FLETCHER CREEK

IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT


Minutes

November 16, 2015 – 3:30 pm

Froese’s Residence 346 Washington St.


Trustees present: Gillian Froese, Ron McKilligan, Lance McLaren

Secretary Treasurer: Tammy Horick

Members: Steve Scott, Bob Froese


  1. Meeting called to order at 3:35 pm.

  2. Approval of agenda

    1. MOTION to approve agenda. Moved by Gillian Froese, seconded by Ron McKilligan. All in favour. Passed.

  3. Approval of last Trustee minutes (October)

    1. MOTION to approve October meeting minutes. Moved by Ron McKilligan, seconded by Lance McLaren. All in favour. Passed.

  4. Approval of Financial Report (Tammy Horick)

    1. Balance Statement to October 31, 2015:

      • $138,853.56 in Cash plus $1,919.84 still expected in 2015 tax revenues.

      • $232,329.46 in Total Liabilities and Equity, which includes capital assets.

    2. Income Statement to October 31, 2015:

      • Renewal Reserve GIC interest of $840 received.

      • POE project begins with $2,000 cheque to Aqua Clean.

      • Payroll expenses of $395.20 for 19 hours of Secretary Treasurer in September.

      • Honoraria expenses of $700 for second half of 2015.

ADDENDUM Nov 20/15: The payroll and honoraria numbers differ slightly from the statement accepted at the meeting because the $125 honorarium for Ron McKilligan, who is also an employee, has been incorrectly classified as payroll by Sage (a problem since 2014). Tammy will try to fix this for year end.

    1. Cash availability:

      • Unrestricted: $40,662.12

      • Capital Expenditure Charge per Bylaw 2: $19,823.38

      • Renewal Reserve per Bylaw 60: $78,368.06

    2. MOTION to accept October financials as circulated. Moved by Lance McLaren, seconded by Gillian Froese. All in favour. Passed.

  1. Maintenance Report (Ron McKilligan)

    1. Water shutoff, bleach and flush on October 31 from 8 am to 4 pm, no problems.

    2. The dead trees near the intake building will be taken care of by the property owners.

    3. Standpipe on Hwy 31 not capped, but should be left running a little in the winter. Will keep an eye on it to make sure ice in that area isn’t a problem.

    4. October maintenance report accepted.

OLD BUSINESS

  1. Action items from last Trustee minutes

    1. Tammy sent out reminders to two members with outstanding taxes, but noted that each has been in arrears for more than 2 years. Tammy confirmed that the property of one of the members appears to be vacant with signs on the building referring emergencies only to a property management company in Ontario.

ACTION: Tammy to inquire about the vacant property and find out if special action should be taken when taxes have been in arrears for more than 2 years.

    1. ACTION: Tammy to thank Graham and Robert in the next Newsletter or on the website.

    2. Tammy placed a BWA notice in the Pennywise for Nov 17, Nov 24 and Dec 1.

    3. Tammy asked RDCK Director Aimee Watson about funding one or two POE units.

      • Aimee was pleased and supportive of the FCID decision.

      • Aimee can allocate a minimum of $10,000 from Community Works (gas tax) to improve water system infrastructure.

      • FCID is to work with Tanji Zumpano, RDCK water services liaison, to complete a Community Works Fund (CWF) application and Aimee will then approve or adjust the amount given.

      • Tanji has worked with several RDCK communities to address water issues and is very knowledgeable about treating small water systems, at least as it affects RDCK.

      • Tanji said that the CWF application must be used for water treatment infrastructure and could not be used for testing, evaluation or pilot projects. There is a 10 year reporting requirement to annually document how the water system has been improved by the funding (e.g. the BWA was lifted, reduced coliform levels, etc).

      • Tanji cautioned that FCID may be liable for damages or injury resulting from a failure of the POE equipment even if the homeowner signed a maintenance contract but failed to follow it.

      • Tanji recommended that FCID involve Renee Ansell from IHA soon to ensure that IHA would accept POE for an Improvement District and for this many users. The Gar Creek system is much smaller and run by a user group, not a government body.

      • Tammy will work on the CWF application with Tanji next year when FCID is closer to implementation.

    4. Joan Murach of Western Financial Group (WFG) is looking into liability issues for a small water system, and will have someone more familiar with it contact Gillian.

ACTION: Gillian to set up a date for the Board to meet with Renee Ansell and the WFG representative together to discuss liability issues.

