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08/14/2002 - Minutes Intergovernmental Water Board Meeting Minutes August 14, 2002 Members Present: Bud Wilkinson, Patrick Carroll, Bill Scheiderich, Norm Penner, and Joyce Patton Staff Present: Ed Wegner, Dennis Koellermeier, Tom Imdieke, Kathy Kaatz, and Richard Sattler Visitors: Roel Lundquist, Paul Owen, Mrs. Wilkinson, and Brian Moore 1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Introductions The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Patrick Carroll arrived late at 5:45 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes—July 10, 2002 Commissioner Joyce Patton requested editorial changes to the statements she made regarding the Proposed Bull Run Drinking Water Agency in clarification of what was intended. The changes begin in page 2 starting with the first full paragraph and are as follows: "Commissioner Joyce Patton continued by stating that there has been an underlying concern to slow down the process, to be deliberative and not jump to conclusions. The governance discussion would help create the process slow down. The PSC meeting had lengthy discussions regarding the governance issue. For example, the representative from the Tualatin Valley Water District had differing personal opinions from some other TVWD Board members. Following a recess for TVWD to caucus, one motion was proposed and failed, and a second motion was unanimously adopted to move forward with an ORS-190 agreement as the focus of governance. "Commissioner Saltzman has been placed in charge of the Portland Water Bureau instead of Commissioner Sten and he attended the PSC meeting for the first time. He remained neutral through most of the discussions, however did vote in favor of continuing. The members are ready to move forward. "Mr. Wegner added that Commissioner Saltzman was given this new appointment without the benefit of orientation from Commissioner Sten and was somewhat uncomfortable because of that. However, Commissioner Sten has since spent a lot of time bringing Commissioner Saltzman up-to-date on the issues. Commissioner Saltzman has indicated he is comfortable in proceeding with the timeline and is in favor of transferring all of the Water Bureau, including the distribution functions. All indications show that momentum will not slow down during the transition time." Intergovernmental Water Board 1 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY Commissioner Patton motioned to approve the minutes as changed for clarification and Commissioner Norm Penner seconded the motion. The vote to accept minutes with the changes presented was unanimous, with Bud Wilkinson abstaining. Ed Wegner announced that Councilor Joyce Patton was moving to Beaverton and would no longer be representing the City of Tigard at the IWB and regional water meetings. He introduced Brian Moore as the new Tigard City Council liaison for water issues and he would be the IWB representative. Commissioner Patton added that it was appropriate for Brian Moore to serve as liaison as he has been on the Council for many years and is familiar with Tigard's 'water woes'. 3. Document Review— Tom Imdieke/Dennis Koellermeier Tom lmdieke introduced himself as Financial Operations Manager for the City of Tigard and was there to explain the significant changes/revisions and updates to the Tigard Municipal Code. • Section 12.03.030 (e)—The existing practice is that if a customer does not pay a bill by 10:00 a.m. on "shut-off day", the water will be shut off. Presently there is someone on staff until 7:00 p.m. to answer the telephone if someone wants their water turned back on after normal business hours and pays the additional $100.00 charge. If they pay after 10:00 a.m. the charge is $50.00. There are 17,000 customers that generate 102,000 bills annually and of those, only 16 times have customers called after hours to request their water service be turned back on. It is being recommended that the practice be discontinued. The City has maintained the operating costs of staff time after hours and Public Works staff is called in to tum on the water service after hours at a time and a half rate. The majority of other jurisdictions surrounding us have also discontinued the practice. • Section 12.03.030 (f)—Meter Disconnection Charge— If a customer physically disconnects their meter, there will be utility charges, water disconnection charges and meter disconnection charges. This change is to clarify understanding within the code. • Section 12.03.050 (b)— If repairs or replacements are required, the property owner will be charged and not the initial purchaser. • Section 12.03.060—Routine adjustments to accounts will be reported to the IWB each month upon their request. Other changes to this section deal with raising the authorization levels for administrative adjustments (miscalculations, reading errors,) from $50.00 to $250.00 for the Finance Director, from $250.00 to$500.00 for the City Manager, and anything above $500.00 would go before the IWB for review and consideration. • Other changes to clean up the wording by changing USA to Clean Water Services and City Administrator to City Manager. These changes are on the City Council's agenda for August 2r. Mr. Wegner added that the Council would adopt these code changes based on the IWB's recommendations and the changes would go into effect in all affected communities (King City, Durham). Mr. lmdieke continued with the Resolution amendment of fees and charges. Intergovernmental Water Board 2 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY • Resolution 02-06—Exhibit A—Fire Hydrant Usage— Temporary- Rates have not been formalized and this will include them in the fees and charges. The rate for fire hydrant usage will be changed from the commercial rate to the higher irrigation rate, which will more appropriately cover current costs. Meter Disconnection—Will now include a 10% administrative cost. Meter Out-of-Order Test—This establishes the rate for the first time and will include calibration, actual labor and material costs, and 10% administrative costs. Water Main Extension—Designed and installed by others—This formalizes the rate that has always been used at