CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Charles Miller called the August Regular Board Meeting of the Hermiston Irrigation District Board of Directors (BOD) to order at 4:03 p.m. The meeting was held in the District office building. Also present at the meeting were Board Members Mike Bergstrom, Craig Coleman & Wes Locke; District Manager, Chuck Wilcox; Secretary, Annette Rambel; Field Manager, Ricky Hlawek; Leadman, Jeff Eicher; patron, Orlin Kloepper; patron, Jackie Kalberer; and patron Marlene Merritt.

MINUTES: The Board reviewed the minutes of the July 17, 2008, Regular Board Meeting. Director Bergstrom moved to approve the minutes as presented. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS & VOUCHERS: The Board reviewed the Profit & Loss Report for July 2008. The Board also reviewed and signed the July 2008 Vouchers Report. Voucher Numbers 35303 through 35369 were reviewed and approved.

GUESTS

KALBERER: Patron, Jackie Kalberer addressed the BOD to discuss an invoice that she received for repair of a road that was washed out by tail water coming off of her property. Ms. Kalberer read a statement that she had prepared stating that she was aware of the "spot in question," that users of this road were concerned and careful, but still used it and that a neighbor had intended to fix the spot.

Chairman Miller told Ms. Kalberer that the BOD would look into this matter further.

Ms. Kalberer has had her water regulated back due to run-off. She also requested that the BOD give her permission to have her gate left open for her 24 hours of scheduled water and allow her to resume control of the water. She says that her neighbor Dan Wood has agreed to allow any water that she does not use to flow into his pond.

Chairman Miller informed Ms. Kalberer, with agreement of the BOD and staff, that the District will allow her to resume controlling her water granted that there are no problems with run off.

Ms. Kalberer left the meeting at 4:32 p.m.

KLOEPPER: Patron, Orlin Kloepper was scheduled to address the BOD regarding his gates being welded shut due to unauthorized use of water. He stated that he is always being accused of doing something wrong and that he is tired of it. Chairman Miller advised Mr. Kloepper that the District would like to resolve this issue and gave him a copy of a Water Delivery Agreement. Mr. Kloepper stated that he had an appointment that prevented him from staying at this meeting, he would review the Agreement and get back to the BOD.

Field Manager, Rick Hlawek reported that Mr. Kloepper told him that the laws and rules do not apply to him. Mr. Kloepper has since been sited by Umatilla County Sheriff’s Department for destruction of District property.

Since Mr. Kloepper’s gates have been welded shut the Field Manager has not received any calls from the neighbors about not getting their water. The Field Manager was instructed to keep the water delivery system for Mr. Kloepper’s property just the way it is until an agreement is reached.

Mr. Kloepper left at 4:37 p.m.

Marlene Merritt joined the meeting at 4:42 p.m. regarding the Kloepper issue. Mrs. Merritt is a neighbor of Mr. Kloepper’s and is concerned about losing the water rights on 3 acres of her property that is located on the other side of Kloepper’s property. Mrs. Merritt would like to transfer the water rights off of that property and apply them to her other property. Chairman Miller said that the District would reduce the District’s transfer fees and help Mrs. Merritt to transfer the water rights off of that property.

Mrs. Merritt left at 4:57 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

ELM ST PROPERTY: Manager Wilcox reported that they will begin meeting with the attorney in September to work on the Land Sale Contract.

DROP STRUCTURE: Manager Wilcox reported that Swaggart Bros. has begun working. The piling is installed. They have cleaned up the top portion of the Drop Structure to get ready for some of the restoration work that they will be doing. The water level is down. They will begin removing dirt from between the pilings soon. Originally the piling was going to be left in place. However, due to the increased cost of steel the contractor has decided that they will remove the piling once the cement wall is set.

EXCHANGE AGREEMENT: Manager Wilcox had an opportunity to talk to Tim Personius and Bill McDonald with USBR. Mr. Personius was under the impression that USBR was waiting on a response from the District. Manager Wilcox suggested that Mr. Personius look into the matter and talk to the District’s attorney, David Filippi.

KLOEPPER EASEMENT: The District’s attorney, Doug Hojem, suggested a Water Delivery Agreement as a way to resolve some of the problems with Mr. Kloepper. The BOD was given a copy of this agreement to review.

Director Bergstrom moved to approve the Water Delivery Agreement between HID and Orlin Kloepper. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

CITY OF ECHO: There has been no contact from the City of Echo.

VEHICLE & EQUIPMENT SURPLUS: The District did not receive any bids on the tractor/mower.

There were three bids submitted for the Chevy S-10. The bids were from Chamberlain for $795.00, Mills for $812.00, and Gill for $575.00. Director Bergstrom moved to approve the sale of the Chevy S-10 to the highest bidder, which is Mills. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT: Due the continuing development of lands within the District boundaries, staff prepared a Development Agreement which has been reviewed and amended by attorney David Hadley. The BOD was given a copy of the most recent draft of the document.

