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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-18 WUCFD MINUTESWATER UTILITIES COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT (APACHE JUNCTION WATER COMPANY) CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 18, 2011 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 October 18, 2011, at the Apache Junction City Council Chambers pursuant to the notice required by law. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Insalaco called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Board Members Present:Chairperson Insalaco Vice Chairperson Dietz Mr. Douglas Coleman Mr. Jeff Serdy Mr. Chip Wilson Staff Present: (Mrs. Barker and Mr. Smithson were absent.) George Hoffman, District Manager Kathleen Connelly, District Clerk Frank Blanco, District Director Giao Pham, District Engineer Kay Bigelow, District Legal Counsel Donna Meinerts, District Finance Director Others Present:Bryant Powell, Assistant City Manager Hazel Randall, Administrative Assistant APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 1 of 8 )Vice Chairperson Dietz MOVED THAT THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2011, BE APPROVED. Mr. Wilson SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF EMPLOYMENT ISSUES ) ) District Legal Counsel Kay Bigelow requested this be tabled indefinitely based on staff request. Chairperson Insalaco called for a motion. Vice Chairperson Dietz MOVED THAT WE TABLE THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Mr. Coleman SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. DISTRICT MANAGER REPORT None. DISTRICT DIRECTOR REPORT District Director Frank Blanco stated work is being done on Well 8.The brushing and swabbing has been done.The next step is to take a video of the casing and a water sample of the water that is inside the casing to rule out bacterial activity.That is scheduled to occur in the next two weeks.Afterwards they will work with Southwest Groundwater to start doing the pilot for the aquafir storage and recovery, looking to see if it is Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 2 of 8 feasible and getting a permit on that.We got the equipment back from Webber so we should be ready to go.Well 5 and Well 6 are being operated more frequently due to the Central Arizona Project Water Order and the interconnect.The interconnect has been ramped down a little bit.The primary project of the one million gallon storage tank is progressing.Comments have been given to the consulting engineer and 90% plans should be coming within a month.They will be inspecting the tanks at Buena Vista/16th Avenue and at Baseline in about 4 weeks to make sure they are not deteriorating and will make patches if they are. Vice Chairperson Dietz asked if they were going to redo the one at Baseline once the new tank is ready.He asked if they need to waste the money to have that one inspected. District Director Frank Blanco stated because of the timing on the concrete tank, it is still important for them to go in and remove some of the silt.The inspection also includes about 3 inches of silt removal.Silt comes from the wells when they pump.There is some sand in the water and it settles at the bottom.He is right in that this one is not as thorough as the other one. Vice Chairperson Dietz asked if he is recommending that they do it anyway even though they are going to have it emptied and repaired. District Director Frank Blanco stated that is correct.The inspection is incidental.It is more for removing the silt and looking at the structure itself.They will be doing a dry inspection once they empty the tank and have the other one online.He showed on the overhead the Central Arizona Project Water Order for 2011 which detailed the scheduled acre feet monthly deliveries and the actual deliveries.They have to send the order from the previous year to Central Arizona Project each October for anticipated deliveries, showing the current year's deliveries.They exceeded the scheduled amounts in some months. They began optimizing the use of the interconnect, overusing it in those months, and as they progressed to September they are looking at an estimated 99 acre feet based on the daily logs of how much water went through the interconnect.It breaks down to about 1.5 million gallons went through the interconnect a day. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 3 of 8 It is mostly surface water, maximizing our Central Arizona Project water usage.It reduces our energy consumption significantly as the pumps are more efficient.It also saves on chemicals.Looking at the end of the year they need to ramp down to 90 acre feet per month.They monitor it daily and are projecting how many acre feet they will actually use.The anticipated acre feet delivery will be 1,239 versus 1,139. There is 100 acre feet that was not scheduled that the district will take delivery of.He met with another east valley city and talked to them about a one-time water exchange.They will allow us to take 100 acre feet of their Central Arizona Project water in December.In return, they will take 100 acre feet of our water that we are increasing for in January 2012.There is no money exchange.They did not have to go through a change in the schedule in order to do this. Vice Chairperson Dietz commented we are shutting down our water from September through December.That is when our winter visitors are coming in and the usage should be going up.He asked if they would be using Wells 5 and 6 more to make up the difference. District Director Frank Blanco stated that is correct.If they look at the numbers that were scheduled, they are not reducing the water that much.They are increasing the well usage during that time.The pumping from the wells will be in the form of long term storage credit recovery so the credits they have built up over a period of time will recover the Central Arizona Project Water in lieu of pumping groundwater.They are able to do that per the Department of Water Resources regulations.It reduces our bill to the CAGRD by doing that. Vice Chairperson Dietz commented if they average the 1,239 we would be over our allotment of Central Arizona Project water. District Director Frank Blanco stated they would be over by 100 acre feet for the twelve month period. Vice Chairperson Dietz asked what would happen if they stayed on that. