[0:00] All right. >> Good afternoon everyone. We are here at

[0:03] the meeting of the water utility board of Star Valley Ranch

[0:07] and uh call the meeting to order. We need to establish a quorum of members.

[0:14] Uh myself, Steve Pandle, Lee Hansen, a member is with us via Zoom. Frank Young

[0:22] will not be with us today. Boyd sitaway is here as a member and Daniel Stewart

[0:28] will not be in attendance today. Um that makes three out of five members which I

[0:34] believe still constitutes a quorum. >> Just a casual statement.

[0:40] » Mhm. We probably ought to change our ordinance

[0:45] and just say that if a member is if a voting member is absent and we have a um

[0:52] who are you >> advisory member they can vote

[0:57] that would make it easier to two things one to have a better vote and secondly

[1:03] it would have help you in making sure we always can hold a meeting.

[1:07] » Yeah. Mayor, you got any thoughts on that?

[1:11] Would you be opposed to that? >> Um,

[1:14] I don't think I'm opposed to it. I think what I would wanted to go look at the

[1:18] ordinance. Does it say you can have an alternate member?

[1:22] » You can have advisory members, >> right? But do they count towards the

[1:27] quorum? >> Some of the Yeah, some of the boards

[1:29] have alternate members and advisory members. So,

[1:33] » I I'll read theirs and bring a >> I was going to say if you want to

[1:36] propose some updates to the ordinance that you can put the language in and

[1:40] send it to me and then I'll >> I'll bring it next time if you'd like

[1:43] and I'll use their others if it does what we want to do. Would you be willing

[1:47] to do that? That's fine. I mean, you have enough noise. You ought to be able

[1:50] to vote. >> I think they added your name to the

[1:54] website. So, >> uh oh dangerous.

[1:58] » It's all over but the shouting now. Did you get arrows pointing to it? Don't put

[2:04] my address. >> This is where you can find Advisor

[2:08] Roberts. >> Um, our advisor. Our

[2:11] » advisor. We should at least make We should at

[2:15] least make Dave an alternate member. So, so, uh, he could be a voted member if

[2:21] there's one missing. >> If not, make him a full-time member.

[2:26] And those that don't seem to be able to make it, maybe we change them.

[2:34] Anyway, our advisor Dave Roberts is here and our council liaison is Mayor Rock

[2:40] who is here. Um, we have a motion to approve the agenda.

[2:47] » So move a second. >> It's been moved and seconded that we

[2:52] approve the me the agenda. All in favor? >> I

[2:57] » I >> Okay, agenda is approved.

[3:01] Um, we had a last minute request for change

[3:06] in the minutes of the January 20th meeting. Um, I will I sent it out as an

[3:13] email about uh 3:00, so I don't know how many people have uh read it, but I will

[3:19] read you the language that was added to the minutes. It's under uh Zach's

[3:25] presentation from public works and uh some of the um where he explained that

[3:32] the green canyon tank is a holding tank and does not supply water for

[3:36] distribution. All distribution comes from the prader tanks. And this was the

[3:42] language that was requested to be added here. It's it's detail on on what Zach

[3:47] said. Uh this was new information for board members. The water master plan

[3:53] shows the green canyon tank distribution map. Voit Sidway commented on the

[3:57] electrical expense of pumping all distribution water up to the prader

[4:01] tanks and the added wear on the transfer pumps. Zach did not know why or how long

[4:06] the system had been operated in this manner and it was this way since his

[4:09] arrival.

[4:13] » Does that sound okay, Lee? >> That sounds good. I can add at this

[4:19] point that I've spoken with Terry Wilson and Boyd can fill you all in if you

[4:24] you're not sure what Terry's credentials are, but he confirmed with me that that

[4:32] absolutely they put in a pipeline along Muddy Stream so that Green Canyon could

[4:39] supply a major portion of the town and not to pump everything up to prayer. So,

[4:47] uh, whatever we're doing now is a change from from the way that it, uh, was, uh,

[4:54] when when the town was established with our water system.

[4:59] » It's also a change from the master plan, >> you know, cuz it, uh, it shows Green

[5:05] Canyon as a distribution center. >> Yeah.

[5:08] » 75 also shows that pipeline along. >> Yeah.

[5:14] » 74. which is an important >> P. You have some information, mayor.

[5:18] » Yes, I I mean just got today. Um I haven't had a chance to digest it yet.

[5:22] Um but what I'll do after the meeting, I will forward this information out to the

[5:27] board, so I'm not sure that that's entirely accurate that everything's

[5:31] being pumped up to Prager. >> Um

[5:34] » and Zach's not here to defend himself. >> No. And I'm not and I should know more

[5:39] about the way the water system works. And that was I will say that was my

[5:44] first meeting. So, I was not going to um contradict anyone.

[5:48] » Mayor, just if you just think back, of course, you can't, but we can. If we

[5:52] just think back some of the discussions we've had with the water people when

[5:56] they've been here, uh it did not surprise me.

[6:00] It surprised me that it was said in a meeting, but it didn't surprise me

[6:04] because if you think about what they were doing, they were running those

[6:07] pumps and those wells consistently even when we had ample supply coming out of

[6:14] the spring. So, it just makes sense the way the operation was that they they

[6:19] probably had been doing it since, you know, the last five, six, seven years.

[6:24] » So, one of the things, and it's a long email, so I'm not not going to read it.

[6:27] Like I said, I haven't digested the whole thing, but this is from Ryan

[6:30] Welling. He said, "The prader spring just does not have the capacity to keep

[6:33] the crater tanks full in most demand scenarios,

[6:37] » right? >> So, there is pumping that happens to

[6:41] » send water there." Um, >> but that's summertime. That's when

[6:44] that's >> and he also provided a

[6:48] little map. >> Yeah, I think we understood that before.

[6:51] So, I will for this out and maybe it will

[6:55] » clarify or reaffirm what Zach had to say. I went through I went through that

[6:59] map years ago >> and took each lot that had a house on it

[7:06] and put it in that map's format so we could tell how many houses were being

[7:12] serviced by Prader and how many were being serviced by green and it was about

[7:17] a 70 something 25 something split meaning 25 out of prader and if you're

[7:25] doing if you're supplying out of prayer Granted, in high high demand, summer's

[7:31] hot day, um, everybody watering, it cannot keep up. But in the winter time,

[7:38] we just proved it. We just took the the tank down for how many weeks? Three

[7:44] weeks, four weeks, >> month.

[7:45] » A month. >> And guess how what did you do?

