PACIFIC CITY JWSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES. March 1, 2016

Transcription

1 PACIFIC CITY JWSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES March 1, 2016 Chair McVicker called the March 1, 2016, business meeting to order at 5:00 PM in the Authority s meeting room. Directors Present: Carolyn McVicker, Sean Lambert, Anne Price, Kayla Long and Sean Carlton. Guests Present: Tim Hirsch, Daryle Jimerson, Cameron Gogas, Pamela Gogas, Mike Dill, June Bolden, Dick Renoud, Sue Delaney, Dave Baxter, Walter Kostrikin, Robin Kostrikin, Jessica Kliever, Julius Jortner, Marvin Mazur, Dennis Thoreson, Lori Whiteman, and others that were not identified. Staff Present: Tony Owen, Leonard Whiteman MINUTES A. 02/16/16 Business Meeting Minutes Director Price moved to approved the minutes of the 02/16/16 Business Meeting. Director Long seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. FINANCIAL REPORT A. Accounts Payable: 02/12 and 02/26/16. Director Carlton moved to approve the accounts payable for 02/12 and 02/26/16. Director Price seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. B. Fiscal Year Director Carlton asked for clarification on a transaction in the 002 Fund. MANAGER S REPORT Mr. Owen reported that under the terms of the MAO there were no permit violations for the month of February 2016; and, if there had been no MAO, there would have been 0 violations for effluent BOD and 0 violations for effluent TSS. Page 1 of 5

2 Mr. Owen reported that he had received the renewal package for the NPDES permit. Mr. Owen said that the signature cards at Oregon Coast Bank and TLC needed to be updated to add Director Long and remove Director Carter. Director Price moved to remove former Director Carter from being a signer on any bank accounts for PCJWSA. Director Carlton seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Director Price moved to authorize Director Long be added to any bank accounts containing signatures of other Board members. Director Carlton seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Mr. Owen said that the first part of the annual audit would begin on March 7, Mr. Owen reported that adding the MP3 s to the website was being worked on, to get them protected the way the Board wanted them. Mr. Owen said that he had met with Chair McVicker, Director Carlton and Michelle Hughes the prior Friday to discuss the budget for the 104 Fund and the tiered sewer rates. Mr. Owen continued that Ms. Hughes was working on some scenarios that may work best overall, and once those scenarios look to be manageable and workable, another meeting with Chair McVicker, Director Carlton, and Ms. Hughes will be scheduled. Chair McVicker detailed how complicated the process was. Chair McVicker explained the security issues being worked on to put MP3 audio of Board meetings onto the website. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. WWTP Improvement Mr. Owen reported on his meeting on February 29, 2016 with Rural Development and engineers discussing the pre-selection process for the sequencing batch reactor equipment. GUEST QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS Cameron Gogas asked if there should be a disclaimer on the website. Mr. Owen replied that all the materials on the website were protected by copy write and the unapproved minutes would be identified as a draft. Robin Kostrikin referenced a written document that she had submitted, and reported that the Citizen Oversight Committee believed that no federal funds should be used until the Board Page 2 of 5

