Board Meeting Minutes September 10, 2020
North Fork Special Service District
Monthly Board Meeting
September 10, 2020 @ 6:00 p.m.
This meeting was held remotely through the ZOOM application
Any members of the public that wanted to join the public portion of the meeting were asked to email a request for invite to the District Clerk at admin@nfssd.org or call 801.225.7263 or 801.404.4734 prior to the meeting in 3 separate public posts.
Closed Executive Session
Board members present:
Dr. Stephen Minton- Chairman, Stewart Olsen-Vice Chair, Scott Hart, Duaine Dorton, Thomas Merrill, Gary Liddiard, Bert Thomas
Staff members present:
Stephen Miche-Public Works Director, Emily Johnson-District Clerk, Ryan Taylor-TO Engineering
At 6:13 p.m. Dr. Stephen Minton-Chairman brought the meeting to order. Duaine Dorton moved to enter into closed executive session to discuss District legal matters, Thomas Merrill seconded, all aye. Closed session commenced.
At 7:09 p.m. Stewart Olsen motioned to end the closed executive session and reconvene in open session. Thomas Merrill seconded, all aye.
Monthly Meeting of the Board of Officers
Board members present:
Dr. Stephen Minton- Chairman, Stewart Olsen-Vice Chair, Scott Hart, Duaine Dorton, Thomas Merrill, Gary Liddiard, Bert Thomas
Staff members present:
Stephen Miche-Public Works Director, Aubree Durrant-Public Works, Emily Johnson-District Clerk, Ryan Taylor-TO Engineering, David Marsella-Fire Chief, Joseph Martin-Controller
Public Present:
Chris Storbeck, Kurt Berge, Kevin Freiberg, Keith Payne, Rick Jordan
Proceedings:
At 7:10 p.m. open session began including introductions from the public.
Public Comments
– None
Informational Items
#1 Fire/EMS Reports
– Fire Chief David Marsella presented. He reported the Wildland Crew is on the Slink Fire in California which is approximately 30,000 to 40,000 acres. Chief Marsella reported he has been serving on the Williams Wildland Fire in Utah County for the past 3 days.
Chief Marsella and Ryan Taylor-Engineer had a meeting regarding a deteriorating sliding/moving wall near the fires station. The have decided to move some of the blocks on the retaining wall to the bottom of the wall where it seems to be moving. This will be a temporary fix for the winter until a permanent structure can be planned an put in place.
The fire department has a HAZMAT class starting at the Station and a technical ropes class and Firefighter 1 class that will be starting in the next few weeks. This will be paid through the FEMA grant reimbursement.
Chief Hart has been assisting as staff is short due to hurricane and wildfire deployments as well as illnesses. The canyon is very dry, and we are expecting wind next week so there is concerns for fire hazards.
Wildland billings are expected to be NET $125,000 gross YTD. Discussions of California, Oregon and Utah wildfires and the North Fork wildland crew commenced.
#2 District Clerk Information
– Emily Johnson-District Clerk presented. Emily discussed the website NFSSD.org and social media postings being used to keep the public informed including meeting minutes. Caselle had an update which has caused issues with the report modules. August accounts have been reconciled. Emily gave a reminder to the public that sales or purchases of property need to be reported to the District so services may be transferred.
Emily reported that Mandan HOA is paid in full at this time.
It was announced that three vacancies will be opening for the North Fork Special Service in January 2020. Any persons who may be interested may forward their application to the District Clerk or to the County Commissioners office.
#3 Financial Information
– Joe Martin-Controller presented. The July 2020 District financials were submitted to the Board to review prior to the meeting. Charts representing District revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities were viewed. Joe recommended we adjust the 2020 budget and adopt a proposed budget for 2021 in October.
#4 Water/Wastewater Report
– Aubree Durrant-Public Works presented. Aubree reported the District is using less water than prior years. July is typically is the high usage month, but it was in August this year and is contributed to residential use. There is a possible leak that is possibly due to a faulty meter, residential.
Aubree discussed the issue of individual metering for The Pines Units. Not all owners were willing to sign a contract with the District to be individually metered opposed to being metered and billed as one entity through their HOA. The Pines are now in a position that contracts may be obtained. She is hopeful this will be an action item to be approved by the Board next month, it has been an issue for many years now.
Aubree presented a picture, after being approached by a property owner (Davidson’s property) to extend a 150-foot line so a meter could be placed on their property. This would be 8” line and construction bided at over $27,000. The recommendation of the Public Works department is to not take on this project. Utah law for prescriptive easement is 20 years. If the property owner would like this construction to be done, it would be at the cost of the customer. This would be an upgrade to the customers individual services and not a need of the District. The customer was advised to bring his case before the Board. Aubree discussed the importance of a hydrant in this area.
Stephen Miche reported on the bid and investigation that was requested by the Board from the road intersecting with Timphaven and Meadows Drive last month. TEC bided $5,000 per spot. Originally there was one spot of concern for the Timphaven HOA, the HOA president was asked to mark the spot they are concerned with, he marked two separate areas. This would be a total of $10,000. Stephen shared view of a video of the area demonstrating the areas marked and the depression in the road and the District vehicle driving on marked area. Stephen explained that the survey marker is the larger issue and not a responsibility of the District. The second marked area was also show by video he referred to as a dip that connects to a drain for the purpose of keeping water from the roads.
