OLGA WATER USERS BOARD MEETING MINUTES-JANUARY 2023

JANUARY 10TH 2023

5PM TUESDAY

 MEETING AT THE OLGA COMMUNITY CENTER


  1. Meeting called to order, 5:02 PM  Pat, Paul, Guy, Dave, Geoff, Cat present.  

  2. No members present

  3. Eastsound Operators Report (Dan). Dan not in attendance. Dave had spoken to Dan earlier.  He suggests we ask one of our operators (Sam?)to come to future board meetings.  Dave will contact Barry Buchanan to come up with a scope of work for our operator post Intertie.

  4. Administrators report.

OPALCO has notified OWUI that we have a $272 capital credit.  Board moves to keep this credit.

DBWUA has asked for proof of property insurance, Cat will follow up with Bryan Frenyea to get this information to DBWUA

Cat asks board to use the Staff@OWUI email for important communication so we can more easily track such communications.

Cat will deposit the checks that have recently arrived from members.

Cat notes that when she visited the plant, the deadbolt on the office was unlocked and is malfunctioning. We will ask Dan to replace it.

  1. Board approves  minutes for DECMBER 12TH ,2022

  2. Financial report.  Guy reports that a check has gone out to pay for intertie pipe and restraints.

Guy has reached out to our bookkeeper to get a check for $50K down payment to Earthworks, and is frustrated by lag time getting out-of-state bookkeeper to respond.  Board moves to explore options for hiring a local bookkeeper to improve operational efficiency.

Guy reports OWUI lost $54K last year.  Board agrees to work on streamlining our budget to reduce expenses after the intertie is complete.

Guy noted that OWUI pays the electric bill to operate the Twin Maples pump.  Dave will ask Bryon F to clarify how the Twin Maples connection was set up.

  1. Discussion/Update on Doe Bay-Olga intertie

  1. Progress with Barry and Doe Bay on intertie box (Dave).  Barry is working on a value engineered solution to the control station to try to reduce the cost of the intertie. We discussed the possible failure of our aging storage tank. There is some disagreement as to which party would pay for a new tank.  More research is necessary.


  1. Financial committee with Doe Bay (Geoff and Guy).

Committee is still working on final budget for Intertie (see above) Committee is now meeting bi-weekly.

  1. Plan for fixing leaks and meters (Pat and Paul).

Pat and Paul will work with plant operators to identify locations for bypass meters to help find leaks.  Pat asked Geoff and Guy to explore whether state DWRSF funding can be used to fund systemwide meter upgrades to electronic, and PRV’s at all connections.

  1. Payment plan for financially stressed members. So far, 2 members have worked out payment arrangements with us.

Dave offers to field queries from any other members who are having difficulty paying their current bill.

  1. Other Business. Guy notes that our Small Water System Management Plan needs to be manually updated.  It was last done in 2021.  Guy will reach out to Mark Mayer for help with this task.

Olga dock receives water for free.  Dave notes that they take in plenty of revenue, and should pay for water.  Board approves a motion to start charging Olga dock for water.

One member failed a lead test, Board will contact them to let them know about it.

  1. Next meeting, 5pm, Tuesday, February 7th  2023. 

  1. Meeting adjourned 7:36 PM.