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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-12-01 WUCFD MINUTESDISTRICT BOARD OF THE WATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA DECEMBER 1, 1997 - 6:00 P.M. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ROLL CALL: Chairperson Douglas Coleman Vice Chairperson Anne Surra Mr.R.E.Eck Mr.Joe Durbala Ms.Carol Urich Mr.John Insalaco Ms.McClain MEETING MINUTES Others Present: Curtis Shook,District Manager Kathleen Connelly,District Clerk Doug Dobson,District Operating Mgr. Keith Lewis,District Treasurer 1.Call to order. 2.Roll call. 3.Approval of minutes of November 17,1997. Vice Chairperson Surra moved to approve the minutes of the November 17,1997, meeting.Mr.Eck seconded the motion.The vote was unanimous. 4.Award of Bid for Proposal for the Design Plans and Bid Specifications for 1,900 Feet of Water Main Extension. District Manager Curtis Shook briefed the board on this item.He stated this will provide larger lines to accomodate the new growth in the district, plus loop the lines through this area.This will provide the best possible velocity and pressure through the system. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson showed the board on the map where the larger lines would be placed.The larger lines were requested by the fire department. District Manager Curtis Shook stated by upsizing the line they can accomodate the subdivision they see going in there with potable water as well as the water requested by the fire department. Chairperson Coleman asked if the $9,000 is for the design plans. District Manager Curtis Shook stated it is for the design plans.This is the preliminary step,the project itself is upsizing the lines and looping the system.The initial step is for an engineer to design the lines in accordance with Department of Environmental Quality specifications.This would give them an approval to construct and bid the project out. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 1 of 6 Mr.Eck asked if there were plans to put the booster site by the new tank on Baseline. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson stated there will be when it goes up. When they put in the end of the line,they will put the boosters in and kick the water back into the system. Mr. Eck stated he thought they would get enough pressure from the new booster at the tank site. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson stated they are looking at another six to eight months before the installation of the new tank.Development is going on now in the area that requires the additional pressure.They can do it in eight months by using the boosters on the other end,but it still would not give them the line needed for at least another eight months. Vice Chairperson Surra asked why the board was not given all the responses from the bidders this time. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson stated that was his fault. Vice Chairperson Surra stated she would have liked to have seen what the scores were for all the bids.She requested the board be able to see all of them in the future. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson apologized and added he had been on vacation.He did not put the time in on them that he normally did. Ms Urich moved that the bid for the proposal for design,specifications,and construction inspection for the 1,900 feet of water main extension be awarded to American Engineering Company in an amount not to exceed $9,000, the plans and bid specifications are to be completed on or before December 29,1997,and the main extension construction to be completed and ready to use by late March to mid- April 1998. Vice Chairperson Surra asked if they should be putting anything in about the main extension being completed since there has been no proposal for that. District Manager Curtis Shook stated he does not believe i t should be in the motion. Vice Chairperson Surra stated that the main extension should be completed and ready to use by late March to mid -April 1998 should be left out. District Manager Curtis Shook agreed. Vice Chairperson Surra stated they should finish the motion with "on or before December 29,1997". Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 2 of 6 District Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that would take care of it in case they have to rebid. Ms Urich stated she would accept the amendment.Vice Chairperson Surra seconded the amended motion.The motion passed unanimously. 5.District Manager report. District Manager Curtis Shook stated they are seeing growth in the Baseline corridor and items have been brought to the board which will allow the district to keep up with the service for the area.The district has a healthy balance sheet taking into consideration the capital needs and the bond payments they are going to have in July 1998.The one constant consideration they have is the search for new water sources and the need to update the quality and pressure of the water. Ms.McClain asked if there was any access to the water from the Central Arizona Project. District Manager Curtis Shook stated the district does have access and they are accessing it.The new subdivision at Southern and Royal Palm will be provided by Central Arizona Project water.At this time the district is pumping that water onto the ground to get recharge credits to be used in the future.The district was paying $95,000 per year for the Central Arizona Project water and they were