Woodland Hills Sanitary District

January 2019 Minutes

The January meeting of the Woodland Hills Sanitary District was called to order at 6:30pm on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.

Roll Call: President Bobby Sadler established that a quorum existed to conduct the meeting. In attendance were Lois Lund, Ed Striebel and board members Jim Stewart, Beth Haivala and John Knight.

Adoption of Agenda: Bobby presented the agenda to the board and it was unanimously adopted.

Secretary’s Report: The December minutes were reviewed. Bobby made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Beth and the vote was 4-0 to approve.

Income Report: Net income for December was $4,827. Among the expenses was an annual renewal of $999 for the SCADA monitoring system. Two residents missed their December payment.

Water Report: Water losses for December were 15.5%. Historically, water loss ratios have increased during the winter months when fewer gallons are pumped. The loss ratio is between gallons pumped and lost. With water losses remaining fairly constant each month the loss ratio will decrease during the summer and increase in winter. In January 2017 the loss ratio was 18% and June 2017 the losses were 6.5%.

There had been discussion in a previous meeting of getting a new main well pump and relining the well casing. Ed will check the history and hours on the pump for February's meeting.

Road Report: The road account received a tax deposit of $1,064. The board approved a payment of $200 each to Tim Severson and Brian Walker for plowing Woodland Drive and the lanes after the recent snowstorm.

Garry and John placed the new gravel barrels. They were in place for a few days when the one on Eagle Lane and Woodland Drive was hit by a vehicle. The Eagle Lane road sign was also knocked over. Jim will check with Summit Signs about replacing the Eagle / Woodland sign post. The barrels should be filled with gravel during the January 12 weekend.

Old Business: A budget for 2019 was approved with a 4-0 vote and will be placed on the web site.

The board discussed installing a "dry" fire hydrant. As described in Wikepedia: In rural areas where municipal water systems are not available, dry hydrants are used to supply water for fighting fires. A dry hydrant is usually an unpressurized, permanently installed pipe that has one end below the water level of a lake or pond (or in Woodland Hills case, our main reservoir). When needed, a pumper fire engine will pump from the lake or pond by drafting water. This is done by vacuuming the air out of the dry hydrant, hard sleeve, and the fire engine pump with a primer. Because lower pressure now exists at the pump intake, atmospheric pressure on the water and the weight of the water forces water into part of the dry hydrant above water, into the hard sleeve, and finally into the pump. This water can then be pumped by the engine's centrifugal pump.

The board was concerned over liability. If the hydrant fails to operate and a house burns would the district be liable? A web search discovered a case where a water district lost a $69 million lawsuit filed by homeowners because fire hydrants were dry when homes was burned because of wildfire. The board voted 4-0 not to proceed with the dry hydrant.

The board also discussed moving the monthly meeting back to the second Tuesday of the month. Meetings were held on the 2nd Tuesday until August of 2007. Bobby would be unable to attend on the 2nd Tuesday and Ed would be unable to attend if the meeting were moved to the 2nd Thursday. The board decided to keep the 2nd Wednesday meeting date.

New Business: A rate increase was discussed. Jim said that rates had not been raised in several years and suggested that a COLA (cost of living adjustment) be considered. Jim made a motion to raise the minimum rate from $37.50 to $38.50. The motion did not receive a 2nd and was not voted. The rates will not be changed.

Late fees were then discussed with Bobby and John suggesting they were too high. Bobby made a motion to lower the late fee from $25 to $10. John seconded the motion. The vote was tied 2-2 and the motion did not carry. Late fees will not be changed.

The board switched to an executive session and agreed to waive the late fees of a resident who had worked with the board to get their account balance current.

Board member comments: None

Resident comments: none

The board adjourned the meeting at 7:42pm.

Carefully submitted,

Jim Stewart

Recording Secretary