After some discussion, Director Locke moved to approve the Development Agreement with the amendments of Mr. Hadley. Director Bergstrom seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously. The BOD signed Resolution HID2008-8, Resolution to Adopt a Development Agreement.

BURNS SUBDIVISION: Paul Burns spoke with Director Bergstrom regarding the subdivision plans that have been submitted to the District for approval. Manager Wilcox explained to the BOD that the District is still dealing with problems from past developments where the District signed-off on plans without an agreement in place and the developer did not complete the conditions that were given by the District.

There was extensive discussion on this matter, specifically about removable gates, fees, lot line adjustments, piping, etc. The BOD decided to establish a Lot Encroachment Fee of $5,000 per lot and instructed Manager Wilcox to meet with Mr. Burns to discuss the District’s requirements.

DROP STRUCTURE FINANCING: A copy of the Preliminary Official Statement from Wedbush Morgan Securities regarding the SDAO FlexLease Program was distributed to the BOD. Manager Wilcox read aloud a letter from the District to Wedbush stating that the copies had been circulated and that all of the information was true to the best of our knowledge.

NEW BUSINESS

ELECTIONS: Directors interested in continuing to serve on the BOD were given nominating petitions.

RESERVE FUNDS-HEALTHCARE: Two employees have met the deductible limit per the 2008 Healthcare Deductible Reimbursement Resolution. Director Bergstrom moved to transfer $25,000 from the District’s operating account to the state pool reserve account per the resolution and to transfer two increments of $500 from the reserve account to the operating account. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

WATER RIGHTS CERTIFICATION/LIMITED LICENSE LEGAL FEES: Ian Findley has applied for a limited license on lands within the District. They will eventually apply for a water right for those acres which will be included in the District. Manager Wilcox, Attorney David Filippi, Mr. Findley, Bill Porfily and USBR personnel met with OWRD to discuss water rights. This group also discussed the issue of certificating the District’s water rights. These two issues intertwine and the water rights will benefit the District. Manager Wilcox told the BOD that he believed that there was some responsibility on the District’s part to assist the Findley’s.

After some discussion, Director Locke moved to pay 30% of Findley’s legal fees regarding the water rights, up to a maximum of $3,000. Director Bergstrom seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

OFFICE SPACE RENTAL: Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) would like to have a satellite office in Hermiston and is looking for office space to rent. They would have one person in the office, they would get there own phone/internet line and use there own supplies. There is one room in the office building that is not being used very much at this time and could be used for this purpose. This could potentially be a beneficial affiliation for the District.

After some discussion, Director Bergstrom moved to allow Manager Wilcox to enter into negotiations with SWCD regarding renting office space from the District. Director Locke seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

WEST EXTENSION IRRIGATION DISTRICT 7400 PERMIT: WEID has a permit for return flows to the Umatilla River. They are wanting the USBR to honor that permit because some of the return flows that used to be there are no longer there. USBR has told WEID that HID would oppose the permit. WEID is requesting that HID write a letter to USBR stating that the District does not oppose their conjunctive use water.

Director Locke moved to allow Manager Wilcox to write a letter in support of WEID’s 7400 permit, as long as there are no adverse effects to the District. Director Bergstrom seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

MANAGER’S REPORT

WATER REPORT: We are currently running 146 cfs through CSAO. ALTO is running at about 46 cfs and the Maxwell canal is running at about 28 cfs. CSR had 5,277 af in it as of this morning and the District had 10,348 af in exchange credits. Our remaining duty as of August 20, 2008 was 11,523 af. The irrigation season is expected to end around September 30, 2008.

FEED CANAL-STANFIELD: The field crew has been working on the Feed Canal in Stanfield as time allows. They have pushed down dirt in order to build up the bottom of the canal.

FISH PASSAGE AT FEED CANAL DAM: USBR is still trying to get their permit from DSL. They will not have their permit in time to coordinate work efforts with our crew as expected. They will, however, still need help from the District in the form of manpower and equipment. Westland Irrigation District is helping with the project in the form of BPA personnel.

BOR PERSONNEL CHANGES: Ron Eggers has accepted a position as Tribal Liaison Officer for the Pacific Northwest.

Steve Cummings will be the new Realty Specialist at the Umatilla Field Office, replacing Barb Hill.

HID PERSONNEL CHANGE: Westside Ditchrider, Bryan DeChand was terminated and Emmanuel Gutierrez was hired to replace him.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Miller at 8:15 p.m.

_______________________________             ________________________________

Charles Miller                                                      Annette V. Rambel

Chairman                                                             Recording Secretary

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