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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-12-06 WUCFD MINUTESDISTRICT BOARD OF THE WATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT (APACHE JUNCTION WATER COMPANY) CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 6,1999 The regular meeting of the District Board of the Water Utilities Community Facilities District (Apache Junction Water Company),City of Apache Junction, Arizona,was held on December 6,1999,at the Apache Junction City Council Chambers pursuant to the notice required by law. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Coleman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Board Members Present:Chairperson Douglas Coleman Vice Chairperson Anne Surra Mr.Joe Durbala Mr.R.E.Eck Ms.Carol Urich Mr.John Insalaco Mr.Rick Dietz Staff Present:Keith Lewis,District Finance Manager Kathleen Connelly,District Clerk Doug Dobson,District Operations Manager John White,District Accountant Jim Cowles,Water Superintendent Others Present:George Hoffman,Assistant City Manager APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20.1999 ) )Ms.Urich MOVED THAT THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20,1999 BE APPROVED. Mr.Dietz SECONDED THE MOTION. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 1 of 8 VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. RESOLUTION NO.1999-005:AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CENTRAL ARIZONA WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT QUALIFYING THE SERVICE AREA AS A MEMBER SERVICE AREA PURSUANT TO THE GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT STATUTE;AUTHORIZATION FOR THE DISTRICT CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN THE NECESSARY AGREEMENT )Water Superintendent Jim Cowles briefed the board on the item.He stated this contract is identical to the one signed two years ago when the district was issued the one hundred year water supply by the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.This will allow the district to purchase 2,889 acre feet of water of Central Arizona Project water and resell i t to Magma Irrigation;this allows the district to gain recharge credits.The purchase amounts to $290,000. Chairperson Coleman called for any board discussion.There being no discussion,he called for a motion. Mr.Durbala MOVED THAT RESOLUTION NO. 1999-005, A RESOLUTION OF lliE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE WATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT (CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA)REGARDING MEMBERSHIP IN THE CENTRAL ARIZONA GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT,BE APPROVED AND THAT AUTHORIZATION BE GIVEN FOR THE CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN THE CONTRACT. Mr.Dietz SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE TWO PICK-UP TRUCKS UNDER STATE CONTRACT FROM BILL LUKE DODGE IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $34,500.00 INCLUDING TAX )Water Superintendent Jim Cowles briefed the board on this item.A 3/4 ton Dodge pick-up truck will be a Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 2 of 8 replacement for a current vehicle and a half ton Dodge pick-up truck will be purchased for his use as he does not have a vehicle at this point in time. Chairperson Coleman called for any board discussion.There being no discussion,he called for a motion. Mr.Dietz MOVED THAT THE AWARD OF BID FOR TWO 2000 DODGE RAM PICK-UPS TO BE PURCHASED THROUGH STATE CONTRACT BE AWARDED TO BILL LUKE DODGE IN THE MOUNT OF $34,500.00,INCLUDING TAX. Mr.Durbala SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. DISTRICT WATER SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: Water Superintendent Jim Cowles commented proposed Well #7 was drilled in October to a 1,240 foot depth.The consultants had estimated from the hydrology study that the area could produce 1,200 gallons per minute;the well site conclusions are that it will not support the amount of water the district hoped to produce. The estimate is it will produce between 250 to 300 gallons per minute.This will not allow Well #6 to be taken off line for repair of arsenic problems as at least 600 gallons per minute are required before it can be taken off line.The water quality was not bad and it had very low arsenic levels.No pump test was given due to the additional costs.The consultant believed if the well had been pumped,the arsenic levels would have been similar to those in Well #6.Proposed Well #7 has now been abandoned and the district is currently looking for another source of water.Staff is meeting with the City of Mesa in the interest of purchasing treated surface water from their plant.They will determine the cost and viability of that line as a back-up source of water so that they can get Well #6 rehabilitated.Well #6 is not being used to its full extent because of the arsenic problem. Mr. Durbala asked if the water rates would be reduced for the customers in Apache Junction by purchasing the water from Mesa,and he asked if that water would have fluoride in it. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated it will have fluoride in it.He does not believe the water rates will be reduced;they will have to maintain their current Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 3 of 8 rates. District Operations Manager Doug Dobson stated they can only get water from Mesa to meet the current demand. Mr. Durbala asked if this would only be for emergency supplies. District Operations Manager Doug Dobson stated it would be a temporary emergency supply.They will only buy water from them if it is needed,and they will need to buy some from them in order to shut down Well #6 for repairs. Mr.Durbala asked why they would not be using Arizona Water. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles commented they do not believe Arizona Water has the supply needed with the amount of growth that they are going through. Mr.Insalaco asked how long Well #6 would be down. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated i t will take about three weeks to determine the arsenic level .Once the source of the arsenic has been determined, it will take about another three to six weeks for repairs. Vice Chairperson Surra asked what the long range plan is for another well. