Nov 20, 2012

Board Meeting October 18, 2012



Gardiner Sanitary District
Board of Directors Meeting
October 18, 2012

     Meeting called to order by Jackie Degman, present were Board Members  Mike Quartararo, Charlotte Hinshaw, Dixie Hash and Marc Fullhart.  Also present were Mary Chambers, Ray Davenport, Roger Hermansen, Dennis Conger, Jessica Lloyd-Rogers and Jerry Schneider.

     Written copies of the previous minutes were passed out and read, Marc motioned to accept the minutes, seconded by Charlotte, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote.

     Written copies of the financial report were passed out and read, Mike  motioned to accept the report and pay the bills, seconded by Dixie, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote.

     New Business:    
    
         Jackie introduced Roger Hermansen who was the diver for the sewer line repair so that he could give a report on what he’d done and not have to stay for the whole meeting.  Roger gave us a brief history of his diving background: he started commercial diving in 1989 so has many years of experience, and he said he’s never seen a pipe in as bad shape as the district’s is.  There is definitely potential for a catastrophic failure because it is so weak.  He is preparing a written report on his repair work and he also brought a dvd with a video documentary of the work. 

      Old Business:

         Ray conducted a smoke test on the 6th of October with the help of Steve Bell.  The Gardiner Fire Dept personnel also participated.  Ray has a written report of the problems that they found and the addresses that are involved.  Mike read a letter that he has prepared that he would like to have sent to the homeowners’ whose properties were shown to have issues. 

          Ray reported that there was a huge increase in flows immediately after the last rains, something that shouldn’t have happened quite that quickly, and suggested that they get some new manhole covers that are designed to direct ground water away from entering the sewer system through the manhole covers.  Marc made a motion to have Ray order 3 such covers, Mike seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. 
       
          Charlotte presented the proposed ordinance update that she and Dixie prepared.  They proposed to adopt the $15.00 per month per EDU rate increase that the engineer has suggested, $10.00 to be effective as of Jan. 1, 2013 and the other $5.00 per month per EDU increase beginning July 1, 2013.  This increase would bring the EDU rate to $75.00 per month in Jan and then $80.00 per month in July. Dixie stated that she would much prefer to continue the special property tax rate which is due to expire at the end of this fiscal year, and possibly even increase that rate, rather than increase the monthly user fees, but she doesn’t see any way around at least some increase in user fees due to the huge increase in charges that Reedsport has levied against them.  Even though she doesn’t understand how they calculated the figure that they have billed us, we must, for the time being, operate under the assumption that it will need to be paid.  Charlotte outlined the notification procedure that must be met in order to update an ordinance, so the 1st reading of the proposed new ordinance will be read at the Nov 15th regular board meeting, with the second reading at the December 20th  board meeting.
          Dixie made a motion to make the new EDU increase effective 1/1/13, Charlotte seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

          Charlotte reported that there is no update on the heater grant as of this date.
        
     New Business: 
          Ray reported on the main sewer line break that occurred last week, reiterating what Roger had to say, and added that per the agreement to use the vacated water line as the backup sewer line, we are required to flush the line after any usage, so he is in the process of finding a tanker truck that will be able to handle the volume.
        
          Safety Meeting: 
          Ray has scheduled an OSHA consultation.
 
          Dixie reported that she had received an email from Becky Bryant stating that they had sent the new study back for clarification on the scope of work and are still waiting for completion of that.  Norb Wondra received a call from Susan Morgan requesting a copy of IP’s Phase 1 study, stating that the county needs more information to investigate possible insurance coverage.
          Ray reported that all 4 pumps have been reconditioned now and are in good position to make it through the winter.
          Ray also presented a proposal to have Steve take over the meter reading 7 days a week in order to keep him employed as he has proven to be a lot of help to him and a dependable employee.  However, he would still like to have the new contract he proposed for himself approved at the same rate that was discussed prior to this even though his duties would be reduced. 
          Mike questioned what Steve’s rate of pay was for meter reading vs. emergency callouts and Ray explained that he was getting $10.00 per hour regardless of the work or time.  Mike made a motion to raise the rate for Steve for callouts to $15.00 per hour, Dixie seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.  Dixie made a motion to have Steve read meters 7 days per week, Charlotte seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.  Marc made a motion to accept Ray’s proposed new contract to start November 1, Mike seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
          Dixie referred to an email that she had received from Garrett Pallo in which he stated that the Reedsport Sewer Plant was out of compliance with the DEQ and asked Ray if he knew anything about it.  Ray explained that the Reedsport plant had been receiving an excess of RV dumping since Winchester Bay restricted their dump station to a fixed number per day, causing an overload of RV chemical that they had not anticipated.  They are in the process of working to correct the situation.

Items not on the Agenda, Open to the Public:  
           Dennis Conger suggested that the board should consider setting up a meeting with the new Reedsport city manager as soon as possible to conduct contract talks and also to request support for the IP plant proposal to the county commissioners.  Jackie and Dixie volunteered to get together with Dennis and review the details of the contract proposal and to try to set up a meeting with Mr. Wright and Vera Koch.  All agreed that time was of the essence especially since the district had just received a letter from Vera threatening small claims litigation for non-payment of the monthly billed amount. 
          Dennis also contributed $25.00 to the District to go towards the purchase of a new printer since the old one is starting to fail.

Suggestions for Next Meeting:

-       First reading of the new ordinance
-       Update from the engineer re:meeting with commissioners
-       Update on the meeting with City of Reedsport

          Mike made a motion to adjourn, Marc seconded and the meeting was adjourned.
             
Submitted by Mary Chambers (Office Manager)