Lake Wenatchee Water District
Commissioner’s Meeting Minutes
October 10, 2024
Location: Fire Station #91
21696 Lake Wenatchee Hwy
Commissioners Present: Fred Guimond, John Colvard, Erin Colwell (quorum established)
Staff Present: Bruce Harris-Clerk, Charlie Cruickshank-Operator
Guests Present: none
Commissioner Guimond called the meeting to order at 9:30am
Commissioner Guimond moved to accept the Sep 12, 2024, minutes as written, Commissioner Colvard moved to second, motion passed.
ADMINISTRATIVE
Approve: O&M and Payroll Warrants
Commissioner Colvard motioned to approve the O&M warrant for $4,901.78. Commissioner Guimond seconded; motion passed.
Commissioner Colvard motioned to approve payroll warrant for $1,686.00, Commissioner Colwell seconded, motion passed.
Customer Status Report
Darshan Naik was approved for installation of a new connection. A double vault will replace the single vault as soon as a contractor and equipment can be scheduled. This is number 14 of the 14 allowed connections in Mountain Park.
Sulfur Smell in the water
Operator Cruickshank commented that the sulfur smell has partially subsided with the replacement of the transducer that measures and transmits the water level in the Whispering Pines reservoir to the pumphouse controller software. It has not eliminated the infusion of sulfur into the water, so further research is being done to improve the cycling of the water between the pressure zones to reduce stagnation or layering of the water in the reservoir tank.
Large pressure reduction valves (PRV)
PRV maintenance, which is recommended every three to four years, is overdue and needs to be started. Because the cost of this required maintenance has increased 30-40% over last year’s budgeted amount, the operator felt it was important that the commissioners were aware of the estimated increase and that we should proceed as soon as possible to schedule the task. RH2 Engineering has recommended that modifying the settings of the PRV’s could be used as a tool to increase the mixing of the water between the pressure zones and possibly reduce the sulfur impact.
Commissioner Guimond motioned for Operator Cruickshank to immediately schedule the PRV maintenance at the estimated cost of approximately $7300; Commissioner Colwell seconded; motion passed. Commissioner Colvard opposed it due to cost. After further discussion, it was agreed that the operator will check for a lower cost alternate maintenance service contractor before proceeding with the current estimate. The manufacturer of the four PRVs used in our water system, Cla-Val, requires only contractors certified to work on their valves be authorized, which will limit alternatives.
Snow clearing bid for 2024/2025 season
There were no responses to the three bid letters sent out for the next snow clearing season. Individual contractors will be contacted as a substitute.
DOH Get the Lead Out Campaign
Operator Cruickshank reports that his survey of potential lead impact in our system is almost complete and will be submitted on time to DOH.
LWWD/RH2 GSA Maintenance Contract
The current contract between the district and RH2 is 8 years old. RH2 submitted, for our approval and signature, a 2024 updated general service maintenance contract with the latest RH2 labor rates which the commissioner reviewed. Commissioner Guimond signed for the district. There were few changes to the original 2019 contract other than labor rate updates.
Budget review for 2025
The commissioners agreed to meet an hour prior to the next commissioners meeting to discuss budget revisions and capital planning for 2025.
Public Utility Tax
The application to the Dept of Revenue (DOR) was just completed to change the business owner from Charles Ferrel to Commissioner Colvard. Clerk Harris will work with the bookkeeper to finish adding DVM Solutions as an authorized agent to provide excise tax filing to the Washington DOR for Lake Wenatchee Water District.
OPERATIONS
Operator Cruickshank has some remaining LWW pump house pipe repairs to complete before winter 2024. These repairs do not impact the daily operation of the system.
The priority of the construction of the approved lean-to addition to the pump house for storage of meter vaults and equipment has been lowered because of other pre-winter activity the needs to be done. It will be done this fall if time and weather allow.
Re-energizing wells
Commissioner Colvard reviewed the letter received from the DOE/DOH requesting more proof surrounding well capacity reduction. Many issues drove the decision to limit data gathering supporting the grant to the LWW well since it has always been the one with the most reduction of pumping capacity.
There’s concern that LWWD could be spending more on contracting for data gathering than the potential grant offers. The commissioners agreed to limit the documentation to measurement analysis of well-depth under various pumping scenarios. Commissioner Colvard would ask RH2 to advise what testing schedule would be best to provide those results. RH2 would also provide the data analysis. The work would be done by our operator who has the equipment and experience. In addition, the operator will contact the well photographic service recommended by RH2 for an estimate to photograph the screen and well condition at the LWW pumphouse.
Meeting Adjourned at 11:25 am
Next meeting – Thursday, November 14, 2024
9:30-11:30 am