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LAKEHAVEN UTILITY DISTRICT
King County, Washington
REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING
August 11, 2005
A regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Lakehaven
Utility District, King County, Washington, was held on August 11, 2005
at the Lakehaven Center, 31531 First Avenue South, Federal Way,
Washington, 98003.
President Stewart opened the meeting at 6:15 p.m. and asked
Commissioner Miller to lead the flag salute. He stated that Commissioner
Jovanovich would be late and added that Commissioners Mayer and Tweddle
would not be attending the meeting as both were out of town.
Members/officials present were as follows:
Ed Stewart - President of the Board
Don Miller - Secretary of the Board
Tom Jovanovich - Commissioner
Steve Pritchett - General Counsel
Bert Ross - Engineering Manager
Morgan Dennis - Director of Finance/Information Systems
As there was not yet a quorum, it was the consensus of Commissioners
Stewart and Miller to hear Citizens Comments at this time.
CITIZENS COMMENTS
Joanne Kaye, a District customer, was in the audience to discuss the
access to the Tank No. 3 site in the Coronado Park area along SW 349th
Place. The basis of the request was to ask the District to consider
fencing the entire area. A portion of the area has been fenced by the
City of Federal Way and the residents in the area would like to have the
rest fenced to help discourage the vandalism, etc. that is a constant
nuisance. A discussion followed and it was noted that District staff is
currently working on a proposal to purchase an area adjacent to the
District’s property from the City of Federal Way and then complete the
fencing project. Subsequent to the discussion, the Board thanked Ms.
Kaye for bringing her issue to the Board.
At this point of the meeting, Commissioner Jovanovich arrived and a
quorum was established.
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Jovanovich, the Board unanimously excused Commissioners
Mayer and Tweddle from the meeting as they were out of town. It was also
noted that Mr. Perry was not at the meeting and was out of town as well.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Commissioner Jovanovich, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the
July 28, 2005 Board meeting as submitted.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Jovanovich, the Board unanimously approved the
evening’s agenda as amended below:
- Add an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel
issues.
At that point, Mr. Ross requested that the Board address his staff
report prior to addressing the Information items, which was agreeable to
the Board.
CONSENT ITEMS
- Payroll, Payroll Taxes and Voucher Approval: Warrant dates of
8/5/05, 8/11/05, 8/12/05 and 8/15/05
- 2005-2008 Drinking Water Lab Services Contract
- Auburn Transfer Area – Customer Letter
Upon motion of Commissioner Jovanovich, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously approved the Consent
Items as presented.
ACTION ITEMS
#46, Lakota Beach Sewer Project – Review of Rebids: Mr. Ross
began the presentation by stating staff had received positive results on
the rebids for the construction contract that opened on August 4th. He
noted the summary statement in the agenda item included six options for
the Board to consider. Mr. Ross added that it was the consensus of staff
to recommend Option 4 – deferring a possible award of the construction
contract to the Board meeting of August 25th and in the interim, sending
an informational letter to residents in the area that would include a
proposed connection charge amount based upon the low bid. He went on to
state the letters would be sent out by August 19th. Mr. Ross added if
the Board approved this option it would take approximately one month to
get the notice to proceed with the project after a contract is awarded.
The contractor would then have 90 calendar days in which to complete the
work; Mr. Ross noted he felt the contractor could be done within 60
days. Ken Canfield, the District’s temporary engineer and current
Project Lead, pointed out that he has been working with the
archaeological consultant for this project; apparently the consultant
was contacted by a representative from the State Department of
Archaeology and Historic Preservation who indicated they wanted the
District to monitor private property for archaeological artifacts during
the grinder pump and side sewer excavation work on private property.
However, the District’s responsibility ends at the property line and
will be limited to the right-of-way line and easements dedicated to
Lakehaven. He added that the State would have to contact the City of
Federal Way to address this issue. Mr. Canfield stated he felt the
project would proceed as proposed. In response to the request from
Commissioner Stewart, Mr. Ross read Option 4 contained in the agenda
bill. At this point, Commissioner Stewart asked for public comments.
Mike Carlisle inquired as to any advantage of rushing into the
contract award at the August 25th meeting instead of the September 8th
meeting. He then asked why there seemed to be resistance from the
District to polling the neighborhood and added that once the upland area
was eliminated from the plan the area’s residents were not polled again.
Mr. Ross noted that since the last sewer survey, there had been a large
amount of input from residents on various occasions. A discussion then
followed concerning the history of the upland area; it was noted during
this discussion that the residents in this area have the opportunity to
further extend sewers whenever they chose. Also discussed was the
percentage of affirmative votes that were needed in order to move
forward with this project. Mr. Pritchett noted that this was not an
issue as this project was not a ULID. Mr. Carlisle went on to recommend
the Board repoll the property owners to determine the level of interest
in this project.
Elizabeth Kaup was the next person to address the Board. She stated
she felt it would be in the Board’s best interest to delay consideration
of this item until September and send out the postcards to determine the
current interest. Option 3 was then read; subsequent to this, the Board
considered the item.
Upon motion of Commissioner Jovanovich, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously approved Option 3,
scheduling award of the construction contract for the Lakota Beach Sewer
Project at the September 8th Board meeting and sending a letter and
return postcard to the property owners in this area by August 19th,
advising them of the current estimated project costs and how the
connection charges would be impacted; they would have approximately 15
days to return the postcards so staff could compile the results and
report them to the Board at that meeting.
A woman from the audience then inquired how the Board members would
be sure everyone got contacted as people are often out of town at this
time of year. Commissioner Jovanovich suggested that staff attempt to
contact those who don’t respond to the letter.
Steve Bly, a resident of this area, inquired if any cost information
had been developed for those who connect to the sewer after the initial
hookup. A discussion followed regarding this issue during which it was
noted that there were approximately nine parcels in the area that would
not be served as those property owners were not interested in sewers.