that level. Dennis Koellermeier presented items that affect Public Works more than the financial side of things. New language is used to align the code to current practices and also has suggested deletions of things that are no longer done. • Section 12.10.030—The meter size language was outdated and the plumbing division now determines the size on a fixture count basis. This change aligns the code into consistency with the plumbing code for the State of Oregon. This section also adds the provision allowing the installation of water services by the developer as part of the subdivision improvements. • Section 12.10.040—Language changes and the creation of a new section to better address master metering. • Section 12.10.045—Master Metering -Typical applications are for condominiums on private streets dealing with homeowner associations as the responsible party. The new section allows for better flexibility keeping the costs down for Public Works and the developer. • Section 12.10.060—Service Pipe Standards and Maintenance—Changes to language dealing with plumbing codes. • Section 12.10.080—Jurisdiction—Clarification of Public Works operating facilities. • Section 12.10.140—Temporary Discontinuance of Service—Language clarifications dealing with fee changes. • Section 12.10.160—Service Connection Maintenance—Added language clarifying the right to access of meters by City staff, the City's liability and recovery of charges related to clearing the area. • Section 12.10.220—Fire Hydrants—This section was deleted as these practices are no longer performed. • Section 12.10.240—Illegal Use of Fire Hydrant or Meter—Cleaned up the language and linked it into the civil infraction process. Commissioner Bill Scheiderich requested clarification about the master meters. Mr. Koellermeier explained that the concept of a master meter would be to add up all the small users and size the meter accordingly. The homeowner's association could sub-meter to deal with their equity of the meter. Different cases have varying scenarios but this section assures that a responsible party covers costs. Intergovernmental Water Board 3 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY Commissioner Scheiderich asked what type of emergency situation availability the City had set up. Mr. Koellermeier explained that the City has trained Public Works staff available 24-hours a day to deal with shut-off problems or any other emergency situation. Ed Wegner requested a motion to approve the Resolution and two changes to the Tigard Municipal Code. Commissioner Patton motioned to approve the changes to the Municipal Code 12.10, Resolution 02-06, and Ordinance 12.03, and Commissioner Norm Penner seconded the motion. The vote to accept the motion was unanimous. Dennis Koellermeier added that procedurally as follow up, changes to the Rules, Rates, and Regulations would be brought back, mirroring the language for the effected Tigard residents and represented water area. 4. Proposed Bull Run Drinking Water Agency— Ed Wegner/Joyce Patton Ed Wegner reported that they received the Principles of Agreement at the last meeting (that information was forwarded to IWB members) and was being reviewed by all agencies. Any comments should be directed to Commissioner Joyce Patton. Dennis Koellermeier and Commissioners Patton and Moore will be attending a public hearing next week on Thursday to receive input. By taking another month for review and deliberation of the Principles of Agreement, the final report would not be adopted by the Policy Steering Committee (PSC) until September, which will push back that report to the IWB into October. Also during the last month, three public meetings were held in the cities of Gresham, Tigard and Portland. Tigard's meeting received the most participation, but that was primarily by staff and elected officials and about six interested members of the public. There were very few questions asked at the meetings and to date, no comment cards have been received from the open houses. Next week's Thursday meeting will be taped by Multnomah County Cable TV who will be doing a feature story and they will hopefully make that available to Clackamas County and Tualatin Valley Cable TV channels. Members of the PSC and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) attended the Water Spot (Citizens for Safe Water) live television broadcast several weeks ago. Those who attended thought it was a good experience. Two of the technical memos have been approved by the TAC and are to be forwarded to the PSC for consideration. The meetings have had a few heated discussions about money, asset values, directions in voting, and what is to be included/excluded. The TAC report will probably say that there are still unanswered questions, but it will also provide the 13 participating agencies with good information to base decisions on for future consideration of participation in the Proposed Bull Run Water Agency. More money will be involved if it is decided to continue, appraisals of the assets may be required, and an outside consultant may be brought in to analyze the pros and cons. Commissioner Patton reported that Commissioner Saltzman and Eddie Campbell were speaking with all the PSC members on an individual basis. She made it clear to them about concerns regarding the financial issues, the change in Portland's Commission Intergovernmental Water Board 4 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY representatives in mid-stream, and the need for getting the numbers out very soon. She said some jurisdictions will make speedy decisions after receiving the report. Mr. Wegner added that Portland provided some preliminary numbers on Monday, but those numbers have not been analyzed yet. Attempts are being made to set up a meeting to discuss the wholesale contract with the City of Portland on September 18"'. It is anticipated that some agencies will make decisions quickly and decide to stick with the wholesale contract and not participate in the new agency as a partner. It will be very costly to participate, but the value may be worth the money. The overall value needs to be measured carefully and Tigard will have to look at all the options. Commissioner Patrick