not using it at all.Now they are using the water and at least getting recharge credits.The water is not potable as there is no treatment center available at this time. Vice Chairperson Surra asked if any of that water is used by the golf courses. District Manager Curtis Shook stated they do not use the water.They are in the certificated area of Arizona Water and are getting Central Arizona Project water from them. District Operating Manager Doug Dobson stated he is in the process of getting a second pump station south of the yard.It will furnish construction water to nearby areas and to the landfill. Ms.McClain asked what a treatment facility cost. District Manager Curtis Shook estimated $1.8 to $2.2 million. Ms.McClain asked what is the allotment. District Manager Curtis Shook stated it is 2,913 acre feet. Vice Chairperson Surra stated since there is no impact fee for the water hook- ups,that cost will have to come out of the budget. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 3 of 6 District Manager Curtis Shook stated it would as they have no capital.However, they do have a meter fee which has a ten year payback.The staff at the district is considering bringing a proposal to the board wherein the meter fee would not be refundable,plus changes to deposits and other rules. Mr. Durbala stated the only way they would be able to do that is for the city to take over the water district and initiate an impact fee. District Manager Curtis Shook stated the water utility could assess a connection fee. Mr.Durbala stated they could not assess an impact fee for development. District Manager Curtis Shook stated it would be called a connection fee. Ms.McClain asked what the connection fees and deposits are now. District Manager Curtis Shook stated the deposit is $265 and $225 is refundable over a ten year period.They do not believe it is consistent with what other utilities do and they will be coming to the board for changes. Mr.Durbala stated that sounded high. Vice Chairperson Surra agreed. Mr.Durbala stated especially when you look at the average water bill. Mr.Eck stated this is the deposit,not the water bill.It is a charge for the service itself,granted back at 10% over ten years.The deposit itself is only $65.I t is a continuation of what the former water company did according to Arizona Corporation Commission rules. Vice Chairperson Surra asked how that compares with other water companies. District Manager Curtis Shook stated other water companies do not have a refundable fee. Ms.McClain stated that fee is a lot less;it is $90. District Manager Curtis Shook stated Mesa's fee is $150. Mr.Eck stated Arizona Water Company charged $16 five years ago. Ms. McClain stated she believes she had one customer who had to pay $90 to them. Mr.Eck stated he does not know if the city needs to do a different fee since they pay the fee back.He questioned whether they look at a $50 or $100 non- refundable fee instead of taking $250 and giving the paybacks over ten years. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 4 of 6 District Manager Curtis Shook stated it is part of the previous operation which probably had to be done because of the tariff that was approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission. Vice Chairperson Surra commented it makes for a bookkeeping nightmare. District Manager Curtis Shook agreed. Vice Chairperson Surra added they needed to get rid of that.She suggested keeping it simple,and lowering the up front money. There was general discussion as to whether this topic was on the agenda or could be discussed because i t was brought up in the district manager's report. Chairperson Coleman decided to move on to the next item. 6.District Treasurer report. District Treasurer Keith Lewis gave the board the financial reports for October and November.The district is doing fairly well.The payback on the bond issue will be around $47,000 per month.The district does have enough money to pay that if they had to pay i t currently,but there would not be much left over. Currently,he sends them the money monthly, they send it back to him as they have enough money to cover it until July 1998.Beginning July he will have to pay the monthly fee. Vice Chairperson Surra commented it seemed the monthly meter sales would have been similar from month to month. District Treasurer Keith Lewis stated they had charged someone $29,472 too much in September so it had to come out of the October money.The sales were actually the same. District Manager Curtis Shook stated next year they can expect a 12-18 month period were the finances will be fairly tight because of the Pinal County taxes which has three more payments due.Once those are paid,it will free up about $160,000 a year. Mr.Durbala asked about the payments to the city. District Manager Curtis Shook stated they would be making payments to the city as well.They are down to $157,000 now. 7.District Counsel report. None. 8.Adjournment. Adjournment at 6:22 p.m. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 5 of 6 ouglas wieman Chairperson Kathleen Connelly District Clerk WATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT MINUTES CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Water Utilities Community Facilities District of the City of Apache Junction,Arizona,held on the 1st day of December,1997.I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 9th day of December,1997. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 1,1997 Page 6 of 6