Gardiner Sanitary
District
Board of Directors
Meeting
May 16, 2013
Meeting called to
order by Jackie Degman, present were Board Members Mike Quartararo, Dixie Hash, Marc Fullhart,
and Charlotte Hinshaw. Also present were
Mary Chambers, Dennis Conger, Mack Holman, Ray Davenport, Glen Buickerood,
Garrett Pallo, Keith Anderson, Steve Schnurbusch, and Steve Lindsley.
Written copies of
the previous minutes were passed out and read, Charlotte motioned to accept the
minutes, seconded by Marc, 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, Marc seconded and the motion passed by unanimous
voice vote.
Dixie made an
adjustment to the agenda to move the Reedsport contract discussion to executive
session and adjust the executive session notation on the agenda to
ORS.192.660(1)(f).
Old Business:
Mike
summarized the emails he has received from various sources (i.e. Sierra Club,
Pipeline Safety Trust, DEQ, etc) regarding problems with underwater pipelines
generally as being overwhelmingly against any such undertaking, especially if
there is a feasible alternative available to avoid it.
Dixie
reported on the 4th engineering study and summarized it’s findings
as the cost of going north vs going south would be about equal and that
whichever way the project goes, Reedsport would still bill GSD 1.2 million
dollars for debt service. Dixie stated that
she has issues with regards to both of these findings, we need better counsel
for interpretation of the contract on whether we would still be liable for the
1.2 million if the project goes north.
Garrett responded to a question regarding pipeing under the river and
stated that crossing the river is feasible, but the difference would be that if
the project goes south, the 1.2 million would be incorporated into the monthly
rate, and if the project goes north, the 1.2 million would be required to be paid
up front. Dixie stated that per our
attorney, the issue is political, not financial or engineering. Ray asked if collection system degradation is
included in the cost estimates and Garrett said that it was not.
Dixie stated that
the funding that the district has been trying to obtain with the county as a
sponsor is completely off of the table, the county has made the decision that
it will not support the district’s efforts to go north. Therefore, they will be attending a one-stop
meeting on June 11th to see what other options are available. Garrett explained that the purpose of the
one-stop meeting is to bring all of the options and sources together to see
what “real” options are available. There
are 3 possible scenarios:
1) going
south with the project with block grant funding (county sponsored)
2) going
north with the project with block grant funding (county sponsored)
3) going
north with the project with some other funding source (no county sponsorship)
The district needs to determine what the impact to rate
payers will be with each scenario. And
since option #2 seems to be off the table they will be concentrating on the
other two options at the one-stop meeting.
Keith Anderson,
DEQ, wanted to let the district know that while they understand how this
project has not moved forward as quickly as anyone would have liked and that it
has had many setbacks that have been out of the district’s control, the DEQ
needs to see that it moves forward one way or the other so that the schedule
gets back on track and the MAO is set.
He is pleased to see that the board is working hard to make sure that
the most economical solution is found.
He explained that the EPA is pressuring the DEQ to see some progress
being made, so they feel the need to let the district know that progress needs
to start happening soon.
Mack Holman had a
question for Garrett regarding the difference in cost to go north vs south and
Garrett explained that the difference was really only about $50,000.00 and that
the latest thinking is to not use the outflow pipe on the IP site and that
would save about $200,000.00. Mack also
questioned the “bond” monies that the Gardiner residents had voted in and what
had happened to that money; it was explained that he was mistaken, there was no
bond, but there was a local option tax rate that was approved by the voters in
2009 and that 2013 would be the final year of that assessment, so the voters
would most likely be asked to vote on extending that this coming year. Mack also questioned how much more in
engineering fees would need to be expended if the project were to go north and
Garrett stated that the environmental studies and the engineering pre-design
has already been done, so they would not need to be done again.
Ray reported that
he has met with American Bridge again regarding the easement and gave them a
copy of the easement agreement, the manager took it and said he would pass it
on to whomever needed it to get it signed.
He is also, still
working on the pressure main project and will probably have it finished in a
couple of weeks. He still need to make
arrangements with Reedsport to flush the force main. The meter readings are still showing a much
greater flow rate than the draw down test indicated, so he is still
investigating that difference.
There is nothing
extroadinary to report from the daily logs; the grouting was done on Pitt St
but there is a big problem with the pipe bowing because it is basically a swamp
under the pipe so it gets no support. He
dye-tested the apartments next to the welding gallery and located the
lateral. The owner’s at 250 Spring St
are working on disconnecting their gutters from the sewer drain, and Jewett
School is working on locating a leak and will contact Ray when they have
resolved that.
New
Business:
Safety
Meeting:
Ray is still
working on updating the procedure manual per OSHA.
Items not on the
Agenda, Open to the Public:
Mike asked Ray to get an estimate of cost
for an inspection of the outfall pipe at IP.
The Fire
Department would like the district to stuff a flyer in the next billing for 4th
of July fireworks donations. Dixie made
a motion to allow that, Mike seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice
vote.
Mr.Anderson
asked if we had planned for a project manager and the board responded that they
have but have not been able to start looking for one since the project has been
stalled for so long. But as soon as a
decision has been made to start the project, that will be done.
Meeting went into executive session pursuant to
ORS.192.660(1)(f) to discuss consultation with counsel concerning contract
negotiations, then meeting returned from executive session.
Dixie made a motion to withhold May and June payments to
Reedsport in lieu of amounts owed to us being repaid, Marc seconded and the
motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
Suggestions for Next Meeting:
- Part
time supervisor’s report
- Update
on the contract with City of Reedsport
- Adopting
next year’s budget
- One
Stop Meeting update
- Update
on pressure main project
- Update
on American Bridge easement
Dixie made a
motion to adjourn, Charlotte seconded and the meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Mary
Chambers (Office Manager)
