01/27/1997 - Minutes TIGARD WATER DISTRICT
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING
JANUARY 27, 1997
Member Present: Chairman Norman Penner, Beverly Froude, David Strauss,
John Volpe,John Haunsperger
Staff Present: Mike Miller, Diane Kuhn
1. Call to Order:
The meeting of the Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners was called to order at
7:04 p.m. on January 27, 1997, by Chair Penner.
2. Roll Call/Introductions:
All members were present at the meeting
3. Visitors Comments:
No visitors were present at the meeting
4. Approve November 25, 1996 Meeting Minutes:
Commissioner Strauss made a motion to approve the November 25, 1996 minutes,
Commissioner Froude seconded the motion. Motion was passed unanimously.
5. Discussion of IWB Report:
Commissioner Froude reported that at the last IWB meeting. Michael Benton from
Barrington Heights was in attendance and voiced some concerns. He had a major
complaint that had to do with brown water in their home, which was caused by doing the
tie in down below his property at Beef Bend Heights, and 132ND. Mike stated that it was
partly our fault by trying to supply service to the apartments down below. It was a size on
size cut-in on Beef Bend Rd. With the water main in Beef Bend a dead end line to Fox
Glove, Barrington Heights and the apartment complex, we brought water down through
Barrington Heights from the top, changing direction of the water flow. After the tie-in
was done, we needed to blow off the line, in doing so, we ran higher velocities, stirring up
sediment. After three hours of flushing the line, it still didn't clear up, but it was better
than before flushing_ There really wasn't anything we could do, because if we continued
to flush, it would have affected the line all the way to Bull Mt. Road. There were just a
few complaints from residents in Barrington Heights. We may have been able to wait until
after the holidays, but the contractor wanted to get it done, and we didn't anticipate ihe
problem. His other complaint was pressure loss. He is located in a area, that will always
be 45-50 pounds. We did check the pressure reducer valve, and there happens to be a
Tigard Water District Board Meeting-January 27, 1997
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malfunction. We will be having someone from Seattle to come down and adjust the valve.
The valve is suppose to be slow opening and slow closing so it won't create water
hammers. Due to the number of homes on the system, the valve is opening too slow. This
will affect about 150-200 homes. There are two control valves. One is on 150TH Ave,
and the other one is off Hawk Ridge. The control valve on Hawk Ridge controls the
majority of Barrington Heights, and this is the one that is malfunctioning. Commissioner
Froude asked if development continues the way it has, will there be more problems due to
lack of a large transmission main on Beef Bend, due to the Beef Bend road project being
on hold? Mike stated that the water will come from the summit, and through Mountain
Gate.
Commissioner Strauss asked Mike if the city notifies people when problems arise? Mike
stated that we do, and mostly by telephone. When we start work on the pressure reducer
valve, we will notify everyone in advance about the possibility of discolored water from
the sediment in the line, and that the water is safe, and meets all standards. Commissioner
Froude asked Mike if any customers have ever asked the water district to buy bottled
water during this time? Mike stated that this has been requested, but we have never
purchased it for the customers, because this is not a health problem. The fire department,
when there is a fire and they are drawing a lot of water, can cause the same discoloration.
Chair Penner asked if customer's were really upset, would it help to run the water through
a coffee filter? Mike stated that if they were that upset, we would adjust their bill. If it
were a long term effect, we would pull the meter head for a day or two, and let them buy
water at no charge.
