HERMISTON IRRIGATION DISTRICT

ANNUAL MEETING

 

Hermiston Irrigation District will hold their Annual Meeting on Tuesday, February 20, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. in the HID shop building at the corner of SE 4^th Street and Hurlburt Avenue. Again this year, the meeting will begin with a complimentary Steak & Beans Bar-B-Q Dinner for patrons of the District, which will be followed by a presentation by Anita Winkler, Executive Director of Oregon Water Resources Congress on the relationship of patrons and their District in regards to water rights and ownership. There will be a limited amount of parking in the fenced area around the shop with additional parking in the lot accessible from the alley by the office building as well as street parking. If you are planning to attend this dinner meeting please R.S.V.P. by either mailing in the form at the bottom of this page, calling the office at 567-3024, or via e-mail at hid@eoni.com by Friday, February 16, 2007.

Drop Structure Replacement

In an effort to continue moving forward with the replacement of the Drop Structure into Cold Springs Reservoir the District has hired Anderson-Perry & Associates, an engineering and consulting firm from LaGrande. They are assisting the District with locating funding sources and methods, and will be doing the engineering and construction plan for the Drop Structure replacement. At present, two different applications have been submitted for funding and others will be submitted as soon as the opportunity comes up. It is anticipated that actual construction on the project will be in the early Fall of 2008, of course this is dependent on being able to secure adequate funding and getting the Bureau of Reclamation’s approval of the construction plan.

"L" Line Project

Our crew has been working on Phase I of the "L" line piping project since early December. To date a lot of trees and brush have been removed from the easement and the old broken cement liner removed from the open ditch portion. A new diversion box has been built where the "L" line leaves the "A" line and approximately one half of the pipe has been installed. With only two cement bridges and some more old broken liner to remove the pipe should be installed and Phase I completed by the end of February. This portion of the project will provide gravity pressure water to 16 patrons for sprinkler irrigation beginning in 2007 as well as providing a portion of the water needed on down the "L" line.

Reclamation Building Plans

The Bureau of Reclamation has plans to construct a new 5,775 sq. ft. office building at an estimated cost of $1.3 million. The building will be located at the Diagonal Road Bureau compound and construction will not begin until late 2007 at the earliest. No additional services will be provided to the Districts as a result of a new building, however, we can expect the indirect costs from the Bureau to increase anytime that the District has any reimbursable charges from the Bureau of Reclamation.

Assessment & Collection Policies:

Assessments are mailed out in February and are due by March 1^st. The Board of Directors allows patrons to pay their assessments in two installments when needed. Under this payment arrangement the first half of the assessment is still due March 1^st however, the second half may be paid by July 1^st without any penalties or interest.

Any assessments not paid in full by July 31^st are considered delinquent and are subject to collection procedures as follows:

March 31 Begin charging interest plus a $2 per month statement fee on all accounts that do not have at least the first half of assessment paid.

July 31 Begin charging interest plus a $2 per month statement fee on the balance of the account.

August Send out Fair Debt Act Notice. Any patron in dispute must submit their dispute in writing within 30 days or the debt will be considered valid as presented.

September Notice of Claim of Lien is filed with the Umatilla County Court. A $150 lien fee and a $15 certified letter fee is added to the account.

November Delinquent accounts are presented to the Board of Directors.

December Accounts are forwarded to the District’s attorney for foreclosure proceedings as directed by the Board.

Accounts sent to the District’s Attorney for collections or foreclosure will be charged as follows: A $150 initial attorney contact charge, $325 for Title Search Request Fees, and all actual costs incurred by the District. Delinquent statement charges and interest will be added accordingly.

If you are unable to pay the assessment in the timeline given, PLEASE call the bookkeeper and make acceptable payment arrangements. We do not want to see anyone have to go to collections. It is costly for yourself and the District.

Legislative Possibilities

Oregon Water Resources Department Concepts

HB 2097. SPLIT SEASON USE IN-STREAM LEASING: Makes permanent statutory provisions under ORS 537.348 allowing the "split season use" in-stream leasing of water rights that sunset January 2, 2008.

HB 2098 IRRIGATION SEASON EXTENSIONS: Modifies ORS 537.385 to clarify that the commission may extend irrigation seasons by rule rather than order.

HB 2099 FEE ADJUSTMENT: Propose to amend ORS 536.050 to refund all or a portion of the protest fee to make water right holders who successfully rebut a claim of forfeiture under 540.641

SB 89 PILOT PROJECT FOR CERTAIN DISTRICT TEMPORARY TRANSFERS: Continues through June 30, 2010. A pilot project for certain districts to make annual place of use changes to water rights within their district boundaries without making application for a temporary transfer.

For more information on these concepts contact

Debbie Colbert at 503-986-0878 or Debbie.L.Colbert@wrd.state.or.us

Oregon Water Resources Congress Concepts

(not in official bill form at present)

ALLOW PARTIAL PROOF OF WATER RIGHT PERMIT: Amend ORS 537.260(4) by adding irrigation districts and water control districts to the definition of municipality so that the ability to partially perfect not less than 25% of water authorized under a municipalities permit would extend to the districts.

EXPEDITED PERMITTING FOR SMALL HYDRO: Amend hydropower statutes to provide for an expedited permitting process for hydro projects under 5 megs that use an existing water right with a requirement that the diversions have a fish screen.

PROVIDE PROTECTIONS FOR WATER CONTROL DISTRICTS WHEN CITIES ANNEX LAND: Amend annexation statutes to include water control districts in the list of districts whose boundaries are not changed when a city annexes property.

BILL OF RIGHTS FOR WATER USERS AND DISTRICTS: Establish a bill of rights for water users and districts to protect the rights of both parties in water right transactions within a district.

 

Charles Miller, Chairman - Division 5

Len Jeppeson - Division 1

Mike Bergstrom - Division 2

Craig Coleman - Division 3

John Lybrand – Division

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