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06/26/2000 - Minutes TIGARD WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING June 26, 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 7:03 p.m. 2. Roll Call and Introductions Commissioner Gretchen Buehner was late to arrive. 3. Approval of Minutes Commissioner David Strauss motioned that the minutes of the May 22, 2000, budget committee meeting be accepted. Commissioner George Rhine seconded the motion. The minutes of the budget committee meeting were unanimously approved. 4. Visitor's Comments- None 5. Approval of FY 2000/01 Budget No public hearing took place. There were no visitors present. Commissioner Gretchen Buehner arrived during the brief discussion between board members. Commissioner Davis Strauss motioned to adopt Resolution 00-01. Commissioner Gretchen Buehner seconded the motion. The Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the Resolution. The signing of Resolution 00-01 then took place. The signed Resolution was given to staff to appropriately file. Commissioner David Strauss moved that the minutes of the regular water board meeting of May 22, 2000, be approved. Commissioner Beverly Froude seconded the motion. The minutes of the regular water board meeting were voted upon and unanimously accepted. TWD Meeting Minutes - 1 - June 26 2000 6. Intergovernmental Water Board Update Commissioner Buehner briefly reported that the IWB received the CH2M Hill report on the system development charges. The Board approved a 3% increase and passed their recommendation on to the Tigard City Council for implementation. Kim Swan gave a brief conservation update. There was a discussion about the leak policy and bill adjustments. Mr. Miller will be drafting a proposed guideline to present to the IWB for consideration. A 24-hour emergency contact telephone number will be put on all bills for water users to utilize if severe water problems occur. Commissioner Froude commented that extenuating circumstances should still be considered. 7. Utility Manager's Report—Mr. Miller was absent;no report presented, 8. Intergovernmental Water Board Agreement—Draft Proposal Suggestions Commissioner Penner has had discussions with others that would be willing to look at changes to the agreement with the Intergovernmental Water Board. It is his suggestion that a proposal be drawn up and presented to the IWB. He requested input from the board members. Commissioner Buehner stated the IWB and the City of Tigard will be receiving a letter from CPO4K within the next week advocating a major restructuring of the IWB because the current structure is denying all the residents of CPO4K of having any voice in what goes on. Commissioner Penner said that would support the TWD's position. He opened the meeting up for suggestions. Commissioner Strauss commented that the main problem is that it is the City of Tigard and not the Tigard Area Water System. That seems to be where all the ills lie. Commissioner Penner presented a draft revision he composed and requested their review. He distributed copies to all board members. Commissioner Buehner stated that currently under state law the IWB has no legal standing. The entity with legal standing is the City of Tigard. There is a State set of rules that governs special service districts. In 1993 the TWD ceased being the service district under that statute and the City of Tigard was substituted as that entity. Another entity needs to be recognized under the State law to be responsible for making decisions. The City of Tigard can still manage the water system, but the IWB or another entity should be the legal entity to officiate for the service district. A discussion and review of the draft composed by Commissioner Penner began. The draft contains shaded areas indicating question areas and the new areas are in italics. There are also footnotes for discussion. Item#9 (page 2)was added to the Recitals suggests the new entity created after the dissolve of the district be named the Tigard Regional Water System. Also added was a section (page 5) entitled "Definitions of Key Terms". TWD Meeting Minutes -2- June 26 2000 Points of discussion included the following: • Shared authority—voting members participating in decisions relating to long-term water supply and capital improvement plans. Commissioner Buehner added that provisions should be made should Initiate 47 pass. All ratepayers should have the say, not one section of the area. • Public Member(At Large)— under current State law, any and all committee or board (i.e., IWB) is required to have a public member (a member with no vested interest). An uneven number on a board is preferable. Bill Schederich is the appointed member at large. The length of term is not clearly mentioned in the agreement. • Shared Authority—Commissioner Strauss indicated it should spell out a majority rules. That point should be clarified. • Integrated Water Supply—does that include the physical assets of the whole system? Perhaps two separate definitions are required addressing water and assets. Source and delivery only of the actual product should be outlined. The wording used in the agreement was to protect the unincorporated area water users. Commissioner Penner stated