CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Charles Miller called the 2009 Organizational Board Meeting of the Hermiston Irrigation District Board of Directors to order at 4:01 p.m. at the Hermiston Irrigation District office. Also present at the meeting were Board Members Len Jeppeson, Mike Bergstrom and Wes Locke; District Manager, Chuck Wilcox; Field Manager, Jeff Eicher; and Dawn Henderson.

OATH OF OFFICE-DIVISIONS 1, 4 and 5: Manager Wilcox read aloud the Oaths of Office for the position of Director of Divisions 1, 4 and 5 of the Hermiston Irrigation District. Len Jeppeson, Wesley Locke and Charles Miller agreed to the Oath as read, signed it and it was subscribed by the Board Secretary, Chuck Wilcox.

APPOINTMENT OF DIVISION 3 DIRECTOR: Craig Coleman was unable to attend the Organizational Meeting, but did convey that he would accept the office of Director for the term of January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009, if he were appointed. Director Bergstrom moved to appoint Craig Coleman to the position of Director of Division 3 for the upcoming year. Director Jeppeson seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

GUESTS

There were no guests present.

MINUTES

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

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS & VOUCHERS

Manager Wilcox noted the transfers that needed to be made for year end. Those transfers are $30,000 from Vehicle and Equipment Reserve, $10,000 from Drop Structure Reserve and $880.92 from Barton Pipeline Reserve all to be moved to the operating account. In addition, $1,822.78 should be moved to the Minnehaha Pipeline Reserve and $1,500 to the Health Insurance Reserve accounts from the operating account.

Director Bergstrom moved to transfer the funds from the appropriate reserve accounts mentioned above to the general fund. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

Director Bergstrom moved to transfer the funds to the appropriate reserve accounts mentioned above from the general fund. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

The Board reviewed the Profit & Loss Report for December (Year End) 2008. The January 2009 Vouchers Report was not available for the Board to sign.

OLD BUSINESS

EXCHANGE AGREEMENT: Manager Wilcox reported that there is no new progress on the Agreement. The water rights application has been prepared, but has still not been sent in by the BOR.

KLOEPPER LAWSUITS: Manager Wilcox reiterated that Mr. Kloepper has filed a small claims case against the District for the amount of his 2008 irrigation assessment, citing that he did not receive his full entitlement of water. The District has filed a counter claim for damages done to District facilities by Mr. Kloepper.

The State of Oregon has filed criminal charges against Mr. Kloepper for trespassing and destruction of District property. The restitution in this case is the same as the amount of the small claims case. His Arraignment Hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2009.

CITY OF ECHO: The BOR still has not completed the Use Agreement for the City of Echo.

UMATILLA BASIN COALITION MOU: Manager Wilcox reported that he attended a meeting earlier in the day. The Coalition has finalized an MOU that everyone would sign on to, they are preparing a letter to the governor thanking him for including funds in the budget for recharge projects as a result of SB1069 and to let him know that there are other things that the Coalition is interested in. There will be a follow-up letter requesting that his agencies work in cooperation with the group.

2009 BUDGET: The Board received a copy of a balanced proposed budget in their Board packets and reviewed the document prior to this meeting. Manager Wilcox explained that the pump at the Barton station needs to be replaced, he answered some general questions and gave some further detail. Director Jeppeson moved to approve the 2009 Budget as presented. Director Locke seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: Director Bergstrom moved to cast a unanimous ballot and to retain the current slate of officers. Charles Miller shall be retained as Chairman, Len Jeppeson as Vice-Chairman, Chuck Wilcox as Board Secretary, and Annette Rambel as Recording Secretary. Director Locke seconded that motion. There being no further discussion the motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTIONS: The Board received a copy of each resolution in their Board packets and reviewed the documents prior to this meeting.

2009 Resolution of Assessments: Changes to the assessments were based on the 2009 federal Cost-of-Living Adjustment of 5%. The first acre charge was raised to $184.60. The second through fifth acre charge was raised to $74.60 per acre. The sixth trough tenth acre charge was raised to $68.60 per acre. Each additional acre beyond 10 acres is $47.60 per acre.