[7:49] » You turned the spring on. So, I mean, it's it's frustrating to

[7:55] hear that our operations are that that screwed up, but you can understand why

[8:02] we have we our oldest person is what two years on the job

[8:06] or less. I don't know. I don't know how when we've hired those other two people,

[8:11] but it's it's the what do you call it? Institutional knowledge is is has a

[8:17] two-year max. >> Yeah. I I I would refrain from using

[8:21] terminology such as screwed up from referring to the talent personnel just

[8:25] because if they do watch these meetings >> yeah understand I will I will change the

[8:30] word really messed up >> institutional knowledge yes there's

[8:34] definitely been a >> but it's not the guy's fault that are

[8:37] here that's the problem >> there's been the the transition or lack

[8:40] thereof of institution there's just not there's not a process

[8:46] » for a new person to come on and learn other for them to go around with me and

[8:50] if I don't know I'm telling him what he shouldn't be hearing. So the formal

[8:55] process would be really superb to have.

[9:00] » Well, I think we all understood that some water was being pumped up there out

[9:04] of necessity, but this was the first time we heard that all water was being

[9:08] pumped up there for distribution. And that just doesn't make economic sense.

[9:13] » Well, the only thing that blew me is when he said, "We've always done it that

[9:16] way." I I just couldn't believe what was that.

[9:19] » He might have met since he's been here, too.

[9:22] » Sure. >> Yeah. Zach's been here.

[9:24] » Yeah. >> Four years.

[9:27] » Four now. Almost four. >> Almost four. So

[9:30] » So isn't Ryan here every Thursday? >> Um if he is here every Thursday, he was

[9:36] not here today. >> Okay. So

[9:38] » there might be a question for him to try to resolve how that started and if we

[9:45] need to correct it, how we correct it. >> And and one thing, mayor, we shouldn't

[9:49] do. We should not get into operations.

[9:53] But when we find out about these things, we need to bring it to somebody's

[9:58] attention who knows enough to in order to fix it. And when we get right down to

[10:05] it, because of our lack of institutional knowledge, we have one person on our

[10:09] payroll, and that's our our engineer. And I don't know that he gets involved

[10:14] in the operations either. But we just can't take new people and say go do it

[10:21] anymore. We've got to tell him what go do it really means.

[10:25] » Is Ryan a local? >> Ryan's out of Edmonton.

[10:30] » Oh. So he comes up once a week once a week is

[10:33] » Ryan should definitely have known that that the way we're doing it now is not

[10:39] the way it was established to begin with. And I don't know why he didn't

[10:44] speak up before. >> I don't I don't mean to bring up the

[10:47] past, but we used to have a corporate saying without direction people will

[10:51] make decisions. And we had cups and everything that had

[10:56] that really trying to impress on people. Damn it. You're in charge. You make the

[11:01] decision. Right or wrong, make it because don't leave it up to your people

[11:05] to do it because they'll do it with less knowledge than you have.

[11:09] » So anyway, I just we'll get there. >> It's slow, but we'll get there.

[11:13] » Okay. With those additions, do we have a motion to approve the minutes of the

[11:17] January 20th meeting? >> So moved.

[11:21] » It's been moved and seconded that we approve the minutes of held on January

[11:25] 20th, 2026. All in favor? I >> I

[11:30] » Okay, minutes are approved. >> Thanks for the Thanks for the addition,

[11:33] by the way, though. >> I had a whole page on that. So,

[11:40] » well, I don't know why I left it out. I certainly listened to it,

[11:44] » but uh maybe I thought >> we didn't pressure.

[11:48] » Maybe I thought it was self-explanatory that, you know, that was a problem.

[11:53] » Anyway, it was a good addition. Thank you, Lee.

[11:56] Okay, I wrote the update and questions with council on water related issues

[12:01] from Mayor Rock. Um, how are we coming with STA reports? Do

[12:08] we have them available?

[12:11] » I know that they had a SCA meeting the other day and they're starting to get

[12:16] data. Um, I don't know about the status of reports that are available yet. So,

[12:22] and >> this week our town administrator has

[12:25] been out ill ever since Monday. So, um it's I'm trying not to ping him with

[12:31] things while he's been trying to recover. So, I apologize

[12:35] that I'm not um probably as >> when you've been mayor administrator.

[12:40] » I do have some information on at least one of these items. So, or two of them.

[12:44] » Well, state it is state is up and running.

[12:46] » Yes, it is up and running. >> So, that's the good news. So we're we're

[12:50] trying to see where we are with leak detection, you know, with with

[12:54] » Is there a way for us not to get reports, but to get the data?

[12:59] » I don't want access to the systems. I want it to be given to us as data.

[13:03] » Sure. >> Because we haven't been asked, I don't

[13:07] think we've been asked by anybody what we want in a report or what we need. and

[13:12] all the reports are being formulated and it seems like if we're going to be

[13:16] reporting to the council on your efficiency, we ought to have rights to

[13:20] the, you know, the ability to get in because as soon as we tell you we want

[13:24] it by the month, we need it by the hour or the day. And if we give it to us by

[13:28] the day, we don't need that much. We only need the month.

[13:30] » Well, one thing to be careful of is if you provide what kind of data you want,

[13:36] they're going to go off and build these reports. The question is is what is the

[13:39] standard reports that come out of SCADA? Look at that first before you say,

[13:44] "Well, we need this data." >> How do we get them?

[13:46] » Well, that's what I'm saying. So, let's ask for the standard reports and see

[13:49] what you got. >> See what they have set up. So, because I

[13:51] don't know what set up. >> I like that idea.

[13:52] » I mean, yeah, I've seen it too, but we haven't seen them.

[13:56] » No, it just tough to >> It just started. Then in association

[14:00] with that, you know, we got a letter from the state engineers office

[14:03] requesting production and usage of the well that we're trying to Yeah.

[14:08] » bump up from 500 gallons to,000 gallons. Um,

[14:14] » do we have that information? I mean, this there was this gap from Jesse to

[14:19] SCADA. >> Are we going to be able to provide that

[14:23] information? So interestingly what I have here or go

[14:28] ahead Lee go ahead. I had a discussion with Terry Wilson about that as well and

[14:37] he has spoken directly to the state engineers office since he knows them

[14:42] personally and uh they um committed to him if we

[14:48] could supply them the production data from each pump

[14:54] and the spring from uh for 2025

[15:00] just the totalized number of production from each each pump and in the spring

[15:06] and also the the consumption by residents for 2025.

[15:14] They would uh let us go with that information only as just using 2025 as

[15:22] sort of a new base u for the town. And I I assume that that our totalizers work

[15:32] on the pumps. Maybe that's a bad assumption. At least for 2025,

[15:38] if we can get the totalized production and the totalized conduct uh consumption

[15:46] and give that information to the state engineers office, that would suffice.

