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11/24/1997 - Minutes TIGARD WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING NOVEMBER 24, 1997 Members Present: Gretchen Buehner, Bev Froude, John Haunsperger, Norman Penner. Members Absent: David Strauss. Staff Present: Mike Miller, Michelle Wareing. Visitors: None 1. Call to Order: The meeting of the Tigard Water Board of Commissioners was called to order by Chair Norman Penner at 7:00pm. 2. Oath of Office: Gretchen Buehner was sworn into office by Commissioner Penner and signed all necessary paper work. 3. Roll Call: All members were present at the meeting except for David Strauss. 4. Visitors Comments: No visitors were present at the meeting. 5. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the September 22, 1997 meeting were approved with changes. On item seven of the minutes, it should read that the subcontractor"underestimated" instead of"estimated" the budget. Also on item seven, it should read that Commissioner Penner, not Haunsperger, attended the Mentor open house and spoke with a local resident. MSP 6. Intergovernmental Water Board Update: Commissioner Froude gave an update on the Intergovernmental Water Board (IWB). Commissioner Froude stated that Jack Polans, a citizen, had attended the last IWB meeting and asked why the supply plan was not in IWB minutes packet located in the Tigard Public Library. Ed Wegner, Public Works Director, was asked to look into the situation. It was determined that Mr. Polans wanted a copy of Ed's notes from a presentation Ed gave in King City. It was also noted that the last two IWB meetings have been mostly executive sessions, so detailed minutes are not available. Commissioner Froude stated that the Mentor Reservoir construction is about two weeks behind. Mentor neighbors have agreed to let the construction company work on weekends, so construction can be caught up. Commissioner Froude reported that progress has been made in establishing a tong term water supply. The City of Tigard has signed an agreement with several other water districts, which includes Canby, Tualatin Valley, Clackamas River Water, to establish the Willamette Water Supply Agency . Commissioner Haunsperger asked if 1 1 there were any serious supporters of the agreement. Mike Miller stated that all water districts that have signed were very serious about establishing the Willamette River water plant. Commissioner Buehner asked if the City of Wilsonville was a definite "no". Commissioner Froude stated that Wilsonville is not a definite "no" in that they might participate later. Commissioner Froude stated that Wilsonville does not want to give up their water rights at this point in time. Commissioner Froude reported that the first step in the process is a preliminary engineering, financing and public relations. The second step is submitting information to the Fish and Wildlife, Health Department, Water Resources, DEQ, the Army Corp of Engineers and the State of Oregon. The first phase of the plant will include a 40MG reservoir. Commissioner Froude stated that PGE will not contest the construction. Mike Miller clarified that PGE has water rights to the falls at Oregon City dating back to early 1900's or late 1800's. However, they are not going to exercise these rights at this time. Commissioner Buehner asked if a full-fledged environmental impact study would have to be done? Commissioner Froude stated that an impact study would have to be done. Commissioner Froude reported that the public relation firm, Rocky Boler Company, had been hired to do the preliminary work. Commissioner Froude stated that the City of Tigard and Tualatin had signed an intergovernmental agreement to purchase land for a facility on the Willamette River. Commissioner Froude reported that the City of Tigard had enough money in the FY 97/98 budget to hire a new water employee. Mike Miller stated that four summer temporary positions were eliminated, so a full-time employee could be hired. The new hire will be able to work year round on projects such as meter maintenance. The meter maintenance program includes cleaning out meter boxes, clearing away shrubbery and other such tasks. The new position will allow for a year-round maintenance program to be established instead of trying to get to all meters during the summer. The new position will also fill-in during water department absences and vacations. Commissioner Froude stated that there will be a big emphasis this spring on water conservation. 7. Operation Manager's Report: Mike Miller stated several reservoirs were cleaned by hard hat divers during the first and second week of November. The 10MG reservoir at 125th and Bull Mountain Road, two reservoirs at Canterbury and a 280,000 gallon steel tank were cleaned. The tanks were cleaned with a big vacuum similar to ones used in swimming pools. Using this method, the reservoirs are left on-line, running and there is no disruption to service. The tanks were also inspected while they were full. The 10MG reservoir had about an eighth of an inch of sediment in it and it had'not been cleaned in about two years. The Canterbury reservoirs had not been cicaried in about 15 years and contained only an inch of sediment. Both of the Canterbury tanks had radial cracks. One tank was able to be fixed with an epoxy. The other tank will 2 have to be shut down so it can be fixed. Other than that problem, all the tanks are in good condition. Mike Miller.stated that a 550 Zone will be established for the Menlor reservoir supply area. Bull Mountain Meadows is currently served by a 470 zone. The increase will help with water pressure and the valves will operate much smoother. With the PRV failure at Menlor, water pressure was so great that it was blowing some resident's water heater valves. No new regulating valves will have to be added. The pressure will be adjusted at the stations. By going to a 550 Zone, the water department will not have to put in two big stations to service the Bull Mountain area. The three pressure regulating sites will be tied together and will work in conjunction with the 550 Zone. Commissioner Froude asked if boundary changes are made and the boundary is moved out to Beef Bend Road will major changes have to be made. Mike Miller stated that the City's Master Plan already calls for 16 inch lines to be used in the Beef Bend Road area. Mike Miller reported that 16 inch lines have already been placed in the Scholls Country Estate area. The whole area will incorporate the 550 Zone. Commissioner Buehner asked where the water will come from to serve the area between 131st and 150th off of Beef Bend Road? Mike stated that any area south of Beef Bend Road is served by the Number 1 and Number 4 reservoirs which are both 1 MG storage tanks. Commissioner Buehner stated that the new urban services area is zoned for high density family and that it will have a high water usage. Commissioner Buehner asked how the increase will affect the water supply. Mike Miller stated that most of the area will be supplied by the Bull Mountain reservoir. Mike Miller