Mr. Bly expressed his displeasure with eliminating that area.
#47, Well 29 Concrete Detention Vault Purchase: Stan French,
the District’s Water Quality/Production Engineer, referred the Board to
the summary statement and bid opening document that were both provided
in the Board packets. He noted this was similar to purchases that had
been made for other sites. He indicated the estimate was a bit lower
than the bids that were submitted and the reason for this was discussed.
He added that staff had determined that the price submitted by the low
bidder was reasonable.
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was seconded by
Commissioner Jovanovich, the Board unanimously authorized the
General Manager to accept the purchase contract with Granite Precasting
in the amount of $33,446.55, including tax, for the manufacture and
delivery of a new concrete detention vault for the Well 29 Project.
#48, Iron and Manganese Filters Purchase for Well 17/17A/17B and
Wells 19/19A: Mr. French indicated that he would be presenting this
item in the absence of Mr. Bowman. He stated this proposal was the same
as the Board approved for the District’s other well sites. Staff is
recommending the ATEC pressure filter system for the removal of iron and
manganese at these well sites. ATEC filters have already been installed
at four other well sites and this system is relatively simple to
maintain and operate. Mr. French added that there is 100% removal, due
to these filters. He added that there had only been an 8% increase in
ATEC’s cost over the last 3 years.
Upon motion of Commissioner Jovanovich, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously authorized the General
Manager to purchase Iron and Manganese Filters for Wells 17/17A, 17B, 19
and 19A from ATEC System Inc. in the amount of $792,064.00, including
tax. By their same vote the Board also authorized staff to make
individual invoice payments related to this purchase without subsequent
Board approval in order to benefit from a 2% reduction in costs if
invoices are paid within 10 days.
At this point, Mr. Ross provided his staff report. He began by
stating that he had spoken to the owner of Waterway Outdoor Cleaning who
had attended the last Board meeting and had asked if she could use the
hydrant near Costco to fill the water trucks. Staff investigated her
request and determined that hydrants closer to the area that her company
cleans could be used to fill the trucks. He then spoke to the other
issue of the leased capacity charge and stated that staff was
recommending that charge remain in place. A discussion then followed
concerning options that might be allowable in cases such as this. During
the discussion, Commissioner Miller expressed an interest in modifying
this charge for hydrant permit holders who use relatively small
quantities of water. It was noted that this issue will be addressed
during the discussion about the Capital Facilities Charge. This is a
policy question that the Board will have to consider.
Mr. Ross next reported that property owners in the East Northlake
neighborhood requested information concerning sewer service extension
from a development that is being built nearby. He added that John Lee,
the District’s Project Engineer, had completed the design and developed
a project cost for installing sewers in this neighborhood, based on
requests from the property owners at a prior Board meeting. Mr. Ross
went on to suggest that a postcard poll of the neighborhood be
conducted, informing the residents of the approximate costs. This could
be accomplished prior to meeting with the community. During the
community meeting, the residents would have some preliminary information
for discussion and District staff could discuss the results of that
poll. Subsequent to this discussion, it was the consensus of the Board
to direct staff to send the information to the property owners in the
area to determine their interest in sewers.
INFORMATION ITEMS
#1, 2006 Lobbyist Services: Mr. Pritchett stated the District
has retained the services of Phil Watkins for lobbying services for the
last several years. He stated that this has required quite a bit of
coordination; however, many issues have been pursued by District staff
as well. He discussed several of the issues that had been addressed
during prior legislative sessions and what the outcome of those issues
had been. During the discussion Mr. Pritchett suggested the Board
consider if they want to consider renewing Mr. Watkins’ contract. He
also noted that while Mr. Watkins has done a superb job for the
District, he felt that there were no pressing issues coming before the
legislature that would be of prime interest to the District. He
reiterated the concern with the assumption bill, but noted other
agencies have taken the lead on that issue. Mr. Pritchett added the
Board might consider some kind of alternative contract that was less
intense; Mr. Watkins could serve as a coordinator on bills of interest.
During the discussion Mr. Pritchett noted he would be determining topics
for the next legislative agenda. Commissioner Jovanovich suggested the
legislative agenda could dictate whether or not the Board wished to
retain the services of Mr. Watkins for the next year.
Information Item #2, Well 33 Development – CIP Amendment: Mr.
French stated that he was presenting this item in the absence of Mr.
Bowman and noted this agenda item proposed an amendment to the CIP for
the development of Well 33. He went on to review the summary statement
that was included in the agenda item. It was noted that Robinson and
Noble, the hydro geological firm retained by the District, reported the
District may be able to attain an additional 1,200 gpm without affecting
the Federal Way Deep Aquifer. After researching several sites, it has
been suggested that the location to the west of Lakehaven Center is one
of the most likely sites. He reviewed the estimated project costs and
added that if this project is not pursued at this time, the District
would likely lose the opportunity to fully develop the Federal Way Deep
Aquifer. At the conclusion of the presentation, Mr. French indicated
that staff wanted the Board to be aware of this and added they would be
recommending that the Board amend the CIP budget to add this item. The
Board thanked Mr. French for the presentation.
STAFF REPORTS
GENERAL COUNSEL: Mr. Pritchett reported that he would be
out of the office beginning the next day and all of the next week.
He then reported that the District’s insurance carrier had submitted
a proposal for full value coverage against terrorism. He explained
what the current limit was, as well as what the additional costs
would be. He next referred to the letter that will be sent to
customers living in the Auburn transfer area. The letter spoke about
a different rate for water and Mr. Pritchett stated that the
District’s rate resolution will have to be amended to reflect the
water rate for those customers.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting
was adjourned at approximately 7:15 p.m. |
