CENTRAL OREGON IRRIGATION DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING

JANUARY 8, 2008

 

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID) was called to order by Secretary / Manager Steve Johnson at 9:10 AM on January 8, 2008 at the District Office.  It was noted this meeting also serves as the annual meeting and that the Board sits as a Board of Equalization for the initial part of this meeting.

 

Directors present were Carroll Penhollow, Paul Kasberger, Tom Burke, and Robert Borlen.  Also attending were Steve Johnson, Secretary-Manager; Liz Dickson, Attorney; Priscilla Ross, Assistant Secretary; Bob Beal, Hydro Engineer; Larry Roofener, Operations Manager; Cary Penhollow, Watermaster and the visitors shown on Exhibit “A”.  It was noted that as no one filed a petition to represent Division III (three) on the Board, the Board would be appointing someone to fill that vacancy during 2008 later in the meeting.

 

After convening the meeting, Steve Johnson asked Carroll Penhollow, representing Division II (two) to read and sign his Oath of Office (Exhibit “B”).  Carroll read the Oath and his signature was notarized. Steve Johnson then asked for nominations for Chairman of the Board. Paul Kasberger nominated Carroll Penhollow and Robert Borlen seconded that motion. The motion was passed unanimously.  After this motion was approved, Steve Johnson asked Carroll Penhollow to assume responsibility for moderating the meeting.

 

Carroll Penhollow then stated that the next agenda item would be to appoint someone to fill the Division III (three) vacancy as no one had filed a petition prior to the election.  It was emphasized that this appointment would be valid for one year only, to the regularly scheduled next election.  Robert Borlen introduced Terry Blackwell, a patron from Division III (three), who then distributed a notice declaring his willingness to serve if appointed (Exhibit “C”).  John Robbins, Division III (three) Board member whose term expired 12/31/2007, had previously noticed the Board of his willingness to serve if appointed.  After Terry announced his interest in serving, John withdrew his letter.  Robert Borlen then made a motion to appoint Terry Blackwell to fill the Division III (three) Board position for 2008.  Paul Kasberger seconded the motion which was then unanimously passed.  Terry read the Oath of Office and his signature was notarized (Exhibit “D”).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Borlen made a motion to nominate the same officers as last year, with Terry Blackwell serving in positions previously held by John Robbins.  Those officers for 2008 are:

 

Office:                                                  Individual:                    

Vice-President                                      Paul Kasberger

Treasurer                                              Terry Blackwell

Secretary Manager                               Steven C. Johnson                   

Assistant Secretary                               Priscilla Ross                           

 

The motion to approve these nominations was seconded by Terry Blackwell and then unanimously passed.

 

After reviewing the 2007 Board Committee roster, Paul Kasberger made a motion to retain the 2007 roster with Terry Blackwell replacing John Robbins.  The motion was seconded by Robert Borlen and then passed unanimously.

 

Board Committees for 2008 are as follows:

 

Finance:            Terry Blackwell, Tom Burke

Transfers:         Carroll Penhollow, Paul Kasberger

Labor:              Robert Borlen, Carroll Penhollow

Budget: All Board Members

Comprehensive & Business Planning:

Terry Blackwell, Paul Kasberger and Carroll Penhollow will serve on a rotational basis

Conservation/25K Committee: 

Robert Borlen, Paul Kasberger

Real Estate:      Terry Blackwell, Paul Kasberger and Carroll Penhollow will serve on a rotational basis

 

Robert Borlen moved to accept Resolution 2008-1 (Exhibit “E”) giving authorization for the following individuals to be check signers for 2008:  Steve Johnson, Cary Penhollow, Leslie Clark, Larry Roofener and Board Chairman, Carroll Penhollow. The following individuals are authorized to perform Electronic Financial Transactions for 2008: Priscilla Ross, Janet Brown, and Jenny Hartzell-Hill. The motion was seconded by Paul Kasberger and passed unanimously.

 

After reading, a motion was made by Robert Borlen to accept Resolution 2008-2 (Exhibit “F”) giving authorization to the Investment Committee to make investment decisions and authorize transactions for the District on a standard investment level.  It was noted that the Investment Committee will consult with the Board before making any material investment decisions.  The motion was seconded by Paul Kasberger and passed unanimously.

