Gardiner Sanitary District
Board of Directors Meeting
November 17, 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, Bob Brown, Mack Holman, and Tyler Richardson.
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, Dixie motioned to accept the report and pay the bills, seconded by Marc, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote. Mary asked for clarification of the coding that the board would like to apply to the expenses for the implementation of the emergency backup plan and they suggested consultation with Rod McCullogh to make sure that it was done consistent with proper governmental standards.
Old Business:
Mike presented the board with receipts for tool boxes and tools that he procured for the district pump stations that he needs to be reimbursed for.
He also questioned the possibility of hazardous waste, mud, fracking etc that might be produced as a result of the rebuilding and repairing of the under water wastewater treatment pipeline that will be required if we end up staying with the existing structure of the district’s sytem as opposed to going north to the IP site and whether that had been included in the estimated overall costs or not.
Mike also announced that he was recently made aware of potential grant monies available from Three Rivers Casino that we need to look into as a possible funding source for some projects.
Marc reported that Jake from American Bridge will be here next week and he’ll talk to him then about the easement situation and Jackie will go along with him. Susanna said that the attorney had written a letter to American Bridge, as requested, but that it had taken seven weeks, which didn’t seem like an appropriate time line for making any headway.
New Business:
Safety Meeting: Susanna reported that they had successfully completed two confined space entries over the last weekend as part of the work on the emergency backup plan. Ray asked about the status of the OSHA consultation and Susanna reported that she had found the report that they had issued earlier this year and she is in the process of reviewing it to see what needs to be implemented from it.
There was some discussion about sewer shut-off policies; Susanna had checked with Reedsport regarding theirs’ and they do allow a minor discount for non-usage, Ray said that Winchester Bay does not allow any discount. In smaller districts such as ours the budget is based on the number of connections, the debt service is based on edu’s, and there is not enough district personnel available to police whether people are truly in residence or not; the board does not see any reasonable way to change the current policy in order to allow for a rate reduction for non-usage.
Ray’s Report:
Ray reported that last weekend the connection was made on the south side of the river between the existing sewer line and the abandoned water line that is going to be used as part of the emergency backup plan. The work was more difficult than anticipated because of cement that had been poured under the pipeline at some point in the past, so the cost will be greater than anticipated. He was unable to give a good estimate of the final cost, they will have to complete the same work on the north side of the river, hopefully next weekend and hopefully without as much difficulty, but they won’t know what they will find until they start digging. Also, the backflow effort proposed by the engineer did not work as first attempted so they had to regroup the next night and force the sewer back through the pipe instead, but they managed to accomplish it without any spillage.
Managers Report:
Susanna reported that Frances, from the DEQ, had called to see how the work was progressing on the project and was pleased that they had not needed to interrupt service to the district patrons since they had been able to complete the work overnight and had used the Roto-Rooter tank trucks to keep the service running.
Also, the EDG repairs have been completed; Susanna got a second estimate that was $400.00 less than the original, so she accepted that. Calibration of the meters is underway and she’ll let the board know when that is completed. After an alarm call went to Mark and Ray and not to her, Susanna found out that the problem was that the phones at the pump stations will not dial long distance so she requested that the board authorize an upgrade to the phone system to allow long distance calls at an increase of $20.00 per month. After some discussion, and a motion by Dixie to authorize the increase in the phone service which was not seconded, the board decided to have Susanna check with the Reedsport Police Dept to see if they would allow the alarm calls to route to them so that they could forward them to the designated on call person.
Susanna completed the SDAO insurance renewal forms and submitted them in time to take advantage of the rebate offered.
Susanna felt that the conference that she attended in early November was informational as well as educational, she participated in seminars on wastewater lagoon systems and wet well repairs. She also learned more about the provisional certification process; when someone applies for it, they must also sign up for coursework through an accredited college to prove intent to follow through with the certification process so there is a little more involved than initially thought.
Items not on the Agenda, Open to the Public:
Jackie reported that she attended the meeting regarding wave energy technology hosted by the DEQ last month and heard someone from Ocean Power Technology announce that they are working on a lease with IP. It is her understanding that they are not to be making that kind of announcement publicly until and if they actually acquire a lease from IP, so she questioned Norb about that and he corroborated her thought.
Mac Holman announced that he supported Susanna’s request for the increase in the chatterbox capabilities and he requested that the district give more notice regarding the monthly meeting agenda. He would also like to have an update on the district’s operating ordinances which he thought had remained unchanged since 1997. He was informed that there had been updates to the ordinances since that time and there is an ongoing review, and if he would like a copy he just needs to come into the office and request that a copy be made, there is a nominal copy fee to do that.
Suggested Agenda Items for Next Meeting:
Susanna suggested revisiting the ordinances
Update on the phone situation
Past due accounts
OSHA update
American Bridge easement update
Contingency Plan update
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)
