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11/12/1991 - Minutes r ' • TIGARD WATER DISTRICT 8777 S .BURNHAM ST. P.O. BOX 230000 TIGARD,OREGON 97223-9917 PHONE(503)639-1554 November 12, 1991 Minutes of Regular Meeting TIGARD WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Board of Commissioners: Audrey Castile, Chair Denis Borman, Treasurer Jon Kvistad, Secretary Sydney Sherwood Clarence Nicoli Staff: John Miller, Administrator Randy Volk, Superintendent Mike Miller, Engineering Technician Lorry Christian, Secretary Visitors: Rusty Thomas, TWD employee Rich Sattler, TWD employee Bob Wyffels, TWD Budget Committee Nicole Castile The meeting was called to order by Chair Castile at 7:31 P.M. 1 . Resolution to approve minutes of the October 8 regular Board Meeting. A motion was made by Commissioner Jon Kvistad and seconded by Commissioner Clarence Nicoli to approve the minutes of the October 8 regular Board Meeting. Discussion was called for. There was no discussion. A voice vote was called for. The resolution passed unanimously. 2. Resolution to approve the payment of vouchers. Motion was made by Commissioner Clarence Nicoll and seconded by Commissioner Denis Borman to approve the payment of vouchers. 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.2 Discussion was called for. Chair Castile asked about the item for unemployment insurance. Administrator John Miller said we pay on demand, which is why the item doesn't appear every month. TWD does budget for it. Commissioner Kvistad asked about the payment to Sally Petersen. Administrator Miller said she was involved in helping with one of the manuals we just completed. Commissioner Nicoli asked about the payment to COSTCO. Administrator Miller said that is the renewal fee for all employees of Tigard Water District. Chair Castile asked about material services under expenses--why the repair and maintenance is high. Administrator Miller said that is due to the finishing of the work on SW Greenburg Road and SW McDonald Street. Chair Castile asked about the gas and oil expense being up. Administrator Miller said he wasn't sure why, except that the work crews have been busier than normal and use more products. Chair Castile confirmed that we didn't have any additional new vehicles. Hearing no more discussion, a vote was called. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Visitors Chair Castile welcomed the visitors to the meeting, and asked if the visitors had any comments to make. None were made. Chair Castile introduced her daughter, Nicole. 4. Resolution to approve Job Descriptions per attached list (Resolution 19-91). Chair Castile said she hadn't had time to read all of the job descriptions closely, but if other Commissioners had, she would rely on their judgement, otherwise she would like to postpone action on the resolution until next month. Commissioner Borman said he had read them carefully. A motion was made by Commissioner Borman and seconded by Commissioner Nicoll to approve Resolution 19-91. Commissioner Sherwood said she had read them all, also. Chair Castile said that the job descriptions aren't cast in stone and are subject to periodic updating and revision. Discussion was called for. Hearing none, a voice vote was called. Resolution 19-91 passed unanimously. 11112/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.3 5. Resolution to approve the extra-territorial water service extension (Resolution 20-91). Chair Castile asked Administrator Miller to briefly summarize the situation. Administrator Miller said that last spring Sharon Worsley's husband talked with him about building a house outside the Water District, inside the flood plain, and outside the Urban Growth Boundary. Administrator Miller told him that until he had the necessary documents, including a building permit, we couldn't help him. Administrator Miller said about 1-1/2 weeks ago, Ms. Worsley met with him, saying she is now the sole owner of this property and wanted to obtain water service. Administrator Miller said it was difficult for him to listen to her appeal for water service because the Water District has repeatedly said it wouldn't provide water to locations outside the District. Administrator Miller is recommending that Tigard Water District provide Ms. Worsley with water service, because of the conditions of poor quality water that exist. The County has now granted a Flood Plain Alteration to Ms. Worsley. She will pay a proportionate share of the existing water main (about $2,000), buy a 5/8"x3/4" meter and pay out-of. District rates. There is no way to bring the property inside the Water District. Commissioner Borman asked if granting water service to Ms. Worsley would be setting a precedent. Administrator Miller said no. Commissioner Borman said it is the duty of the Water District to do this for people in her circumstances, i.e., we can't let people go without water service who are on the fringe of the Water District. Chair Castile asked what Ms. Worsley would do if we said no? Administrator Miller said she would drill a welt. He said it doesn't make sense to let her drill a well in an area which will either (a) be contaminated or (b) be undrinkable or very poor quality water. The end of the District's pipe is 300 feet from her driveway. Administrator Miller said most of the areas outside the District which have applied for service (such as Beef Bend Road and 150th), have adequate well water available. Ms. Worsety doesn't have adequate well water available. 