CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Charles Miller called the March Regular Board Meeting of the Hermiston Irrigation District (District) Board of Directors to order at 4:02 p.m. The meeting was held in the District office building. Also present at the meeting were Board Members Mike Bergstrom, Len Jeppeson, Craig Coleman and Wes Locke; District Manager, Chuck Wilcox; Secretary, Annette Rambel; and Teresa Walchli, Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).

GUESTS

GARY GRAY: Mr. Gray called the office and asked to be rescheduled for next month.

SWCD-TERESA WALCHLI: Mrs. Walchli regularly prepares grants for HID. She announced that HID was approved for an OWEB grant for the I-Line Conversion Project in the amount of $151,793.

MINUTES

The Board reviewed the minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting and the March 19, 2009, Regular Board Meeting. Director Jeppeson 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 March 2009. The Board reviewed and signed the March/April 2009 Vouchers Report. Vouchers Numbered 35807 through 35859 were reviewed and approved. The Board signed expense checks.

OLD BUSINESS

EXCHANGE AGREEMENT: Manager Wilcox spoke to the District’s attorney David Filippi. Mr. Filippi is going to write a letter to the BOR addressing the District’s concerns over the issues that still were not addressed in the most current draft of the agreement.

KLOEPPER LAWSUITS: Manager Wilcox represented the District in a small claims hearing regarding the Kloepper matter on February 20, 2009, which the District won by default. Mr. Kloepper claimed that he did not receive notice of the hearing and asked that it be rescheduled. Manager Wilcox attended the rescheduled court hearing in this matter on April 14, 2009, and the matter was rescheduled for April 23, 2009. A new court date us pending to dispute the original claim made by Kloepper.

Manager Wilcox attended the criminal hearing brought against Mr. Kloepper by the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office this morning. Mr. Kloepper called in at the last minute to say that he could not attend the hearing due to a funeral. That matter has been rescheduled for April 21, 2009.

CAIN ENCROACHMENT: In March 2009 Manager Wilcox wrote a letter at the instruction of the BOD to James & Linda Cain informing them of the solutions that were acceptable for resolving the matter of their encroaching wall. Along with this letter was a statement showing a Class III violation charge of $750. Manager Wilcox reported that the Cain’s have paid the encroachment violation charge, but claim that the wall had been removed two weeks prior. Field Manager Eicher will probe the area to see if the wall has been completely removed. If the wall has been removed then the Cain’s check for the violation fees will be returned to them. If the wall has just been cut and buried then the encroachment remains and they will be billed annually in accordance with the Encroachment Resolution.

HERMISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT PROJECTS: The Hermiston School District (HSD) has torn down the old hospital building and installed new pipe across the lot. As soon as water was turned on leaks in the cement pipe were discovered. That area was repaired and then more leaks were discovered further on. The D-Line has been shut-off to make the repairs. They are now waiting on parts to make further repairs.

No progress has been made on the new middle school site, due to the complications at the West Park site.

PIPE CLEANING TRUCK PURCHASE: The District has purchased and received the 1984 Ford Pressure Pipe Cleaning Truck from the City of Hermiston (City). The purchase price of the vehicle was $6,000.

NEW BUSINESS

MANAGER’S REPORT

WATER REPORT: The District is diverting 219 cfs at the Feed Canal. There is currently 31,787 af in CSR. We are currently running 81 cfs through CSAO. ALTO is running at about 11cfs and the Maxwell canal is running at about 47 cfs. Live flow from the river through the MAXO is 36 cfs. The District has about 18,000 af in exchange credits.

Every line in the District is charged and running with the exception of the D-Line due to the repairs that are being done.

UMATILLA BASIN COALITION UPDATE: Manager Wilcox reported that the Coalition is moving forward and has sent out a Request for Quote to try to find a firm to represent them in the business aspects of things. There has been a lot of discussion about legislative issues. There has also been a lot of discussion regarding OWRD’s budget issues.

A-9 PIPELINE: The pipeline is in and functional, however there is still some clean-up and finish work to be done.

NORTHWEST IRRIGATION OPERATORS (NIO): The NIO tour in Lethbridge, Canada is scheduled for July 6-9, 2009. Board members are welcome to attend.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Miller at 4:52 p.m.

_______________________________             ________________________________

Charles Miller                                                      Annette V. Rambel

Chairman                                                             Recording Secretary

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