Gardiner Sanitary
District
Board of Directors
Meeting
April 17, 2014
Meeting called
to order by Dennis Conger, present were Board Members Catherine Kent, Marc Fullhart and Charlotte Hinshaw. Also present were Mary Chambers, Ray
Davenport, Garrett Pallo, Bev Doane, Mary Paula, and Delice Ciechanowski .
Garrett Pallo
made a presentation on the rate study that his firm is conducting: He explained that the purpose of the rate
study is to find an equitable process for deciding how much each rate payer
should pay individually. Since sewage
is not metered as it leaves a residence, there is no definitive way to measure
each residences output so there needs to be an alternative way to determine
rates. Historically, the district has
used the EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) method which worked in the past but has
become less equitable for some individuals.
His firm acquired water usage information for Jan-Mar from the City of
Reedsport’s records to get a base measurement to begin their study. That time period is typically a low usage
time frame for lawn watering, car washing and other seasonal water usage, so is
a better indicator of water that is actually entering the sewage system. They found that the average EDU usage was
4400gal of water per month, and with a total usage of 415,500 gallons/month,
that computes to 95 EDU’s for the district.
There are 3 main options for deciding billing rates:
1-a flat rate for each
water user
2-a per gallon rate
3-a hybrid method using a
base rate plus per gallon rate
Most districts use the hybrid method but a rate study will
examine each opton to give the governing body the most information in order to
make the best decision for their particular district. A flat rate would be the most predictable and the per gallon rate
the least. There will be another
meeting to give district patrons another opportunity to learn more about the
options and then a third meeting to summarize and hopefully have specific
figures to talk about. The meetings
will be on May 1 and May 15th.
Written copies
of the previous minutes were passed out and read, Catherine motioned to accept
the minutes, Charlotte seconded, motion passed with a unanimous voice
vote. A question was raised regarding
why the minutes aren’t read aloud at each meeting and the answer was that
typically there is not enough time to do that and the minutes are available to
the public upon their request.
Written copies
of the financial report were passed out and read, Catherine made a motion and Marc seconded to accept the report
and pay the bills.
Old Business:
Dennis reported
that they have been conversing with the mayor and the City Council about the
contract with Reedsport and are very close to signing with just a few issues
they are still negotiating about.
Dennis also
reported that the DEQ has sent a repayment schedule for the existing loan to be
paid back over the next 5 years at 1% interest, but they are currently
examining the possibility of refinancing it to 10 years instead.
Regarding the
American Bridge easement that the district has been trying to get, the survey
that AB requested was completed by Hofstadt er,
Inc in which they found an error on the 2009 survey that was done by Stuntzner
Engineering. Stuntzner has corrected
their error and is sending new maps and descriptions to us and to
Hofstadter. Once they review the
revisions we will be able to have an agreement signed and filed with the
county.
New Business:
Ray
reported that the new flow meter is working properly and he has installed the
final valve that was needed, making pump repair work much easier and cheaper.
The first
Budget Committee Meeting is set for May 15 at 5:30pm.
Safety Report:
An OSHA
hazard assessment will be done on May 30 in which they look for any possible
hazards and make recommendations based on their findings.
Items Not On The Agenda/Open to the Public:
N/A
Meeting was
called into executive session under ORS.192.660(2)(h) to discuss legal
correspondence.
Meeting
returned from executive session and Marc made a motion to sign the IFA
intergovernmental agreement, Catherine seconded and the motion passed by
unanimous voice vote.
Marc made a motion to adjourn, Charlotte seconded and the
meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Mary
Chambers (Office Manager)