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.4 Commissioner Nicoli said he has been on the Board before, in similar circumstances, when the Water District has granted water service to people located outside the District. The discussion continued, saying there is a logical explanation for granting approval in this situation. Commissioner Kvistad asked if this property is subdivided, would water service be automatically granted. Administrator Miller said no. The discussion continued. Chair Castile asked Engineering Technician Mike Miller if he had talked with Ms. Worsley or her husband. Engineering Technician Miller said no, he had worked only on the paper work. He said the property is Rural Residential 5, which means there must be 5 acres or more to build, and it is in the flood plain, so there shouldn't be any further development. A motion was made by Commissioner Borman and seconded by Commissioner Nicoll to approve Resolution 20-91. Discussion was called for. A vote was called for. The votes were as follows: Yes No Denis Borman X Audrey Castile X Jon Kvistad X Clarence Nicoli X Sydney Sherwood X Resolution 20-91 passed by a 3-2 vote. 6. Tigard Water District provides water service to the City of Tualatin. Administrator Miller said Jim Doane, Chief Engineer for the City of Portland asked that Tigard Water District provide water to the City of Tualatin as of November 1, because the water supply for Portland was low. We did supply water to the City of Tualatin and will continue to do so as requested. The billing goes directly to the City of Portland. Administrator Miller estimates that we will need to continue supplying water to Tualatin until about December 1 . Commissioner Kvistad asked if this would be an on-going situation each year? Administrator Miller said no, this is a special situation because of the water shortage due to a very dry season in Portland. The discussion continued. 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.5 7. Chair's Comments Chair Castile said the comments she has will be made in Other Business. 8. Commissioners' Comments Chair Castile asked if there were any Commissioners' comments. Commissioner Kvistad said that Tigard Water District received some very good press on the water issues. 9. Administrator's Report A. Administrator Miller referred to the letter from the City of Lake Oswego, given to Commissioners at the start of the meeting, indicating they will increase water rates 25%, from the present $.40 per 100 cubic feet to $.50 per 100 cubic feet of water. That will increase our wholesale water rates by $208,035 per year. This increase coupled with the City of Portland's increase of $76,405 a year ago, totals $284,440. This is a substantial increase in our cost to do business. Administrator Miller referred to his confidential memo to the Commissioners included in the Agenda packet. This means the District would have to raise water rates to our users to offset these increased costs, of approximately $.136 per 100 cubic feet of water. Administrator Miller said he isn't advocating that we raise rates at this time, but possibly as early as February, 1992, we may want to increase our rates to match the increased costs to the District. B. Administrator Miller said the City of Lake Oswego has now written 2 letters, included in the Agenda packets, regarding the Lake Oswego Water System Capital Improvements necessary to supply Tigard Water District. C. Administrator Miller said he submitted to the Daily Journal of Commerce, for publication, a request for bid for construction of a water pumping station at the 10 million gallon reservoir site at SW Bull Mountain Road and SW 125th Ave. At the December 10 Board Meeting, bids will be available for Commissioners to open, and hopefully will be able to award that bid to the lowest bidder. 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.6 D. Administrator Miller said in the Agenda packet are copies of letters to customers who had substantial leaks within their systems (leaks which are not the fault of the District). Several customers have used over 500,000 gallons of water over a 2-month period. This means a substantial cost for water. Because none of the customers came to the Board Meeting, evidently the Staff satisfied their inquiries as to some financial relief. Chair Castile asked Administrator Miller to summarize the District's practice regarding leaks of this kind. Administrator Miller said customers are responsible for fixing their water leaks. After the repairs are completed, customers can submit a letter with a copy of the repair bill. The Administrator can give a maximum credit for a water leak of $100.00. There was a discussion about people neglecting visible water leaks. Commissioner Borman said that a resolution had been passed by the Board several years ago, authorizing a maximum credit of $100 for leaks of this kind. Chair Castile asked Administrator Miller to review the amount of rate increase, for TWD customers, that he is considering recommending. Administrator Miller said he is thinking of a $.15 (per 100 cubic feet) increase, which is substantially less than the increase in cost of water to the District. 