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04/10/2002 - Minutes Intergovernmental Water Board Meeting Minutes April 10, 2002 Members Present. Patrick Carroll, Jan Drangsholt, Norm Penner and Joyce Patton (Bill Scheiderich arrived late) Staff Present: Ed Wegner, Dennis Koellermeier, Kathy Kaatz and Richard Sattler Visitors: Paul Owen and Roel Lundquist 1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Introductions Staff called roll and Bill Scheiderich was not present at the beginning of the meeting. 2. Approval of Minutes— March 13, 2002 Commissioner Jan Drangsholt motioned to accept the minutes of the meeting held on March 13, 2002, and Commissioner Norm Penner seconded the motion. All board members in attendance voted to accept the minutes. 3. Water Adjustment Request— Monica Skee Monica Skee was not in attendance. Mr. Wegner explained that this adjustment request was quite unique from previous requests. Rich Sattler had been working with Monica Skee on the issue. He proceeded to explain the situation and that current policy related to credit for leaks and this particular situation (customer believes possible inaccurate billing) did not fall under that category. Of the eleven meters at the Beef Bend Court Apartments, three have unusually high readings. The City had one of those meters tested at an off- site shop for accuracy and it was determined that the meter operated within specifications and the readings were correct. Monica Skee, nonetheless, would like a credit. The irrigation system at the complex had not been checked and it appeared that the consumption was higher during the high temperature summer periods, which could account for the water usage. Intergovernmental Water Board 1 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY Several questions arose as to how the meters were read. Dennis Koellermeier explained that the meters have the capability of being read by remote and manually. Metron service representatives have been working on the remote reading problems on several meters in the area in addition to those in question. However, during this whole process the meter readers were using the manual method of reading the meters. No leaks have been discovered to cause the increased usage and the meter that was tested was within specifications that have been set by the AWWA (American Water Works Association). Accuracy must fall between 98 - 102%. The apartment complexes are located on a hilly slope that has a lot of grassy areas and common areas between the apartment buildings. The landscaping is thriving and very green in all areas of the complex. Further discussion followed about the request for adjustment and how to respond to the request. Commissioner Joyce Patton summarized the letter from Monica Skee by saying Monica seemed frustrated and thought she had been given the run around, which appeared to be partly because she did not understand what had transpired. Commissioner Patton wanted to make sure that the written response was accurate in explaining the details and assure Monica that monitoring of the Metron meters would continue. There is no evidence at that time that the problem was on the water system side. This was the approved consensus of opinion by the members of the Board of Commissioners. 4. Long Term Water Update— Ed Wegner Joint Water Commission — Handouts were distributed. Integrated Water Resources Management Water Supply Feasibility Study, Project Progress Report -The Hagg Lake project source options and alternatives have been looked at. The report also included Frequently Asked Questions about the feasibility study. The Bureau of Reclamation has started their project. Montgomery Watson Harza (consultants) will soon begin the field operations portion of the investigation and will look at the impact that raising the dam will have on the property surrounding Hagg Lake. Proposed Bull Run Regional Drinking Water Agency — Consultants have been hired through the Sunrise Water Authority and the team consists of Murray Smith and Associates, Integrated Utilities Group, and CH2M Hill. They are establishing their work plan for Phase II and setting up four more work groups: • Governance and Legal Team — comprised of several attorneys, including Bill Scheiderich who will be representing Beaverton Intergovernmental Water Board 2 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY L • Engineering Group— Dennis Koellermeier will work with this group • Public Involvement Group —their focus would be on public involvement and continued communication with the public • Finance Committee Group — comprised of several finance directors from various agencies The Technical Advisory Group meets every Monday afternoon and the Policy Steering Committee meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. Mr. Wegner provided copies of the slide presentation that the Finance Committee made to the Technical Advisory Committee and referred to slide#37 about user groups. The user group concept shows how the costs are broken down, where water is taken from and a backup water system source. The Finance Committee will continue to use these types of breakdowns to place a value and percentage on water amounts, storage, transmission and conduits, etc. Specific questions for each work group have been compiled with guiding principles. The Policy Steering Committee will also add questions on various issues for the work groups to handle and all the information will be pulled together in August. 5. Utility Manager Report— Dennis Koellermeier ASR—Water injection has continued until today when the injection was shut down due to a water quality incident. A meeting was scheduled with the engineers to decide on an action plan. It has been necessary to back-flush two times previously to resolve the problem and that is probably what will be done this time as well. Currently, over 50 mg of water has been injected in storage and positive results have been observed in the monitoring wells. There have been no reports of flooding, springs, or similar complaints and the aquifer has responded the way it was supposed to. Water quality incidents have occurred with sediment build-ups for short periods of time. There have, however, been no complaints from any water users. Microscopic and biological review of the materials indicated that it was the same type of materials found in surface run off from the Bull Run System. A partial recovery will remedy the situation by back-flushing, but an iron-fixing bacteria, (common in water systems) has also concentrated in this well and has plugged up the holes on the basalt. It had not been determined if the situation was bad enough to treat at this