Font ResizeOperations Manager Ken Dean told the board members that the drawings and specifications for the project were posted on July 20 and that an onsite pre-bid meeting between the district’s engineer and interested bidders will take place on August 3. Bids will be opened at 2 p.m. on August 20 at the district office in Redway. This should leave the district with enough time to complete the portion of the project that will be done in the river while the water levels are low.
The funding, however, was not quite assured at the board’s July 21 meeting. Dean and Business Manager Troy Harrington-Dean said that they had been assured that final approval of funding would be received within two weeks. Harrington-Dean said that the exchanges between the district and the regulatory and funding agencies have become “more positive,’ although Dean said “it remains to be seen how quickly we get reimbursed when we submit invoices.” The district has invested $459,000 so far in the project.
”The check is on the back of a turtle heading in the general direction of the post office,” board member Virginia Graziani quipped.
The need for the project to go forward this year is made clear by the difficulty the district is already experiencing in drawing enough water from the river to meet the needs of Redway residents.
Dean reported that river levels in the South Fork “dropped significantly” in late June and by the Fourth of July they were at a level that didn’t allow the district to fill the district’s storage tank completely. He said that he is able to keep the tank about 85% full at present, but cautioned that the situation can change. He said the residents are following the mandatory conservation measures quite well and that he hopes to get the repairs to the intake gallery done before the river levels become too low for even conservation to help. He said also that there is a good volume of water in the river and the situation appears to have stabilized over the past three weeks.
A car wash in front of True Value prompted a few phone calls to the district office. The car wash had been scheduled before the water shortage and True Value owner Craig Parkinson apologized and the car washing was stopped as soon as it was brought to his attention.
The board members discussed keeping Redway residents informed about the situation with bi-weekly updates in the newspaper and on the radio.
In light of the water situation, Graziani had worked on the district’s water shortage contingency plan, which had been drawn up in some haste during last year’s water emergency. This new language was approved by the board. The current Level 2 mandatory water conservation requirement limits landscape irrigation to no more than two days a week. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Sunday and Wednesday; even numbered addresses can water on Tuesday and Saturday. Watering must be done between 5 and 10 a.m. Sprinklers can only be operated for 10 minutes. Leaks must be repaired upon discovery and only recycled or non-potable water can be used for construction. Fire hydrant water is to be used for fire-fighting only.
The directors also discussed at length their proposed water operations budget for the new fiscal year. The budget projects some reduction in income from water sales, due to conservation but some increase in tax income. Harrington-Dean produced a budget that is balanced and shows a very modest surplus of $525. She also noted that expenses came in under budget in the last fiscal year, which was good, she said, since income was also under budget.
Board members John Rogers and Michael McKaskle expressed concern about the small surplus and wanted the budget to include a more substantial amount of money set aside for future capital improvements.
Graziani said that discretionary funds to handle unexpected expenses were built in to the budget, but this did not address Rogers’ and McKaskle’s concerns. They were reluctant to improve a budget without a capital improvement plan. The figure of setting aside $20,000 was mentioned. Harrington-Dean said she would be happy to do that, but they would have to find that $20,000 first.
The discussion continued and it proved difficult to get agreement. Motions were proposed that would approve the budget with a clause that it would be modified at some future, unspecified date to include a capital improvement plan. Roger’s wanted to add a clause that would require the board and presumably staff to “take steps” to come up with a capital improvement plan. What those steps might be or who might take them was not discussed.
Graziani said that she didn’t want the district to operate without an approved budget. It had happened before that they had gone months into the new fiscal year without a budget, she said, and she didn’t want to see that happen again.
Harrington-Dean said that staff felt most comfortable working with an approved budget and she reminded Rogers and McKaskle that a budget was a projection and not “set in stone.” It could be revised later.
The budget was eventually approved as submitted with Rogers and McKaskle volunteering to explore the idea of developing a capital improvement fund and finding the money to put into it.
The board will have a special meeting on August 18 to discuss the issue of a capital improvement fund. The next regular board meeting will take place on August 25 at the Healy Senior Center at 7 p.m.