    1. ACTION: Lance to ask Aqua Clean if turning the UV bulb off and on is a problem, such as when a member leaves for an extended period.

      • Bob Froese said that it’s usually recommended that it be left on.

    2. ACTION: Lance to ask Aqua Clean for a cost-benefit analysis of the significantly more expensive next Sand filter (~$1,000). Is next Sand cheaper in the long run? What are the benefits? Would using the cheaper spin down filter reduce the lifespan of the entire system?

    3. The turbidometer was purchased in 2012 for $1,444.

    4. A summary of tax rates for Category 1 members (single family dwelling, single connection) since 1981 was emailed to the Board. A Category 1 FCID member would have paid a total of $4,751.68 in taxes since 1981.

    5. A draft letter to members explaining the POE project and requesting member approval was circulated and discussed. Steve asked several questions to clarify details of the project that were answered by Board members:

Q: Members are to pay for renovations necessary to install the POE unit. Will the homeowner be given a schematic and what will the scope of the renovations likely be?

A: The exact configuration of the POE unit is still being determined but will include a 1 micron filter, a UV bulb and a pre-filter. The unit requires a standard electrical outlet and a 3’ x 5’ space inside near where the water enters the building, which is common in most homes so site renovations are expected to be nil to minimal. A pre-installation site evaluation will likely be conducted.

Q: What happens when the power goes out?

A: The POE unit will shut down during a power failure, so no power means no water inside the house. Outdoor taps will still work but are not potable. Members should either keep stored water or a backup power supply for the POE unit. The unit will also shut down if the water is very turbid.

Q: What are the maintenance requirements?

A: Members will have to sign a contract promising that their unit will be monitored and maintained. Members can do the monitoring and maintenance themselves, which consists mainly of replacing the filter and UV bulb periodically (probably twice a year) and submitting a short form and water sample to FCID to confirm that the scheduled maintenance has been done.

Q: How will FCID handle members who don’t want to sign?

A: IHA requires that ALL members have a water treatment system and maintenance regimen that meets IHA standards in order to lift the BWA. Members that refuse to have a POE unit purchased and installed by FCID so that their water meets IHA standards, or are unwilling to commit to the maintenance and monitoring of their system, will have their water connection turned off.

The following benefits of this plan over the 2011 POE proposal were also noted:

  1. FCID will pay for the POE units and parts replaced during maintenance, instead of the member.

  2. Maintenance and testing can now be done less frequently (e.g. twice a year instead of monthly) and done by the member, by an FCID representative, or hired out, which is a great improvement in privacy and convenience to members and in cost to FCID.

ACTION: Tammy to revise the POE letter to emphasize the changes from 2011 that make this project more acceptable.

ACTION: Tammy to send out POE approval letter in early January, and request return by February 15.



  1. POE treatment plan

    1. POE unit configuration (FCID standard)

      • Tammy pointed out that FCID probably doesn’t have enough money to install the deluxe unit with next Sand pre-filter on all connections at this time. Financial considerations may force FCID to standardize on the cheaper unit with spin-down pre-filter, which still meets IHA requirements, and upgrade to the next Sand filter at a later date if still desired.

      • An 8 gallon per minute (gpm) system may be sufficient if no members are getting more than this flow rate. Note that indoor pipes (e.g. kitchen taps) are only ½”, so an outdoor tap is a better indicator of maximum possible flow.

ACTION: Steve (1” connection), Lance and Ron (3/4” connections) to measure gpm using an outside tap.

    1. IHA construction permit application is being completed by Aqua Clean, is expected to take 3 months to a year to be approved, and requires 100% signed member approval.

    2. Member Request for Approval letter will be tweaked to explicitly note the benefits over the 2011 POE proposal.

    3. Contract and maintenance schedule to be discussed with Renee Ansell and liability insurers.

    4. Maintenance documentation will be written later.

    5. Bylaw amendment(s) regarding ownership and unit maintenance will have to be made.

    6. Other implementation steps

      • Pre-install site visits


NEW BUSINESS

  1. Correspondence

    1. Robert Wilson from Mirror Lake Water Users Community (MLWUC) contacted Tammy, Gillian and Ron regarding where FCID was in the POE implementation process, and how to set up a website for MLWUC similar to www.fletchercreekwater.com. It was agreed to keep in touch with MLWUC.

  2. Announcements

Next meeting will be in January, exact date and time to be announced.

  1. Adjournment at 4:30 pm.