[15:52] » That's a lot simpler than what that letter said, isn't it?

[15:55] So, hot off the press from this week, I have a letter from the state engineer's

[16:00] office that says, "The state engineer approved your application for permit to

[16:05] appropriate groundwater for municipal groundwater

[16:09] permit number blah blah blah for for the well." So, now they've seemed to have

[16:13] issued us the >> without

[16:15] » Okay. Yes, >> we're lucky. And I haven't we just got

[16:18] this um and Trevor was going to follow up with Ryan just to make sure

[16:22] everything was in order, but it does appear to be a permit and documents from

[16:27] the state engineers office. >> So ground groundwater.

[16:32] » So it's for the >> It's for the well. It's for well number

[16:37] three, right? That's the one we're >> That's the one they were questioning.

[16:40] » Yeah. >> Okay. That should not should not be

[16:42] classified as groundwater. That's out of the Salt Lake aquifer.

[16:48] » Okay. I just That's what the first line of the letter says. So

[16:52] » why do you believe it's not groundwater?

[16:59] » He can't hear you. >> So anyway, looks like maybe

[17:03] » Great. >> I will send this around

[17:06] » if they got if we got that approved. >> That's good. Thank you very much.

[17:11] » Yeah, we'll take it. I know it's been a long time coming, but and then we

[17:14] thought it was going to take a little while longer after that other letter.

[17:17] » Yeah. >> But anyway, um

[17:20] » Super. >> Yeah.

[17:22] » Okay. Do we have any update on the large meter

[17:26] installation, residential meter? >> Um we do. So I can't remember if at the

[17:33] last meeting um we had so the large meter at Fox Run well has been installed

[17:38] and is up and running and providing data into the new system.

[17:44] However, the other large meters have not been installed yet. Um, and

[17:51] so I've heard there's we're looking at possibly having a consultant Mountain

[17:56] West Waterworks come in and help us with the installation of the rest of them

[18:00] just because >> they are not as I guess the one that

[18:04] went into Fox one was a pretty easy just fit right in there. No,

[18:09] » what do they call them? Spacers, gaskets, whatever required. It was very

[18:13] it was a simple installation. And for the other ones, my understanding is it

[18:17] might be a little more complicated. And so public works just wants to make sure

[18:22] that when we get in there and start doing it that we do it right. So we're I

[18:27] believe they're getting a quote from Mountain West Waterworks that had been

[18:30] here before and told us they can do lots of different things to include that.

[18:34] » Excellent. >> So again, not hasn't been finalized, but

[18:38] so the rest of them are not in yet. kind of waiting to see what we get it from

[18:42] Mountain West and if we're going to move forward with that. So,

[18:45] » just because >> was there a production test done prior

[18:49] to installing it and after installing the new meter to see how close the

[18:54] meters read to one another? >> I don't know. I can ask Lee. I didn't

[19:00] get that didn't ask for that level of detail from but I'll find out.

[19:04] » Mayor, could you rather than ask could you tell them

[19:07] » Mhm. >> Tell them to do it. Oh, you mean for the

[19:10] subsequent ones? If they didn't do it for this one,

[19:13] I can ask and or >> definitely definitely need some sort of

[19:18] parameter whether or not to be that far off.

[19:25] » I mean, we don't want to wait 6 months to find out.

[19:28] » Your concern there, Lee, is the rate of flow. I mean, we don't know. So, we go

[19:32] look for >> whether there was an error on the old

[19:35] one. the rate of the rate of flow measured by the new meter versus the old

[19:39] meter. I think yeah I I can't believe that he

[19:43] wouldn't have that information even if it was a couple of months ago or 3

[19:47] months ago doesn't matter he has that information

[19:52] » uh the water >> as long as the variable speed drive was

[19:56] set the same >> right

[19:58] » yeah so >> okay I got a note

[20:01] » good thank you mayor >> so anything new on residential meters

[20:06] » those uh we're expecting to get the first batch sometime

[20:09] early next month. So, >> yeah, in March the next couple

[20:13] » y >> 250.

[20:14] » Could we make the same request of you that you order the before and after test

[20:19] » on >> residentials as well?

[20:23] » I don't think they want to do all of them. This is the conversation we had.

[20:27] They don't want to do them all, but they'll beta test several

[20:31] spots because again, it's going to take extra time for them to test it.

[20:36] » Yes, understand that. So, >> and if you're not going to do all is

[20:40] there even a rate of flow in those meters, aren't they?

[20:43] » Some of them are completely >> They're just tonalizing how much to

[20:46] which you can read it, turn it on for 5 minutes or 1 minute and then read it

[20:50] again. >> Actually, actually, what we recommended

[20:52] was a 20 gallon bucket. >> Okay,

[20:56] » it's the last item. >> I have a I have another question. Um,

[21:01] our advisor Dave Roberts had asked to leave a space

[21:07] around where the new meter goes for the potential

[21:12] positioning of a strap-on acoustic meter to um validate the flow meter or the

[21:19] flow rate of uh administered by the uh mag meter to see if uh it's being

[21:28] accurate. and um make sure that you have a full

[21:32] pipe.

[21:36] » We just mix two things together.

[21:41] » Is that recommendation on large meters only?

[21:43] » On the large meters only. >> Just the large meters, Lee, not the

[21:46] » It's really just a It's just something that

[21:50] » Okay. Yeah, these meters will eventually lose their effectiveness

[21:56] and so it's a monitoring thing. >> Okay. I don't know about that. I do

[22:04] vaguely remember the discussion and again I'm going to apologize for not

[22:07] being overly prepared today. It's been >> Yeah.

[22:09] » wild ride this week. >> You're excused.

[22:14] » Been there. You're excused. >> Oh goodness.

[22:18] This next item uh was uh requested by Dave. Um

[22:24] » I think the mayor knows all about it. >> Does she?

[22:27] » Well, I was approached by the HOA folks um because they found out

[22:34] I was on the

[22:37] she got published. So evidently there's been an issue that's been kind of

[22:42] longstanding with some of the accounts that the HOA

[22:48] has and it's been going on for a while. I

[22:52] think boy you may even know something about this from your past

[22:58] » about um just the water usage and and the HOA

[23:03] needs some of this data because they have to report to the state or to the

[23:07] DEEQ. Yeah. >> And so it's it's been a troubling thing.

