Members Present: The following Directors were present and acting:
- Ron Krall, President
- Gary Osteen, Vice President
- Ash Lesniak
- Brock Knez
Administrator:
- Ellen Dalton
Guest:
- Mary Andre – CDC
- Tammy Lake – CDC
District Manager
- Jodi Lightfoot
Call to Order: The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of Timbers Water & Sanitation District was called to order by President Ron Krall on January 11, 2016 at 5:40pm, noting a quorum was present.
Minutes: The Board reviewed the Regular Meeting minutes of the December 14, 2015 meeting. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to approve the meeting minutes.
Financials: The December 2015 Financial Statements were reviewed. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimous, it was
RESOLVED to approve the financials.
Ellen said she will send the financials to Auditor Chris Catterson so he can determine if an audit will be required or if TWSD can qualify for an exemption. Ellen noted that the State has raised the amount requiring an audit from $500,000 to $750,000.
Invoices: Invoices for December 2015 were reviewed. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to approve payment of the open invoices.
Accounts in arrears: Jodi Lightfoot will review list of delinquent accounts and compose a letter for Ellen to send with current statements. Jodi will also set up a meeting with Melinda Sherman regarding the most delinquent account and to review unpaid liens on properties that have sold.
Old Business:
District Manager: Jodi Lightfoot provided a Letter of Resignation from the TWSD Board, effective resignation as of January 1, 2016.
Open Position on the Timbers Water and Sanitation Board of Directors:
It was agreed to post the open Board Member position in the paper and on the web site. Ron asked Jodi to work with Ellen on collecting email addresses for Timbers residents and to review the state statue for board member requirements.
Sanitation Wastewater Treatment Plant:
Tammy, from CDC, has been reviewing all the options including locations for the treatment plant, and has made an effort to reduce the options. Ash Lesniak asked Tammy and Mary if they felt they had enough data to determine the best option if the collection system was sealed to I&I. Tammy responded stating they had sufficient date and calculated, rounding up to be 15,000gl/day with no I&I. Mary said CDC doesn’t have enough data to design and sewer treatment system if the collection system is not replaced.
Based on Tammy’s research and cost calculations, her initial finding indicate there is no cost advantage to moving the sewer treatment plant to the upper site and the overall costs of moving the plant appear to be higher. Mary said they would calculate the lifecycle costs of both locations to see if the long term costs change the initial calculations.
Tammy presented two options, replacing the collection system with new gravity feed pipe, or replacing the gravity fees system with a low pressure system.
Low pressure system will reduce the I&I resulting in lower costs to treat and lower cost to install. Initial plan would require 30 pump stations; included would be one pump station at each house. Stonebridge development is currently using the Eone pump system and is centrally managed. An alarm system alerts the management company in the event of malfunction. The managing company is required to maintain a certain number of spares for emergencies.
One advantage to the low pressure system is that the system is sealed eliminating I&I. This allows the treatment plant to be designed for lower flow reducing the size of the plant. The pipe is 2” reducing the cost of excavation.
The estimated instillation cost to replace the gravity flow collection system is higher. The size of the pipe is larger requiring more extensive excavation and I&I, though it would be reduced significantly to near zero initially by replacing the gravity system in-kind; the design would need to include allowance for I&I to increase over time.
CDC estimates the flow for each system as:
Gravity @25,000gal/day, Construction cost ranging $2.6-3million
Low pressure @15,000 gal/day, Construction cost ranging $2.2-2.5million
Ash asked Tammy if the long term maintenance cost would be lower with the gravity feed system? Tammy explained that gravity collection systems have joints are every 13’. These joints which will eventually fail and only way to locate the issue is by videoing the line. Brock asked about lifespan of both systems. Tammy said low pressure systems have been in use for 40 years.
Ron requested CDC present a more comprehensive cost analysis for each option at the February meeting. The analysis needs to include reserves required for future replacement.
Ron suggested waiting for the decision from the small communities grant to decide on the 2018 vs. 2017 construction timeline. Tammy suggested the option of replacing the collection system in 2017 and construction of the waste water treatment plant in 2018 providing a more realistic timeline. Mary said TWSD will need to inform the state of any delays.