time. These incidents have been a frustration, but have not been a control system issue. Beaverton Intertie — Bids are expected back the end of the month. The engineer's estimate has climbed a little higher than expected, but it is anticipated that the bids will be favorable. Intergovernmental Water Board 3 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY Gaarde Street Project —The project was completed without any problems and was on or under budget. Clute Property Sale —A memo from the City Attorney was received today with several recommendations. Dom Colletta recommends that the year-old appraisal should be freshened up, but other than that he thought Tigard's property disposal ordinances and procedures were very straightforward. The consensus was to go back to the same people that did the appraisal before, which would be faster as well as less expensive. Ed Wegner requested more information on Item #4 dealing with the Proposed Regional Drinking Water Supply Agency. He requested information from the IWB as to how they wanted hearings, forums or public meetings on the proposed Bull Run Agency handled and whether they wanted them held with the IWB or the Tigard City Council. He requested that board members think about the issue, be prepared to discuss it and give recommendations at the meeting in May. 6. FY 02/03 Budget Review— Ed Wegner/Dennis Koellermeier The time has come to submit the annual budget to the City Manager and Budget Committee. Tentative approval has been received from the City Manager. Budget Committee meetings will be held the first three Mondays in May and City ordinances will be reviewed in June. The first few pages of the draft document covered program results, goals and objectives, major accomplishments and workload measures. Dennis Koellermeier proceeded to discuss the various budget items. • Materials and Services —This was where the main costs were located because of some increases in prices for services, but largely in increases in the amount of water purchases. • Capital Outlay—The bulk of this category was budgeted for two vehicles, one of which would be a 10-yard dump truck priced at about $140,000 - $150,000. To avoid some of the impact of this expense and working with the Finance Department, an equipment reserve fund would be created to spread the costs over multiple years. Ed Wegner explained that the City required three budgets this year, which was a change from past year's budgets. Current Service Level budget—increase no more than 3% or keep lower 5% Reduction budget Add Package budget Commissioner Jan Drangsholt requested clarification about the large increase in the office supplies category. Dennis Koellermeier explained that this amount was Intergovernmental Water Board 4 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY set aside for office furniture in the map room area. Commissioner Patton explained that it might not be looked at as a capital outlay and would need to be in this expense category. Commissioner Carroll requested clarification in the information about the FTE (full time employee) increase of 40%. It was explained that manager support has changed over the past few years, with salaries being spread throughout multiple divisions, as well as reorganization that created supervisory positions and an increase in Water Quality personnel and, therefore, an increase in salaries. Overtime charges have improved by establishing shift change adjustments. • Capital Projects —The City's Scada System currently uses outdated technology that cannot be supported. 7. Pressure Reducing Valves— Proposed Ordinance Revision— Dennis Koellermeier Beverly Froude has requested that this policy shift be presented to the Tigard Water District before the Intergovernmental Water Board made their recommendations. Mr. Koellermeier gave an overview of the proposal explaining that it was unknown where all the pressure reducing valves (PRV) were located and, therefore, they were unsure exactly what areas were affected. His recommendation was that time needed to be put into the change if it is accepted. Issues include: • Philosophical —equity issue, about half the customers with the need for this service and 100% of the customers paying for it. • Financial - $25,000 per year dealing with PRV issues and affects the overtime budget. How other agencies deal with this issue was enlightening. The pattern indicates that the agencies that provided this service were water districts and those that did not were cities. Cities have both water delivery systems and plumbing departments with staff that work together and understand that the responsibility is on the part of the plumbing code, not the water purveyor. Mr. Koellermeier recommended that the change be made and stated that two issues needed to be dealt with. 1. When new houses are being built that require a PRV, the solution would be easy, by requiring the builder to handle it. 2. Set a timetable of one year for existing PRV's and then place the responsibility on the homeowner. Intergovernmental Water Board 5 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY Discussion included the following comments: • Eliminating the service would cause ill will and concerns from citizens when rates are increasing and services decreasing. • Have the City provide the service, but charge homeowners for it. • An education of citizens needed to be part of the process. • Problems and concerns arise with employees entering houses without someone else there and accusations by citizens often occur. Changes with rules and regulations would be needed about after-hour's turn on's/shut offs. • Leave it to the homebuilder for new installations. • It's the City's responsibility to deliver adequate pressure and flow and they should maintain the PRV's. A decision on the issue was deferred until this issue could be presented to the Tigard Water District. 8. Informational Items Informational items were distributed for review by the Board Members. 9. Public Comments - None 10. Non-Agenda Items The City of Wilsonville will be drinking water from the Willamette River on the 29th of this month. Commissioner Penner wondered why the Citizen's for Safe Water representatives had been so silent about putting a treatment facility in the Portland system. Mr. Wegner said there had been two public hearings where their voice could be heard. Commissioner Scheiderich suggested that samples be tested of the water from the Wilsonville treatment plant. 11. Adjournment Commissioner Carroll motioned to adjourn the IWB meeting and Commissioner Drangsholt seconded the motion. All voted in favor of adjournment. Intergovernmental Water Board 6 April 10,2002 DRAFT COPY