[23:12] And uh the HOA manager asked if I could

[23:18] help. They said, "Well," and then I found out

[23:23] that they had a meeting with you. And so,

[23:26] » yeah. >> And and it may not just it may not be

[23:28] the meter. may be the back office process that's ongoing about how they

[23:33] take the data that they get and that's processed into an account and

[23:38] » yeah it's >> stuff. So

[23:40] » well their issue is if if they're using as much water as we say they're using

[23:45] they have to put in a bigger septic >> right

[23:47] » that's the issue. >> Yeah. And so on our end from the town

[23:51] side it's kind of a twofold issue. One is, and this is again kind of me

[23:57] learning over the last month or so that this has been an ongoing problem. At

[24:01] when I was first on the council, I remember um then Mayor Buyers telling

[24:06] the council there was an issue with the meter at Cedar Creek Center and the town

[24:10] was going to replace it and didn't hear much more about it then.

[24:15] So, at some point, I don't know if that meter got replaced. It was supposed to.

[24:18] Um, but anyway, there's been trouble with the meter readings. First, the

[24:23] Cedar Creek center meter, and for whatever reason, you know, they're all

[24:28] electronically read. That one sometimes when it's been read, it'll when it gets

[24:34] in the system, I guess gets transferred into the billing system, a digit gets

[24:37] dropped. So, that's why there's been some inconsistency.

[24:41] you know, this was the usage last month and suddenly the next month the digit

[24:45] gets dropped and instead of 10,000 gallons, it's a million gallons of

[24:49] usage. So, and then we've had some issues downstairs with just the billing

[24:54] in general because one of the things that's supposed to happen is that as the

[24:58] billing is done, it's supposed to be reviewed so that we can look and see if

[25:02] there's any crazy >> blips and things.

[25:05] And we've also asked that special attention be paid to the associations

[25:10] accounts because of these ongoing issues. And that does not that did not

[25:15] unfortunately happen the last couple of billing cycles for whatever reason. So

[25:19] it just kind of in my opinion snowballed. So we have now replaced the

[25:24] meter over there. The guys are also supposed to manually read that meter,

[25:29] not drive by or drive up or whatever they do.

[25:32] » Good. We're also supposed to, and I know we didn't get this right last time

[25:36] either, um, or actually when the meter was just read earlier this week, they're

[25:42] supposed, we've asked our public works guys to when they go over there to

[25:45] manually read it to please get Ernie Bigalow, who's their maintenance or

[25:48] facilities manager, have Ernie with them when it's read because Ernie's been

[25:53] taking pictures, I guess, of the meter readings and they've been doing their

[25:56] own analysis. So, we dropped the ball on that and did not coordinate with Ernie

[26:00] this past week, but we're going to work on fixing that. So, in the meantime,

[26:04] Loretta, our treasurer, has gone back through all the billing and there is a

[26:08] credit that's due. So far, it's like close to $700 on their

[26:13] bill. Now, the last time when I had my meeting with the association board last

[26:19] week or the week before, they were thinking we owed them about $3,000. And

[26:23] I don't believe it's anywhere close to that. But yes, we do owe them some

[26:27] money. So, we're still working through reviewing the accounts. Um, and then

[26:32] also locking in these meter reading procedures so that we can better

[26:36] coordinate with them so that everybody has a level of comfort going forward

[26:39] that, you know, it's not them, it's not us, it's that we have all the facts.

[26:44] » And then also the back office work to make sure that we're checking for

[26:48] » Yes. Yes. >> Yeah. That has to be done. Yeah. That's

[26:51] an easy fix of some >> sort. So, mayor, we had um

[26:58] whoever the software guys, uh they created a report for us that goes all

[27:04] the way back to three years of consumption every month by resident.

[27:08] » So, you can actually, you know, you can see if there's a blip. You can always

[27:12] see where there needs to be a new meter because it all of a sudden drops off or

[27:16] goes way high and then a new meter is installed and then it's more normal with

[27:21] historical. But that reporting that she, you know, now has, she could just look

[27:26] at it. I know it's still >> 1,200 blinds.

[27:29] » Yeah. >> But you could still go through very

[27:31] quickly like I did visually and just see cuz you see the million the million

[27:36] gallon >> and you see the ones that just dropped

[27:38] to nothing, >> right? So it's there's definitely

[27:42] anomalies and it's been >> very visible. whatever the meter at

[27:46] Cedar Creek Center and then the one one of the ones is the one on Walnut because

[27:49] they have >> eight different accounts.

[27:52] » Eight accounts and and and they told me four of them have an issue and so I

[27:57] would just pay attention to those four every month so that we don't have the

[28:00] wrath of the HOA. >> Oh yes, absolutely. And like I said,

[28:04] we're trying to >> trying to that in with you know on the

[28:08] administrative end and then also on the you know when the guys go out there and

[28:11] do breeding. So >> the field field stuff in the background.

[28:14] » Exactly. >> To follow up on what way said, if if we

[28:18] use that type of reporting and you look at

[28:21] » and there is an issue, if it's high, it's usually a leak

[28:27] or they leave it on running >> or a bad meter

[28:30] » or a bad meter. But I mean, the first first two things we can tell really easy

[28:35] is are they gone? >> Mhm.

[28:38] » Are they here? and and and when it's low,

[28:42] » it it's they're gone. Most of the time they've gone they gone a two week

[28:46] vacation or they away for the summer. So those are things you can look at from a

[28:51] 3 to four months and if they're all zeros, you know they're not there.

[28:55] » And if if it's way up high for two or 3 months, the odds are it's a meter and

[29:02] not somebody leaving the water on. >> Yes.

[29:05] » Toilets do that to you. However, they last forever. You know, when they don't

[29:08] fix those, people don't understand how much water goes.

[29:11] » With this report, you can compare and that's the best part. And you can see

[29:14] when somebody sells their house because it may have been high and then now it's

[29:19] low and consistent for it was low and it now it's high. It's really

[29:23] » four kids before too. >> I I spent way too many hours just

[29:27] looking and digesting the data and running pivot tables off of it. I said,

[29:31] "Well, >> that's really good that you have that.

[29:33] That'll be helpful." Yeah, it's we had them generate that report for us. So,

[29:37] » all right. >> So, is that available from the new SCADA

[29:40] system? >> I couldn't tell.

[29:42] » That's consumption. >> That's why it's whatever that system is.

[29:47] » That's right. >> The billing.

[29:48] » Yeah, I think it's >> I don't remember the name.

[29:52] » I think it is Cassell. >> It is Cassell.

[29:54] » It's going to be something we're going to look at when determining loss on

[29:58] account for water. I mean, comparing production versus consumption.

[30:02] Yeah, >> I got a new meter when I moved in.

