March Madness for the Districts is the budget process.  March is spent looking back over what has happened and looking forward to find the balance between what needs to happen and what we can afford.  A draft budget for each District is produced and then presented/ discussed with a community budget committee in April.

Just a warning – this communication is dauntingly lengthy. But it’s necessary to set the stage for the District’s budget work that is underway and, of course, there is an update to the continuing saga of the billing system.

This communication covers work underway in the following areas:

• Our Billing System Transition – gWorks will take another kick at the can
• Water District Board’s Critical Vacancies
• Our Rejuvenation work is going underground
• District Staffing – putting the jigsaw puzzle together
• Progress on District Rejuvenation Projects

A. Our Billing System – gWorks will take another kick at the can.

We finally got the attention of the management level at gWorks. Working with them, we have agreed to a plan for gWorks to make things right for our billing and payment systems.  Here are the key elements of that plan:

1)    Use UBMax in the Interim:   The Districts will return to using the UBMax Billing System until: a) gWorks is producing bills that match UBMax bills and b) both the District and gWorks agree to disable UBMax. 

2)    Disable gWorks’ Front Desk:   gWorks “Front Desk” user-account-management functionality has been disabled.  This means that auto-payment and other functions to customize your billing experience cannot be used.  When you click the LOGIN button, nothing will happen.   

3)   Bring gWorks billing & payment on-line:  A new project will be initiated to bring the District on-line with the gWorks Billing System.  

4)   Access to Historical data:  gWorks now seems to appreciate the Districts’ need for access to historical billing and payment data in order to operate our business.  gWorks is looking into how much historical data from the current UBMax system will be provided to the District either integrated into gWorks or as an excel spreadsheet in a format acceptable to the District. 

What this means to you:

B. Water District Board’s Critical Vacancies

No candidates filed for the three open positions on the Water District Board. In this situation, the write-in votes on the ballot will be counted. For each open position, the person with the most write-in votes will be elected to that position. If, by chance, there are no write-in candidates or if the write-in candidate(s) declines so that all 3 positions remain open, then the County Commissioners will appoint a person to form a quorum of 3 Board members (the one appointed and the remaining 2 Board members that are not up for election).

C. Our Rejuvenation work is going underground

So far, most of the operations and rejuvenation work of Matt and his team of contractors has been focused on fixing, replacing and maintaining the water and waste water processing equipment and parts and that are above ground (what you can see).  That work continues.

Also, Matt is now starting to direct the effort towards rejuvenating the miles upon miles of sewer and water pipes and related components that are underground.

Sanitary Infrastructure:  Generators and Sewer Pipes

The District has two mobile generators that are used during power outages to run two of the lift stations (the lift stations progressively pump sewage from the residential areas to the sanitary plant). Both of these generators were put into service in the late 1990s. During the last storm both of them failed, for different reasons. Due to the age of the generators it took our supplier Cat-Peterson a month to track down parts. When they came out to do the service, they identified that one of the generator is so badly corroded that it can’t affordably be brought back into service. Bottom line, one generator is needed ASAP and the second generator needs to be replaced as soon as financially possible.

The sewer pipes, now over 40 years old and with no maintenance over the past 8-10 years, are cracking and eroding.  This hidden damage is allowing storm water into the pipes which is then pumped to and processed by the sanitary plant.   For every 30,000 to 40,000  gallons of water used by the community, more than 300,000 gallons are processed by the wastewater plant during heavy rainfall events.  To keep up with this demand, the plant and equipment are using 10x the resources, electricity to run the pumps and blowers and more frequent replacement of all the equipment due to more rapid wear and tear, all of which contribute to higher costs and subsequent increased rates. 

The technical term for this is Inflow and Infiltration (I&I), which is the unintended entry of groundwater and stormwater into sanitary sewer systems, leading to increased wastewater treatment costs and potential overflows into creeks. 

The I&I has become so problematic that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is now requiring the District to address the problem.  Towards that end, sections of the sewer pipes have been, and will continue to be, viewed by camera to identify damage and to establish the priority for and type of repairs.

Continued camera work and pipe repairs will need to become a standard cost within the sanitary budget, with relatively significant amounts for at least the next several years before reducing to a maintenance amount. 

Water Infrastructure: The water pipes themselves are less problematic as the damage to one of them is known pretty quickly and, ideally, fixed.  However, there are over 275 valves & gates within those pipes which allow water to be shut off and redirected as the need arises.   Over the past 40 years these valves and gates have become rusted and corroded. 