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 4 of 8 District Director Frank Blanco stated it would be even higher than 1,239.He feels the plan will work by just getting an additional 100 acre feet for next year and exchanging it for the other city's water.Over 365 days, 100 acre feet is not a lot, but it does accumulate over a period of time. Vice Chairperson Dietz asked if the allotment is 29. District Director Frank Blanco stated it is 2,900 acre feet for the year.That is without the additional 1,000 they are looking at leasing. Vice Chairperson Dietz stated even though they are at 1,239 they are well under their allotment. District Director Frank Blanco stated they are for now.The next step in recharging and water exchanges is where we will begin to use the additional Central Arizona Project water to build up additional long term storage credits and things like that.With the opportunity to recharge our water at Superstition Mountain Water Recharge Facility, we will be ordering additional water in excess of what we would normally use to give us the ability to use more of the water that we were going to recharge to serve our customers.The district would recharge less and serve the customers more water.If it goes the other way, we are in a take or pay situation, then the district would recharge more water than we would have normally done.It allows us some flexibility. Mr. Serdy commented one of his long-time customers who is a farmer between Apache Junction and Florence told him Central Arizona Project is taking his water because he grows alfalfa. They will not give water for alfalfa, just cotton.He has lost $70,000 in income.He does not know how that decision got made. They will only give it for cotton because it takes less water than alfalfa. Mr. Wilson commented it is $16 or $17 a bale of hay for alfalfa and they are cutting out more. District Director Frank Blanco asked if he had his own allocation of Central Arizona Project water. Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 5 of 8 Mr. Serdy stated he does. District Director Frank Blanco stated it is interesting that they cut him back; they must be out of water. Mr. Serdy stated if he gets more information he will let him know.He does not know if that affects us any as we have no agriculture within the city limits.Central Arizona Project is making the change for some reason, but he does not know what the reasoning was.He will try to find out. District Director Frank Blanco stated it would be interesting information.They could be a potential partner.The district could provide him Central Arizona Project water and create some long term storage credits as they were doing with New Magma Irrigation District.There could be an opportunity for us.He commented the district received a letter from Arizona Department of Water Resources on the Environmental Assessment.It is required by the Bureau of Reclamation in order to approve our lease/purchase.The assessment was done by Arizona Department of Water Resources who charged a fee of $35,000.The process began in February 2011 and the district received a preliminary draft in September 2011.The public notice is now posted and it is dated October 14, 2011.The key points on the assessment are that it was posted in October 2011 and it is on the 100 year lease of the Gila River Indian Community Central Arizona Project water.It is not on the options.Once the environmental assessment is done, we do not have to do it again to enter into the lease.The preliminary determination is that an environmental impact statement is not needed.That type of statement would require lots of time and money, so that is good news.Comments will be taken until October 28, 2011 and they will be available for public inspection.The final decision will be made after Arizona Department of Water Resources considers all public comments.The outcome they are hoping to see is a finding of no significant impact and that no additional assessment is required.There is no additional assessment required for the 1,000 acre foot lease, so once it is approved they will not have to go through this another 3 years from now or whatever the time frame will be. DISTRICT TREASURER REPORT Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 6 of 8 None. DISTRICT LEGAL COUNSEL None. ADJOURNMENT adjourned the meeting at 6:24 p.m. ) Chairperson Insalaco ACCEPTED THIS 15TH DAY OF NOVEMBER ,2011, 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 15TH 2011. ATTEST: Kathleen Connelly District Clerk DAY OF NOVEMBER bhn S. Insalaco Chairperson 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 18th day of October, 2011.I Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 7 of 8 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 20th day of October, 2011. Kathleen Connelly District Clerk Water Utilities Community Facilities District Meeting Minutes of October 18, 2011 Page 8 of 8