[30:05] » Cut us off >> and uh it always read 50 52 55 something

[30:11] like that >> and then the utilization was like 4

[30:14] cents. >> And uh until I got on the water board

[30:18] and saw the the ordinance and calculated out and said, "Well, they're not

[30:23] multiplying anything here. There's something wrong."

[30:27] And I brought it up in waterboard and I was assured that everything was okay.

[30:32] And and uh then I finally brought the bill in and showed it to the mayor and

[30:36] said, "Do you see a problem here?" >> The right answer wasn't yours in

[30:42] » dropping digits. >> Yeah. The right answer is there are

[30:45] always going to be anomalies. >> Yeah.

[30:47] » Yeah. >> And that's what you're looking for each

[30:49] month. And I know I mean whether it's or somebody I they're not trained yet to

[30:54] spot those those anomalies yet. But the more you do it,

[30:58] » the better you'll get. >> So

[31:01] » Well, thank you, Mayor. >> Sure.

[31:03] » Another work in progress. >> Well, no, but you're you're headed in

[31:07] the right direction. It's always a sure you can't get there overnight.

[31:10] » No, >> but we'd like to see everybody going in

[31:13] the same direction. >> Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Um on to new

[31:19] business. Uh last night was the planning they called

[31:24] the planning commission. >> Planning commission. Yes. Very official.

[31:27] » The planning commission invited me and the roadsport person to come talk

[31:34] to them about this mountain state's annexation.

[31:37] And uh I had a few issues that I gave them thought needed to be resolved. And

[31:45] um but I did have some time to talk to the developer afterwards and ask some

[31:50] questions. Um

[31:53] we have a map, you know, in in Ryan's report on this that shows, you know, all

[32:00] the connections connection to the system. And uh one of the questions I

[32:05] asked him was, "Are you putting in all the pipes now or just for the plats that

[32:13] you're working on?" And he says, "Oh, well, you can't economically do all of

[32:16] them. You have to do it piece by piece." >> And so I guess my question is is, you

[32:23] know, we know it works when it's fully built out and connected.

[32:27] Um when do we start connecting piece by

[32:33] piece to the system, you know, and are there going to be critical connections

[32:38] to our system that are needed to run just a couple of pieces of it? You know,

[32:45] does uh does Ryan need to look at that and kind of map out how, you know, this

[32:50] is going to be absolutely needed when this division starts and uh and then as

[32:56] we build out, you know, we can add the other pieces up. Is that a question of

[33:01] concern? >> No, I think it's a good question. Um,

[33:07] when looking at how they plan on developing the entire area, I think

[33:13] they're developing on the west side first and then moving east.

[33:19] » That's how I looked at it. >> So, down by money string first.

[33:22] » Yeah. Money string. And so my sense is once we're good with a well there which

[33:29] is already serving those multif family um homes right now that they'll be

[33:38] hooking up those westside homes. Mhm. >> Ryan recommended a connection to the

[33:42] Muddy Stream pipeline. And I think that's the time when you want to connect

[33:47] that to to the Muddy Stream pipeline so that there's two sources of water that

[33:53] can serve those people in case the well goes out, you can get it from the Muddy

[33:58] Stream pipeline and you can use the well to supplement into the Muddy Stream

[34:03] pipeline that takes it north and conserve a lot of land out, a lot of the

[34:07] homes out there in that area. So, I think it's something to ask Ryan about

[34:11] in terms of the timing of of when that those things phases would sort of

[34:16] » come into play and when you would connect. Eventually, you're going to

[34:18] want to have a connection on the east side and a pressure relief valve there

[34:23] because you're going to have to manage those pressures in

[34:25] » Well, he shows three connections. I think there' be one on the

[34:30] » only reason you'd the only reason you'd ever connect to that is if it's a

[34:35] foregone conclusion that you're going to annex it. And I don't think we have that

[34:40] kind of information that we can say >> yes, we're going to annex.

[34:46] We're talking >> no way should No way should we be doing

[34:49] that. >> That's that's correct, Lee. We're

[34:50] talking right now as if the annexation was approved then when the timing is on

[34:56] some of the connections. >> We're trying to get problems solved with

[35:00] the developer prior to annexation rather than after.

[35:06] » Can I ask? >> Do we know what kind of do we know what

[35:08] kind of pipe he's put in presently? Is it consistent with the town's

[35:14] specification for water delivery? I don't know that we know that at this

[35:20] point in time. That's a question that we have to

[35:22] » Yeah. something we need to find out. >> That doesn't mean we'll have to tear

[35:25] down. I >> I think a lot of your questions that you

[35:28] asked, Lee, are going to be things that

[35:33] that we have to find out as much as we can now. But for the most part, if the

[35:39] annexation goes through, a lot of that stuff will be grandfathered in. And then

[35:43] anything after the annexation is going to have to fall within the town codes

[35:49] and the town requirements >> and the water any water system

[35:54] components that were to go in at after that point will have to be approved by

[35:58] Ryan. >> Of course, Ryan will be involved in all

[36:01] that. Correct. But the Ryan's given them Ryan's given them Ryan's report

[36:08] indicates that he's given a considerable amount of credit for that well

[36:14] » and financial credit you're talking about.

[36:17] » Yes. >> If if we can use it

[36:19] » if we can use it. >> If it Yeah. But I'm I guess what I'm

[36:22] trying to say is what Lee is asking has a direct effect on the value of that

[36:28] system. And unless we know what it is, is it approved? It should be certified

[36:34] first if we can. All we get so we know what we're getting

[36:38] » because the minute we take it, it's ours, baby.

[36:43] » And and all these records I've seen of all this money we're going to get from

[36:47] him are 2068. They're not 2027

[36:56] because all those payments come to us. I looked up his his tax property tax bill

[37:03] and last year it was under 6 or $7,000 >> for that 80 acres

[37:08] » for that 80 acres and the forplex. >> Yeah.

[37:11] » And we're not going to get rich until that thing is there. Now he's got a

[37:15] master plan of master plan. He doesn't have a master plan in his mind. He's

[37:20] going to put in a forplex and and 10 homes

[37:23] » in the first phase. >> I will. Yeah. Next year. Next year, sir.

[37:27] » This this next >> and

[37:29] » I'll guarantee you Mr. Stewart had that same plan

[37:33] » that he was going to sell us stuff like hotcakes and he had the best campaign

[37:38] you've ever seen. He had people flying in from Las Vegas and LA and Salt Lake

[37:42] and Idaho. And we are we are what now? 45

[37:48] almost 50 years old and we're at 55%. >> You're 60. Can I Can I share with you

[37:56] one change that's happened in the county though that's changing what's happened

[38:00] in the past versus what's in the future. All development now is all five acres.