#5 DRAFT Wastewater Master Plan and Cost of Service Analysis
Stephen reported that a large majority of his time has been spend on the wastewater contract. A committee is being formed to work on a cost of service analysis. A copy of the Wastewater Master Pan and Cost of Service Analysis that is being drafted was submitted to the Board prior to this meeting. The intent is to memorialize and document some of the institutional knowledge through the testing and evaluations that have taken place regarding the wastewater system. Duaine Dorton asked who the committee was comprised of. Stephen stated Stewart Olsen and Chris Storbeck. Duaine suggested that a member of Sundance be included in the committee (Bryan Kindred and Justin Sorenson), Stephen stated that he invites anyone who would like to offer input, suggestions or help with the analysis to contact him. Stephen will reach out to Bryan and Justin.
Other information:
None
Action Items
#1 Approval of August 2020 Board Meeting Minutes
Gary Liddiard motioned to accept the August 2020 Board Meeting Minutes as written, Duaine Dorton seconded. All aye motioned passed.
#2 Water Overages
Keith Payne presented to the Board the idea that anyone that has more than one property in the District that is paying for water fees, be allowed to exceed each of the 8,000 allotted gallons collectively before being charged overages for residential water users. Discussions of commercial water use was discussed. Chris Storbeck-Community Water Committee Chair explained the water rate schedule and the study behind it including usage and access fees. Stephen Miche explained that the District has limited water resources and that discounting water for excessive use is not beneficial to the District. Duaine Dorton stated this should be something that is discussed during the rate study and among the community water committee. Stephen explained cost of services to convey clean water and the infrastructure of the District and water availability. Matter tabled until cost of service analysis and water committee has time to review the issue.
#3 Will Serve Letter for Michael Bingham Property
Michael Bingham was not present for the meeting. Matter tabled until Public Works director has time to review the constructions plans to verify terms of the Moratorium Addendum are met. After that time if criteria is met, Public Works Director may approve a will serve letter.
#4 Sundance Wastewater Conditional Discharge Permit
Dr. Minton provided an overview on the wastewater discharge permit. A committee has been formed and is working with Sundance Resort. Discussions are taking place, Gary Liddiard asked that this matter be tabled until the District receives a response from Sundance Resort regarding the agreement that was submitted to them by the District. Duaine Dorton stated that a grease trap has been ordered and should arrive within the next couple of weeks. The deadline for placing the grease trap is November 1, 2020. Agreement conditions were reviewed. Gary Liddiard motioned for the Board to sign the contract “2020 Pretreatment Compliance Agreement between North Fork Special Service District Sundance Partners, LLC” as reviewed in the closed executive session tonight. Thomas Merrill seconded, Duaine Dorton recused himself. All others aye, no opposed. Motion passed.
#5 Water Overages
Customer Rick Jordan is asking for overages on fixed water leak be credited after fix after thousands of gallons of water was leaking over many months. The customer was contacted but was not available. Photos were presented from Public Works of the broken pipe that the customer is claiming was damaged by snowplows. The leak began in January 2020 and was fixed in April 2020. March water overages should be refunded 50% due to fix.
#6 Fire Flow Standard
Stephen Miche stated that in 2015 a study was done on the fire flow standard. The District must maintain a 20-psi residual in the water system while maintaining fire flow for 2 hours. According to the updated water module we are able to sustain 1,000 gallons per minute in a majority of the system. For commercial structures, Stephen is proposing that the District keeps the fire flow requirement of 1,500 per min and residential users 1,000 per minute. The majority of the structures fall into the 1,000-requirement range. Increasing water supply is a focus for the District. Stewart Olsen asked what the fire flow standard would do to fire insurance. Chief Marsella stated he will investigate this; he also expressed that accurate information is important and should be reflected for planning for possible fires. Urban interface insurance was briefly discussed. Matter tabled until further information can be obtained.
#7 Increase Wastewater Rates
The current rate of wastewater is $62.96 per RTE and there are 666 RTE’s. Due to costs over the years and no rate changes including North Point’s dumping fee raising 62%. Discussions of the bond payments and a need for a capital fund ensued. Stephen stated staffing is burdened by budget restrictions. Stephen is asking that a public hearing take place to review this information and as raise rates to meet current wastewater commitments, a cost of service analysis will be prepared prior to the hearing. Duaine expressed concern that the data provided as backup to rate increase was not complete or accurate and questioned whether this would be ready to present for public hearing next month. Duaine asked that Brian Kindred and Justin Sorenson be included in the wastewater analysis. A motion to hold a wastewater rate hearing October 8, 2020 by Thomas Merrill, Gary Liddiard seconded, Stewart Olsen abstained. All aye, no opposed. Motion passed.
Motion to closed the September 2020 Monthly Meeting of the Board was made by Stewart Olsen, Duaine Dorton seconded, all aye no opposed. Meeting closed at 9:36 p.m.
- Minutes noted and recorded by Emily Johnson-District Clerk.