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LAKEHAVEN UTILITY DISTRICT
King County, Washington
REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING
September 8, 2005
A regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Lakehaven
Utility District, King County, Washington, was held on September 8, 2005
at the Lakehaven Center, 31531 First Avenue South, Federal Way,
Washington, 98003.
President Stewart opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. and asked
Commissioner Tweddle to lead the flag salute. Members/officials present
were as follows:
Ed Stewart - President of the Board
Beverly Tweddle - Vice President of the Board
Don Miller - Secretary of the Board
Tom Jovanovich - Commissioner
Don Perry - General Manager
Steve Pritchett - General Counsel
Bert Ross - Engineering Manager
Morgan Dennis - Director of Finance/Information System
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Tweddle, the Board unanimously excused Commissioner Mayer
from the meeting as he was out of town.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Commissioner Jovanovich, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously approved the minutes
of the August 25, 2005 Board meeting as submitted.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion of Commissioner Tweddle, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Jovanovich, the Board unanimously approved the
evening’s agenda as submitted.
CITIZENS COMMENTS
Commissioner Stewart asked for comments from the public on topics
other than the Lakota Beach Sewer project. Edith Lemieux, the District’s
Tech. III/Accounting Coordinator, asked the Board to consider allowing
employees to buy back a portion of their vacation accrual to be donated
to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. Mr. Pritchett suggested that this
topic be addressed by the Personnel Committee. Commissioner Miller
thanked Ms. Lemieux for her suggestion.
CORRESPONDENCE
Commissioner Tweddle mentioned some correspondence the Board received
from Mr. and Mrs. Charles Larson from the Lakota Beach area who were
unable to attend the meeting. In addition, the Board also received a
letter from Patty Hines; both letters were in support of the Lakota
Beach Sewer Project moving forward. Commissioner Miller also mentioned a
letter the Board had recently received with multiple signatures that
were in support of the project.
CONSENT ITEMS
- Accounts Payable Vouchers and Payroll Transactions Approval:
Warrant dates of 8/31/05 and 9/9/05.
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Jovanovich, the Board unanimously approved the
Consent Item as presented.
ACTION ITEMS
#59, Lakota Beach Sewer Project – Sewer Survey Results and
Construction Bids: Mr. Ross reviewed that during the meeting of
August 11, 2005, the Board had directed staff to conduct a survey to the
owners of property deemed benefited by the project, which was completed.
He added that 76% of the surveys that were sent out had been mailed back
to the District. In addition, over 50% of the responses had expressed
support of the project. Mr. Ross then introduced Ken Canfield, the
District’s Temporary Engineer and project manager for this project, to
explain the project in more detail. Mr. Canfield began by announcing
that the apparent low bidder was Wiseman Utilities, Inc. and added that
the contractor was prepared to move forward and that references were
good. He went on to explain some of the details of the project.
Subsequent to this discussion, Commissioner Stewart opened the meeting
up for public comment. Those comments are as follows:
Carole Sobatka, 30213 33rd Avenue SW. Mrs. Sobatka congratulated
the Board for making the decision and added that this area has been
in need of sewers for a very long time.
Barbara Bradshaw, 30205 33rd Avenue SW. She stated the residents
in the area had been working on this project for a long time; they
not only wanted sewers – they needed them.
Nichole England. She stated it has been a dream for her to be
able to build her home in the Lakota Beach area and added the Board
has provided the hope for that.
Steve Fly, 2847 SW 302nd Place. Mr. Fly stated he would like to
see some type of information be provided to those who chose not to
connect to the new sewer system at this time. He went on to explain
that he would like to have some idea as to the costs for those who
decide to connect to the sewer system at some time in the future.
Mr. Perry addressed his issues and answered his questions. He added
the property owner had the ability to pay the “fair share” cost of
the system up-front, even if not immediately connecting, which would
avoid paying interest. Mr. Perry also stated that the Capital
Facilities Charges vary from year to year, depending on the Capital
Improvement Programs. The conversation continued for a time as Mr.
Fly had additional questions. Mr. Perry stated he felt that a
notification letter to all property owners would be useful as there
are probably others who have the same issues. Subsequent to the
discussion, the Board considered this item.
Upon motion of Commissioner Tweddle, which was duly seconded by
Commissioner Miller, the Board unanimously awarded the
construction contract to the low re-bidder, Wiseman Utilities, Inc., in
the amount of $271,834.62 for the Lakota Beach Sanitary Sewer Pressure
System project and authorized the General Manager to execute the
contract on behalf of the District. Mr. Perry noted that he had spoken
to Commissioner Mayer who had indicated that he was also in favor of
approving the contract. The Board thanked the property owners and
District staff for the hard work they put into this project.
#60, 2005 – 2008 Liquid Chlorine Purchase Contract: Stan
French, the District’s Water Quality/Production Engineer, began by
stating that requests for bids were solicited from vendors that provide
liquid chlorine and JCI Jones Chemicals had submitted the lowest bid.
Mr. French added that the 5% bid bond that was submitted was $151 lower
than it should have been. He added that the District has used this
vendor for a number of years and he has been satisfied with the product
they supply. He noted he was recommending this vendor and would ask that
the Board consider approving the recommendation and waiving the bid bond
error as a minor informality.
Upon motion of Commissioner Miller, which was seconded by
Commissioner Tweddle, the Board, waiving the bid bond error as a minor
informality, approved the 2005-2008 Liquid Chlorine Purchase
Contract submitted by JCI Jones Chemicals, Inc., in the amount of
$63,022.40, including sales tax, and authorized the General
Manager to execute the contract on behalf of the District.