[38:08] There's very few new developments that have or you know like his with acre or

[38:14] less. >> Yeah. So there's people that don't want

[38:16] five acres because they have to spend $250,000 just for the land.

[38:20] » Hand drill their own well, hand and here's what they're going to look at

[38:24] that and they're going to say, "Wow, I can get my 6/10 of an acre and and I get

[38:32] water, I get roads, and so I think it's going to be more attractive based on

[38:37] just the overall growth in the >> unless he unless he can already do that.

[38:43] already do that with the town of Star Valley Ranch without without

[38:50] » only if only if a lot is for sale. >> But you can't just go condemn somebody

[38:57] else's lot cuz they want to live there. >> I I you know, a lot of the lots in town

[39:03] probably I mean I don't know what percent, but there's a significant

[39:07] number that will never be built on. >> I I have one right across the street.

[39:12] I'm not going to block my view in my lifetime.

[39:14] » But guess what? As soon as you die, kids sell them.

[39:17] » I and somebody will build eventually, but there's a lot of trust that own

[39:21] these properties and you know cuz I get an email every every week.

[39:25] » Well, will you sell your property? >> The older people that moved up here,

[39:30] » many of them bought several lots. >> So,

[39:32] » and I Well, y'all went on the picture there that owns three of them that now

[39:35] he owns only one cuz he put them together. But but the I guess what I'm

[39:40] trying to say is >> none of us know

[39:42] » all of us are very optimistic about when the town's going to make money.

[39:45] » Yeah. >> And all of our expenses are up front and

[39:49] all of our revenues are in the back end. And I don't mean all all but the

[39:54] majority of them. >> It's and his report, Ryan's report did

[39:58] not indicate there was no timeline. >> And well,

[40:00] » it looked like we were going to be minute and a half ahead. So, the town,

[40:04] well, I'll let the mayor speak about the town did an economic study or at least

[40:08] looked at at what the revenues would be over time and what the expenses would be

[40:13] over time. >> Yes.

[40:14] » What now needs to be done is that combined so you can see the net benefit

[40:18] at over time. >> Y

[40:20] » and so we need that information. So, >> I didn't see

[40:24] the based on assumptions, right? And you can argue

[40:27] » no make the assumption so that's point >> I think that's

[40:34] we do need that >> the the part of that analysis that

[40:38] matches up those revenues and costs so you can see that more than likely the

[40:44] actual revenue benefits will be realized further down the road than immediately.

[40:49] Right. >> And and we're we're struggling right

[40:51] now. We struggle every year with our with our budget

[40:54] » and we've got 60% finance I mean 60% developed and he's going to have 10%

[41:02] developed and so you can see the difference between that and I don't

[41:06] mayor don't get me wrong if we can solve the water issues

[41:11] » and we can get money up front or a bond or whatever you can get that guarantees

[41:16] us every developer in this

[41:22] Let me put it this way. If you're a good carpenter, you are not a good

[41:28] uh contracting manager. You just because you're a good carpenter

[41:33] doesn't make you a good manager. Uh great school teachers do not make

[41:38] good carpenters. Most there's a few, but not all of them. And I'm just trying to

[41:42] pull this out that we have a lot of developers

[41:47] that have developed the same piece of property how different people have

[41:50] developed it because they all go broke. >> And so from a town standpoint, we ought

[41:55] to be really really we should be we don't got to do nothing. We should be

[41:59] really conservative on how we look at this because we're we're a we're the

[42:04] youngest town in the state of Wyoming. That's a fact. Nobody else has stepped

[42:10] up to that since we did. The other issue is is we're not plush on money. We don't

[42:16] have a reserve anywhere that's that we anyone would say we're comfortable with

[42:21] our reserves. So, let's just make darn sure we understand cash flows and our

[42:27] guarantees are there because we we shouldn't base our decision on him being

[42:33] successful. We ought to base our decision on him not being successful.

[42:37] Then we'll be conservative enough that we won't take these steps that say

[42:41] you're going to get a million7 from him in X years and we're going to sit here

[42:45] for 50 years waiting for that next year to show up. I don't mean to pound

[42:50] » when I hear when I hear in a a town council workshop that oh you're only uh

[42:58] annexing the land and as soon as we annex them the development plan that is

[43:05] proposed by Mountain Estates is out the window and so how can the town even plan

[43:12] that it's going to be half acre or x number 13 town houses or or whatever if

[43:21] everything goes out the window as soon as we annex the land. And we also have a

[43:28] commitment in our ordinance title five that any water user inside the

[43:36] boundaries of the town has got to be supplied by the town. So that well has

[43:41] got to go over to town ownership as soon as uh we if we annex that and I don't

[43:49] know whether Mountain Estates is ready to do that.

[43:53] » Let me bring up another question. >> Get annexed if they're not.

[43:56] » Yeah. Look at it this way though. Wouldn't you be nervous if you were the

[44:00] developer? Is it telling me the commitment to him

[44:04] what we're going to do if we annex him? >> No. I heard that we t Taylor said in a

[44:11] council meeting we will be able to control this and

[44:15] change things that we don't like if it's too

[44:18] » he would have to follow our ordinances in the code.

[44:20] » Yes, he would. Yes. >> If we annex him, he has to

[44:23] » then our ordinances he can't have anymore. So which means you have to

[44:27] change your ordinances to be compliant. We don't have multiple units in our town

[44:33] ordinances. We have multifamily zoning with town

[44:35] » zoning >> and condos.

[44:37] » Okay. All right. >> Sorry for my time.

[44:41] » It's less It's less dense. >> It's less dense than

[44:45] » Is he willing to agree to our ordinances?

[44:47] » He'd have to. >> He had I mean

[44:48] » No, he doesn't have to. He can say screw it. I'm I'm going to leave it and just

[44:52] leave it bare land. >> Oh, yeah. He

[44:53] » Oh, yeah. Sure. >> I mean I mean seriously, let's be honest

[44:57] about this. It >> just be very conservative, mayor. Make

[45:02] sure your tail is really covered >> on your backside.

[45:06] » That's why we're talking about some of these things.