the definition should address water supply and not attempt to deal with assets, which are discussed elsewhere in the agreement. • Overall Public Interest—this could apply to special interest groups like Citizens for Safe Water, who are trying to speak for the overall public interest, whether you agree with them or not. Create one legal entity that would include all areas within the water system. • Rate Payer—define their rights and responsibilities. Commissioner Froude addressed #7 Services Provided by Tigard (page 13, item B). There are concerns with the wording of the last sentence, "The Tigard Regional Water System is under no obligation to provide such water services to areas annexed to the District subsequent to this Agreement." Several areas are excluded from the service area and future development is anticipated. This issue needs to be addressed. Commissioner Buehner commented that the entire agreement needed to be reorganized placing all the long term water decisions and capital improvement items in one place, not scattered throughout the document. Definitions needed to be included: • System Manager • Other Assets • System Assets Commissioner Penner commented on the issue (page 9, Capital Improvements). The City of Tigard in its operating role should follow the decisions of the IWB, or explain why they cannot. Commissioner Buehner stated there should be a management agreement that outlines what the duties and responsibilities of the manager are. It is a difficult role when you TWD Meeting Minutes -3 - June 26 2000 are a political entity trying to be administrator. When a city has a contract relationship, it can act as a defense with a lot of Initiatives. Commissioner Froude stated she did not think it was negative to look at the contract. It is like anything else, it gets old or after using it for a while you realize there are changes needed. This agreement has been used for a long time and has not been challenged. I think it is a positive move. Commissioner Buehner stated Tim Ramis told her it was specifically left vague to avoid upset. He agreed it was time for a major clean-up. Commissioner Froude added that the defining elements are now coming to the fore and there is no definition for a lot of this. It's not that it's right or wrong, good or bad, it has served to a degree until now, but now we want more, we want it tighter. Commissioner Penner reviewed some footnotes he had added at the end of the document pertaining to the shaded areas in question throughout he draft document. Specific discussions covered: • Footnote item 6, page 6— Do the listed documents exist? Commissioner Penner asked to see them and requested they be included as an attachment to the agreement. • Footnote item 9, page 11-12 — Has the IWB reviewed the accounting documents as outlined? • Footnote item 11, page 14 - Has the IWB reviewed these rules and regulations since 1972? It is a requirement of the document. Commissioner Penner announced that Tuesday, July 11th, the Tigard City Council will be meeting to discuss the IGA at the workshop session. This is a public meeting and it was suggested there be TWD representation at that meeting. Commissioner Penner will find out more details. 9. Non-Agenda Items Commissioner Penner stated that at the last meeting the board talked about changing leadership. He agreed to chair the board for one year and that time is coming to a close. He would like the other board members to consider the topic for the July meeting. Gretchen Buehner and David Strauss are up for re-election to the board next year. Considerations to change the IWB Representative should also be made. Gretchen Buehner would be glad to continue there. Commissioner Penner would be interested in serving as the IWB Representative. Commissioner Penner introduced more information on the Pascuzzi issue. A letter was distributed earlier. At this point only assumptions can be made. Apparently the pipe was put in Fanno Creek when it was TWD purview. That is probably why Bill Monahan passed it on to the TWD. Commissioner Penner will investigate further and this will be included in next month's agenda. He does not understand why Mr. Monahan is saying it is the problem of the TWD. This is not consistent with the agreement. TWD is now only able to make policy, TWD Meeting Minutes -4- June 26 2000 it no longer serves as a manager. The City of Tigard is responsible for managing the assets. Commissioner Strauss asked about the status of the letter to be distributed to the water users. Commissioner Penner stated that it was being worked on. Commissioner Buehner suggested that the Commissioners and their spouses meet for a non-business meeting in August for a social event. Commissioner Froude indicated she has been on many boards and has never been to a social event. The topic will be further discussed at the July meeting. 10. Next Meeting Date The next regular meeting of the Tigard Water District is scheduled to be held on Monday, July 24, 2000. 11. Adjournment Commissioner Rhine moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Buehner seconded the motion. The regular meeting of the Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners adjourned at 8:25 p.m. TWD Meeting Minutes -5 - June 26 2000