INFORMATION ITEMS
#1, Lloyd Development Property – Sewer Service: Mr. Pritchett
stated the intent of this information item was to provide the Board with
an overview of the status of this issue. He stated a dispute continues
with Pierce County Utilities as to which agency would have jurisdiction
to provide sewer service to the proposed development. He noted that
during the last meeting that was held with the attorney for Lloyd’s and
the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney, the County appeared to be in
agreement that Lakehaven would provide sewer service to the development
in question. I was contemplated that Lakehaven would also serve the
entire drainage basin in that area. Mr. Perry then met with engineers
from the County and was told that they never intended to allow Lakehaven
to provide sewer service to this area. The discussion continued for a
time; subsequent to the discussion, it was determined that this item be
brought to the Board at the next regularly scheduled meeting for further
discussion. Mr. Pritchett noted that the Board should consider whether
or not they want to pursue this issue as Pierce County seemed to be firm
with the decision that was made.
#2, 2006 Budget Workshop: Mr. Dennis began the presentation by
stating the discussion at this meeting would include an overview of the
process to set the stage for future discussions. He noted the project
timeline included three discussions with approval being scheduled for
November. He stated he had been working with staff from Financial
Consulting Solutions Group (FCSG); Ed Cebron had met with staff a few
weeks ago to discuss the rate methodology and the Capital Facilities
Charges (CFC) model. A presentation from Mr. Cebron was being scheduled
for October at which time he would be discussing issues relating to
these two items. Mr. Dennis went on to explain the five components that
are addressed and modified every budget season. He stated that staffing
levels feed into the Operations and Maintenance Budget. In addition, the
Capital Improvement Projects and the Capital Facilities Charges change
each year as well. After these four components have been addressed and
modified, the last thing that is calculated is the rates. Mr. Dennis
then moved forward and briefly discussed each component. He reported
that while staffing levels remained at 103 full time equivalents, based
on prior direction from the Board, a number of vacancies exist in both
Operations and Administration. Mr. Dennis next explained the different
items that are included in revenues and expenditures that make up the
budget. He stated it was his wish to change the way the budget document
looks and move towards budgeting a set amount to be spent on Capital
Projects each year and provide a reserve fund for that amount. A review
of the CFC’s was then conducted. It was noted that this item would be
further reviewed by Mr. Cebron. Lastly, Mr. Dennis discussed the
customer rate calculations. The calculation is divided into four types
of customers and four types of costs. He briefly reviewed all of these
and what these costs were based on.
Subsequent to the budget discussion, Commissioner Tweddle stated she
had spoken to a representative of the local Federal Way National Little
League baseball facility who had apparently been discussing CFC’s with
District staff. This person indicated that the League was waiting for
some type of response from the District before pursuing completion of
the facility. A brief discussion followed and Mr. Perry indicated he
would direct staff to pursue this issue.
The next Information Item was a tour of District water and sewer
facilities. It was the consensus of the Board to hear Staff Reports
prior to adjourning for the tour.
STAFF REPORTS
GENERAL COUNSEL: Mr. Pritchett reported that someone had
expressed an interest in purchasing the surplus parcel adjacent to
the 16th Avenue Tank Site property. He went on to explain the
persons’ interest in the property and the amount that is being
offered. A discussion followed as to the best way to proceed.
Subsequent to the discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to
place this item on the next regularly schedule Board meeting agenda
for further discussion. Mr. Pritchett next referred to the current
leases with Cingular Wireless and added they were attempting to
negotiate a fourth lease. He went on to discuss the proposals being
made to reduce rent in exchange for “rent guarantees”. Subsequent to
this discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to remain status
quo and not agree to rent reductions. Mr. Pritchett next reported he
would be attending a conference on October 13th and would miss the
Board meeting scheduled for that date. Lastly, he noted that he
hoped the Personnel Committee would consider Ms. Lemieux’s request
earlier in the evening for staff wishing to donate money
representing a day of vacation leave to aid the victims of Hurricane
Katrina.
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS: Mr. Dennis
reported that the State Auditors had arrived to audit the 2004
financial statements. He added he would be scheduling an Entrance
Conference soon and invited any Board member wishing to attend to
contact him. He added that if multiple Board members wished to
attend, he would be glad to schedule more than one Entrance
Conference.
ENGINEERING MANAGER: Mr. Ross reported that the North
Beach Line project was now in the second phase and added it was on
schedule. He then reported he received some information from Steve
Edmiston, who resided in the affected area and was unhappy with the
project. Consequently, some of the other residents in the area have
also expressed concern with the project. Mr. Ross went on to explain
the concerns that have been expressed by Mr. Edmiston, which
prompted a discussion of this issue. It was noted during the
discussion that it is very important that all the residents in an
area where work will be performed be informed prior to the work
beginning and during the process as well. Mr. Ross indicated that
staff had been meeting with the consultant for this project and they
are aware of the issues. He added that Mr. Edmiston had requested,
and received, a fairly large packet of information and added staff
would offer to meet with him after he has had time to review the
information he received.
GENERAL MANAGER: Mr. Perry stated the North Beach Line
project was on schedule to be completed in two weeks. He added that
the contractor replaced the pipe with new pipe, due to corrosion of
the existing pipe.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Board, the Board
and staff departed for a tour of District facilities. The tour concluded
and the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:20 p.m. |