[45:08] » If he's if he's going to build to the plan that that was

[45:13] uh conditionally approved by the county of commissioners,

[45:17] then hold him to it and make him put in the roads and make him put in the water

[45:21] lines and the power >> and

[45:27] » then then we got something. for right now. If it's just going to peace meal a

[45:32] » a home >> two or three a year,

[45:36] » um we don't have anything. >> What What authority does the town have

[45:42] regarding lot size, things of that nature, if he doesn't

[45:46] follow the plan that the countyy's already approved,

[45:50] » we've never had a minimum because we we as a town

[45:55] uh incorporated what was here, >> right? Everything was totally platted

[46:01] before we were a town. >> Yeah, I was going to say I don't think

[46:03] and that's the thing with this. It's not there's no plat on county record books

[46:09] for mountain estates right now. >> We should require So can you require

[46:14] that as a condition of annexation >> that

[46:19] » that that get platted? if the multifamily concept that he wants

[46:25] to build out is 16 of these units. Right.

[46:28] » Right. In the front. Right. >> But but our ordinance says that you can

[46:31] only have one for every 15,000. >> So we have to modify that cuz it's too

[46:35] dense. Right. >> Right.

[46:36] » And I think to me and really really need that annexation agreement draft from the

[46:41] attorney. >> See what he's got in there to start

[46:44] with. But I believe that saying at least you have to

[46:49] flat it by phase. You know, right now he wants to do a phase development, but we

[46:54] should have a condition where we need to see what that is and make sure it

[46:58] conforms to our ordinances. >> Um before we approve him to put one new

[47:05] structure >> because he won't get a permit to build

[47:07] if we annex him. He won't have a permit to build without the town

[47:12] permit. and we will we will end up plowing roads and providing water and

[47:18] we'll get $7,000 a year in taxes. But the two things we know, do we know what

[47:25] kind of septic uh system he put in for the existing townhouse?

[47:31] » Is that a enhanced septic system? >> Do they have a space for u a secondary

[47:39] um drain field? all of the things that the town requires is does what what does

[47:46] he have there? He he committed that he would put in enhanced septic systems.

[47:52] Did he do it? >> I think the answer to that is yes. And

[47:56] that one of the documents we have on the annexation page of the town website.

[48:01] We've been posting all the information. There is a pretty voluminous water and

[48:06] wastewater study that Sunrise did just from I think it's 2024 and it details

[48:11] all what their plan is for everything. So,

[48:14] » right. >> I just wonder if they really

[48:19] may there's two things you can do. You can make him

[48:25] live up to our standards or you can change our standards to allow him to do

[48:30] things. So you do have a choice. >> Oh, sure.

[48:33] » The other side of it is though, what are the people expecting you all to do as

[48:38] council? >> So let me just ask a simple question if

[48:41] you can answer it. Are we here to say when you annex him, here's the things

[48:46] you should include or should we say here are the questions we have before you

[48:51] decide to annex him? >> I think both.

[48:54] » Well, no, there's >> I think I think some of that stuff we

[48:57] don't know yet. So, it is going to be a question. Some of the stuff we do know

[49:00] already. >> The facts are there. We may not know it,

[49:05] but the facts are there. >> So, we can ask questions

[49:08] » that you all need to get answered. And when you're answered to your

[49:11] satisfaction, >> then you're there.

[49:13] » Yep. And we've we've been trying to um post even those sorts of things on the

[49:19] website with, you know, the emails we've gotten where people have asked us

[49:22] questions. We've been posting the questions and the responses. The

[49:26] planning commission has a whole list of questions that we answered some of them

[49:29] last night. That's right. >> Got a new list of questions. So, we're

[49:33] going to put those on the website. Um but yeah, so that's why I I asked Steve

[49:37] if he would be willing to come and talk with us. Um and then after the meeting

[49:43] to, you know, have the water board put forward any other questions, concerns

[49:47] you have. That'll help the planning commission, too, because

[49:52] » we'll know, you know, we'll know what we don't know. Well, and and already from

[49:56] reading uh Ryan's report and some of the things that he mentioned in that report,

[50:01] there are some recommendations we could make to, you know, to cure the issues

[50:05] that have been addressed. Like there are some

[50:08] » there are some dead end piping in there >> and Ryan suggested you loop those. So,

[50:14] we're going to recommend that that the town request that those be looped in and

[50:19] not be dead ends. >> Sure. I think the well capacity or if

[50:23] there's another well needs to be addressed and I and I don't think the

[50:28] town actually should take the land in until that's

[50:34] resolved. >> The well here here

[50:36] » that needs to be that needs to be resolved to the satisfaction of the

[50:39] town. So in the annexation agreement you can have that as condition. We'll give

[50:43] you 180 days or 365 days to do that. That's done. Then we'll annex. So

[50:49] annexation may not happen for a year or two years,

[50:51] » right? No, that >> because you've got all these things he's

[50:54] got to do before it happens. >> It's like our own conditions of

[50:57] approval, >> right? Of course.

[50:59] » Before we What's in it for him? >> Well, there's a lot in it.

[51:03] » I talked to him. >> And it's all money.

[51:05] » I talked to you. >> We're saving him a ton of money. He's

[51:09] going to he's going to build all those homes out there. He's going to make

[51:11] money off that. >> Well, but he does not want to manage

[51:14] water. That's what it I he doesn't want to manage his own small

[51:21] » Well, I tell you what, that that well >> can help serve the land to the north

[51:27] when it's hooked into that money pipeline. It's just another source of

[51:30] supply for that >> and it and it by doing that it it

[51:34] creates us more reliable supply upstream at Prader Canyon and Green Canyon.

[51:39] » And that's a benefit that starts day one. That's that starts right away. You

[51:43] connect that back. >> The water will run downhill into Green

[51:47] Canyon tank. >> What will

[51:49] » his >> No, it will run up. It will run downhill

[51:53] to the north. >> Well, I'm just saying

[51:58] » when he hooks it into our main system, it'll run downhill into our tank if we

[52:03] want it. >> If we wanted to. Yeah.

[52:04] » And so you can get it there to where it'll be full distribution.

[52:08] » It can. and and so you know the the the uh

[52:11] » it's a valuable asset if it's >> Ryan

[52:15] » estimated that they need 90 gallons a minute for sort of everyday use

[52:20] » for them >> right and then the the maximum use would

[52:23] be up over 500 but then the that that's on a single point in time but the

[52:29] maximum sort of daily use would be 205 gallons a minute and that's the the

[52:33] capacity that we would ask for for this well

[52:35] » y >> is 205 gallons because that additional

[52:39] 105 gallons a minute that you're going to that can help the rest of the town. I

[52:43] mean, there's got to be something in it for us as an asset for the water system

[52:47] and the well would be that asset. >> The well is only permitted for 150

[52:53] gallon a minute. >> I know he needs to he needs to

[52:57] » he needs to improve it to 205. Lee, >> whatever it takes.

