July
2005
The
past fiscal year comes to a close and with it many changes have taken
place within the District. As we start a new year with the passing of
the 2005-06 fiscal year budget we anticipate a few more changes.
To
start we have a few employee changes, a few of the old faces have gone
on to other endeavors which has created a few new faces within the District's
employee base. I'd like to welcome Rod Kiser, Oregon State certified
Water Treatment Operator and Cross Connection Specialist and our new
Utility Clerk Lea Stephens who is available to answer your questions
concerning your water usage, billings and always willing to locate an
answer to any questions you may have. We welcome these two to our excellent
staff and hope you will too. I have also hired a high school student
for the summer, Aaron Pray who lives within our District boundaries.
Aaron has already proven himself a hard worker (in addition to being
a first-rate baseball player); he is working towards keeping our properties
in shape, painting our buildings, etc. He is a good temporary addition.
The
District has been able to purchase some much needed equipment and a
new vehicle this past year. This has been in part to the PUD's ability
to purchase using the state's procurement site which enables government/public
entities an already low priced negotiated contract. It has made it possible
to recognize a substantial savings on purchases, which enables us to
secure what we need and still keep our costs under control.
This
past year we updated a section of pipe from a 2" line to a 6"
line on Pleasant Court and added a fire hydrant. In addition to creating
a loop in the system, our goal is to eliminate dead end lines as they
have the potential to create water quality issues. Several maintenance
type projects were also completed. The concrete basin of the aeration
chamber was sealed, the storage reservoirs were all cleaned, inspected
and minor repairs were made inside.
As
we get into the current fiscal year we anticipate a major facility upgrade
as we prepare to tie three water systems (Chenowith Water PUD, former
Lower Chenowith Water District and former Columbia Crest Water District)
into one District. In the long run this will lower our operation costs
as we will no longer be required to sample and create reports for three
separate systems. The upgrade is being made possible thanks to a $1.4
million loan from the Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund. We will
be sharing more on this project as it progresses.
On
another note, this past fall the Oregon Drinking Water Newsletter (Pipeline)
published by the Oregon Health Division pertains to OREGON DRINKING
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS. The whole issue is dedicated to the standards
YOUR water company is subject to and the rules and regulations our District
must follow. I strongly urge everyone to go online to: www.dhs.state.or.us/publichealth/dwp
and review this information.
In
closing, for the time being, I ask is there something you feel needs
to be addressed in this column? If you need information there may be
others within the District that could use the same bit of info and we
would like to see your issues and concerns addressed. An informed customer
is a lot happier customer and our goal at Chenowith Water PUD is to
supply our residents with quality drinking water at affordable prices,
while keeping our customers satisfied.
My
door is always open.
Sherlene
Bowen — District Manager
