Staffing Changes Update

The Gardiner Sanitary District saw some personnel changes in January 2012. The part-time position of ‘Waste Water Technician’ is now vacant.

On the evening of January 2, 2012, Susanna Nordhoff resigned via voice message prior to the Board’s scheduled meeting to discuss the completion of her probationary period.

The Board accepted her resignation.

Following her resignation, Ms. Nordhoff chose to return the keys, and end all work on the following day January 3, 2012. 

We have hired a trainee, Mike Girard, to work 2 hours a day to check flow meters.

The Board will be reviewing applications to fill the position of ‘Waste Water Technician’. 

Board Meeting-Special Meeting- January 4, 2012

Gardiner Sanitary District

Board of Directors Meeting

Special Meeting

January 4, 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, Bob Brown and, arriving late: Susana Nordhoff.

Mike started out the meeting by playing the phone message that Susanna had left on his voice mail on the evening of 1/2/12 in which she stated that her last day of work would be 1/3/12, and she would turn in the keys.  Susanna worked an unusually long day on 1/3/12.  President Degman received a phone call from Susanna stating that she had left her keys with Mark C., and had removed Bob Brown’s name from the emergency call list.

Dixie made a motion to accept Susanna’s verbal resignation and, in addition, as part of that motion the board chose not to extend Susanna's probation/pre-employment beyond her 6 month probationary period as per the consensus reached at the Dec. 28^th executive session; Mike seconded the motion and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. 

Dixie reported that the Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Reedsport had been amended as requested so that the Wastewater I vs Wastewater II certification question was addressed; there is no difference, some entities call it one thing and others call the same thing another.  So the agreement has been signed as agreed to by both sides.

Jackie reported that Susanna told her that she had let the DEQ know that Gardiner Sanitary District no longer had a certified wastewater technician on staff.  Dixie said that she would contact Becky Bryant, Mary Camarato, Steve Nichols and Susan Morgan and apprise them of our situation, and that we have the agreement with the City of Reedsport in place to provide proper certification.

Mike requested that a certified letter be sent to Susanna requesting any district materials in her position be returned immediately.                   

Susanna requested a copy of the job description that she had been given when applying for the job, and proceeded to retrieve it from the file cabinet and make a copy. Susanna was then given her final paycheck. 

Dixie made a motion to adjourn, Mike seconded and the meeting was adjourned.   

             

Submitted by Mary Chambers (Office Manager)

Board Meeting November 17, 2011

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)

Board Meeting October 20, 2011

Gardiner Sanitary District

Board of Directors Meeting

October 20, 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 Dixie, 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.

     Old Business:    

Charlotte reported no new info on the replacement of the furnace. 

Dixie suggested asking American Bridge if they would consider donating the property on Bolin Island to the district since there seems to be a problem with getting an easement from them.  They seem to be very worried about liability issues and if they gave the property to the district they would have absolutely no liability to worry about.  Susanna said that she had not heard anything from the attorney so didn’t know if there had been any progress on that end.  Marc said he would like to meet directly with the boss from American Bridge the next time he’s out here from Pittsburgh.  Dixie made a  motion to have Marc contact the attorney to see what the status of their investigation is and if insufficient progress has been made then Marc can contact American Bridge directly.  Mike seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous voice vote.

Marc reported that the combined Reedsport and Gardiner Fire Departments will be burning the brush piles and the ditch on Bolin Island as a fire practice operation.

                          

                 

        

     New Business:         

Safety Meeting:  Susanna reported that she had to change the batteries for the generators and it was completed without incident. 

Susanna and Mark C. completed a confined entry “class” with Ray teaching proper technique.

Susanna contacted OSHA about doing a review of their facilities because she had found a letter from them regarding such dated earlier this year.  They responded that they provide a couple of different review types and they would get back to her.  Ray said they will probably be wanting to do an inspection, not a consultation, because they had already done a consultation with Shelley earlier this year; he suggested that Susanna call them back and request a second consultation since there has been a total change in personnel since the last consultation.  An inspection is a much more intense review and could result in fines if there were suggestions made at the earlier consultation that were not complied with yet.

Ray’s Report:

Ray reported that the alternative backup plan proposal was sent to DEQ and they responded with some questions: 

They asked about pressure testing the abandoned water line, how the district will address the buildup of solids, etc.  The line has been pressure tested and passed.  Ray responded to their questions and concerns and needs one more number from Civil West and then he’ll be able to get the revised plan back to them.  He expects a pretty quick response from DEQ and expects them to approve the plan.