Carroll said the wholesale contract should be available to compare as an option. Mr. Wegner said the decision would be difficult because the comparison will be between apples and oranges. There will be political and financial aspects to compare as well as consideration as to where Tigard wants to be in the future with the water issue. The decision will have to be made on the information available and will be a gamble no matter what direction is chosen. Commissioner Patton stated that the regional process has been good in that it has held Portland accountable for providing information they have never been willing to discuss until now, it has allowed the development of relationships with surrounding jurisdictions and has strengthened and united the groups on the west side. Tigard will not be the first to make their decision and will be able to observe the reactions to other's decisions. It may be beneficial to continue our participation in the regional negotiations or combine with our surrounding jurisdictions in order to formulate a unified strategy on how to proceed. This process has shown that there is strength in numbers. The purpose of the regional process has been to determine whether it is feasible to create the new agency. Portland cannot afford to have a lot of negative public relations at this point. A lot of the issues being brought to the table are from Portland citizens about Portland issues that will have to be dealt with no matter which direction the regional agency takes. The report will address issues that the City of Portland will have to respond to such as the charter changes and legality of governance. On Monday Commissioner Saltzman stated that Portland holds all the water rights and they will probably keep their name on the water rights because of the congressional authority they were given with those rights. However, he indicated they will proposed to assign, pledge, or give full rights and privileges to that water to the new agency at no charge, with the understanding that the water rights charges will be recuperated from the O & M costs and other costs associated with the assets of the system. Mr. Wegner said he thought there would be a rather large contingency of Portland citizens that will not want to give up their water system. It has been questioned as to what Portland will do with the money they receive from the participating entities and Portland has indicated they will put it into their distribution system. Portland has stated they need $400 million worth of improvements to their distribution system and they appear to be willing to sell part of their assets to pay for fixing the distribution system. Intergovernmental Water Board 5 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY Mr. Wegner reported briefly on the Tualatin River Basin Study and said that next month he would be reporting in detail about it. He said that it would cost more money to proceed in that direction. The progress reports are slow, but cohesive in that there are not the political issues with the agencies involved and all the member agencies are working together to accomplish a positive outcome. Due to federal issues dealing with security, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has had funding cutbacks and the support and commitment that was hoped for from them has been slow in coming. It would cost Tigard an additional $80,000 to continue, but that would be worth it if the damn is built. Mr. Wegner will discuss the additional funding proposal at the September IWB meeting. Technical reports will also soon be ready for presentation. He reiterated that the progress has been slow, but deliberate and cooperative in its coordination. 5. Assistant PW Director's Utility Report— Dennis Koellermeier ASR—Water has been pumped from the well since July 5"'without any problems. The well has been producing 700 gpm and even though we know it can produce more than that, for good data-stream throughout the completion of the pilot program, we have been asked to stay at that level. The summary report of the ASR project will be ready in October or November and at that time a decision will need to be made as to how to proceed. Beaverton Intertie —The piping work is completed and we are now in the testing phase. Switches will be flipped in about 30 days. Mr. Koellermeier said he would be presenting a revised CIP schedule next month reflecting the necessary changes to accommodate the school district reservoir project. The (RFP) Request for Proposal will go into process within the next few weeks. Rich Sattler reported on the Summer Operation Plan. With the higher temperatures, demand has also been up and that has stressed the system and required optimizing of the system. There have been a few days that we have reached 12.5 mgd, which causes us to be more vulnerable. We have been utilizing the system more with storage that we have. The current water supplies come from the City of Portland, Tualatin Valley Water District, and Beaverton and today we started using the City of Tualatin connection. The ASR water has been very productive and so has Well#2. The conservation message still continues to promote the even/odd watering of one-inch per week as well as the rebate program. The projected weather trend will allow us to get the upper hand again. 6. Informational Items Informational items were distributed for review by the Board Members. Mr. Wegner encouraged Board Members to read the Regional Water Supply Plan newsletter update, complete the conservation survey and mail it in. 7. Public Comments- None 8. Non-Agenda Items - None Intergovernmental Water Board 6 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY 9. Adjournment The next IWB meeting is scheduled for September 11"'and Mr. Wegner explained that there are several memorial functions planned throughout the area that evening as well. It was discussed and recommended that the IWB would still meet that evening but plan to adjourn no later than 6:45 p.m. Commissioner Patrick Carroll motioned to adjourn the meeting and Commissioner Joyce Patton seconded the motion. The vote was unanimously carried and the meeting was adjourned. Intergovernmental Water Board 7 August 14,2002 DRAFT COPY