This communication covers work underway in the following areas:
- Tax Levy Measure Tentatively Passing
- Cell Tower in the Forest – Decision Pended
- Update on Forest-Watershed Roads Repair & Decommissioning
- State Mandate to Move Asbury Creek Intake
- Progress on District Rejuvenation Projects
A. Tax Levy measure tentatively passing, 73-72. Request for Proposals for a contracted Interim Administrator being developed.
The local option levy on the November ballot gave voters the option of paying for a 2-year contract with an Interim District Administrator either with taxes (a yes vote) or with rate increases (a no vote). The levy vote currently sits at 73 yes -72 no, with only possible ballot challenges outstanding, which will be resolved by Nov 27. With a yes result, voters will have chosen to pay for the position with tax revenues of approximately $125,000 / year. With a no result, voters will have chosen to pay for the position with rate increases of approximately $42/quarter for water and $63/quarter for sanitary (per the voters pamphlet page 23 and the letter sent to voters and posted in October on this blog).
In compliance with state regulations, the District will begin the procurement process by developing and posting a Request for Proposals for an interim District Administrator. Candidates will be evaluated and selected, followed by contract negotiation. The contract will take effect on July 1, 2025.
Click here for a discussion of the Mandate for an Interim District Administrator and the Scope of Work
B. Cell Tower in Forest? Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has identified an extensive set of requirements that must be met before they will consider / approve a cell tower in the Forest.
In response to the Board’s request of whether or not a Cell Tower would be allowed by the Forest Legacy Program, ODF has replied:
“It would require ODF and USFS approval of any plans and encumbrances on the property for the tower itself, plus approving an updated Multi-Resource Management Plan since the last one did not mention a cell tower, updating maps and providing an update on impacts to the project property and access.”
Given the more pressing issues facing the Board and the District and a very tight budget, there is no bandwidth at this time to undertake a lengthy and potentially costly process of updating and getting community consensus on a Multi-Resource Management Plan — to include a Cell Tower — along with map updates, impact assessment and getting required approvals of ODF and the United States Forest Service USFS.
C. Roads Repair & Decommissioning Progress Update: This year’s work has ended with about one-half of the road projects completed. The remaining will be completed next year.
The roads repair and decommissioning work has concluded for this year 1 work period. The second and final work period will be from May – September 2025. Click here to see the map that shows the roads repair work that has been completed (green circles), the roads that have been decommissioned (red dashed lines) and the roads that have been abandoned (pink dashed lines). The map also shows the work for next year – roads repair work (red circles) and the roads to be decommissioned (red solid lines). Mark Morgans, our forester, and Vinson Brothers, our roads contractor, have completed a lot of work and are on pace for an on-time and in-budget finish.
D. Move Asbury Creek Intake Project: Significant work, cost and inconvenience for the District and community are tentatively scheduled for calendar years 2026 and 2027.
The State has mandated that Asbury Creek be returned to a fish passage creek by removing the culvert under 101 between Shark Creek Lane and Shanks Lane and replacing it with a bridge. Accomplishing this will require work by Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Arch Cape Water District.
The Water District takes a portion of its water from Asbury Creek, with the intake being just east of the culvert under 101. The District is being required to move the intake about 200 feet upstream and to replace / move one of the two water mains to underneath the new bridge.
Though the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is funding the lion’s share of the work, significant work, cost will and inconvenience will be borne by the Water District and the Arch Cape Community.
This Project requires the District to complete a set of tasks starting immediately and stretching into fall of 2027.
- Between now and September of 2026, the District must move the current water intake at a cost of about $470,000. All but $1,000 will be reimbursed.
- In calendar year 2027, the District will remove the portion of the water main that lies in the construction area between Sharks Creek Lane and Shanks Lane and replace / reroute it with a water main to be installed underneath the new bridge, at a cost of about $120,000. These costs are not reimbursable and are not in the District’s long-range plan. A funding source(s) – e.g., grants, tax levy, loans, rate increases – will need to be identified.
Click here for the Project Description, with a map, and the Tentative Project Plan.
E. Progress on District Rejuvenation Projects
In addition to standard operations tasks and addressing unexpected challenges that present themselves, the following progress has been made this month on the rejuvenation projects listed below – with green indicating completed and yellow indicating progress was made / new status reported. (The complete set of projects with status can be found by clicking here)
- Project 1 – Replace Operations Control Electronics for the Water Plant. JUST COMPLETED
Alarms are being broadcast via email to staff mobile device.
Staff can remotely access water plant from the Sanitary plant and from mobile device.
- Project 2 – Replace Webb Lift Station:
Construction of the lift station continues to be ahead of schedule. Project paused awaiting parts delivery expected after the holidays.
Note: Snapshots of the progress can be viewed on the District’s web site (www.archcapewater.org and click on News & Updates) or click on this link. Click here
- Project 3 – Upgrade & Bring Current the Business/ Admin Computer and Data System
All computer systems at the Sanitary Plant, administrative and operational, are now behind a firewall to prevent hacking. Wifi access change is in process.
- Project 5 – Implement an Asset Management System
Developing management reports to use work order data to monitor plant & operations status.
- Project 6 – Upgrade & Bring Current the Districts’ Web Site: COMPLETED
- Project 7 – Inspect Water Lines for Lead. COMPLETED
- Project 8 – Address Corrosion in Water Plant:
An additional fan is being installed at floor level to remove chlorine gas as it is heavier than air.
- Project 9 – Replace Operations Control Electronics for the Sanitary Plant
Sanitary Board approved proposal from vendor. Replacement will start in January – February.
- Project 10 – Move Asbury Creek Intake
Project Description and Tentative Plan developed.
A.C. Water District Board (Go to Home Page) 
3 responses to “November 21 – Month 5: Tax Levy, Cell Tower, New State Mandate”
Thank you for the updates. Regarding the cell tower, did we consider having Verizon contribute resources/money to complete the multi-resource management plan given they were the ones who originally wanted to install the tower?
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It’s a bit of the chicken and egg. The District has to sign a lease with Verizon before they are willing to give us money. We can’t sign a lease with Verizon until we are sure that we can build a tower. (Maybe Verizon will get to the point that they are willing to do an “initial investment”.) The other challenge facing the District is the resource bandwidth to take on this project without a high probability of success. The District barely has the resources to keep the plants operating and is relying on Board members to do some heavy lifting – that is why we will be contracting with an Administrator.
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Thank you for the reply. This makes sense and I appreciate all the work and thought that has gone into this!
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