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The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID) was called to order by President Carroll Penhollow at 9:00 AM on

July 10, 2007 in the District office.

 

Directors present were Carroll Penhollow, Paul Kasberger, Tom Burke, John Robbins and Robert Borlen.  Also attending were Steve Johnson, Secretary-Manager; Liz Dickson, Attorney; Priscilla Ross, Assistant Secretary, Larry Roofener, Operations Manager, Cary Penhollow, Watermaster, Jeremiah Fender, Land Use Specialist, Bob Beal, Hydro Engineer and the visitors shown on Exhibit “A”.   

 

1.         OPEN FORUM  

  • Bill Dolf, a Bend resident, informed the Board that he had submitted a letter at the June Board meeting requesting that COID address the issue of the public trespassing on their private property while using COID’s canal easement as a walking trail.  He asked the Board for the current status of his request.  Steve Johnson stated that he had contacted Bruce Ronning of Bend Parks and Recreation District after the June meeting and told him that this issue had to be resolved.  Since Steve was on vacation during part of the month, he has not yet had an opportunity to meet with Bruce but will do so in the near future.  Carroll Penhollow suggested that COID staff, Park District personnel and the land owners meet together to resolve this issue.  Discussion ensued regarding the cost responsibility for and the types of gates that may be installed on the ditch roads in this area.  Steve Johnson noted that the District evaluates any gate request submitted by a patron to determine whether or not the gate is needed for District operations.  If the gate is not needed for operations, the patron is responsible for the cost.  Any gates installed by a patron may not impede District operations and be to District standards.
  • Mike Daly, a patron, informed the Board that as a private citizen he wanted to address the fees COID charged for plan reviews.  He said that he owns a lot in Redmond that has no COID water rights or facilities yet was charged $450 for the plan review.  He distributed a schedule (Exhibit “B”) detailing plan review fees charged by other irrigation districts in the area and stated that he thought COID’s fee was excessive since there was no water on the property.  Steve Johnson said that he had discussed this situation previously with Randy Povey and had asked Jeremiah to track actual hours spent on this type of review.  That analysis indicated that an average of two man hours were required for this review.
  • Randy Povey, land surveyor, informed the Board that he is working on a development east of town that has no irrigation or water rights and questioned why COID had to approve that plan.  He said that in his opinion there is a communication problem between outside parties and COID’s land use department.  Too often he doesn’t hear from COID about needed changes until the final mylar has been submitted and, at this point, other agencies have already approved the plat.  Steve Johnson replied that the plan review volume is extreme and that it may be necessary to hire another employee to deal with land use issues but questioned how funding would be obtained to pay for that employee.

 

Steve Johnson asked Jeremiah Fender to explain the plan review process.  Jeremiah said that he receives requests for comments from Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties and the Cities of Bend and Redmond on all developments.  All plans have to be reviewed for any irrigation or tail water issues.  Only 40% to 50% of the plans come with attached maps.  As a result, he has to search for the required maps to complete a review.  If there are any irrigation or water issues on the plat, he has to respond detailing how the developer must deal with any of these issues.  Then, once the final plans are received, he must review the plans to ensure that they correctly address the water issues. 

Discussion ensued regarding how information is gathered by different entities regarding any water or irrigation facilities on a given parcel.  It was noted that engineers often rely on title reports that don’t include all of the easement information.  Liz Dickson stated that it would be beneficial if surveyors would include easement information on their maps.  There was additional discussion regarding the challenges presented with the development of areas having private irrigation systems.  COID does not have documentation regarding private easements as this information wasn’t conveyed to COID until about five years ago.  As a result, all plans have to be reviewed.  It was noted that COID’s responsibility is to deliver water to the POD.  Though the District has the right to go beyond the POD to ensure that a patron is not illegally hindering the delivery of water, the District is not responsible for maintaining the private system.

There was additional discussion about inconsistent COID easement widths through the District.  Steve Johnson informed the Board that the District is in the process of pulling all of Deschutes County maps out of the system to review easements.  Maps that were previously recorded without the District’s signature are not being recognized as having valid easement information.  The easements on COID signed documents are being recognized.

 

  • Linda Miller, water rights examiner and land surveyor, stated that she would appreciate receiving any plan comments during the mapping process, not at the time the final mylar is submitted.  It was noted that not all government agencies remit the comments that COID has submitted back to the originating agency.  COID personnel are often not given the identity of the engineer or surveyor working the development when the city or county submits the plans.

 

Bob Borlen commented that COID was attempting to build an equitable fee structure, one that captured average costs.  It was emphasized by several Board members that COID will not bear the cost of development and that the Board had directed staff to identify and isolate those costs so that they could be charged to the appropriate party.  The fee structure is a tool to accomplish that goal.

 

  • Tim Brown, a developer, commented that he disagrees with the fees assessed for plan reviews on property that has no water rights.  He noted that the District has significant power as a result of the signature requirement.  He asked that this power be used appropriately.

 

2.         MINUTES:  

Liz Dickson asked for a verbiage change regarding the Thornburgh decision under the Manager’s Report. John Robbins made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.   Following a second by Paul Kasberger, the motion passed unanimously.