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated they are not currently looking for another well.They will be looking at a treatment plant along the canal where the district purchased the property.He believes that will be the best option in the long run.The Arizona Department of Water Resources is putting on a big push to take away the groundwater rights which is why the district is trying to stockpile the recharge credits;by 2025 the Arizona Department of Water Resources hopes that the outside groundwater is minimal.No production wells should be in existence for large water systems;there will only be small production wells for farmers and small irrigation wells allowed.The only source the district may have will be the treated Central Arizona Project water to be located along the canal. Mr.Eck asked how they will be able to get the arsenic out of Well #6. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated they will go to different zones and take samples and determine from which zone the arsenic is coming from.If it is at the bottom,they just seal off the bottom of the well.If it is in the middle, Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 4 of 8 they will seal off perforations to stop the alluvial zone from influencing the water.There is a chance they could lose some volume. District Operations Manager Doug Dobson stated they have reason to believe that the arsenic problem is coming from the last 15'to 25'of the well.If so,they will seal off the bottom 25'and they will have a good water supply again.When the well was originally drilled,they went through a barrier near the bottom that raised the temperature of the water to about 60 degrees.That is a good indication that this is where the arsenic problem is. Mr.Eck asked how long the process would be if they had to go to Mesa. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated i t depends upon the location.The engineers believe they have a line at Mountain Road and Southern.The district would have to run a line from Mountain Road down Southern to San Marcos and up to the boosting station. Mr.Eck asked if Mountain Road was on this side of the Central Arizona Project canal. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated i t is;i t is about a half mile west of Meridian. Mr.Eck stated there may be a new MCL in February or March for arsenic which could effect us even more. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated they have already received a letter regarding the lowering of the levels.He commented the emergency generator was delivered November 1 and installation at the booster station will be completed tomorrow.The first test will be on December 8.Well #5 will begin rehabilitation on December 10 and should be done by December 13.The emergency test on Well #5 will be on December 14.Keller Equipment has been contacted to upgrade the electrical components of Well #5 and the booster station plus the installation of transfer switches required for the Y2K readiness.The consumer confidence report was sent out and there were very few inquiries and they were all basic questions.There were no complaints.The Baseline water main extension is completed; the tank and booster station at Baseline are operational. It is pushing close to 750,000 gallons of water per day.Due to the construction down there,i t is pumping at almost peak capacity. Vice Chairperson Surra asked if they have any plans to advertise to the customers Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 5 of 8 that there will be water even if there should be a power outage due to Y2K. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated they had not planned on contacting individual residential customers.They are contacting all the mobile home parks and the commercial accounts by letter.They are notifying them that if there is an emergency they will only be restricted on their irrigation water flow.They will be able to maintain residential use for as long as they have the generator. He suggested they could run an ad in the paper to contact all the individual residential customers. Vice Chairperson Surra commented something should go out publicly. Mr.Dietz asked if they had already sent out their December billing. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated the December billing should be going out next week. Mr.Dietz suggested they run something with that. Vice Chairperson Surra stated they cannot since it is only a card. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles suggested putting something on the city's web site and running an ad in the local newspapers. Vice Chairperson Surra stated they should be able to do a press release to the newspapers. Assistant City Manager George Hoffman stated the council will be getting a presentation on Y2K issues in the work session tonight.This additional information will be given to Pat Brenner along with the information presented at the work session.The media will get everything at one time. Mr.Eck asked how hard the water is. Water Superintendent Jim Cowles stated it is about 650 parts at the POE.It is fairly hard. DISTRICT MANAGER REPORT: Assistant City Manager George Hoffman stated the district manager and staff will be meeting with the assistant city manager of Mesa next week to talk about tying Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 6 of 8 into their water system.There is concern about the procurement of water in the long term.The district will be working on that in the future.The district manager has been working with George Johnston for the provision of water to the potential development area,and he believes efforts are being made to insure that the development will have sufficient water supply. DISTRICT TREASURER REPORT: None. DISTRICT COUNSEL REPORT: None. ADJOURNMENT meeting at 6:20 p.m. )Chairperson Coleman adjourned the ACCEPTED THIS 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY ,2000,BY THE CHAIRPERSON AND DISTRICT BOARD OF THE WATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT (APACHE JUNCTION WATER COMPANY),CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION,ARIZONA. SIGNED AND ATTESTED TO THIS 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY ,2000. Douglas CoAeman Chairperson ATTEST: Kathleen Connelly District Clerk Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 7 of 8 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 6th day of December,1999.I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 7th day of December,1999. Kathleen Connelly District Clerk Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of December 6,1999 Page 8 of 8