 He requested that the district establish an account with  Consolidated Supply so that when the plan is approved he’ll be able to move forward with implementation.  Marc made a motion to set up an account with Consolidated Supply with a cap of $3500.00, Dixie seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Ray reported that the DEQ also indicated that they would like the district to be monitoring the pressure main in the evenings as well as in the mornings.

Ray reported that someone appears to be developing the old drydock area on Bolin Island, but Susanna responded that she had talked to them and they are  just Knife River employees cleaning up the site because their lease is coming to an end.

Ray also reported that the county has issued the permit to the district for the work they might need to do on Bolin Island for the backup plan.

Managers Report: 

Susanna and Dixie reported that they had met with Susan Morgan(county commissioner), Mary Camorato(DEQ), Becky Bryant(IFA), and Eileen Opus(grant administration) regarding the scope of work review on the county’s independent review of the districts options.  They were successful in getting the county to add a few of their requests, but they didn’t remove any of the items.

Dixie said that the district will need to do a rate study because it won’t be included in the work done by the county, also, due diligence is only good for 6 months so it’s a good thing we didn’t already have one done.

Susanna will take the certification test on October 28^th. She also found out that once she is certified, she will be required to be available 24 hours a day.  She felt that might become a problem since she will have to be gone from time to time, but that if there is someone on staff that has at least a provisional license, that would satisfy the requirements from the DEQ.

Annual maintenance was completed on the generators on 10/13 by Pacific Power Products. The technician let her know that coolant and hoses need to be changed on both generators, the calibrated spring is broken on both generators and should be replaced (at a cost of approximately $300.00 each), and the block heater needs to be replaced on the Bolin Island generator.  He gave her a bid of $1778.00; she’ll get a second bid.  Dixie made a motion to allow Susanna to make the choice between the two estimates and get the work done, Marc seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Susanna said that a small tool kit is needed and flashlights for each pump station, Mike said he would get the tools and flashlights from sources in the valley.  Marc made a motion to let Mike procure the tools and Charlotte seconded, motion passed by unanimous voice vote. 

Susanna reported that insurance renewal forms need to be filled out.

She also reported that Mark C. had cleaned the generators and did a very good job on them.

Items not on the Agenda, Open to the Public:

Dixie made a motion to set up a $75.00 petty cash fund, Charlotte seconded  and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Dixie also questioned wether we might be able to apply for a grant from CBGD for just the pump collection system and then get private funding for going north?

         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)

Board Meeting September 15, 2011

Gardiner Sanitary District

Board of Directors Meeting

September 15, 2011

     Meeting called to order by Jackie Degman, present were Board Members  Mike Quartararo, Charlotte Hinshaw and Marc Fullhart.  Also present were Mary Chambers, Mark Ciechanowski, Ray Davenport, Susanna Nordhoff, Bob Brown, Dennis Conger, and Deborah Yates.

     Written copies of the previous minutes were passed out and read, Jackie suggested that the minutes be amended to include the spraying of Bolin Island pump station as part of the cleanup process and Mike motioned to accept the minutes as amended, seconded by Charlotte, motion passed with a unanimous voice vote.

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

     Old Business:   

 Charlotte reported that no progress had been made on replacement of the furnace.  Mike gave Charlotte a catalog on heaters so that she could estimate a cost for the replacement and call for bids by electricians.  The cost of the heaters Mike had suggested using are approximately $300.00 each and we would need 2 heaters for the meeting room and kitchen.  Charlotte will also contact PUD to see if a rebate will be available for this type of heater.

         Susanna reported that she had noticed that there is an electrical panel on the outside of  the building that is not locked and Marc said he would look into getting it secured.

         Mike reported that the blog information is posted and complete enough to go live unless anyone has anything to add or change.  Everyone agreed that he should make it go live and they could make any changes as they see how it used.        

         Jackie reported that the Bolin Island site has been cleared and that Crossbow is being used to keep the weeds and brush from coming back; the site is much more visible and therefore safer for employees as they access it.  The clearing and spraying will have to be maintained every year or two and it will be much cheaper to maintain than letting it get to the condition that it had been allowed to reach.  Jackie also reported that she and Susanna had met with Atty McClintock regarding the American Bridge easement demands for insurance and new survey.  We feel that that the insurance demands were much too excessive and our current coverage should be adequate, as they are with the county easement also being processed at this time, and that a new survey is completely unnecessary since a professional survey was done recently at district expense and American Bridge has a copy of that.

