Water Documenters: Read meeting notes from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District

Summary

The Scene

Arriving early for the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (JVWCD) Public Hearing/Regular Board meeting at the District Administration Building, located at 8215 S. 1300 W. in the city of West Jordan, at 2:30 PM. Drivers are continued to be advised of the street construction on 1300 W. Right alongside their Administration “A” Building, is their partnered/owned Conservation Garden Park.

The Board room was arranged just the same as during the Oct. 11 Board Meeting. The only difference was that there appeared to be slightly more people present at the meeting, seeing as though it was supposed to be a public hearing as well, it seemed appropriate. There was also a slight change in the sign-in slips, as visitors were asked to print their name, their address, and if they were wanting to speak during the specified public comment session (indicated by a checkbox on the top left).

The arrival of attendees were scattered all throughout the following 30 minutes until the commencing of the meeting by Corey L. Rushton. General Manager Alan E. Packard was polite and approached everyone with a smile and handshake. The meeting officially took off around 3:01 PM and Trustee Zach Jacob was just slightly late getting to his seat. Rushton welcomed everyone to the meeting and let it be known that although it was a public hearing and there were yellow-slipped visitors present, none had their speaking boxes checked. With the meeting now underway, Rushton called to address item 2 on the agenda which was going to begin with Mark Stratford, General Counsel, but he was running late to the meeting itself. Luckily enough though, he was present electronically through the WebEx to speak to Rushton directly.

Present JVWCD Trustees:

The two excused trustees were Mick M. Sudbury (Div. 2 Kearns Improvement District, Magna Water Company, Hexcel) and Dawn R. Ramsey (Div. 5 City of South Jordan). Ramsey was away at a South Jordan budget meeting and Sudbury was representing the district at the Utah Association of Special Districts (UASD).

Other speakers:

Community Perspective

The meeting was called a “Public Hearing” but during the public comment sections (agenda items 2f. and 5) there were zero comments/participants. Item 2 on the agenda itself, was to open up the floor upon an approved motion for any members of the community to speak on the issuance of up to $135 million of water revenue bonds, referred to as Resolution No. 23-20. The impact that this would have on the community would be related to the sale of the bonds (up to the aforementioned $135 million) and the implications that it would have towards capital projects and member agencies.

Goals

All votes/motions came to an agreement via unanimous approval.

The Debate and Outcomes

The first item was Great Salt Lake Basin Planner Laura Vernon and her integrated plan presentation to the trustees, in which its purpose is to create and “ensure a resilient water supply in the Great Salt Lake Basin,” which is outlined through their page on the Utah Division of Water Resources website. Vernon explained that the project came about from the worries associated with the continually shrinking Great Salt Lake and HB 429 of 2022; she also made it clear that “...by no means [is this] a project for the Great Salt Lake exclusively, this is a project to understand water budgets in the entire basin.” The plan is set to execute through 2027, but in order to do that Vernon stressed that it cannot succeed “...without the support of the communities in the basin…” First comment from the board came from A. Reed Gibby who noted that the project is a “massive undertaking” but commended Vernon for her organization. Trustee Zach Jacob called some skepticism on the overall effectiveness of the plan, stating that even if they do everything to a T for a couple of years, that it could inevitably be just a “drop in the bucket.” He summarized by saying that “...we’re still largely at the mercy of how much precipitation we get.” Vernon processed what Trustee Jacob had to say, but rounded out her sentiments that collective action will be the deciding factor, also dropping the fact that we staved off an “ecological disaster” pertaining to the Great Salt Lake just last year. Rushton also voiced some of his opinions on the project, specifically that while the Great Salt Lake is of great importance, the district’s efforts cannot be stretched too thinly across so many projects, let alone one as big as this.

The agenda got switched around slightly within the first hour of the meeting when Rushton called Ron Stewart to present JVWCD’s audit report after Laura Vernon (item 9b placed right after item 3). The audit went well and no abnormalities were found. The staff was also lauded for their cooperation and excellence.

On the matter of the Core Mission reported, Water Supply Manager Wade Tuft spoke on the water supply update, pointing out that the reservoirs are up, Utah Lake higher than last year (>ten-year average), there was more runoff water this year, getting holdover water out is a priority, and that there was an unexpected 200% snowpack. Assistant GM Shazelle Terry, on behalf of the water quality update mentioned that good water habits are holding, Jordan Valley is cost effective, and disinfection by-products are doing well. At the same time though, Southeast turbidity has faltered a bit due to treatment difficulties and that they’ve faced some unexpected maintenance as a result of vehicles and equipment. She reaffirmed though that maintenance gets overlooked but gave praise saying, “We could not do operationally what we need to do… water quality-wise if our equipment and our facilities weren’t well-maintained.”

Resolution No. 23-21 involved the Revenue Stabilization fund, short-term operating reserve, and sale of large capital assets. In all, it will deal with budget strategy and movement. On the topic of the sale of assets, CFO Dave Martin soothed Rushton’s questions on that definition, by including that vehicles and equipment will not be included; Rushton also said that he’d like to put water assets into “new water assets.”

To address a broken well, Deputy GM Jacob Young presented to the board that a contract was awarded to a contractor Widdison Well Services for $544,966. As well as to amend a contract for the 3300 S Pipeline Project, Young had to tweak the budget/price to account for an additional $271,869 in funding to the engineers. Although these projects were approved, Rushton added that projects are still requiring hefty fees to get things done.

On the subject of the agreement with Hexcel Corporation and Kearns Improvement District, General Manager Alan E. Packard encouraged approval where Hexcel can be dealt water independently from Kearns (of JVWCD services), as a backup/pass through source; effective from January 2024 until the end of the 2029 calendar year. Packard then addressed an amendment for Granger-Hunter Improvement District’s water purchase agreement, to take less water and lower their minimum purchase amount. “We’re pleased to have a member agency take advantage of that new policy…” Packard said.

A capital project was completed in October to prioritize the safety of staff members after the installation of new, larger motors in the Jordan Valley water treatment plant blowers began to cause lab staff to become disturbed and affect their hearing over the course of three years or so. The project was to then install insulation for their working spaces to dampen the noise. “A very successful project,” is what Engineering Department Manager & Chief Engineer Shane Swensen had to say on the endeavor.

The meeting was effectively closed at 5:25 PM to the public as the Trustees moved to a closed session/meeting.

Follow Up Questions

Water Documenters is a collaboration between The Salt Lake Tribune and City Bureau and funded through grants from the Great Salt Lake Collaborative and the Rita Allen Foundation. College student journalists from all over Utah are hired to attend and take notes at public water meetings in Utah. These notes are then published for anyone to read or use. The project is aimed at providing better public access to meetings where major decisions are made about a limited Utah resource. For more meeting notes, click here. For more information, click here.