There was an increase in the Barton Pipeline reserve charge from $10.00 to $20.00 per acre to cover the necessary upgrade to the pump station. Minnehaha and Z-Line Pipeline reserve charges will remain at $10.00 per acre.

Director Bergstrom moved to accept the resolution as presented. Director Jeppeson seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. The motion carried unanimously and the Directors signed the resolution.

2009 Resolution of Banking: The Resolution of Banking states that the District shall maintain a two signature checking account and a VISA account with a $4,000 limit with Banner Bank.

Director Bergstrom moved to accept the resolution as presented. Director Jeppeson seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. The motion carried unanimously and the Directors signed the resolution.

2009 Resolution of Fees: Personnel rates were increased to reflect current wage increase of 5% and the Development Agreement fees were added to the Fee Schedule.

Director Locke moved to accept the resolution as presented. Director Bergstrom seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. The motion carried unanimously and the Directors signed the resolution.

2009 Resolution of Board Meetings: The Resolution of Board Meetings states that the board meetings will take place on the third Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m. in the HID board room. The 2010 Organizational Meeting is scheduled to be held January 21, 2010.

Director Bergstrom moved to accept the resolution as presented. Director Locke seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. The motion carried unanimously and the Directors signed the resolution.

Resolution of Health Care Reimbursement Plan: The Resolution states that the District shall reimburse employees for the difference between the prior health care deductibles and the deductibles through the current plan. The Resolution was amended to allow this reimbursement to apply to all current and future employees. (See Resolution No. HID2009-5)

Director Jeppeson moved to accept the resolution as amended. Director Locke seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. The motion carried unanimously and the Directors signed the resolutions.

ANNUAL MEETING: After some discussion, Director Bergstrom moved to hold the annual meeting on February 26, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. It will be held in the District shop and we will serve a beef & beans dinner prepared by the FFA Alumni as in the past. Potential speakers are Fred Ziari with IRZ discussing Ground Water Recharge and Jeremy Morris with Anderson-Perry discussing the Drop Structure. Director Jeppeson seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

CAIN LETTER: On August 31, 2007, a Warning of Encroachment letter was sent to James & Linda Kay Cain. In the letter Manager Wilcox explained that the fencing and retaining wall on their property was encroaching on the District’s easements and must be removed by September 30, 2007, in order to avoid the charges associated with a Notice of Violation.

The fence along the A-Line has been removed, but the retaining wall has not. Having failed to remove the encroachment, Manager Wilcox sent the Cain’s a letter on December 1, 2008. This letter was a Notice of Violation and it listed the charges for the violation.

On January 8, 2009, the District received a letter from Mr. Cain. In this letter addressed to the Board, Mr. Cain stated that he had spoken with Manager Wilcox and was told that everyone on the A-Line between Ott Road and Canal Road were going to be asked to remove their encroachments. Mr. Cain made accusations against Manager Wilcox regarding prejudices against race, religion and sexual preferences. He gave his reasoning for his encroachment and invited the Board to come and look at the property.

Manager Wilcox submitted pictures to the Board and informed them that the house was built on property with the canals running along two sides of the home site. BOR employees Tom Appler and Jerry Cheek, along with Manager Wilcox and Field Manager Eicher, have visited the site at the landowner’s request and agreed that the retaining wall did not belong on the easement.

Manager Wilcox maintains that the Cain’s were aware of the need for an agreement before they built the house and retaining wall as they signed a Consent to Construct and Maintain Utilities for a gravel road crossing on the property.

There was some discussion regarding the classification of the violation according to District policy. It was decided that the Chairman of the Board would write a letter of response to the Cain’s which will confirm that the policy has been applied appropriately and without prejudices against race, religion or sexual preferences.

MANAGER’S REPORT

WATER REPORT: Today the Feed Canal is running at 211 cfs, with 181 cfs making it into CSR. There is 6,077 af in CSR as of this morning. The District has 13,956 af in exchange credits.

FYI 

Jeremy Bolen will be attending the BOR Water Management Workshop in Denver, CO.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Miller at 6:06 p.m.

_______________________________             ________________________________

Charles Miller                                                      Chuck Wilcox

Chairman                                                             Board Secretary

Home