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07/24/2000 - Minutes TIGARD WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING July 24, 2000 Members Present: Norman Penner, Beverly Froude, David Strauss, George Rhine, and Gretchen Buehner Staff Present Twila Willson Visitors Present None 1. Call to Order Commissioner Norm Penner called the regular meeting of the Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Roll Call and Introductions Commissioner Gretchen Buehner was late to arrive. 2. Approval of Minutes Commissioner David Strauss questioned the wording under Item #5 of the minutes, which stated: "No public hearing took place. There were no visitors present." After a brief discussion it was requested the minutes be changed to read the following: "The meeting was open to public hearing. No public was present." This statement would indicate that the public hearing took place on the budget, however, there were no comments from the public. Also questioned was the third paragraph from the bottom on page 2, the third sentence. After discussion the conclusion was to reword the sentence to read: "In 1993 the TWD relinquished its roll as the manager of the water delivery system." Commissioner David Strauss motioned that the minutes of the June 26, 2000, meeting be accepted with the two corrections as noted. Commissioner Gretchen Buehner seconded the motion. The minutes of the meeting were unanimously approved with the two corrections. 4. Visitor's Comments - None 5. Intergovernmental Water Board Update Several members of the board attended that meeting. Commissioner Buehner reported that there were two major issues on the IWB agenda. • Clute Property—the property purchased for access to the Menlor Reservoir. The IWB only needs a portion of that property and wants to sell the rest of the property. TWD Meeting Minutes - 1 - July 24,2000 A minor petition was filed some time ago. The neighbors around the Clute property filed an appeal on the sale of the property. Several of those citizens came to the IWB meeting to request another use be made of the property other than allowing it to be developed. Several would like to see it become a park, others were concerned about traffic, and there was discussion about some of the paths around the reservoir. Several members of the IWB explained that the IWB has been running in the red, there is no extra money, and the City of Tigard does not own the land, but holds it for the IWB. Commissioner Buehner does not think they will prevail on the appeal, but that is continuing. • Long term water source issues were reported on. Mr. Wegner was to meet with the JWC several days following the IWB meeting to discuss a preliminary contract with a variety of options. Since that meeting she has found out that the JWC approved two different resolutions allowing the Tigard Water System to buy more water through the JWC and be involved in the investigations for raising dams. There also is a buy-back option. • South Fork status—seems to have come to a halt. It looks like there will be some new fish limitations imposed on the Clackamas. The surplus water they thought they had may not exist. • CPO4K letter was distributed to the TWD board —the letter addresses some of the issues TWD has been discussing, namely taxation without representation. The letter asks the City of Tigard and the IWB to make changes necessary to resolve that issue. Commissioner Buehner stated she jumped on the City Attorney at the meeting and indicated she had had meetings with Paul Hunt over six months ago and also with Tim Ramis. She indicated that the City of Tigard has sat on the issue until last week when they met about the agreement. Commissioner Strauss questioned whether the JWC had some Tualatin River water in it. Commissioner Beverly Froude explained that the Tualatin River is involved at the headwaters where the Trask and Tualatin Rivers come together. Commissioner Strauss had concerns that this would generate activity from the Citizen's for Safe Water(CFSW) group. Commissioner Penner stated that it was likely. Commissioner Froude indicated that the water is much higher in the area of the filter plant. The water does not run in the same way as the Willamette River, which runs through agricultural land. Commissioner George Rhine stated the Citizen's for Safe Water have indicated they will fight any river alternative. The board discussed that if people are drinking water in public places in Beaverton or even some water in the Tigard area, there is a certain percentage of water from the TVWD and the JWC. They thought that should hamper or diminish the CFSW arguments, however, the board felt that the CFSW would still try to adhere to wanting only Portland water from the Bull Run. Commissioner Froude indicated that even though water has been taken through Lake Oswego for many years, the Clackamas River has not been tested very much either. TWD Meeting Minutes -2- July 24,2000 Commissioner Penner asked the board what their group hoped to achieve. It was decided they wanted an alternate water supply at a reasonable cost and with say in the governance. The concern still is that there is no public support of the TWD. The public becomes outraged when they learn of Portland's rate increases, but it goes no further than that. A discussion took place on the Willamette River water issue and the campaign CFSW promoted. 