Ron instructed CDC to continue with the PNA asking Mary for the cost estimate to complete. Mary said if TWSD decides to install a low pressure system, a community meeting should be held prior to submitting the PNA.
Income survey: Jodi talked to Barry Cress from DOLA regarding the impending Income Survey. Barry informed Jodi that the Income Survey Guidelines were being revised and to wait for the revisions before starting the survey.
CDPHE Pre-App meeting review:
Attendees at the meeting were Mary Andre, Tammy Lake, Ron Krall, Gary Osteen, and Jodi Lightfoot. Mary reported that she felt the meeting was very productive. Tawnya Reitz, from the State, sent a list of additional financial options. One of the main concerns discussed was the construction timeline. Tawnya felt the proposed schedule was too tight and could not be implemented. She suggested TWSD work with CDPHE to delay construction until 2018 rather than 2017. This would allow TWSD more time to complete each step. Tawnya also suggested applying for USDA funding, explaining how state funding groups and USDA funding work better together then they did in the past. Available options could optimize the loan/grant options and could consolidate efforts.
Ron said his take from the meeting was that Tawnya is very much acting as an advocate for TWSD and was very understanding of the Timber’s financial burden.
Timbers Funding Model:
Tammy Lake distributed a graph showing the target schedule for financing and construction for the Waste Water Sanitation Treatment Plant. Mary gave a brief overview of the schedule suggesting tackling each funding project separately. If TWSD is not awarded the small community grant, additional grant funding will not be known for a couple months pushing the target schedule back. Ash asked how much leniency TWSD can expect from the state if TWSD keeps delaying the construction date. Mary said Tawnya Reitz had talked to Randy Ogg, from the State, regarding the timing and funding concerns. She said there is a temporary permit that TWSD can apply for that would require monitoring similar to a discharge permit. It would protect both CDPHE and the Timbers.
Ash mentioned he would like to see cost estimates for each of the steps on the schedule. Tammy agreed. This would allow TWSD to line up the financing and timing per project.
Sediment in water line:
Ron gave an overview of an issue with homeowner Spooners, living at the end of the distribution line for the water. Ron explained that the Spooners are not at the house often leaving the water stagnant in the line for long periods of time. The Spooners have had problems with their boiler pressure relief valve failing and leaking. Peak Mechanical found sediment in the valve and suggested the sediment could be the cause of the failure. Peak returned a second time after TWSD had flushed the line, and the valve had been replaced. Peak Mechanical found a pinhole in the boiler saying the pinhole was caused due to the pressure relief valve not functioning properly. Tim Gibbons said currently, the line to the Spooner’s house is flushed approximately every 3 months. Tim also said the water leaving the plant has low turbidity. Mary will calculate the water pressure at the Spooner’s house; she said the pressure would not be 90, closer to 40. Mary will request water testing to confirm there isn’t a problem with the water.
Outstanding Issues:
Mary said she had been talking to Tim Gibbons regarding the water testing. She said they are going to conduct water testing prior to the February meeting. Testing will include
1) Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) of raw well water
2) Fe, Mn and orthophosphate (PO4) at entrance to distribution system for treated well water at WTF
3) Fe, Mn and PO4 at three points in distribution system (Jodi’s house, water tank, and the end of Timbers Preserve waterline)
4) Measure total suspended solids (TSS) at fire hydrant at end of Timbers Preserve waterline near beginning of fire hydrant flush and at end of fire hydrant flush
New Business:
Pond Overtopping:
Jodi met with John Fitzgerald at the Waste Water Treatment pond to investigate a report of overtopping. Jodi scheduled an appointment with Action Drain to come clear the pipe between the 2 ponds resolving the issue. John submitted a report to the state.
Web Site: The Timbers website needs to be updated including change district manager contact info, meeting minutes, financials and agendas
With business concluded and upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to adjourn the Regular Meeting the Timbers Water & Sanitation District and Board of Directors at 7:50p.m., this 11th day of January, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
Jodi Lightfoot
District Manager
Timbers Water and Sanitation District