 

 

The Board then addressed the regular agenda for the meeting:

 

2.         OPEN FORUM:       

  • Bill Dolf, a Bend resident, thanked Larry Roofener for showing him the signs that COID will finish installing today.  He reported that individuals are walking in the canal bed to avoid the “No Trespassing” signs currently posted by his property.  Discussion ensued regarding potentially installing gates in this area.   It was noted that any installed gates must adhere to District policy and not impede District operations.  Steve Johnson reiterated that the Board’s position has been to install signage, completed today, and then to evaluate the area to determine if the signage is keeping the public from impeding District operations.  If it does not, then the District will consider gate installation.  There was also discussion regarding easement rights and the underlying authority to grant or deny those rights.  Liz Dickson stated that COID does not have exclusive easement rights; the District’s senior easement right is for canal maintenance.  It was emphasized that it is the underlying individual property owner’s right to manage easements on their property.   Robert Borlen stated that in his opinion the Board does not want to advocate any individual property owner’s position regarding the easement on their property.

 

3.         MINUTES: Robert Borlen moved to approve the Minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Tom Burke and passed unanimously by all Board members in attendance at the December meeting.  Terry Blackwell abstained.

 

4.         TRANSFERS/INCLUSION:            (Exhibit “G”)

Carroll Penhollow noted that there were no transfers in December and then reviewed the following water right transactions:

·        COID purchased 36.87 acres on the PBC.

·        1.73 acres on the PBC were cancelled due to non-use; associated exit fees of $2,262.28 were paid.

·        COID met the Deschutes Water Alliance Water Bank target of 215.0 acres for 2007 and invoices have been issued for the 3rd allocation to the Bank.

 

Steve Johnson reviewed the updated schedule detailing the status of COID owned water rights noting that at year end there were 190.64 acres of currently available reserves after the third allocation.

 

The memo from Laura Wollam detailing Instream Leasing and Beneficial Use Updates (Exhibit “H”) was reviewed.  Steve Johnson reviewed the Board’s position to not allow patrons, except for municipalities, to renew five-year instream leases.  He noted that COID has reached the maximum per Board policy number of instreamed acres and that the District will be reviewing the impact on the water bank of not renewing these five-year leases.

 

 

 

5.         REPORTS:

            A.        Water Report –

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

B.         Operations and Maintenance Report –

A written report (Exhibit “J”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.   Larry Roofener reported that work on the PBC C lateral next to Larry Wilson’s property restored a thirty (30) foot easement in that area which aligns with land records from 1949.  The Board expressed consensus with staff’s recommendation to maintain this thirty (foot) easement.

C.        Hydro Report –

A written report (Exhibit “K”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.  Bob Beal stated that he had received sufficient information from PacifiCorp to recalculate the transformer loss PacifiCorp is assessing.  It was agreed that this formula, after PacifiCorp documents its agreement, needs to be included in the PacifiCorp contract.  Bob Beal will document the formula in digital format, obtain PacifiCorp approval and forward same to Liz Dickson.  Bob Beal noted that PacifiCorp wants to collect the restated transformer loss against the past three years of SPP operations.  Liz Dickson stated that legally she believes the assessment should only be charged on a go forward basis.  She will pursue this matter with PacifiCorp legal counsel.

E.         Manager Report –

The written Manager’s Report (Exhibit “L”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting.   Steve Johnson commented on the following items included in the report:

·        Newspaper article describing the canal breach in Nevada.  It was noted that COID will implement a canal inspection program in 2008.

·        Capital Press newspaper article describing irrigation districts’ efforts to make the fish reintroduction efforts in the Deschutes Basin a success.

·        Final Report on the Water 2025 Grant for the Deschutes Water Alliance Bank (Exhibit “M”)

·        Graphic describing the filling order for Crane Prairie and Wickiup Reservoirs

 

Steve Johnson reviewed the status of funding for the proposed hydro project at Juniper Ridge and reported that the Energy Trust will potentially be providing $1,000,000 for this project once electricity is being generated.

 

The Board recessed for lunch at 12:00 PM and reconvened at 12:15 PM.

 

Steve Johnson presented a memo, noting that the “Confidential” heading was not applicable, describing the District’s proposed position on a Remnant Parcels Policy (Exhibit “N”).  After noting that the District has a limited number of isolated deliveries that this policy would currently address, he asked for the Board for consensus to implement this policy in regards to two specific isolated problematic delivery areas and to approve the language in the current proposed policy.  Robert Borlen made a motion that was seconded by Tom Burke to give staff the authority to continue discussions with the parties involved in the affected deliveries and to continue work on the policy.  After noting that there was no discussion around the policy as presented, except for correcting two spelling errors, Robert Borlen withdrew the original motion and made a subsequent motion giving staff authority to develop and implement the Remnant Parcels Policy based on the Proposed Resolution.  A final Resolution will be presented at the February Board meeting for approval.  This motion was seconded by Tom Burke and then approved with a unanimous vote.

