GOLDENDALE — Klickitat County Commissioners heard more at the April 29 meeting about Commissioner Lori Zoller’s appearance at the Dallesport Water District (DWD) board meeting on April 23.
She said that after securing agreement with Klickitat PUD chair Dan Gunkel to grant $185,000 to the water district from the landfill gas funds, she brought a document to the district, rather than a check that the district was expecting.
“There were four requirements in it,” she said, “and all four were things they would be doing moving forward anyhow. So Scott, during the meeting, felt like he didn’t have a problem with them. I know there was discussion about requirements, but they were fairly simple requirements that I knew they were gonna do or I wouldn’t have taken it forward to them. There was nothing that was extortion or holding ‘em to the fire for anything.”
The Scott she was referring to was Scott Dixon, the general manager of the water department. Members of the water department said that they had problems with the first three of the four requirements, which are (capitalization and style directly from the original):
Removal of Water Moratorium: “DWD shall immediately upon execution of this Agreement remove any water moratorium as it is a violation of contract and are a violation of DWD’s obligation to serve.”
Point of Withdrawal: “DWD shall immediately upon execution of this Agreement apply to change the point of withdrawal for the Klickitat County share of the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport water rights at the ‘airport well,’ to existing DWD wells. DWD must successfully accomplish this condition within one year from the date the COMMITTEE approves the Application.”
Lease of Water Rights: “DWD to immediately upon execution of this Agreement engage with Klickitat County for the lease of the county’s 50% share of the (airport) water rights on a long-term basis, meaning or a duration of at least 10 years. DWD must successfully accomplish this condition within one year from the date the COMMITTEE approves the Application.”
Compliance with Rules and Regulations: “DWD shall comply with all applicable rules and regulations in performing the above Required Conditions and in performing their improvements to the ATEC water treatment system to add additional vessels for removal of iron from the water.”
After presenting the document, she told the commissioners, “I was asked to leave the meeting so they could have a private conversation, so I honored that. Afterwards, we needed to have communication with them by 8 o’clock that evening so that our girls could get it on the agenda and get it run through today’s session and have their money.”
But accounts of the meeting differ. Dallesport Water District Commission members who were present that meeting say Zoller stated at the beginning of the meeting she had limited time and other meetings and work to attend to.
She also said that no negotiations on the agreement were possible. And at the time of the April 29 meeting, she said she had yet to hear anything back from the DWD.
“If we’re going to give them money, they needed to show progress for that grant benchmarks,” she said. “A lot of the things were a harder past with the water district so we want to make sure we give them the benchmarks and hold them to task.”
The water district says they can’t lift the water hookup moratorium because the state health department ordered them to put the moratorium in place until the district is able to connect to the well at the airport, so that there will be adequate fire flow to cover the airport industrial park.
Kara Kostanich, a public information officer for the Washington State Department of Health, relayed a message from a health department official familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named:
“DOH does not issue or require that a water system institute a moratorium. In the past, we had the ability to turn the operating permit of a water system RED if they were over connected. Now we can only turn it to BLUE. Big difference in the compliance issues generated by the two different permit colors.
“We do review plans and make note the system’s ability to grow today and into the future. The limiting factor (LF) for the water system must be overcome to get more connections. The limiting factor for the DWD is treatment. Given the large demand from the airport to meet fire flow, the next factor could be demand, booster pump capacity, source capacity or water rights. I need to review this and see, which may be the next LF. This is outlined in the approval letter for the current water system plan.
“An issue with demand and water rights was to be resolved when the district had an airport well approved for a potable water supply. This has not been transferred over to the DWD and it is not part of their facilities noted on the WFI. DWD’s ability to meet large demand is suspect, and I need to review what this means to their list of LF’s.
“The DWD has additional connections to sell for future development whether it is infill or the new construction of mains. I have noted these are done at the discretion of the district and what is best or safe for existing customers. This does mean that if a new development will increase demands to the point where a low-pressure incident is eminent or exceeds existing treatment, they should not consider the expansion. These become health risks they need to consider. Keep in mind, the approval letter is pretty clear the district must monitor and track the approval of their connections to make sure they are not causing any future problems, while we explain the additional connections reflect an ERU (equivalent residential unit) and it is possible these do not equate to industrial, commercial, or government connections.
“I try to be clear to both sides what our terms mean and our role. The added information provided by the reporter I had heard the other day when I spoke to the local health department. This highlights a difference of opinion between the DWD, county, airport owners (board), and other interested parties. It comes down to the contract agreements between these entities and whether they were fulfilled or could be fulfilled in the future, as well as, whether they are working with each other in good faith. We don’t have a role in these issues.
“Any developer that wants to have a project connected to the DWD water system, must submit a project report that shows the proposed project, construction documents, hydraulic analysis, total number of connections being requested, etc. It goes to the district first or to us simultaneously, and we need confirmation that the project will be approved by the DWD for expansion and connections. At which we point, we can put the report through our review and approval process.”
In other news, on Thursday, May 8 at 9:30 a.m., commissioners have scheduled a workshop on the budget. Unlike other Thursday workshops, this one will be held upstairs in the commissioner meeting room and will be Zoomed for the public to attend from the comfort of their home.
Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved:
• Senior Services Advisory Board Letter and Certificate of Appreciation
• Senior Services Advisory Board Appointment
• Appointment to the Klickitat-Skamania Developmental Disability Advisory Board
• Klickitat Lead Entity Citizens Review Committee member reappointments
• The contract and contract bonds for the 2025 Annual Striping Program
• A purchase agreement for Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 of Block 26, Town of Bickleton
• Contracts for 2025 Liquid Asphalt with Albina Asphalt for $470,389.20
• Disadvantage Business Enterprise Program for the Columbia Gorge Regional - The Dalles Municipal Airport
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