Without periodically testing them, the damage is unknown until a crisis presents itself and staff needs to turn off one of the valves and it won’t turn.  This happened last November when a main burst on Buena Vista drive, the closest turn off value had corroded and the took time to locate the next closest valve.

The Districts will be moving into the 20^th century with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.  GIS electronically captures, stores, analyzes, and displays geographically referenced information, allowing the District to identify and electronically map all of the water and sewer infrastructure that is underground, replacing 50-year old paper maps that are not always reliable.

Starting now and moving into next year, Matt and his team will be electronically mapping all pipes, valves, gates. and will start a testing process to proactively identify damaged gates and valves and fix them.

D. District Staffing – putting the jigsaw puzzle together

The level of work required to operate the plants, maintain the machinery-components-infrastructure, oversee the technical aspects of District projects and provide 24-7-365 coverage for emergency response requires 2 technical staff members. The effort to administer the business of the Districts – business management, finance, budgeting procurement, contracting, board liaison, etc. – is in addition to that work and requires an administrative sill set. Meeting these demands in light of a vanishing work force and a tight budget is challenging. The Districts are continuing to adapt to get the work done.

1. Matt Gardner:  Matt Gardner has been working for the District for 9 years; the first 7 as our Operator and the last 2 as our Interim Manager.  The Operator who replaced Matt resigned last July and, with no new candidate presenting themselves, Matt picked up Operations responsibilities as well as his management ones.  Before getting totally burned out, Matt discovered a “quick-study” contractor whose been able to pick up some of the responsibilities and has become an invaluable member of the operations team.  But Matt has continued to be the sole on-call person, every night and every weekend without vacation (basically working 365x24x7).  After getting a good look at the management challenges, Matt has decided that his preference is the hands-on work — applying his education and experience directly to keeping the utilities running, providing critical services on behalf of the ratepayers and ensuring that the water and sewer plants have minimal impact on the environment.  The Operator position allows him to focus on getting the work done during the day and have time for his personal interests in the late afternoon and nights.  It is the District’s great fortune that Matt is willing to continue with both duties until a Manager can be hired.

So the Districts are pivoting ….

2. Manager of Plants and Operations:  The District is looking for a Manager of Plants and Operations.  (Check out the job posting and description on the Districts’ web site. Click Here). This person will have focused responsibility for the operations and management of both plants and all related equipment and infrastructure above ground and below. He/She will be doing what Matt has been doing with Matt as full time Operator replacing the contractor.  This position is posted on a number of industry web sites and in the Daily Journal of Commerce and Business Tribune.

In the meantime …

3. Relief Operator:  Until the Manger is hired, Matt is in desperate need of time off!  Fortunately, the District has been successful in finding and engaging a very well qualified and experienced Operator who is willing to come to Arch Cape for one weekend a month and for a couple of weeks in the summer to allow Matt to get uninterrupted sleep, relief from worry (well somewhat) and time away from the District.  The District is looking for homeowners who are willing to provide accommodations for this Operator, at the Districts’ expense, when he comes to town.  Check out the web site if you are willing/ interested. Click here.

In preparing for a new Board …

4. Interim District Administrator:  For the past two years, individual Board members have picked up all District management and administration responsibility in order to a) allow Matt time to focus on rejuvenating and operating the District, and b) get a better idea about what it really take to run the Districts, separate from running the plants and operations.  With the Board Members terms ending in June, a 2-year Interim District Manager is being contracted to do this work and to make recommendation to the Boards about what the staffing requirements are long term.   Requests for Proposals for the contracted role were published, proposals were received from 3 qualified candidates and a preferred one has been selected.  The District and the candidate are working together through a due-diligence period so that the candidate has a clear idea about the expectations.   The final step will be negotiating a contract.

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 FY2024-2025 budgeted 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 3 – Upgrade & Bring Current the Business/ Admin Computer and Data System. COMPLETED

• Project 4 – Find, Compile, Electronically Store and Provide Access to Required Business Documents.  AS TIME ALLOWS

• Project 4 – Find, Compile, Electronically Store and Provide Access to Required Business Documents.  AS TIME ALLOWS

• Project 5 – Implement an Asset Management System.    COMPLETED

• Project 6 – Upgrade & Bring Current the Districts’ Web Site:   COMPLETED

• Project 7 – Inspect Water Lines for Lead.  COMPLETED

• Project 8 – Corrosion in Water Plant.  JUST COMPLETED

• Project 9 – Replace Operations Control Electronics for the Sanitary Plant. COMPLETED

• Project 10 – Move Asbury Creek Intake.     IN PROGRESS