 

6.         BILLINGS & PAYROLL:  Paul Kasberger moved to accept the payroll registers and billings as presented. The motion was seconded by Robert Borlen and passed unanimously.

 

7.         OLD BUSINESS: 

            A.        2008 Budget

Priscilla Ross presented the following schedules:

·        Cash Balances and Activity for the One Month Ending December 31, 2008 (Exhibit “O”)

The Board expressed consensus with using SPP Excess funds from 2007 to cover up to $47,369 of 2007 operating payables as of December 31.

·        2008 Budget – Operations (Exhibit “P”)

Robert Borlen made a motion to approve the 2008 COID Operations Budget as proposed.  After a second by Tom Burke, the motion was unanimously passed. 

The proposed 2008 COID Operations budget included a base charge increase of $25 per account for each individual account and $300 per quarter/quarter for all subsidiary accounts.  Steve Johnson clarified that account fees are assessed by owner, not by delivery, but that this practice varies by irrigation district.  A motion was made by Terry Blackwell to approve the increase to the base charge.  Robert Borlen seconded the motion that was then unanimously passed.

·        2008 Budget – Capital (Exhibit “Q”)

After noting that disbursements to be made during 2008 on the Fish Screen debt need to be included in the Capital Cash Forecast, a motion was made by Robert Borlen and seconded by Tom Burke to approve the 2008 Capital Budget.  The motion passed unanimously.

·        2008 Budget  - SPP (Exhibit “R”)

Bob Beal commented that the income estimates within this budget may be conservative given recent snow activity.  Robert Borlen made a motion to approve the 2008 SPP budget.  The motion was seconded by Tom Burke and then unanimously passed.   

B.                 Signatures for Resolution 2007-17

The resolution was signed by Board members in attendance when the Resolution was passed in December and subsequently filed with the December 2007 minutes.

C.                 Real Estate Update

·        Deschutes Market Road

The quiet title action on this property has been successfully completed.  Steve Scott recommended, with Board Real Estate Committee approval, that COID obtain an updated appraisal before determining whether or not this parcel should be listed as surplus because the initial appraisal was done in September 2005.

·        Powell Butte

Steve Johnson reported that the acre adjacent to the store has generated interest recently.  Steve Scott believes that it would be in COID’s best interests to lease this property.

·        Teal Road

This property is proceeding to partitioning.

D.                 Redmond Airport Agreement

Steve Johnson reported that the language on this agreement has been finalized subsequent to discussions with Carrie Novick.  The agreement guarantees excess capacity for sewer and water in the infrastructure installed by the airport in exchange for 76 acres of water.  This agreement will be presented to the Board for final approval

 

8.         NEW BUSINESS:

 

            A.        2008 Water Bank Targets

Steve Johnson distributed a schedule detailing the DWA Water Bank targets for both 2007 and 2008 (Exhibit “S”).  He noted that the 2008 targets are slightly less than the 2007 targets.  Considerable discussion ensued regarding the 40 acre river restoration target.  Steve Johnson stated that the scientific work to be done as part of the Habitat Conservation Plan development will define the instream requirements in the Middle Deschutes.  There was also discussion concerning the proposed legislation that would allow COID to move water to North Unit Irrigation District and the impact of that legislation on COID’s water reserves.  Steve Johnson will contact North Unit Irrigation District to schedule a session to discuss potential actions if and when this legislation is approved.  The Board expressed consensus with a 40 acre river restoration target for 2008 with the understanding that in the future they want to know instream requirements and the option to choose how those requirements will be met.  Steve Johnson agreed to work with the Deschutes River Conservancy regarding potential future changes in allocations to the water bank. Tom Burke then made a motion to approve the 2008 targets for the bank.  The motion was seconded by Terry Blackwell.  All Board members, except for Paul Kasberger who was out of the room, approved the motion.

            B.         Schedule Special Session – Strategic Planning Meeting

A Special Session will be held at the District offices on January 21, 2008 at 4:00 PM to allow the Board to do strategic financial planning. 

 

Carroll Penhollow adjourned the Regular Session of the COID Board to Executive Session at 2:50 PM per

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

 

The Regular Session of the COID Board was reconvened at 3:10 PM.

 

 

A motion was then made by Robert Borlen and seconded by Tom Burke to adjourn the Regular Session.  The motion was unanimously accepted.