reported that the blasting has been completed at Menlor Reservoir. Excavation for the foundation has been started. The project is currently two weeks behind schedule. Menlor Reservoir is located on 154th Street off of Scholls Ferry Road. Mike Miller stated that the meter replacement program has been started. About $800,000 was budgeted to replace old, large meters. A RFP (Request for Proposal) is being developed and will be sent out next week. It is expected that the City will have cost prices by the end of December. The meters to be replaced serve only businesses, commercial and multi-family lots. The existing meters are not capturing low flow usage and not reading correctly. The new meters are very accurate and can read as low as a fifth of gallon per minute usage. The new meters will help with billing usage. Mike stated that new meters will have an impact on water bills. Some of the new meters that have been installed have read usage so well that some water bills have doubled. Commissioner Froude asked if people will be notified when their meter is replaced so they can compensate for the increase in their bill. Mike Miller stated that once the program is fully implemented people will be notified. The meters that are currently being replaced are broken or damaged. Mike stated that he has only received one complaint so far. The complaint was not about the increase in consumption, but about changing out the meter without notification_ The Water Department does not have an obligation to notify consumers when a meter is changed out. 3 rsI Mike Miller reported that about a week and a half ago the High Tor Reservoir overflowed again. The overflow was due to some work done on the SCADA system. There is a 36 inch valve that the Water Department is trying to control remotely. The contractor thought he had used an empty input, but it was actually being used. This caused the pump to see a signal that the reservoir was empty, so the pump kept cycling thereby causing the reservoir to overflow. Fortunately, there was no property damage, but the pump station was flooded. Mike noted that Ed Wegner had discussed water consumption at the September 22, 1997 meeting. Mike stated that he had pulled the water consumption demand figures for the summer. Mike reported that consumption was strong in May, but backed off in June because of the weather. For the month of July, the average daily demand was 8.6 million gallons. In August, the demand was 9.85 million. In September, demand was 6.2 million. In October, demand was 4.5 million. Demand is all related to temperature. Since it was not a "hot" summer, consumers do not water their lawns as much. The average daily demand for November is about 4.3 million which is normal for this time of the year. Commissioner Haunsperger asked how many new meters were added in the past year. Mike Miller stated that about 550 meters had been added since last year. Commissioner Buehner asked how many total meters there are now. Mike reported that there are now over 14,000 service connections. Mike stated that there is about a 4.5% growth in service connections each year. Growth is for the whole service area. Mike stated that he would bring the spreadsheet to the next Water Board meeting. Commissioner Froude reported that the area from new Gaarde Street extension out to Walnut Street and 121st will added about 300 dwelling units. Commissioner Buehner asked if that area on Gaarde Street will be annexed into the City. Commissioner Froude stated that the area is very controversial and that one part of the area will have to annex because of sewer connections. However, the whole area does not have to annex in to the City. 8. Non-Agenda Items: Commissioner Buehner stated that she had been contacted by several people in King City regarding water shut-off. Commissioner Buehner reported that when these people leave for four to six weeks their water is shut-off for not paying their bill. Commissioner Buehner wanted to know if there was a proper way to handle this situation. Mike Miller stated that people have 45 days to pay their bill after receiving it. If it is not paid in that time period the service is shut-off. Mike stated that if people leave for an extended period of time such as 4 weeks, they should notify the Water Department to have the water shut-off and the meter locked. The advantage to doing this is that the consumer will not have to pay sewer charges during the time the water is shut-off. Commissioner Buehner asked how much it costs to have the water shut-off and turned back on. Mike stated there is not a charge. A consumer will only be charged for non- payment shut-offs. 4 • • Commissioner Buehner recommended that information regarding this matter be sent out to the residents of the King City area. Commissioner Froude recommended putting the information in the Courier, since King City residents do not receive Cityscape. Mike Miller stated he would talk to the billing department about sending information about what a consumer should do when leaving for extended periods of time. Commissioner Haunsperger made a motion to go into executive session. The Tigard Water District Board went into executive session at 7:45pm under the provisions of ORS 192.660 (1) (d) (e) and (h) to discuss labor relations, real property transactions and current and pending litigation issues. The Board adjourned from executive session at 8:06pm Commissioner Penner stated that he had been Chairman of the Water Board for the last year. Commissioner Penner stated that it is now time for a new Chair. Commissioner Penner asked for volunteers. Commissioner Buehner stated that the person chosen to be Chair should be somebody who has served on the Board for a while. Commissioner Penner stated that the discussion should be tabled for the evening and made a specific agenda item for the next meeting. Commissioner Buehner asked if the Board meetings are going to continue on an odd month schedule. Commissioner Froude stated that the Tigard Water District meetings were held the same month as the Intergovernmental Water Board meetings. The Board agreed to stay on the odd month schedule for the next few meetings - January, March and May. The meetings will continue to be held on the fourth Monday of the month. A special meeting might have to be held in June for budget purposes. Commissioner Penner stated that at the last meeting that he was instructed to write a letter of appreciation for Diane Kuhn. Commissioner Penner reported that he has drafted a letter for the Board to review. Commissioner Penner stated that Kathy Katz, Public Works Secretary, will type up the letter and print it on Water Board stationary. A copy of the letter will be copied to Diane's supervisor. Commissioner Buehner asked for a tour of the water facilities, so she will know where the sites that are discussed during meetings are located. Mike Miller stated that he would set up the tour. It was agreed that the tour would be held on December 10. 9. Adjournment: The Tigard Water District Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm. 5