the staff to proactively seek them. They follow up on what they know about, but unable to look for more right now. TWD Meeting Minutes -3 - August 21,2000 • Financial Statement— close to the final for the fiscal year. Commissioner Froude asked how much the costs for the newsletter were. Mr. Miller informed her it was approximately $200 for the printing and $500 for the mail service, including postage and handling. The City staff will handle the special deliveries to the apartments and mobile home parks at no charge. The funds for the newsletter come out of the TWD advertising budget. • Clute Property update— Mr. Miller has not heard whether there has been a decision. In review, a minor land partition was applied for to divide the property. It was granted at staff level. Citizens did appeal by going to the IWB Meeting and also the Hearing's Officer. They raised such issues as public improvements being necessary with relations to the proposed trail on the property to link the Menlor site and the Cache Creek property, all open space and neighborhood trails. He responded to the appellant through the Hearing's Officer rebutting all their points on August 7. The Hearing's Officer then had two weeks to review and make his decision. He is fairly confident the minor land partition will be upheld. Mr. Miller had a copy of the paperwork available for their review. • The RFP for the ASR will be going out this week. He will be soliciting for proposals to modify existing wells to utilize for ASR. Our agreement with the JWC goes through the remainder of this calendar year for the 1.5 mgd. The water is rather cheap ($.38 per unit rather than paying $.81 to the City of Portland or Tualatin Valley). Beaverton has made a deal with the JWC for about$.25 per unit for their ASR project. Commissioner asked what the ETA date the ASR project. Mr. Miller stated that with positive feasibility they hope to have water extracted through an ASR project in the summer of 2002. The feasibility study will take about four to six months. It will take about one year for a contractor to retro the wells. • South Fork has been on hold. Concerns that JWC was going to be also, but they are now moving forward. The JWC staff sent a memo to the elected officials and requested: Give Tigard water for the interim until the end of the calendar year. Look at allowing Tigard to become a partner. Look at a new raw water source. They have agreed to all these principals. We'll have to wait to see how South Fork works out, but they are both going well now. • Portland however, took six months to come up with the draft of their contract and then wanted wholesaler comments in two weeks. We wanted at least one month to come back with responses. We are still working on that. We will be meeting on Wednesday with IUG to review more of the points in the contract. There was a meeting two weeks ago with the other water purveyors where a few of the items in the contract were discussed. We'll have to see what Portland says after they get the comments. TWD Meeting Minutes -4- August 21,2000 7. Informational Items Commissioner Penner asked Mr. Miller about the new mayor and his position on the water situation. Mr. Miller stated that Jim Griffith is the new interim mayor for the City of Tigard. He has already announced that he will not run for reelection in March. He is on the Planning Commission and Task Force. It is his intention to request a leave of absence until March, then go back on. He believes quite strongly in what Jim Nicoli has done, supports working for the Atfalati Recreational District, and getting a water supply for the City of Tigard. It looks as though he will be a good supporter of Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Water. 8. Commissioner's Non-Business Social Event Commissioner Buehner offered to have the event at her house. The suggested date would be Sunday, September 17th at 5:30 p.m. There was a discussion about the menu. Mike Miller and Ed Wegner and their spouses are also invited. Mr. Miller will let Ed know about it. 9. Non-Agenda Items- None 10. Next Meeting Date Commissioner Strauss stated that at the last meeting Commissioner Rhine asked a very good question, "Do we need to meet'?" There was a discussion of the events in the upcoming timetable. It was decided that they would pass on holding the September meeting unless some important issue comes up. The next meeting will be October 23rd Commissioner Buehner will chair that meeting; Commissioner Strauss will be out of town. Commissioner Buehner requested Mr. Miller send reminder notices to the TWD members about the October 17 JWC meeting. 11. Adjournment Commissioner Strauss asked if there was any further business to discuss. There was nothing more to discuss. The meeting was adjourned. TWD Meeting Minutes -5- August 21, 2000