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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 9:04 AM on
June 12, 2007 in the District office.
Directors present were Carroll Penhollow, Paul Kasberger, Tom
Burke and John Robbins. Robert Borlen was absent. Also attending were Steve Johnson, Secretary-Manager;
Liz Dickson, Attorney; Priscilla Ross,
Assistant Secretary, Larry Roofener,
Operations Manager, Cary Penhollow, Watermaster, and Bob
Beal, Hydro Engineer and the visitors shown on Exhibit
“A”.
1. OPEN FORUM
- Steve Younger, a Bend resident living at 61368 SE Orion Drive,
asked to speak to the Board regarding public access on the District’s
canal easement which is located on the homeowners’ private property. Mr. Younger stated that he is appearing
in place of Mr. Bill Dolf and distributed a letter from Mr. Dolf
specifying the issues (Exhibit “B”).
According to Mr. Younger
this road is listed on Bend
Park and
Recreation’s trail system map though there is no official trail easement
on the property. Certain residents
are asking that gates be installed on the road to restrict public
access. Steve Johnson stated that
not all residents in the area supported gate installation and that any
potential gate installation would have to be done in such a manner to not
impede or restrict COID personnel access to the canal. After discussion, Carroll Penhollow
directed Steve Johnson to work with the involved parties to resolve the
issue satisfactorily.
- John Gunzner, a patron living in the
Terrebonne area, asked to speak to the Board regarding replacing a bridge
over which he has easement with a culvert.
According to Mr. Gunzner, the District had a verbal agreement with
him several years ago to do this work but it is yet to be completed. Steve Johnson explained that this bridge
is located on Mr. Clark’s property.
Mr. Gunzner has access through Mr. Clark’s property across this
bridge. Mr. Clark will not sign a
permanent easement agreement on his property. COID personnel use Mr. Gunzner’s access
to reach the District’s facilities on the property. In the past the District has repaired
the bridge. However, Larry Roofener
reported that COID personnel drive a pickup across this bridge several
times a week, but that Mr. Gunzner has large hay trucks moving over the
bridge on a regular basis. Steve
Johnson stated that COID wants a permanent solution for COID access to
their system and is looking into rebuilding a ditch road on District
easement. He said that he would
contact Mr. Clark again to see if he would grant permanent easement on his
property. If Mr. Clark will not,
the District will re-establish a ditch road on the easement.
- Robin Ziniker, a patron, informed the
Board that he had received a letter giving notice from COID requiring a
measuring device to be installed for his delivery. He informed the Board that in his
opinion fairness would require all patrons on the line to install
measuring devices. Steve Johnson
stated that it was his understanding that there had been a verbal
agreement in the prior year that Mr. Ziniker would only run one line at a
time and that he had not respected that agreement. Mr. Ziniker admitted that he had taken
too much water during the start of this irrigation season. Paul Kasberger stated that two patrons
had attended the May Board meeting and stated that they could not get
their allotted water because Mr. Ziniker was taking his water
inappropriately. At that time the
Board promised these patrons that COID personnel would resolve this issue
within the next month. Mr. Ziniker
stated that his inappropriate use was due to his lack of knowledge and
that his intent was to voluntarily comply with the agreement. Steve Johnson said that he wants to
believe that voluntary compliance will work but that there cannot be
anymore water allocation problems with this delivery and that this
understanding needs to be documented in a written Irrigation Agreement. Notice under ORS545.279 has been issued
to Mr. Ziniker. There was Board
consensus that they would temporarily suspend this Notice given that a
written Irrigation Agreement with Mr. Ziniker will be executed and
recorded by July 10, 2007.
- Jeff Larkin, a patron, informed the
Board that he was appearing to request grant funds for irrigation
improvements he has made and plans to make on the forty acres he is
farming. He stated that these
improvements have significantly reduced irrigation delivery water
loss. Steve Johnson informed Mr.
Larkin that grant funding was obtained from the proceeds of real estate
sales and that there had not been any real estate sales this year. Discussion ensued regarding the need to
revamp and redefine the small grant program to more clearly define the criteria
that would be used to evaluate grant applications.
2. MINUTES:
Paul Kasberger made a motion to
approve the minutes as submitted.
Following a second by Tom Burke, the motion passed unanimously.
3. OLD
BUSINESS:
- UDWC
Presentation on Deschutes
River Water Quality
Analysis
Steve Johnson introduced Ryan
Houston and Leslie Jones from the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
(UDWC). After describing the UDWC and
its mission, Ryan gave a Powerpoint presentation regarding water quality issues
and potential restoration actions in the Middle Deschutes.
Carroll Penhollow adjourned the Regular Session of the COID
Board to Executive Session at 12:25 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 1:38
PM.
4. TRANSFERS
/ INCLUSIONS:
Carroll Penhollow noted
that the Transfer List and Schedule of 2007 Instream Lease Requests were
included in the Board packets. See
Exhibit “C”.
Paul Kasberger made a motion to
approve the transfers and instream leases as they were listed in the packets. The motion was seconded by John Robbins and was
then passed unanimously.
5. BILLINGS &
PAYROLL:
Paul Kasberger moved to accept the
payroll registers and billings as presented. The motion was seconded by John
Robbins and passed unanimously.
6. 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. Steve
Johnson noted that five candidates will be interviewed for the SPP Operations
Manager position.
E. Manager
Report –
The written Manager’s Report
(Exhibit “G”) was mailed to the Board prior to the meeting. Steve
Johnson distributed a copy of a memo sent to Congressional delegation staff regarding
the Deschutes Steelhead Reintroduction to be included in the report.
Liz Dickson informed the Board
that two appeals have been filed regarding the Thornburgh decision. LUBA issued four decisions concerning water
all weighing in favor of COID. It is not
known what areas these appeals address, specifically the necessity of the
developer to acquire 100% of the project’s estimated water rights prior to
construction. Therefore Ms. Dickson is
requesting that the Board approve the District’s and her continued involvement
with this case until the subject of the appeals is known. The Board expressed consensus with her
request.
7. OLD
BUSINESS: (Continued)
ODOT is planning to improve Highway
126 East of Sisters from Cloverdale to Helmholtz in Redmond.
They have asked COID to participate in the design of the new route
allowing the District to have input regarding the project’s impact on the
District’s canal infrastructure. Steve
Johnson stated that will be contacting Barry Zelmer of ODOT to define COID’s
role and responsibilities and proceed with an agreement with ODOT.
8. NEW
BUSINESS:
- Rotation
Management and Policies Discussion
Steve Johnson stated that work is in
process to develop a policy addressing potential patron charges that will be
imposed when a ditchrider has to enforce adherence to rotation
responsibility. This policy will be
presented to the Board at a later date for consideration.
- Review
and Approve Resolution 2007-11: Gate Policy for Landowner Requested Gates
within COID Easements (Exhibit “H”)
Carroll Penhollow read the
Policy. Discussion ensued regarding the
need for emergency services to have access through these gates. Liz Dickson requested minor verbiage changes
to the Resolution. A motion was made by
Paul Kasberger to accept Resolution 2007-11 as amended. The motion was seconded by Tom Burke and was
then unanimously passed.
- Review
and Approve Resolution 2007-12:
Procedural Change for Collecting Delinquent Assessment Accounts
Following discussion there was
Board consensus that they did not want to use a third party for collecting
delinquent assessment accounts.
Management will evaluate doing collection activity internally versus
continuing to use legal services where appropriate.
A motion was made by John Robbins and seconded by Paul
Kasberger to adjourn the Regular Session at 2:10 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