 

4.         TRANSFERS / INCLUSIONS:       

Carroll Penhollow reviewed the following transfers with the Board.  See Exhibit “C”.  He noted that the small reported transfers are movements of water on the same property to ensure that the rights are correctly mapped.

PBC Permanent:                                            Total               1.65

Stokes                                                                                        .75  Off

Stokes                                                                                        .75  On

 

COID (Quitclaim)                                                                       .15  Off

Cheney                                                                           .25  Off

Cheney                                                                           .40  On

 

Combs                                                                                       .50  Off

Combs                                                                                       .50  On

 

COC Permanent:                                           Total               1.60

Chatham                                                                                     .65  Off

Chatham                                                                                     .65  On

 

Worlein                                                                                      .95  Off

Worlein                                                                                      .95  On

 

Carroll Penhollow made the motion to approve the transfers as reported.  The motion was seconded by Bob Borlen and was then passed unanimously.  

 

The Quitclaims were reviewed.  Steve Johnson noted that there has not been a significant amount of water purchases or sales during the month.

 

5.         REPORTS:

            A.        Water Report –

A written report (Exhibit “D”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.   

B.         Operations and Maintenance Report –

A written report (Exhibit “E”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.    

C.        Hydro Report –

A written report (Exhibit “F”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.  It was noted that due to the amount of storage water currently being used by other irrigation districts, there is a strong likelihood that SPP will not be generating power this winter.  Discussion ensued about potential maintenance projects that could be completed during the down time.  It was noted that the two final candidates for the SPP Manager position will be visiting the site this week and that a hiring decision should be made by the end of the month.

            D.        Manager Report –

The written Manager’s Report (Exhibit “G”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.   Steve Johnson stated that the contract regarding the Ziniker delivery is currently being reviewed by their attorney. 

 

6.         BILLINGS & PAYROLL: 

Paul Kasberger moved to accept the payroll registers and billings as presented. The motion was seconded by John Robbins and passed unanimously.

 

7.         OLD BUSINESS: 

  • Fee Schedule Revision

Based on the prior discussion regarding COID fees, Steve Johnson stated that he and Priscilla Ross will review potential changes to the fee schedule and present results at the August meeting if the analysis is completed.

 

  • Stormwater Disposal Issues  (Exhibit “H”)

Steve Johnson introduced Dave Newton and Dick Nichols.  They reviewed the highlights of the report they completed that addresses issues relative to locating stormwater disposal swales adjacent to irrigation canals.  Steve Johnson requested that the Board both adopt the report and incorporate the sections detailed on pages 10 through 13 of the report into District policy as detailed in the Stormwater Manual.  It was noted that these additional changes ask for more findings from developers regarding the construction of bioswales.  A motion was made by John Robbins and seconded by Bob Borlen to adopt this report.  An additional motion was then made by Bob Borlen to incorporate the aforementioned section of the report into policy.  That motion was seconded by John Robbins.  Both motions passed unanimously.

 

The Board recessed for lunch at 12:17.  The meeting was reconvened at 12:35.

 

  • Aequitas and the Juniper Ridge Hydro project  (Exhibit “I”)

Dave Shutte of Aequitas distributed a Project Overview summarizing estimated project revenues, costs, IRR and COID proceeds based on current available funding sources.  He noted that a significant amount of work needs to be completed between August 2007 and May 2008 to enable debt closure at May 2008.  There was considerable discussion regarding the variety of options COID has for both funding and receiving funds from this project.  It was agreed that Dave Shutte will prepare cash flow statements for the different funding scenarios over twenty years for Board review.  The Board will meet in a Special Work Session to review these schedules and then schedule a meeting with Dave via conference call to finalize the action plan on this project.

 

  • Resolution 2007-12; Rotation Management and Policies Discussion  (Exhibit “J”)

Bob Borlen made the motion to adopt this resolution.  Tom Burke seconded the motion that was then unanimously passed.

 

8.         NEW BUSINESS: 

  • Board Training Seminar

There is a full-day Board member seminar to be held at the Bend Riverhouse on August 3rd.  Board members will notify Priscilla Ross if they will be attending.

 

Carroll Penhollow adjourned the Regular Session of the COID Board to Executive Session at 2:45 PM  per

·        ORS 192.660(2)(e) to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to negotiate real property transactions.

·        ORS 192.660(2)(d) to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to carry on labor negotiations.

 

The Regular Session of the COID Board was reconvened at 3:14 PM.

 

A motion was made by John Robbins and seconded by Tom Burke to adjourn the Regular Session at 3:15 PM.  The motion was unanimously accepted.

 

 

 

ATTEST:                     CENTRAL OREGON IRRIGATION DISTRICT

 

 

_________________________________         ________________________________

Steven C. Johnson, Manager                               Carroll Penhollow, President

 

_________________________________         _________________________________

Robert Borlen                                                      Thomas Burke          

 

_________________________________         _________________________________

Paul Kasberger                                        John Robbins