OWUI Meeting Minutes August 8, 2023

OWUI 

Olga Water Users, Incorporated 

BOARD MEETING MINUTES 


Tuesday, Aug 8th, 2023 6-7:30 pm — Olga Community Center 

Board members present. Pat Boehm, Guy Woods, Geoff Cunard, Paul Groeninger. Operator Dan Burke,


Members present: John Philips

1. Call to Order:6:00 PM 

2. Approval of minutes for July   Approved

3. OWUI Operators Report 

a. chlorine update Upcoming

b. propane?  Look into changing vendor to Inter Island

 c. Meter replacement options we should plan to use the same unit as EWUA and DBWUA. Badger cell based system which can also be read drive by.  Dan proposes we get together with DBWUA (Ted Wixom?) and talk to a Badger salesman, Brodie Van Noy bvannoy@generalpacific.com  425 754 5400

d. remind members that PRVs should be installed.


4. OWUI Administrators report 

 We’ve received a couple payments and are close to full collection.

 Lots of work SWSMP

Meter read data has been collated.  Geoff will  reach out to EWUA to do meter read on new spreadsheet instead of by hand.

5. Treasurer/ Financial report 

Bank balance is good, but intertie costs will use up most of our cash before years end.

6. OLD Business: 

a. Intertie Update  Vault will be installed Aug 18, we will get a schedule from EWUA in two weeks around the completion of the intertie.

i. SWSMP update 

b. Leak Detection Update  Valve across from Artworks and fire hydrants are leaking. Pat will get Paul from Island Ex to chase these leaks after he gets the vault installed.Pat wants us to remember that Pat and Paul need to be kept in the loop about meter and leak detection stuff

c. Meter Update Ongoing.  Pat will reach out to DBWUA and a vendor to gather more data

d. Funding Update The SWSMP has a number of action items that require funding.  Guy and Geoff will pursue state DWSRF Funding for some of these things.

7. New business 

      a.EWUA O&M duties fulfillment

8. Public Access 

John Phillips suggests we accept electronic payments.  Guy will look into Zelle.

Fran Macmillan asks us to confirm that the 3rd St. line is an MSL.  She provided us with MSL agreement for the Second St. line for her new house. 

9. Next meeting time September 12, 2023 5:00PM 

10. Adjournment  7:49PM 

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com


Annual Meeting Minutes July 8,2023

OWUI  

Olga Water Users, Incorporated  

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES 

 

Thursday, July 8th, 2023 5-7 pm — Olga Community Center 

1. Call to Order 5:05PM   Board members present Pat Boehm Guy Woods, Geoff Cunard, Dan  Burke, Operator 

Members present: Joe Greulich, Russ Mullins, Ann Galvin, Jess and Norene Nealy Harvey and  Gail Glasser Mary  and Jerry Clark, John Philips, Pat Roche, Dan and Grace Gottlieb, Alexandra  Gayek, Fran Mac Millan, Sandy Taylor. 

Annual Meeting presentation By Pat Boehm;  He speaks about progress on the intertie.  Pipe is  laid, vault is not on island yet.  Hope to have it within the next two months.  Dan G asks about  mothballing plant. “Has that decision been made?”  Dan Burke:  has been operating our system  for 18 months.  He speaks about the decision making process that led us to consider  mothballing our plant.  With the Rock Island project, we were able to move with intertie piping  at considerable cost reduction.  We had 3 things to deal with:  Aging infrastructure, water  rights, and state regulation.  The state DOH prefers that small water systems combine.  They  also require that if one system buys water from another, they cannot also produce their own  water, therefore it is in our best interest to mothball the plant.  Norene asks what does cost  sharing w/Doe Bay look like?  Answer is that we shared the cost of the intertie equally, and may  need to share infrastructure costs with them in the future.  Geoff and Guy note that we will try  to replace the special assessment with loans or grants.  Dan Burke notes that the intertie was  driven by financial decisions, and a lot of money was saved by splitting the cost with Doe Bay,  and by jumping in with the Rock Island project.  Pat talks about our leak survey and  Distribution System loss. We plan to fix the leaks that were found at a couple of hydrants and a  valve.  We are also working to replace all meters. Guy notes that we do not have the money to  do the meters right now, but we are working on financing.  Harvey asks if there is a risk of Doe Bay growing so that we don’t get enough water?  Dan Burke notes that our agreement with Doe  Bay guarantees us the water we need.   Grace Gottlieb asks about using State DWSRF funding.   Pat notes we are working on that.   Guy gives financial report:  Looks like we will run through  our reserves by the end of the year. We are pursuing numerous funding options, including DWSRF and other low interest loans. Alexandra Gayek asks about SWSMP, does it show hard  numbers for infrastructure maintenance? She wants to know how our assessments are being 

