September Minutes

                                                Kootenai County Water District No. I

Board of Directors Meeting- October 28, 2015

(Minutes from Sept 23, 2015)

 

I.                    President Bill Welsh called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with the following present:

Dave Dasher, Vice President

Loretta D. Zabka, Secretary

Diana Fost, Treasurer

Jeff Barber, Director

 

            Guests:   *******

                        Bob Grammer, Justine Lund, Robert Zabka

 

II.                  Minutes for the Sept. meeting approved by motion (m/Fost, s/Zabka)

 

III.                Treasurers Report Sept. meeting, motion made (m/Barber, s/Dasher)

 

IV.                Manager’s Report approved by motion (m/Dasher, s/Zabka)

#4.  Activity discussed in regards to water usage verses adequate

       coverage for all existing homes.  Welsh stated the capacity

       of 100 new homes is coverable with the district current system.

 

#7.  Mike had a meeting with DEQ – they advised him that the current

       filtering of water in the bays has not been up to State standards.

       They directed him to the ½ HP pump.  Mike researched the cost

       Of two different manufactures.

 

V.                  Presidents Report

A.      Bill received another cost proposal from Tate Engineering - - - this one was considerably higher.  Bill will speak with them as to the excessive cost increases for KCWD future development plans.  The district may look at other engineers for future plans.

 

VI.                Old Business

A.       D. Dasher presented additional information to past research on various government funding availability.  One termed water smart is a grant funding match program structured in two tiers depending on borrowed amount.  Dasher stated that those districts who have participated in this program tend to be helped more in (tier one), which is a lesser borrowing amount.  (Tier two) requires more paper work which is more invasive; requiring attorneys, engineers and more money.

B.      The district must prioritize the pending job projects and come up with an actual needed amount as well as determine if any the above money borrowing is a feasible option.

C.      No research compiled per Welsh regarding leak in Bay 3.

 

VII.              New Business

A.      Patron, Teri White was discussed regarding her current water bill.  She experienced a wintertime leak.  Waterhouse expressed it would be helpful to aid her in a bill reduction expressly based on the fact the board reduced another clients charges which were simply neglect and not a leak.  Board made a motion to assist with a tier one rate adjustment break on overages.  Board agreed to consider future individual matters of grievance on a case by case basis.

B.      D. Fost shared the method of the district calculations on the tired water base charges.

C.      D. Dasher introduced wording changes to Section 13 of the rules and regulations- Multiple Outlets.  Advised by the district’s attorney, Appleton, that the existing section as written left possible loop holes and problems in adhering to the rules and regulations.  A motion to approve is pending till next month’s board as J. Barber asked for time to digest the proposed changes.

D.     M. Waterhouse submitted request for two new water hook-up applications at $7500.00 each from Jim Taigin on Bonnell by Yellowstone.  Approved by motion ( m/Fost, s/Dasher).  Ben Martin on Bonnell Rd, approved by motion, m/Dasher, s/Fost.)

E.      D. Fost requested permission to pay-off backhoe loan.  Balance remaining of $9,700.  Motion made, (m/Barber, s/Fost)

F.       Regarding item #7 on Manager’s Report board approved a motion to purchase a pump per DEQ standards.  Purchase cost is about $500 to $700.  (m/Dasher, s/Fost).

G.     M. Waterhouse presented a letter from the state licensing board applicant fee $92.00.  Motion made (m/Zabka, s/fost).

H.     M. Waterhouse requested time to attend a training class for Mountain Water Works.  Fee involved varies from member or non-member.  Board approved attendance.

I.        J. Barber and D. Fost discussed more frequent meter reads; monthly verses bi-monthly.  Unanimous from board to costly and not warranted.

J.        Research per M. Waterhouse is requested on a property located at 1777 Grouse Meadow.  There is no name at this address.  Mike expressed concern there is no bill being generated for water usage.  Must be researched.

 

VIII.            KCWD #1 Projects List

A.      Vista tower – Mike is working on a location

B.      Distribution upgrade  Hass and Little Joe

 

IX.                Adjournment 9:45 p.m. motion made (m/Fost, s/Zabka)

 

 

 

 

 

Water Rate Structure 2010 and water quality report

  

Vista loop repair

The leak on Vista Loop is complete!🚰

Leak on Vista Loop

We have discovered a small leak in the 4400 block of Vista Loop. Repair will begin in A.M. On 8/31/15, Mike🚰

New 20hp pump

Our electrician has completed the installation of our new 20hp pump in the pump house, and it's fully operational. He did notice that a bearing in our 40hp is going bad. Mike has ordered a new bearing and we hope the old one holds out. During low demand periods, this would be a non event, however, now we have to be prepared for stronger water conservation if this bearing fails. I'll post an update when I learn more. Bill

Questions answered from our last meeting

Questions submitted by a few “various members” of our community at the last board meeting are answered below:

·         Budget information is generated at our board meeting in July, published and approved and or amended at our August meeting.

o   Our Treasurer is responsible for the “books” and is a trained accountant using approved accounting practices. We use the cash basis accounting rules.

o   Checks are signed by the board members except the Treasurer

·         Project schedules have been defined by our Engineer and are in process of completing

o   When projects require, permits and public notices are obtained and published

o   When the project requires damaging the road surface, the District is responsible for its repair

o   A new pump has been ordered for the pump house to move water up to the reservoir, arrived this week and its installation will be working with Mike Nagae. This pump is five horsepower more than what it’s replacing and is more efficient, producing 50,000 gallons more a day to the system. The cost is about $9,000 at this point with the installation costs being the variable.

·        The Board felt it was necessary to have our attorney present at the June meeting because of all the conflict generated by some of the districts members. He was able to directly answer some very important questions presented by these concerned members. He charged the District $350 for his services.

·         As you all know, our entire region experienced a record breaking heat wave. Many districts in our area had the same challenges as we did providing water to its customers. Our district met these challenges by improving the filter cleaning process to the point that we now have full capacity available. We used rolling shut off of different parts of our system to catch up since the folks were not observing the odd/even watering program. This program evens out the demand on the system is for to all observe, and allows our reservoirs to maintain a safe margin.

·         Our man-power for the operation of the water system is variable and is driven by requirements and needs. Our employees keep time cards, keep records of mileage and approved by the Treasurer.

o   Mike will be a “Treatment 1, Restricted” water treatment operator, 260 hours of on-site experience within one year, 16 hours of continuing education, pass written exam. He is under supervision of both John Shields and the DEQ

o   Mike was hired with normal business accepted process; public notices, resume, application and interview.

o   Patch did not apply for the job. Patch did not show up for work and called John Shields to report that he quit. There was no customary one or two week notice.

·         The electrical system supplying our pumps is all interdependent.

·         Other questions have been answered and posted on the blog

·         Our board is to serve our district and each member brings their own skill set of experiences to help the District operate. We do not have to be micro managed by our customers. We all use and depend upon the water system and we do our best to manage it for all of our use.

Grouse Meadow outage

The Grouse Meadow booster pump is involved in a power outage. I have reported it to Avista, they have a crew on site, and estimate power to be restored by 10 am. Mike .