6. Intergovernmental Water Board Agreement—Draft Proposal Suggestions Commissioner Penner stressed the importance of revising the IGA to allow a broader voice on everyone's part. Also the importance of getting the constituency alerted and involved. The discussion that followed included the rights of the people to vote. Long term water is the important issue. With the weather as dry as it is this summer and Portland having trouble with the EPA, fish issues and pumping more water from their wells, those issues could change the dynamics significantly. Commissioner Froude stated TWD needed to meet with the people from King City and Durham to discuss the proposed revisions to the IGA. Commissioner Penner made revisions to the agreement from the suggestions discussed at the June TWD meeting. He has delivered copies to the City Managers of King City and Durham. They will review the proposed draft and arrange to meet. He has also met several times with Paul Hunt, who is now in a mind to support this action. The draft of the newsletter was distributed for review. It will be mailed separate from the utility billings. The cost for printing is being researched. Minor revisions have been made to the original draft. The focus of the newsletter is to get a reaction from the constituents and spark some interest to get the community involved in the long term water problems. 7. Selection of TWD Chair and Vice-Chair, IWB Representative and Alternate Commissioner Penner opened the meeting for discussion and suggestions on changes to the positions within the board. It was discussed that, even though others have served faithfully and well, it is still good to have a different person with a fresh approach. It also gives others the opportunity to learn. Commissioner Froude stated she was not in a position to take on the added responsibilities involved in anything more than a board member. Commissioner Rhine motioned that the TWD should open all positions of the Commission for reselection of officers. Commissioner Beverly Froude seconded the motion. The board voted unanimously in favor of the motion. • Commissioner Froude nominated Commissioner David Strauss for Chair. Commissioner George Rhine seconded the nomination. The board unanimously agreed on the nomination. • Commissioner Strauss nominated Commissioner Gretchen Buehner for the position of Vice-Chair. Commissioner Froude seconded the nomination. All voted unanimously in favor of the nomination. TWD Meeting Minutes -3 - July 24,2000 • Commissioner Rhine nominated Commissioner Norm Penner for IWB Representative. Commissioner Strauss seconded the nomination. The vote was unanimous in favor. A brief discussion took place as to whether an Alternate IWB Representative was needed. There would be some difficulty for several board members to attend the 5:30 p.m. meeting. Commissioner Buehner stated she intended to continue attending the IWB meetings. • Commissioner Froude nominated Commissioner Gretchen Buehner to serve as the Alternate IWB Representative. Commissioner Rhine seconded the nomination. All voted in favor of the nomination. Commissioner Froude indicated she would be able to back up as a representative should the IWB Representative and Alternate be unable to attend meetings. New officers: D. Commissioner David Strauss TWD Chair D. Commissioner Gretchen Buehner TWD Vice-Chair D. Commissioner Norm Penner IWB Representative D Commissioner Gretchen Buehner IWB Alternate 8. Pascuzzi Issue Update No new information to discuss. The board considered no further action need be taken. 9. Commissioner's Non-Business Social Event A discussion of availability took place. Commissioner Penner requested that Commissioner Buehner select several dates in September that could be discussed and decided upon in the next meeting. 10. Non-Agenda Items Commissioner Penner suggested that the board should formally inform the IWB and the City of Tigard (through Mike Miller) of the changes to the TWD Board of Commissioners and IWB representation. Commissioner Penner will write a letter of notification. 11. Next Meeting Date Monday, August 28, 2000, was scheduled for the next meeting of the Tigard Water District. Commissioner Rhine asked if there would be a need for the meeting. Commissioner Buehner anticipated there would be further progress on the JWC contract and the Clute property appeal. Commissioner Penner stated the Clute property neighbors are TWD constituents. The Tigard Water System now wants to sell the unneeded property. Commissioner Froude made it evident that the property was always Zoned 9 and 15 for multiple family dwellings, even though single family dwellings have been put in there. TWD Meeting Minutes -4- July 24,2000 Commissioner Buehner commented that the City has been negotiating with Mr. Cache to swap property for another reservoir. She thought Mr. Cache would put in single family homes. Commissioner Penner felt it was important to connect with the Clute property neighborhood and encourage their involvement in the TWD. Commissioner Froude indicated the citizen's in that area feel their area is park deficient. She questioned whether it made it more park deficient or more efficient by having all the greenspaces and park in one area to serve them. It is not a park, it is a greenspace area. If no greenspaces money was used from Metro it could be made into a park. They have a lot of greenspace areas. Greenspaces cannot be greatly upgraded, except to add trails. Their point is understandable, but she felt they had not thought it through clearly. Commissioner Penner repeated the importance for interaction with them to commiserate, not offend them and better educate them to encourage their involvement with the TWD. 12. Adjournment Commissioner Buehner moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Rhine seconded the motion. The Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the adjournment of the regular meeting at 7:55 p.m. TWD Meeting Minutes -5- July 24,2000