Commissioner's
Corner
Tom
Jovanovich
As this edition of the Newsletter reaches you, I will
no longer be a member of the Lakehaven Board of Commissioners. My
resignation from the Board was necessitated by the move I made at the end of
August to be closer to my work in Seattle.
Leaving the Board was a difficult decision. I have
enjoyed the opportunity to serve on this Board over these past eight and a
half years immensely. When I first ran for the Board in 1997, I was only
vaguely familiar with the District and its operations. Like many of you, I
knew I paid my water and sewer bill to Lakehaven, but little else about the
utility and the sewer and water systems it operates. Over the years of
service on the Board, I have come to recognize it as a remarkable public
agency, with a capable staff and a board firmly dedicated to the interests
of the ratepayers. This commitment, reflected in the low rates, plentiful
water supply and state of the art water and sewer infrastructure, should
make you all proud to be customers.
Much has happened at the District over my tenure on
the Board. The largest project completed during this time has been the
Second Supply Project. This project, the planning for which began long
before I was elected to the Board, will bring water to serve the growing
needs of our customers for many decades to come. When the long-planned
aquifer storage components of the OASIS program are implemented, hopefully
within the upcoming decade, the District will become a significant water
resource for the region as well. Contributions to this supply system from
neighboring water purveyors should do much to help to keep water rates at
the low levels the District customers have grown to expect.
One of my special interests while on the Board has
been the Lakota Sludge Dryer project. As you know from prior reports about
the project, the sludge dryer will convert bio-solids produced at the two
treatment plants into usable compost for yard and garden application.
Currently, the bio-solids are transported, at substantial cost to the
District, to commercial sites permitted to receive land application of the
raw material. The compost rendered through the process will be a very useful
product for our local gardeners and I am happy to see that it will be
available before too long.
I want to thank the other members of the Board for
their service to the ratepayers. With their guidance and the support of the
staff, I believe that the District will continue to be a model for effective
local government for many years to come.
Farewell and thank you for your support of the
District.
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HYDRANT USE IS RESTRICTED
Display Board |
Placard
|
In order to protect your water supply,
the use of fire hydrants is restricted. Only representatives of the District
and the local Fire District are approved to use fire hydrants without a
hydrant permit. Because unauthorized users can degrade water quality, cause
physical damage to the water system and nearby property and leak large
volumes of water, all other uses require a valid hydrant use permit.
If Lakehaven has issued a fire hydrant
permit, the user must visually exhibit a Lakehaven issued display board or
placard when connecting to a fire hydrant. If you see what appears to be the
unauthorized use of a hydrant, please contact the District immediately. The
District takes reports of unauthorized hydrant use seriously. Protecting the
water system is everyone’s responsibility and we appreciate your help.
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2005 WATER QUALITY REPORT SPELLING
ERRORS!!!!
Lakehaven Utility District learned that a number of spelling
errors were identified in our 2005 Annual Water Quality Report recently
mailed to our water customers in June. The spelling errors were generated by
the printing firm after Lakehaven submitted a staff approved and error free
copy for printing purposes. The District apologizes for the spelling errors
and customers may view an original error free copy on our web site at
www.lakehaven.org.
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2005 OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARDS
 |
|
Left to Right:
Ron McCoy, Melanie
May, Jon Hays, Rich
Fujimoto, Jim
Fleming, Pam Schumacher,
Mike Ming, Barb
McCoy |
The District’s two wastewater treatment plants, Lakota and
Redondo, have recently been recognized with awards from the Washington State
Department of Ecology (DOE) and the National Association of Clean Water
Agencies (NACWA).
DOE has awarded both plants the 2005 Outstanding Performance
Award. This award is for 100% compliance with all NPDES permit requirements
for the treatment of the District’s wastewater. This encompasses 365 days of
continuous operation without violation of an extensive list of water quality
requirements, the submittal of all reports and testing results on time every
time, and testing of thousands of wastewater samples. Of some 300 wastewater
treatment plants in the state, only 46 received these awards. In the award
letters DOE states the following; “Ecology is impressed by the extraordinary
level of effort you and your team demonstrated throughout 2005.” Ecology
staff presented the awards to the District at the August 10, 2006 Board
meeting.
NACWA has awarded our Redondo treatment plant with its 2005
Peak Performance Gold Award for year long permit compliance. This is the
fourth year in a row that Redondo has achieved this award.
NACWA has also presented our Lakota treatment plant with the
2005 Peak Performance Platinum Award for five consecutive years of 100%
permit compliance. This national award was presented to only sixteen
wastewater treatment plants in 2005, out of the thousands of treatment
facilities in the U.S.
The District is very proud to have the staff of operators,
maintenance technicians, and laboratory specialists employed at our
facilities. Awards of this caliber are a reflection on their dedication,
commitment to performance, and team work. Congratulations to all the staff!
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NEW COMMISSIONER – RON NOWICKI
 Ron
Nowicki was sworn in at the July 13th meeting of the Lakehaven Utility
District Board of Commissioners to fill the seat vacated by the departure of
Dick Mayer. Mayer, a Lakehaven Commissioner since 1994, resigned in May of
this year to relocate out of the area.
Mr. Nowicki, an electrical and
mechanical engineer, brings a background of experience in the field of
environmental engineering. He and his family have lived in Federal Way since
1980. Nowicki has previously served on advisory committees for the City of
Federal Way, the Federal Way School District and Lakehaven. On his
appointment, Ron notes “I have been interested in opportunities to be more
involved in community service for a number of years. As both a commercial
and residential customer of the District, I have long admired the way
Lakehaven has been able to combine excellent service with low rates. Now
that I have been provided the chance to serve on the Board, I look forward
to helping the District continue this tradition of service.”
Board President Bev Tweddle
believes that “Ron has a strong knowledge of the engineering and utility
rate-setting fields and has the added familiarity with customer service that
comes from being a small business owner in the community. The combination of
these skills and experiences will be of great benefit to our ratepayers and
we are pleased that he was interested in service to the District.”
Commissioner Ed Stewart, also an engineer and an appointee to the Board in
1999, considers Nowicki “a good fit on the Board and very well qualified to
do the job”.
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KIDS’ CORNER
Graphic of the water cycle process:
Clouds-Rain/Snow-Groundwater-Bedrock-Vapor-Sun.
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TIPS TO SAVE & CONSERVE WATER
- Install covers on pools and spas.
- Plant in the fall when conditions are cooler
and rainfall is more plentiful.
- Turn off faucets tightly after each use.
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WATER
CONSERVATION ACTIVITY
- City of Federal Way Festival Days: August 25-27, 2006 at The
Commons.
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Your Board of
Commissioners
Beverly J. Tweddle - President
Don Miller -
Vice President
Vacant -
Secretary
Ron Nowicki - Commissioner
Ed Stewart -
Commissioner
Regular Board of Commissioners meetings are held
the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month.
These meetings are held at the Lakehaven Center at:
Lakehaven Center
31531 First Ave. S.
Federal Way at 6 p.m. |