Commissioner Froude stated that in 1990 a law was passed that all buildings need to
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since the Water facilities has not gone
through review, by the city, the IWB voted to start the process. Loreen Mills, City of
Tigard Risk Manager, will report in March at the IWB Meeting to tell where they are in
the process. It will take several months to look at all the facilities. The facilities include
the Water Building, Canterbury, the Reservoirs, and pump sites. This will not come out of
the TWD budget, it will come out of the water fund. In the regional update, the new
committee members who will be attending these meetings, are Paul Hunt from the city,
and Ed Wegner. Commissioner Volpe asked how much of the Water Building does the
city use? Mike stated 50%. Commissioner Volpe stated that he does care what the
building is used for, and mostly who pays for it. Commissioner Froude will bring this back
to the IWB Board. Commissioner Froude stated that we passed a resolution on what the
Water Building could be used for. That there was an agreement. Commissioner
Haunsperger stated that in the contract it states that the City of Tigard is responsible for
the upkeep and payment of maintenance of the building. Commissioner Haunsperger
made a motion that the ADA review of the building be based upon the percentage of the
usage of the city. Commissioner Froude seconded the motion, and motion was accepted.
6. Operations Manager Report: ,
Tigard Water District Board Meeting-January 27, 1997
Mike Miller commented on elections in March. Commissioner David Strauss is running
unopposed. Gretchen Buehler, a practicing attorney in Tigard, will be running for John
Volpes seat.
Mike Miller handed out fliers on the Free Water-Wise Landscape Seminar coming up in
March and April. He stated that registrations are going quickly. It was published in the
City Scape, and will be going out with the water bills.
Mike commented on the pH adjustment. The City of Portland has raised the pH of the
water in compliance with lead copper ruling from the EPA. There is in attempt to do an
inexpensive way of treating the water rather than building a treatment plant. By using
sodium to raise the pH to lessen the risk of the lead exposure. Lead in drinking water
comes from lead solder leaching into the water lines, in the home. Brass fittings, even
when they say lead free, they can still have up to 8 percent lead. It is a concern. Lead is
not detectable in the distribution system. It is in the peoples homes. The City of Portland
is going out and doing a lead reduction program, identifying the older homes that have
lead paint, and they have money to repaint, remove the fixtures that contain lead solder,
etc. City of Portland found that it was'more cost efficient, than building a new treatment
plant.
At City Council tomorrow evening, we will be discussing water purchases, and how we
will be buying water this coming fiscal year. We will be buying more water from the Bull
Run water system, it's just a matter of who we will be buying it from, and at what price.
Portland is giving us a good price on the water because of being effective in managing our
system last summer. Our peak was a one, the best you can obtain. This was obtained by
boosting our purchases from Portland from 1 million to 2 million per day. Because Lake
Oswego does not have the capacity to give us additional water, we are looking at
purchasing more water from Portland on a year round basis. We can't afford to have Lake
Oswego shut us off, like last year.
Commissioner Haunsperger asked Mike if they are still talking of tieing in at Fred Meyers?
Mike said no. We have a tie in with Tualatin Valley at Baylor Street, and looking at
making another tie with the City of Tualatin at 72nd&Bonita, into their 36" line. There is
excess capacity in the 36 inch line and would put us on with Washington County supply
line, it would lower our cost, along with the whole zone. Most of the water would come
from Bradley Corners, as we are only buying two million gallons of water a day now, and
looking at increasing it to 4 million gallons a day. We are able to take up to 8 million
gallons a day from Bradley Corner.
Commissioner Froude asked Mike if we are getting total Bull Run Water from Tualatin
Valley? Mike said yes. Water can't be brought from the coast range to here, due to`the
elevation, and lack of pipe line. In order to do this, we would need another transmission
line. There is a large transmission line going in on the North side, through Hillsboro for
Tualatin Valley. Tualatin Valley Water District has 60,000 connections. The contract that
Tigard Water District Board Meeting-January 27, 1997
we have with TVWD, states that they have an additional capacity of 6 million gallons a
day that they get from the Barney System. The way Portland has it's contract, they can't
just bring the 6 million gallons into their system and stay whole. That reduces their
purchases from Portland by 6 million, and they have to pay for it anyway. So on paper we
are getting Barney Reservoir, but in reality,we are getting Bull Run Water.
