Thursday, March 21, 2024, 5:00 pm — Olga Community Center
1. Call to Order: 5:06 PM
a. Attendees:
OWUI Board Members, present:
i. Geoff Cunard, President
ii. Pat Boehm, Director of Operations
iii. Paul Groeninger, Secretary
iv. Guy Woods, Treasurer
v. Dave Noneman, Vice President, appeared telephonically
b. Sue Min on behalf of Administration, present.
c. Sam Prado on behalf of Operator Eastsound Water Users Association (EWUA), absent.
2. Approval of Minutes:
a. Geoff moved to approve February 2024 meeting minutes. Guy seconded. All members voted in favor. February meeting minutes were approved.
3. Operator EWUA’s February Report as relayed by Geoff and Pat:
a. The average production from the treatment plant during February was 9 gallons per minute.
b. Operator EWUA still has a few distribution projects on radar. These projects primarily include (1) the replacement of the service line and setter at 73 Olga Park Ln and (2) the Sofaer hydrant removal/meter relocation.
i. Regarding Sofaer, Pat met with Operator EWUA, Kirk from Island Excavating, and David earlier in the day, Thursday, March 21. According to Pat, Operator EWUA will return the meter out back where it was before, and it will be more protected and insulated than before. Geoff noted that the process would also be less expensive than a complete relocation.
ii. Operator EWUA was able to get Island Excavating to unearth the Olga Park Ln main. Operator EWUA replaced the service line and backfilled the road. They also installed a temporary setter and will need to return to complete the job.
iii. Operator EWUA continued to work with Consultant Barry Buchanan on the SWSMP and intertie project. Ideally, the production data that Operator EWUA is providing will allow for the Maximum Daily Demand calculation to be adjusted down, helping the intertie project move forward. Consultant Barry Buchanan to send OWUI his flow expectations from intertie project.
iv. Operator EWUA is also working with Consultant Barry Buchanan and Island Excavating to complete the next steps on completing the physical infrastructure work on the intertie project.
v. Geoff delivered additional updates from Operator EWUA that Island Excavating would cap off the old hydrant at Sofaer’s on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, which could involve temporary water outage and temporary depressurization for some OWUI members. Earlier on March 21, 2024, Operator EWUA told Geoff that EJ Young Rd members would not need to be shut off during the hydrant work, but that the temporary shut off could occur from 9a to 12p, and that the hydrant work itself would take about an hour. However, Geoff will receive additional information from Operator EWUA to determine which members would be affected, and Geoff will notify the affected members via email of the outage and Boil Advisory. Boil Advisory would only be issued as a precautionary measure for any temporary depressurization (not caused by contaminants).
4. OWUI Administrator’s Report
a. Sue presented the following on behalf of Administration:
i. Member Billing / Receivables
1. 2024 Receivables to date: $166,662.03
2. Outstanding Member Accounts: 54 Member IDs still owe OWUI payment, based on current billing and deposit records, amounting to roughly $84,791 outstanding billing to collect, pending reconciliation.
3. Sue to send out 2nd Notices via email and regular mail.
ii. General Administration
1. Sue to send Board the proposed OWUI office updates for Board review prior to next scheduled meeting, which will include proposed monthly/annual expenses if known, such as shifting from the current Gmail/Google apps to using the existing OWUI domain for official OWUI emails and Microsoft-based apps.
2. OWUI President Geoff noted that the Chart of Accounts needs to be reviewed by the Board/Treasurer for updates.
3. Sue to schedule a monthly or bi-weekly check-in with Bookkeeper with OWUI Treasurer Guy on copy to address any questions.
4. Sue to start indexing and scanning existing archived OWUI filing, which will be a multi-step process as part of the overall office update.
5. Treasurer/Financial Report
a. As Treasurer, Guy presented the following regarding OWUI’s finances:
i. Financial Reporting
1. Bookkeeper Jazmin has not yet provided the up-to-date financial reports to Guy.
2. Guy will follow up with Jazmin.
ii. Payroll
1. Guy reported that scheduled payroll by Jazmin should run automatically starting in April.
iii. Bank Accounts
1. Overall, OWUI currently has about $322,000 in total across its bank accounts.
2. In reviewing expected upcoming expenditures, Guy reported that OWUI will need to start rebuilding its reserves in order to proceed with necessary capital expenses such as a tank replacement.
iv. Budget, Rate/Fee Schedule
1. Guy noted for the OWUI Board that Guy met with Geoff prior to the Board Meeting to discuss the OWUI budget and rate and fee schedule.