used? Are we looking forward to future needs?  Geoff answers that this is one of the purposes of the SWSMP.  It will be a working document that includes a facilities inventory, and planning  for repair/maintenance/replacement of assets. Harvey Glasser expresses gratitude for all the  initiatives the current board is taking on.  John Philips asks if we can do Zoom meetings. 

2. Other board business tabled until August meeting.  

3. Next meeting time August 8, 2023 5:00PM 

4. Adjournment 6:30PM 

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com

OWUI Meeting Minutes, June 19, 2023

Olga Water Users, Incorporated 

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES 

Monday, June 19th, 2023 6-7 pm — Olga Community Center 

  1. Call to Order: 6:05PM 

Board Members Present:  Pat Boehm, Dave Nonemen, Guy Woods, Paul Groeninger, Geoff Cunard.  Members present: Brian McMillan

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

3. OWUI Operators Report Sam Prado could not make it due to medical emergency.


Points to raise with EWUA:

Need geolocation data for meter readings and photos of 2022 meter read.

Provide operator’s report for board meeting if operator not going to show.

Clarify what we get from EWUA per operating agreement.

Codify verbal agreement for system operation that Dan said would be 15K. RFQ for post intertie system operation?  Send RFQ to EWUA and Tom Walker, Guy suggests we cast a wider net for operator.

Any outstanding bills for system repairs?

a. chlorine 

b. addressing system pressure main on branch lines 

4. OWUI Administrators report:   Member letter sent out, many positive responses to email program.  Need to send member letter electronically.  Most memberships have paid. Administrator job description needs to be updated.

5. Treasurer/ Financial report 

May financials, no big surprises, parts for intertie controls cost 2X what we had budgeted, which is about 10K more than expected.  We will end the year with 7K in the bank.  Noneman suggests we get confirmation from DBWUA that Island Ex will stick to their price for control box installation.  Guy has written a greenhouse gas emission policy to go with the loan application.  Board adopts the policy unanimously.

b. update on bookkeeper search:   still in progress.

6. OLD Business: 

a. Intertie Update 

We need to reach out to EWUA re timing/budget for the control station.

i. SWSMP update 

Barry is working with Geoff to craft a SWSMP. Should be done by the end of the month.

b. Leak Detection Update 

i. Results of leak survey. We are still waiting on the report. 2 Meter reads are proposed so that we can compare actual usage with production to get an accurate picture of  current DSL.  Pat will follow up with Dan Burke to get a price for these meter reads.

c. Meters: We are still researching electronic meters

d. Funding:  We are exploring loan for system repairs/upgrades that could hopefully address the water loss that the leak survey identified.  Pat will move forward to get a scope of work for pricing of system leak repairs. Kim from Blue Heron is concerned that we are looking at too many options.  We should decide between using the almost guaranteed 5% loan, or the more restrictive  lower interest loans.  One of these is due July 9.  Guy is working on this.

7. New business 

a.  High pressure was detected at Guy’s house.  We will buy a pressure gauge to determine actual pressure.

Dave is working with Lynn Emmes to get internet at club

We moved to amend bylaws section 2017-1 to remove the word “Regular” in the first sentence.  Motion passes, Bylaws will be amended.

8. Public Access:  Brian McMillan was impressed with how engaged the board is. He commented that he appreciates the website.

9. Next meeting time ANNUAL MEETING July 8, 2023 5:00PM 

10. Adjournment 7:50PM 

Board goes in to executive session to elect officers.

OLGA WATER USERS, INCORPORATED. owuistaff@gmail.com