MANAGER'S REPORT
09/09/2020
Budget Position Report
Revenues for August were $76,032.68. Expenses were $65,491.97. So we took in $10,540.71 more than we spent.
The summary separates operational expenses from capital expenditures. Operationally we were $21,647 in the black. But we had one more invoice for the Highway 12 Cast Iron Replacement project, which is listed as a Capital expenditure.
We transferred the following money from General Maintenance:
$4,771 to Capital Replacement Reserve
$4,200 to USDA Payment Reserve
$3,000 to Major Repair Reserve
Approximate fund balances are listed in the Treasurer’s Report paragraph below.
Treasurer’s Report:
The Treasurer’s Report is still off by $9.00. I have looked. I just can’t find it. I bet it is a transposition somewhere.
Fund Balances To Date:
Regular Maintenance $ 70,631
Capital Replacement $ 38,167
Major Repair Reserve $236,158
General Facilities $110,646
Total Funds Available $455,602
So we have an improvement in our fund balances, over last month, of $13,963. Due to the two big repair projects, total fund balances are down $149,085 for the year.
Billing/Collections
In August we billed $67,270 and collected $64,149 (95%) plus $7,600 in General Facilities charges.
Billing for the September 1st Section 1 cycle was $98,308. There was $23,390 in usage charges. Those were high for two reasons. The first is that it represents two billing periods of usage because of the problem we encountered in the last Section 1 billing cycle. The second is because a lot of people used a lot of water.
Water Rights
I have one SOQ (Northwest Water Systems) and am awaiting another from Jerome Morrisette & Associates. Sad news from JWM&A. Jerry Morrisette, the founder and a long time friend, passed away a few months ago. Steve Willie now owns the firm.
I propose that we draw the expenses for this project out of the General Facilities Fund as these expenses definitely relate to an increase in service connections.
Payroll Report
See attached report. There is a lot of overtime. There is simply too much to do.
Pandemic
The office is still closed to the public but fully staffed. Phase 3 allows government offices to open subject to restrictions.
There is no practical way to meet the requirements for Phase 3 in order to open the office to the public.
Problems associated with the shut down have made it difficult to obtain NSF-60 sodium hypochlorite. At this writing we are running on non-NSF produced in the same plant as the NSF chlorine we have been using.
I have considered in the past exploring the possibility of on-site chlorine production. Technically, it is not that difficult. It is a simple process (in theory) of applying an electric current to a brine solution.
With this current difficulty I have talked to some water districts that have on-site facilities. The responses are universally positive. They have found the process to be reliable and economical. And salt is a lot easier to obtain than NSF-60 chlorine.
I am in the beginning stages of exploring installation and start-up costs.
Isolation Valves
We have made great progress in finding valves. In September we are planning to excavate, raise, and re-pave four buried valves. We need contractor assistance and our primary contractor keeps having to defer due to more pressing projects.
A copy of the cost tracking sheet for this project, so far, is attached.
Well #5 Source Meter
Quote: $6,631.25 + tax Still sitting on it.
Hydrant Maintenance
Flushing is getting done. But we are behind in tagging and painting. See “Maintenance Activity” below.
Rate Study
No change since last month.
New Regulations
None
Recurring SCADA Power/Communications Problems
We should be close to switching to internet communications by the time of the meeting.
Personnel
We will be losing Shiree at the end of the month. She has done a great job on our files.
Maintenance Activity:
Usual daily/weekly/monthly maintenance activity. See attached report.
We are not keeping up. It is not for a lack of trying. Everyone is working smart, hard, and long. The maintenance tasks just keep piling up.
Contractor Repairs/Assistance
We have had contractor assistance in a couple of service installs, some service lateral repairs, and the installation of additional water quality sampling stations.
Tank Cleaning
This is on hold until the “Stay-at-Home” order is lifted.
As-Builts
On hold, except that the valve locating project will improve the information we have.
Shop Organization
The process of inventory has begun. And ground to a halt. This keeps falling victim to higher priority projects.
Training/Certifications
Mick does not yet have the exam scheduled. I keep nagging.
No action yet on setting up for webinars and online training. But I have to do something soon so that we can all keep up with our CEU’s. Though I can do some training with my personal computer.
New Pump
I have not had a chance to run an analysis on electricity use and the impact on our electric bill. I will get to that.
Safety
We have a mini safety meeting every morning. We have gone a long time without an L&I claim. We are all striving to keep that trend going.
Vehicles
Service Truck: The driver’s seat is beginning to wear out. We will need to have this seat re-covered. No action yet.
Pickup Truck 1: No Issues
Pickup Truck 2: No issues
Backhoe: No issues.
Web Site
Nothing new
New Connection
7400 Hill Road
Filing System
Almost finished.
Fire Station
Just about complete. The dirt contractor has not leveled our well site (hand shake agreement) but I will remind them.
Grant Funding Pursuit
The “Stay-at-Home” order has pretty much shut this effort down for the time being.
Capital Asset Management
No news. Everything is proceeding according to the plan.
Disaster Management Planning
As stated before, this is a big project, as witnessed by the “guidance” I will display for you at the meeting. Though that will not show all the various web sites.
However, the basic objective that we need to keep in view is the district’s ability to provide pressure to the fire hydrants, and potable water to the Montesano Readiness Center, the Fire District #2 station, and the Central Park Elementary School. We should also consider the District office as a critical facility as it will serve as the water district’s command post during a disaster event. Bear in mind that we are addressing disaster management, not just emergency management. This phase is the “resiliency” phase, how we continue to operate following a major catastrophic event.
It seems to me that the guiding metric is not the minimum, but the maximum. The decision point is that point at which we determine that we cannot realistically meet any part of the above objective in the near term. The “near term” is not specifically defined anywhere, but the guidelines indicate the ability to provide services to critical infrastructure for at least several days. An example of an extreme “maximum” might be the complete destruction of most or all of the district’s distribution system. Such an event would move us from “response” to “recovery”.
The second part of the mandated planning process requires that we address “recovery”. In past disasters discussed in various places in the guidance, “return to normal” can take anywhere from a few weeks to years. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle.
An associated consideration is the district’s ability to communicate with other critical organizations/responders. Cell service will probably terminate within 48 hours after a major event, at best. Typically, fire districts, municipalities, other water/wastewater utilities, and power providers communicate using what is called a PS-4 type of radio. Though not terribly expensive, we need to plan how to integrate into that communications protocol.
We are actually blessed here in this area. We may have strong winds from time-to-time (for which we are prepared), but truly devastating storms are extremely rare. We have had earthquakes, but nothing that really causes extreme damage. Wildfires are rare. But it is these kinds of events that the new regulations require us to consider and for which we are required to be prepared.
Isolation Valve Exercise Program
We will have a great deal more information on valve locations as we go through that effort. I don’t know how we are going to fit another maintenance item into staff availability.
I haven’t ordered a powered valve key yet as I am keeping expenses as low as possible. I wait to spend the money until we absolutely have to have the part, tool, supply, or whatever.
Future and/or On-Hold Programs
All issues related to this topic are dead issues. It will be dropped. Anything that relates to deferred maintenance or upgrades will be listed individually.
Shop Insulation
On hold until the “Stay-at-Home” order is lifted.
Long Distance Service Laterals
No new thoughts or events.
Respectfully Submitted:
Reg Hearn
General Manager