Commissioner Strauss asked Mike if all of our water is well or Bull Run? Lake Oswego
now supplies about a million gallons of water per day, and 3 million from Bull Run, 1.04
from Tualatin Valley, and 2.05 from Portland. All water is Bull Run except for Lake
Oswego.
Mike Miller spoke on the draft letter. He stated that Ed Wegner suggested that the letter
be passed to Bill Monahan, and Liz Newton for a quick review. In doing so, Liz
suggested that she and I work on it. She suggested not talking so much about where the
water comes from,but how this board functions. Commissioner Froude stated that Liz
had called her, and said that she will have something put together and mailed to the board
members in February, and ready for us to talk about it at our next meeting. Commissioner
Froude feels that with a new board member coming aboard, she will be able to become
involved also. John Haunsperger is concerned with Liz getting involved in this letter, as
this is a letter for the unincorporated areas, not a City letter. He feels that another letter
should be generated by Liz for the city, and we keep our letter for the unincorporated.
The Tigard Water District Board of Commissioners would like to keep the letter simple.
Commission Haunsperger stated that they have been working on getting a letter out for
five years, and hates to see it be delayed any longer. Chair Penner stated that it might be
interesting for the city manager to tell us what they think the function of the Tigard Water
District Board is.
Commissioner Froude commented on the last Senate Bill 122 meeting. At that time, the
mid-April time frame was set for the Tigard workshop, at the Tigard Water Building. All
the unincorporated area will be invited. All the special service district and special service
providers will be there. Whoever provides us with services, with the exception of the
schools will be at this meeting, they will be showing the people who the service providers
will be when the unincorporated area is annexed. The only thing that will not change will
be Tualatin Valley Fire&Rescue. Commissioner Froude feels that TWD letter will be an
important piece of information to have at the Senate Bill 122 meeting.
Commissioner Strauss stated that he feels we should relay the information to Liz Newton,
that we appreciate her efforts, but that we should receive them real soon, as this is just
about ready to go, and that we need to keep the letter moving. It was suggested that we
have Liz Newton's imput prior to the February 25, 1997 meeting, at 7:00 p.m. An
invitation was extended to Liz to attend the February 25 meeting.
7. Commissioner Comments:
Tigard Water District Board Meeting-January 27, 1997
It was suggested by Commissioner Strauss that the new person running for the board,
should be invited to the next meeting.
Commissioner Froude brought up election of officers. When do we elect them? It was
suggested by Chair Penner to wait until after the election, because of having a new person
on the board. Commissioner Froude suggested calling LouAnne Mortensen to see if she
would be on the Budget Committee. Mike stated that the next regular meeting will be in
March, so they can have their Budget Meeting in May, and another meeting in June. It
will take two meetings, the Budget Meeting, and the next meeting will be the final
adoption. The Budget Committee needs to be made up of equal numbers of the board,
and Budget Committee members. John Haunsperger volunteered to head up the Budget
Committee.
Chair Penner commented to Commissioner Froude that she has done an outstanding job in
representing the Tigard Water District on the Intergovernmental Water Board. It is
unanimous for her to continue.
8. Non Agenda Items:
Commissioner Haunsperger asked about any new developments? Mike stated the Roshak
property, which is currently under going engineering. There is Kehoe's project off Scholls
Ferry that is currently under construction, and Hillshire Creek Estates Phase 4 on Scholls
Ferry. Mike has heard about a sub-division coming off the south side of Mountain Gate,
and another project " Arlington Heights" off of Bull Mountain.
Commissioner Strauss asked when they will be starting work on Beef Bend Road. It was
stated that it is on hold due to Measure 47. It will not be done this year, but there will be
a new school opening.
9. Adjournment:
Commissioner Volpe made a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by
Commissioner Strauss. The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 P.M.
The next meeting will be held on February 25, 1997, at 7:00 P.M., at the Tigard Water
Building.
Tigard Water District Board Meeting-January 27, 1997