6:04 Meeting called to order. Board Members present: Pat Boehm, Dave Noneman, Guy Woods, Paul Groeninger, Geoff Cunard. Administrator: Catlin Noneman
OWUI Members present: Barry Gehl, Bryon Frenyea, Grace Chung, Dan Gottlieb, Hannah Boehm, Mark Mayer.
1. Administrators report.
2. Approval of minutes for October 10th, 2022. Approved.
3. Financial report. Accepted.
4. Discussion with members on Doe Bay-Olga intertie
a. Barry-Are the costs known?
Pat- The budget is approximately $450,000, but there are many unknowns; trenching issues could come up, the box/treatment plant is still being engineered. All costs/overages to be split w Doe Bay.
b. Barry- Are costs going to the membership over time?
Guy- The project will be paid for with OWUI reserves, replenishing reserves will come from the yearly assessments.
c. Dan- Redundancy is key for keeping utilities going during climate issues, what are the plans for the plant going forward?
Guy- If there are changes to hydrologic cycles on Orcas our raw water line is at higher risk than Doe Bay’s.
Pat- Combined with Doe Bay we’ll be better equiped to handle stresses on the system.
Dave- Our agreement is the plant will be deactivated, not disassembled, so it could be brought back online if needed. As well, moving our water rights gives us better options for water intake in the future.
Dan- How long would that take?
Board- Exact timeline for bringing that plant back online unknown, but not expected to take that long.
d. Dan- How are new hookups affected? Hannah- What’s the potential for growth?
Pat & Dave- We have to identify and stop leaks before more memberships can be added, we are currently leaking in excess of 50%.
e. Grace- OWUI needs to be thinking longer term about rehabbing the plant/changing water intake.
Pat- Currently our pipe from the intake is above ground and easily destroyed, replacing this needs to be a priority in the future.
f. Hannah- Does OWUI need to have a certain amount of money in reserve?
Dave- The state would like to see approximately $500,000 but that is just a suggestion, not a requirement.
g. Dave- Have we determined if we are tied to Doe Bays debt from past financial missteps?
Guy will follow up at an upcoming joint finance meeting, Doe Bay has said expenses are portioned, some are joint/some private.
OWUI is a customer, Doe Bay is a vendor.
h. Bryon- How is the cost of water being figured, is it based on usage?
Dave- OWUI will be paying a flat fee for 40,000 gallons of water a day. The cost is based on the amount of water that flows through the meter and will be adjusted year by year as agreed upon within the joint finance committee.
i. Dan- Is there a contract in place?
Guy- So far, our discussions have been in good faith, what do we do when we don’t get along? The agreement must be solid; we will move forward with a contract.
Pat- We need all signatures on agreement from both boards, Dave will do this.
j. Grace- OWUI should change out all old meters for new ones.
Pat- Meters are high on the list, along with finding and fixing leaks.
5. New Business:
a. Pat has a meter on his property that was installed in the wrong place and needs to be moved.
b. New meters need to be checked again and adjusted before billing.
c. How do we tackle leaks? Add more inline meters? Pat & Paul will meet and make a list of how/what needs to be done, will report back at next meeting.
6. Adjournment at 7:01 PM
7. Next meeting is Monday December 12th at 5:00PM.