3 addressed concerns that members of said committee had about the design, size and cost of the WWTP upgrade. Ms. Kostrikin detailed the remainder of the questions and comments from the document. Chair McVicker asked Mike Dill which of the San Juan Islands had an alternative wastewater treatment system. Mr. Dill responded with Bainbridge and Vashon, or any one of the islands, but recommended the Cape Cod watershed. Mr. Dill said that the public forum had been moved to March 24, 2016, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, at the Pacific Coast Bible Church and asked if the Board and the Authority Manager would attend the forum. Mr. Dill continued that this would be his third time offering to provide live metering and SCADA programming for PCJWSA with a cost savings to the rate payers of $430,000, as well as building a use model over population growth, but has had no reply. Mr. Dill also detailed the research he had been doing. Sue Delaney asked if there were any other bids besides Parametrix for the WWTP upgrade. Chair McVicker clarified that construction projects go out for bids, but engineering is done through a different process, and that process was followed by law. Marvin Mazur asked why Mr. Dill had no responses to his offer. Director Long said that she had a hard time addressing his proposal without seeing a curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, and proof that Mr. Dill has worked on similar projects. Mr. Mazur asked if PCJWSA had any discretionary funds, and asked if the funds could be available to help out the community at the KCC. Chair McVicker detailed the personal time and effort that has been donated to the community by the Board and staff, but public money could not be given to other organizations. Chair McVicker continued that PCJWSA had set aside funds that could help people with paying their water & sewer bills, and were giving back to the community in that way. Ms. Kostrikin referred to Sue Delaney s question of whether the preliminary engineering report had been put out to bid to more than to Parametrix. Chair McVicker explained that small utilities on the coast do not have an engineering firm of record and therefore they go out to bid. Chair McVicker continued that PCJWSA had selected the professional services of professionals that were vetted. Mr. Dill stated that the bottom line was that there were real serious concerns over at least the first six sections of the Parametrix report, and that the Board had refused to deal with any of the issues they had. Mr. Dill continued that he had been told by DEQ that there should be a 20 year plan for the whole system. Mr. Owen replied that there was a master plan and that the WWTP Upgrade was only a part of a greater master plan that was planned out for 20 years. Mr. Owen continued that the Capital Page 3 of 5

4 Improvement Plan had been broken out into sections because doing it all at once would be too expensive; the most immediate need was the WWTP. Mr. Dill said that it appeared that the plant upgrade was just the beginning with all the upgrades and repairs needed on the east side. Mr. Dill continued that he thought it was an obvious alternative to build a biosolids removal plant on the other side of the river, as it would be better for disaster control and other considerations, and criticized the Board for not considering it. Mr. Gogas referred to the master plan and wanted to know when a venting problem on his street would be fixed. Mr. Owen explained that the issue fell under operations & maintenance, and was not a Capital Improvement Project. Ms. Kostrikin asked how she could get an answer to the questions in her written testimony. Chair McVicker said that it could be taken in as comment, but doing a written response to questions that encompass a large amount of research takes a lot of effort and time. Chair McVicker continued that the Board was voted in to run the business affairs of the Water-Sewer Authority and that was their primary focus, and at the same time they wanted to share as much information as they could. Ms. Kostrikin said that she really wanted to sit down and be collaborative, but what she has seen was that the Board doesn t want to address the issues because they don t fit into the plan that they have now. Ms. Kostrikin said that we elected you, but we are the owners. Chair McVicker said that she appreciated that the audience was involved in asking questions and bringing things to light, and said that there have been a lot of questions in the last four months, but not many in the last 12 years. Chair McVicker asked for time to work collaboratively and listen, because there was nothing that prevented folks from being involved in 2004 and ramp up with the Board on these projects. Discussion followed about having the master plan available electronically to the public. Daryle Jimerson asked about billing the Sewer CIC charge more equitably by basing it on water consumption, and that he thought that private citizens were subsidizing an unfair amount to the commercial enterprises here in town. Mr. Jimerson also expressed his concern about the sheer magnitude of the project, and thought we didn t need to be spending that much money. Mr. Owen explained that making the Sewer CIC charge equitable is complicated looking at the dollar value that needs to be raised for the debt service, and that it was being worked on. Chair McVicker explained that what sounds simple is not with factors like computer software. Ms. Kostrikin asked about the surcharge for sewer on commercial accounts. Walter Kostrikin asked where he could find the methodology for SDC s. Mr. Owen said that they were within documents like resolutions and the capital improvement plan, and with an appointment could be viewed at the office. Page 4 of 5

5 UNSCHEDULED CHAIRMAN/DIRECTOR COMMENTS Director Carlton reported the progress of the Speak Your Peace project. Director Carlton detailed the amount of time he spends on PCJWSA business on top of working hours a week, and wanted folks to know that just because the Board does not respond or meet with them for a couple hours does not mean that the Board was not listening or does not care. Chair McVicker adjourned the regular meeting at 6:01 PM. The PCJWSA Board of Directors approved these minutes on April 5, 2016, by the following votes: Aye Nay Abstain Absent ATTEST: Carolyn McVicker, Chair Tony Owen, Authority Manager Page 5 of 5