OWUI Meeting Minutes May 18 2023

OWUI 

Olga Water Users, Incorporated 

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES 

Thursday, May 18th, 2023 6-7 pm — Olga Community Center 

1. Call to Order: 6:01PM

Board members present: Pat Boehm, Dave Noneman, Guy Woods, Geoff Cunard, Paul Groeninger

2. Approval of minutes for April Noneman moves to approve, motion carries

3. OWUI Operators Report:  Chlorine is being slowly dialed down.  Sam is watching it for another month. We noted the article about PFAS in Seattle Times.  Sam says that Eastsound tested for PFAS and found none present.  He is checking with the state to try to get free PFGAS testing.

4. OWUI Administrators report: Geoff notes 15 members have still not paid.  More late notices will be sent out.

5. Treasurer/ Financial report: No surprises this month, we are looking to end the year in the black.  Intertie parts have been paid for.

6. OLD Business: 

a. Intertie Update: We are waiting for parts to complete the installation.

i. SWSMP update Barry Buchanan is waiting for feedback to the Doe Bay SWSMP in order to complete our document.

b. Leak Detection Update  Pat spoke to Randall at Hydrevolution, he has scheduled a leak assessment for May 30-31.  This is required to get us in line for funding assistance for system updates, modern meters.  Board unanimously approves paying for this service.

Federal Covid funds are drying up, so grants are not available, however loans are available.  Board agrees to hire Kim Peterson from Blue Heron Services to help us pursue loans for completing the intertie and for distribution system upgrades and new meters. 

c. Annual Meeting 

i. Type of meeting setup -Board agrees to have an in person annual meeting to ask for feedback from the members.  Board will send out a letter to the membership explaining all of the various projects we are doing and the possibility for funding and infrastructure upgrade moving forward.

7. New business :  Board talked about asking Eastsound Water to share system information that they have, including photos and geolocation of meters so we can amass an accurate inventory of system resources.

Cleanup party at plant?

8. Public Access   No members present.

9. Next meeting time June 19, 2023 6:00PM 

10.Adjournment  8:02 PM 

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com

OWUI Meeting Minutes, Mar 7, 2023

   OWUI 

Olga Water Users, Incorporated 

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES 

Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 6pm — Olga Community Center 

1. Call to Order. 6:03PM Board members present: Pat Boehm, Dave Noneman, Guy Woods, Paul Groeninger, Geoff Cunard, EWUA operator Sam Prado

2. Approval of minutes for February:  Approved unanimously

3. OWUI Operators Report : Board asks Sam to reduce the chlorine input which is currently much higher than the state minimum.  Sam will dial the chlorine back. Pat asks Sam about valves and lines at the plant in the old pump house.  He proposes we decommission the pump house and add a meter at the downstream side of the tank.  Only using 9.5 gpm in Feb.  14000 gal/day. Last Feb, we used 40,000/day.  Instantaneous flow meter at plant not functioning currently.  Sam asks us if we should replace it? Sam will ask meter company is they will send us a temporary meter while we overhaul it. Board decides to wait before spending money on this.

4. OWUI Administrators report 

1. Late Notice letter to be sent .  WALT account in progress

5. Treasurer/ Financial report 

IRS forms have been sent. Guy is working on 6 year budget  for SWSMP.

6. OLD Business: 

a. Intertie Update.  There is still a question about the availability of the appropriate vault for the control station. Pat will talk to Island Ex about this.  Dave will ask Rock Island if they will share cost for road crossing.  

i. SWSMP update submittal needed:   Ecology is asking about our water rights. Dave will reach out to Tom Pors re: water rights assessment. Geoff is working on update.

1. contracting with Barry Buchanan for assistance Dave suggests we reach out to DOH for help with the SWSMP. It might be a very minimal update is needed.

ii. Final engineering & plan:  Ongoing waiting for county approval.

b. Leak Detection Update Pat and Paul have found that our previous ideas for branch metering are outdated.  Howard from Correct Equipment suggests 6” meters on the branches would be a waste of money.  Instead he proposes we use an electronic meter made by Kamstrup that use RF technology to communicate, and they detect sound to find leaks in real time.  We are looking into this.

c. Bookkeeper search update.  Guy is still working on it.

7. New business 

a. email system/ electronic mailing list milestone Admin will compile a list of missing emails, and send letters to those members telling them we are transitioning to electronic communication.

8. Public Access: Nobody present.

9. Next meeting time April 11, 2023 5:00PM 

10.Adjournment 8:00 PM 

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com

OWUI Meeting minutes Feb 7, 2023

OWUI 

Olga Water Users, Incorporated 

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

             Tuesday Feb. 7th, 2023 5-7 pm — Olga Community Center 

1. Call to Order: 5:04PM  Board members present, Pat Boehm, Guy Woods, Paul Groeninger, Geoff Cunard.  EWUA Operator Sam Prado, Members Mark Mayer, Sandy Taylor

2. Approval of minutes for January: Guy moves to approve, motion carries.

3. OWUI Operators Report:  Sam Prado, Operator 

a. New E.J. Young Leak & Repair (total cost? EWUA hasn’t sent a bill) Line to bypass meter was broken.  Meter was removed, pipe cut and capped. Board discussed re installing the meter and adding a PRV to that line Pat has asked for a redundant digital meter to be moved to his primary service location. 

b. Intertie progress: Road crossing permitting in progress., Pat noticed ⅓ of the pipe stored in his field has been installed.

4. OWUI Administrators report 

1. Website & Communication update Geoff updates website with meeting agendas/minutes, intertie news.

2. Online access update for admin duties.  Geoff has recovered passwords usernames etc. Will proceed with pursuing WALT account to apply for DWSRF funding for meter modernization.

5. Treasurer/ Financial report 

6. OLD Business: 

a. Intertie Update 

i. SWUMP update needed- did we all read? 

1. M. Mayer: History 

2. Mark says update is easy.  He will give instructions to Admin, Guy will provide budget info.  Intertie needs to be included.

ii. Final engineering & plan: Final parts list is out for quote, vault at control station is still being researched.

b. Leak Detection Update   Pat and Paul will meet with Island Ex and Dan Burke to discuss locating and installing bypass meters at each branch to detect leaks, as well as pressure reducing valves to safeguard the system.

c. Bookkeeper search update: In progress

7. New business 

a. Leak forgiveness discussion 

i. Lever: they overpaid and will be reimbursed according to current board practice of forgiving leak usage, ie: they will be charged for 5% of excess use compared to last year.  Board will recommend that anyone who has had leaks should by a Flume flow detector to monitor usageand alert them of leaks.

ii. Rodenberger   Admin discovered that their usage this year was less than last year’s usage, so water was likely leaked after September meter read.  She paid this year’s bill, and leak issue will be revisited next year.

iii. N Capdeville  His meter reading was inaccurate. He has been re- billed, and meter issues will be resolved.

  B.  Doe Bay Membership  Doe Bay requires us to buy a  membership in DBWUA  so they can sell us water. Motion to buy a DBWUA membership passes.

8. Public Access:

 Sandy Taylor proposes some potential cost saving measures for the intertie control station.  Board will forward them to our engineer.

9. Next meeting time March 7th, 2023 5:00PM 

10.Adjournment 7:01PM 

11. Executive session

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com