10. Other Business A. Chair Castile said over the weekend she received the letter from James R. Breakey (copies given to Commissioners before Board Meeting). Apparently Mr. Breakey is a computer analyst/programmer who worked for PGE for many years, and is now working as a consultant. He is interested in working on the request for bid for a new computer system for the District. Chair Castile said she had not been able to contact Mr. Breakey. Administrator Miller said we may invite many people to do the last phase of the project, and Mr. Breakey may be one of them. Chair Castile said his inquiry was about being able to bid on the first part of the project. The Board wanted Administrator Miller to get bids for what it would cost to analyze what we need for a computer system or get the requirements together, and by the time he got back to the Board, it was with Coopers & Lybrand--TWD was already tied into that. Administrator Miller said the quote from Coopers & Lybrand was $39,000, which he brought to the Board. It was rather high. Because of • 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.7 that, Commissioner Kvistad asked that it go out to bid. Administrator Miller completed the phase already in process, for a cost of $6,200 with Coopers & Lybrand. He finished the requirements, because it was already so far through that process. Now, in house, Secretary Lorry Christian will begin making up the necessary documents for the request for proposal, after completing the Board Meeting minutes. Then, Administrator Miller needs someone, a consultant, who is very experienced to determine the low bidder. Chair Castile said she wanted to go back to this portion of the situation. We didn't come in with any suggestions or bids, and that is what she hears Mr. Breakey addressing. Does Administrator Miller know what the bill will be for this portion, from Coopers & Lybrand? Administrator Miller said he guessed it will be around $11,000. Chair Castile asked how she should answer Mr. Breakey's letter. Commissioner Kvistad said it was his understanding that he didn't want to proceed with anything with Coopers & Lybrand until the whole process was put out for bid. He didn't know that TWD had begun to do any of it, other than the initial phase and having the proposal, because he thought it was excessive for what it was, and to spend that kind of money without a competitive bid was inappropriate. He didn't know it was $10,000 worth of process, instead it was an initial bid and some initial consulting. Chair Castile said she knew that with the complexity of the information in the organization, we needed to hire someone to give us the specifications of what we need. She thinks what happened was that a process was jumped, because Administrator Miller tries to be efficient and get work done that is required. Administrator Miller said that he authorizes professional fees for attorneys and other consultants routinely unless the Board tells him it needs to be bid. Chair Castile said she understood that the Board asked the Administrator to get bids before he went ahead. Administrator Miller said if that was so, then he had misunderstood them. Commissioner Kvistad said that his understanding also was that before we proceeded with anything with Coopers & Lybrand, that it would all be put out to bid. Discussion continued. Chair Castile asked what the costs would be to Coopers & Lybrand on the work that we've already hired them to do. Administrator Miller said it was $11,000 for just the requirements. Administrator Miller said we don't need to get bids for professional services. • 11/12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.8 11. Other Business A. Commissioner Kvistad referred to the statement of services by the Regional Governance Committee from the City of Tualatin and asked if the $831.00 was the total amount due, or amount due to date. Chair Castile said it was a statement for services to date, and they knew we weren't going to go past $1,000. B. Chair Castile asked Administrator Miller if there was an update on the Regional Water Purveyors situation. Administrator Miller said the meeting will take place on December 19, and at that time the City of Portland through the Regional Demand Study will have a recommendation regarding the sources of water necessary to meet our long range regional demand. C. Chair Castile said that beyond the letter in the packet from the City of Lake Oswego, she and Administrator met about 1-1/2 weeks ago, with the Bruce Greswold, Director of Finance, Jerry Baker, Director of Public Works, and Doug Waugh, Finance. They talked and made a lot of progress. They have finally come together, realized financially where they are, what we mean to them, and what they may have to give up to get what they want. They heard clearly that we are willing to work with them, that we wanted to trade our economic power base for some water supply control partnership and they are open to consider that. They were very adamant that they are going forward in a positive direction and have very warm feelings toward Tigard Water District. D. Commissioner Nicoli asked if in the meetings attended by Administrator Miller or others if anyone talks about water supply for Sherwood and Wilsonville? Administrator Miller said that Gene Seibel, Tualatin Valley Water District, has asked him to ask the Board for funding, through the budgetary process, to look at the Willamette River at Wilsonville as a major source of water for the metropolitan area. A grant has been secured from the American Water Works Association, and Tualatin Valley Water District is adding money beyond the grant, to find the water quality in the river. Tigard Water District is being asked to put in $10,000 to $15,000 to complete the series of studies on the river. During the next budget process, the Board will be asked to approve funds, with the thought that the water will be readily available 10 years in the future. Chair Castile asked if that would be a second supply source for us 11,12/91 Regular Meeting, Board of Commissioners, pg.9 then. Administrator Miller said yes. A brief discussion continued. Adjournment. Chair Castile adjourned the regular meeting at 8:10 p.m.