CALL TO ORDER: Vice-Chairman Len Jeppeson called the October Regular Board Meeting of the Hermiston Irrigation District Board of Directors (BOD) to order at 4:07 p.m. The meeting was held in the District office building. Also present at the meeting were Board Members Mike Bergstrom & Wes Locke; District Manager, Chuck Wilcox; Secretary, Annette Rambel; Field Manager, Jeff Eicher and Jeremy Morris, Engineer with Anderson-Perry.

GUESTS 

Mr. Morris attended the meeting to update the BOD regarding the progress on the Drop Structure Project. (See Drop Structure below.)

MINUTES

The Board reviewed the minutes of the September 18, 2008, Regular Board Meeting. Director Locke moved to approve the minutes as presented. Director Bergstrom seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS & VOUCHERS 

The Board reviewed and signed the September 2008 Vouchers Report. Voucher Numbers 35431 through 35487 were reviewed and approved.

OLD BUSINESS

DROP STRUCTURE: Mr. Morris reported to the BOD that Swaggart Bros. is six weeks into the eight week project and they are not performing as agreed. It does not appear that they will be able to complete the Drop Structure Project before the October 31, 2008, drop dead date.

Swaggart Bros. was allowed to get started on the job in August. They did very little in the additional time that was given. It was mid-September before they began pumping the ground water. They have now agreed to remove the bays in phases. It appears that they will not even be able to reconstruct the first phase of the removal much less the other several bays.

Swaggart Bros. is claiming that there were unforeseen conditions due to ground water. However, the contract contains the pumping usage for the amount of ground water that there is at the project site. The contract states that the need is 3,600 hours, which equals five pumps for two months running seven days a week. As of September 30, 2008, half way through the project, they have only used 360 hours of pumping hours. That is one-tenth of the pumping hours, half way through the project timeline.

Anderson-Perry has been holding weekly construction meetings at the site with Swaggart Bros., BOR personnel and Manager Wilcox in attendance. There has been a general lack of planning on the part of the contractor. Most recently the contractor’s safety engineer closed them down due to a stabilization problem. They did not drive their shoring in deep enough to be stable. They essentially lost a week’s worth of time waiting for the shoring personnel.

They have had to replace the liner in the upper bay. They did not read the manufacturers recommendations on the strip widths and it does not appear that they are using adequate heat to adhere the pieces together. They also have to smooth out the shotcrete. They were given the month of August to do this work so that they could focus on the lower bays beginning in September.

Liquidated damages of about $1,000 per day will begin accumulating on October 27, 2008. Mr. Morris suggests keeping Swaggart Bros. to the contract and prepare a back-up plan. There may need to be a temporary structure installed in order for the District to receive water. That may take a couple of weeks to construct and install. Swaggart Bros. has admitted that they will not be able to complete the upper portion of the Drop Structure let alone the lower portion.

Manager Wilcox encouraged the BOD to attend the Wednesday morning site meetings at the Drop Structure. The BOD agreed to try to attend the Wednesday morning meetings and to hold a Special Board Meeting on November 5, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. at the District office after the site meeting.

ELM ST PROPERTY: Manager Wilcox reported that the meeting to work on the sales agreement has been rescheduled for November 15, 2008.

EXCHANGE AGREEMENT/WATER RIGHTS: Manager Wilcox is still working on arrangements for the BOD to meet with BOR personnel during the OWRC annual conference.

KLOEPPER: Mr. Kloepper has not returned the Water Delivery Agreement that was given to him at the last BOD meeting, he has not made any contact with the District, his gates are still welded shut and the fencing has still not been completely removed from the District’s easement.

Since the last meeting, the cattle are no longer on Mr. Kloepper’s property and he has still not removed the remainder of the fencing. Attorney Hojem stated that the District can either take Mr. Kloepper back to court or contact Mr. Kloepper and inform him of the removal options. Either Mr. Kloepper can take this opportunity to remove the fence or the District can contact the Sheriff’s office to be present and remove the rest of the fence and stretch some wire in that area if there are any other animals present.

CITY OF ECHO: The BOD moved to grant the City of Echo access to HID’s bridge at the last meeting. The BOR’s Realty Specialist is preparing a Use Agreement since the access is on the BOR’s right-of-way.

SURPLUS EQUIPMENT: As instructed, staff published the tractor/mower again with no minimum bid requirement and a right to refuse any and all bids clause. Three bids were received. One was from Aldo Escamilla for $1,100; one from Jeff Adkins for $1,850; and one from Mark Magnuson for $2,650. Field Manager, Jeff Eicher also suggested the option of trading the tractor/mower with another public entity. The other District has a rotary mower that is in good condition that would be compatible with some of the District’s current equipment.

Director Bergstrom moved to pursue the option of trading the tractor/mower for the rotary mower. If the deal falls through then the District will sell the tractor/mower to the highest bidder, Mark Magnuson for $2,650. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

UMATILLA BASIN COALITION MOU: There were some changes to the MOU that the BOD received in their packets last month. The BOD expressed to Manager Wilcox that they are concerned that the scope of work states that all parties shall contribute financially or in-kind.

Director Bergstrom moved to postpone the discussion. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

2008 BOD ELECTIONS: Len Jeppson submitted the sole nominating petition for Division 1.

No nominating petitions were submitted for Division 3.

Wesley Locke submitted the sole nominating petition for Division 4.

Charles Miller submitted the sole nominating petition for Division 5.

DEVELOPERS AGREEMENT: Manager Wilcox reported that the Agreement has been sent to a couple of engineers for review. The District is interested in getting input back from professionals involved in the development process.

Manager Wilcox also reported that Paul Burns has not contacted the District or the City of Hermiston to proceed with his development. At the last City Planning meeting Mr. Burns was informed by the Planning Commission that he would have to sign an agreement with the District in order to move forward with his development.

NEW BUSINESS

EMPLOYEE TURKEYS: In the past the District has purchased turkeys for the employees for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Director Bergstrom moved to have staff purchase turkeys for the employees. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion the motion passed unanimously.

MANAGER’S REPORT

WATER REPORT: Water was shut off on October 8, 2008. The District ended with 2,867 af of exchange credits. The remaining exchange credits will adequately cover the diversions normally available for the first half of November assuming that the Drop Structure will not be ready, willing and able to accept water. If the delay in completion of the Drop Structure goes on beyond that point it would mean that we are unable to work off of exchange credits next spring due to lack of credits and potential river flows being inadequate. At this point, it is too early to determine the end result this will have on next year’s water supply for the District.

MOSS CONTROL: For the last two years the District has been looking for a good method of moss control for use at the head of the Maxwell Canal. Manager Wilcox has been looking into a product called Sonar. Sonar is an herbicide that is applied in the winter months. It is applied to dry soil or in standing water, rain incorporates it into the soil and it should control the moss the next season. The chemical is not harmful to fish.

The treatment for the season will be about $6,000. The District currently spends close to that amount in manpower having to dip the canal. An agreement will need to be signed to order and use the product.

Director Bergstrom moved to allow Manager Wilcox to look into purchasing the Sonar product and, if feasible, to sign a contract on behalf of the District to purchase the product. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, it passed unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Vice-Chairman Jeppeson at 6:22 p.m.

_______________________________             ________________________________

Len Jeppeson                                                      Annette Rambel

Vice-Chairman                                                    Recording Secretary

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