        

     New Business:         

Safety Meeting:  Susanna reported that she has procured basic safety gear for the pump stations.  Mike was asked to purchase ear muffs and nitro gloves from a source that he knows has the right quality gear at the cheapest prices. 

Ray’s Report:  Ray reported that DEQ has requested amendments to the Emergency Backup Plan that was submitted on 8/16/2011 so he has done additional work to the plan and amended it to include the changes that DEQ requested.  He passed out copies of the new plan but then reported that just today he had been contacted by Francis Dzata of the DEQ with a suggestion that they use the abandoned water main that is already in place across the river to divert the sewage into in the event that the main sewage line breaks.  All that would be required in this case are valves and short diversion pipes on each end to reroute the sewage until the main line could be repaired instead of temporary storage and treatment on the Island and subsequent dumping into the river of less than perfectly treated sewage.  The cost would be considerably less and the consequences less detrimental to the environment.  Ray hasn’t had a chance to pursue this avenue yet because it is such a new development.  Since he has already put additional effort into amending the existing plan, more additional time will be required to research and prepare yet another plan and he needs authorization to continue this pursuit as he is already requesting an additional $675.00 for the work he’s done to date on the amended plan.  Mary questioned whether he was requesting $675.00 net or gross and Ray said net.  Mary reminded him that he needs to make his requests in gross dollars instead.  Mike made a motion to allow Ray to find out more from the DEQ on the possibilities of using the abandoned water main and Marc seconded, the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.  Marc motioned to pay the additional amount that Ray has requested and Charlotte seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Managers Report:

 Susanna reported that the postmaster has requested to use our meeting hall on October 19^th at 6:30pm for a town hall meeting regarding the proposed closure of the Gardiner Post Office and also if we would include a flyer in the next billing to announced the meeting.  Mike made a motion to allow both requests and Marc seconded, the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. 

Susanna also reported that the meeting with Douglas County regarding the proposed scope of work is still pending waiting on Becky Bryant to schedule it.

Susanna’s request for a certification test has been approved and if she passes the test she will be granted the Grade 1 certification without needing the additional experience time normally required as they will allow her past experience to qualify.

Susanna reported that the manhole covers at Bolin Island need to have a better pry bar as the existing one is not working well.  Mike and Ray will access the problem and try to fix or replace the existing tool.

Susanna questioned the problems with the tide gates on the drainage system serving Gardiner as a resident had brought it to her attention.  Everyone concede that the tide gates have not worked properly for quite some time and several requests to the county for repairs in the past have fallen on deaf ears.  Deborah Yates suggested contacting the Umpqua Soil and Water Conservation District as she is under the impression that they are conducting a study or research of some kind on the local tide gates.

Ray is going to conduct a confined space entry lesson for Susanna and Mark tomorrow morning and teach them to use the camera inside the pipes.

Susanna questioned the location of the “As Built’s” that she needs to locate sewer lines for residents when they request it.  Marc thought that they were probably in the attic storage and he would help locate them.

Jackie’s Report: 

Jackie reported that she and Susanna had met with the DEQ at their request on Thursday the 8^th to just have a review of their plans and future options.  Jackie was very happy with how Susanna presented the district to them and how knowledgable she was when they questioned them.

The DEQ wants GSD to be preparing for Plan B in case the county funding falls through and they want to know what the district intends to do in that situation.  John Gasik was concerned that due diligence wasn’t observed when the IP contract was drafted therefore allowing the possibility of future problems.  He suggested that the county’s request for an independent study was a result of the lack of costs being forthcoming by Reedsport originally.

Items not on the Agenda, Open to the Public:  

Mark C’s Report:  Mark C. reported that the Fire Department had met and discussed the need for parking lot repairs and the volunteers would be willing to provide the labor for the repairs if GSD will split the cost of the materials with the Fire Dept.  He also reported that the Fire Department is in need of additional volunteers and have been having trouble recruiting them so they would like to include a flyer in our next billing to try to recruit new members.  Mike made a motion to allow flyers in the bills, Marc seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Mark also reported that the district cell phone has completely quit working and no one could really see the need for maintaining a cell phone so the decision was made to have Mary call AT&T to cancel the cell phone service.

Susanna reported that the Association of Water Utilities membership is coming due and asked whether she should renew it.  They will be having a conference in Florence in November that would probably be beneficial to attend.  Charlotte made a motion to have the membership dues of $75.00 renewed and the conference cost authorized for Susanna, Mike seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

         Jackie called for an executive session (pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(i) to discuss performance of the Operations Manager.

         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)