Gardiner Sanitary District
Board of Directors Meeting
December 15, 2011
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, Mark Ciechanowski, Ray Davenport, Susanna Nordhoff, and Mack Holman.
Written copies of the previous minutes were passed out and read, Dixie requested that the wording be changed from “adjourn” to executive session to “retire” to executive session, Marc motioned to accept the minutes as amended, seconded by Mike, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote.
Written copies of the financial report were passed out and read, Dixie motioned to accept the report and pay the bills, seconded by Charlotte, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote.
Old Business:
Jackie swore in Mike Quartararo to the board member position; the formal act had inadvertently been left out of the July meeting.
Susanna reported that the City of Reedsport wants $50.00 per month to have their dispatcher respond to an alarm for Gardiner’s collection system, what is built into the existing contract between the two cities is dispatch response to just the water-in system.
Marc reported that he has spoken to Carlos and Fred at American Bridge and according to them they have now backed off of the stringent easement requirements that they had previously requested; they’ve finally realized their potential liability if they don’t grant the easement or donate the property, so the paperwork should be coming through soon.
The possibility of having a property vacancy sewer rate was discussed again and all board members agreed that they could not change the existing policy since the established rates are determined by potential use and edu’s and the district is too small to make exceptions to the existing ordinances. We need to write a letter explaining this to any customer requesting it.
Ray reported that the backup plan is in place and operational if needed in the future. He thanked the board, Bob Brown, Susanna and Mark C. for all of their hard work and a job well done. He had Susanna write a letter to the DEQ responding to the conditions that they had requested be addressed and he felt that she had adequately conveyed information necessary to appease their concerns. Jackie also thanked Ray, Bob, Mark C. and Susanna for their hard work on the project.
A Reedsport sewer plant operator questioned whether we were going to correct the level of the bypass valves and Ray said that they really should be fixed. There are a couple of them sticking out of the ground too far because of settling of the gravel fill around them and they could be damaged if driven on. Mike made a motion and Marc seconded to buy traffic-suitable covers for the valves at a cost of $75.00 each (total of $300.00). The motion was voted on and passed by unanimous voice vote.
Safety Meeting:
Jackie reported that the hot water heater at the station had broken and she and Marc replaced it for $345.00, it was almost 10 years old, and they managed to get it replaced without injury or damage to any other property in the process.
New Business:
Managers Report:
Susanna introduced Mike Girard who had heard that the district might be looking for someone to read meters so had come to see if their was any job availability. He has an extensive work history in pumping, meters, water system related work, no certification in wastewater treatment, but is interested in possibly learning that end of it. She also reported that she had found a resolution from 2009 addressing sending delinquent accounts to the county tax collector and the policy adopted at the time.
Susanna found that in filling out the paperwork for the insurance policy coming due in February that the districts pipelines were not included so she added them to the list of covered district property. She also just recently found out that the RFQ has finally been sent out to 10 firms so we are just waiting to hear back on who responds to it.
The instrument tech inspector was able to determine that the meter on the Reedsport side is calibrated correctly but the Bolin Island meter was not accessible enough for him to inspect. He was unable to get the cover off, so Susanna and Mark will work on trying to get it off so that they can inspect it themselves.
Susanna feels that the rates that Civil West are charging the district are too high according to the contract that they have with us so Dixie will meet with her to review this and then contact Garrett to address the discrepancy.
Items not on the Agenda, Open to the Public:
Jackie reported that she and Dixie had met with Scott Somers from the City of Reedsport and he gave us a proposal for contingency coverage for the times when Susanna will be unavailable. The board read over the proposal and only had a concern or question regarding the difference between a Wastewater I and a Wastewater II certification. Mike asked Dixie to get clarification on that and made a motion to accept the proposal with a possible minor re-wording. Marc seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
Suggested Agenda Items for Next Meeting:
- Engineering rates
- OSHA consultation
- Alarm notification
- Winchester Bay ordinances
Dixie made a motion to retire to executive session pursuant to ORS.192.660(2)(i) and Jackie closed the regular meeting session.
The board came out of executive session and Marc motioned to adjourn, Mike seconded and the meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Mary Chambers (Office Manager)