2. Guy continued to present and discuss potential updates to the OWUI future rate and fee schedule with OWUI Board. As part of Guy’s proposed rate and fee schedule plans, Guy proposed raising $111,000 over the next three years for OWUI member meter replacements. In response, OWUI Board generally discussed upcoming income and expenses, including Operator expenses in relation to the intertie project.
3. As part of potential expenses discussion, OWUI Board also generally discussed recent requests OWUI made to Operator EWUA that Operator EWUA had not yet completed or responded to, such as performing repairs and receiving written standard operating procedures.
4. To improve clarity in forecasted expenses, Guy suggested OWUI Board reach out to EWUA Board with an updated operating service contract to address post-intertie operations.
5. Dave requested a copy of the proposed budget from Guy; Guy to send budget to OWUI Board for further review and discussion.
6. In discussing potential tank replacement as part of forecasted expenses, Guy noted for the OWUI Board that Guy spoke with Steve Schaefer of Doe Bay Water Users Association (DBWUA) earlier on March 21, 2024, and DBWUA wants to get intertie done first, assess weak points, then prioritize raw water line, potentially a tank on Pioneer Hill, which could be a joint tank.
7. In discussing future rate/fee schedule, OWUI Board expressed interest in reviewing late fee policies and consider applying flat-fee or enforce the current 1.5% penalty for failure to make any water membership payment.
8. After extensive Board discussion of potential budget and rate and fee schedule as well as potential policies for water usage across OWUI accounts, Pat suggested holding an executive session or committee for further evaluation of potential rate and fee schedule, which could include discussing whether the rate and fee should be modified to reflect usage-based tiered rates, like some other utility companies use to charge lower tiers as incentive for resource conservation. Geoff noted for OWUI Board that any such planning session or committee would need to materialize quickly as it would need to be ready for presentation at the July Annual Meeting.
6. Operations and Maintenance Report
a. Old Business
i. As reported by Director of Operations Pat:
1. Sofaer’s/Repairs
a. As discussed earlier in OWUI Board meeting, Operations is repairing line at Sofaer’s
2. Meters
a. On March 20, 2024, Pat spoke with Steve Schaefer for DBWUA, who is taking the lead on updating meters. Chris is also assisting DBWUA in creating a system for this effort, a system which is still in development. No pricing estimated yet.
b. DBWUA’s priority according to Steve Schaefer is the intertie project and will then focus on meters.
c. The meter project is still under discussion with Pat; Pat hopes to learn more in the next month.
ii. Intertie Update, as reported by OWUI President Geoff:
1. Geoff followed up with Operator EWUA on punchlist items from the intertie meeting last month and will continue to follow up.
2. Geoff spoke with Steve Schaefer regarding Island Excavating availability for intertie construction. Geoff to also follow up with Consultant Barry Buchanan to discuss potential flow rate and will relay update OWUI.
3. March 11, 2024 Department of Ecology Water Rights Meeting regarding Intertie Project
a. Geoff expressed appreciation for Attorney Tom Pors’ attendance of the water rights meeting. Geoff noted that Buck Smith also attended the meeting and that Buck questioned whether a different withdrawal point would affect the current stream or reduce the flow. Overall, Tom was optimistic about the relationship between OWUI and DBWUA and about OWUI water rights status. Tom also felt the discussion with the Dept. of Ecology was fruitful.
b. New Business
i. Chlorine complaint on EJ Young Road
1. OWUI received one member complaint of potential excess chlorine from OWUI water on EJ Young Rd.
2. Operator EWUA investigated and measured water inside and outside the home.
3. Despite multiple readings taken, Operator EWUA could not find any excess chlorine, as all readings were normal, and determined that the water was fine.
7. Public Access: none present
8. Next Meeting Time: April 11, 2024, 6:00 PM
9. Adjournment 6:25 PM