[53:02] » Yeah. need more than that to make it

[53:06] worthwhile for the town. We already can supply

[53:09] uh the town at to at full build out. >> Now we can

[53:15] » Well, this would be this would be an extra measure of u additional supply.

[53:20] » Did did Ry and I'm sorry that I've read a lot of things but I my memory is

[53:25] really short. So, did Ryan include the the additional requirement on our

[53:30] storage for that? Because once he's plugged in, he's using our storage. He

[53:35] will use our storage in in times of drought, you know, when it when it's

[53:41] really high dem high demand is what the word is.

[53:43] » Wasn't that in the impact fee? >> No, we did. We wiped it out practically.

[53:47] » It's not practically, but there's something in there. is 205 gallons a

[53:52] minute and they only need 90 >> 90 average.

[53:57] » Yeah, >> I'm talking about when it is when they

[54:00] when their demand is greater than the well capacity, they're going to have to

[54:04] use our storage, >> right? And I doubt that their wells

[54:07] their demand's going to exceed that 2005 gallons.

[54:10] » Not not for 57 years a long time out if I'm right. But our people are paying

[54:15] money into a >> kid theoretically for those futures. So

[54:20] they should be paying into it, but they're not going to pay into it until

[54:24] he develops it. That's what I'm really concerned about. If that thing was

[54:27] planted, we got we got we've had over a thousand people paying $25 a month, $30,

[54:33] $30, whatever we charge them >> for future costs.

[54:37] » Mhm. >> And they're going to come in for free.

[54:39] Nobody gets that. Nobody has to pay for a damn penny up there unless he has a

[54:44] phase that does it. And he's got so many phases that he may never get.

[54:48] » But if he doesn't do the phase, it's not hurting the town any

[54:53] » right. There's no demand. >> So you're Is that what you're

[54:56] » No, I'm just saying why again. >> No, but we could say the same thing to

[55:00] our people. If if you don't sell your lot, why do we have to do all this

[55:05] stuff? But you have to plan for the eventual. But I'm saying if if it never

[55:09] came to fruition, >> right?

[55:10] » Let's say you only built 10 homes and two two multif family.

[55:16] » Again, it's enough capacity >> with what he currently has.

[55:20] » I don't I don't question it a bit, but look look a vacant lot owner in the eye

[55:25] and say, "But they're not developed. They're not developed.

[55:29] » It's not a lot yet because >> because you're not required." You see

[55:33] what I'm saying? He should be required to have a full

[55:37] » platted >> platted deal. He's got vacant lots. We

[55:40] got vacant lots. He's got >> I I think that's one of the recommend I

[55:44] mean that we just talked about that. >> But it's got to be not a plan to where

[55:47] he doesn't pay anything until he gets there. It's got to be here. It is

[55:51] » that provides certainty. The plat the plat provides certainty to the town that

[55:55] that's going to be developed like that. I think that's important. I think why he

[55:58] would have a problem with that. And if he goes bankrupt, somebody else that he

[56:02] wants to execute now >> and and he has it work.

[56:06] » So get platted to all of our points >> except for I don't want to I don't want

[56:10] to see 16. >> But you don't have to see it.

[56:14] » I I'm just saying that would have to be a change.

[56:17] » Change, right? >> Because again, if he's going to plat it,

[56:21] » not being annexed, he's going to he's going to go do that.

[56:23] » Yeah. >> And then we have to grandfather him if

[56:25] we ever annex him >> because it's been platted that way.

[56:29] So, >> I think there's enough pain on his part

[56:32] financially >> that if you tell him he has to do it,

[56:34] he'll probably do it. >> Well,

[56:38] » good discussion. >> Well, I think a likely scenario is uh 20

[56:43] years from now there's 30 ohms there. >> That's probably about right. You know,

[56:48] probably >> I'm very biased cuz I stare out my front

[56:53] window at that wonderful field and I can see those storage from my picture

[56:59] window. Oh, that's a that's another deal. The storage units aren't included.

[57:04] » The storage you are the storage units are currently using somebody's water.

[57:09] Either one of our customers illegally are doing Yeah. They're

[57:14] watering their trees. They had trees out there. Okay. and they got water from one

[57:18] of our customers and we told them they couldn't sell water

[57:21] » and I don't know if they turned it off or if he's brought that well over and

[57:25] some the question should be do they have water yeah that they're going to have to

[57:31] get their own >> well this developer

[57:32] » no they can have it cuz we have out of town water rates but they need a meter

[57:36] » anymore sold it but why would Yeah because

[57:41] that's a piece of commercial property as well

[57:44] » which would generate at least a little Well, yeah. It could it would double

[57:48] what you're getting in for start with, >> you know.

[57:52] » So, anyway, I think a scenario is in 20 years, we've got maybe 30 homes there.

[57:56] » Yeah. >> And he walks away, sells the risk

[57:59] because it's time to retire. >> Well, if it's but if it's planted, we

[58:04] don't care. >> That's the importance of the plan.

[58:07] » I don't think so. >> And and it'd be easy to sell those to

[58:11] other other >> well developers.

[58:14] Look at the worst. he goes bankrupt and you want to buy that property.

[58:18] » Mhm. >> You buy the property with the planning

[58:20] as it is, >> right?

[58:22] » And you're not going to buy it unless you agree to it.

[58:24] » And we're not going to let you we're not going to change our ideas. No. You see

[58:29] what I'm saying? So I think >> the same thing applies to water rights.

[58:32] » Yeah. >> We need to have those upfront because we

[58:35] don't want them sold to a third party at some point. I think that is this time

[58:40] » for the whole for the whole >> we don't want somebody setting up a

[58:45] private system the water rights we own the in state went through we're

[58:51] granted of the water

[58:56] » you know more about that >> I just remember

[58:59] » all water rights are like that we didn't get

[59:02] » we don't like using that word because it's too hard to pronounce anyway

[59:06] » you understand that's the important Well, I think I think

[59:10] » but every time we have a conversation like this, we gather more and more

[59:14] information from everybody. >> This could be a good deal if

[59:20] » and I don't think anybody would disagree. It's just all of us agreeing

[59:23] what this this and this. >> Right. I think the questions that Lee

[59:27] raised should be added to the questions for you all to to review and post on

[59:32] them. >> So, do you want a formal re

[59:34] recommendation from the board? I yeah I would love to have you know if you've

[59:39] got these well I've got these questions in the email but if you want to put

[59:43] those and any others together along with a sort of a formal recommendation

[59:49] » you know that that gives us something to also then as a town and the staff to

[59:54] find answers to if there are answers available and share those all of that

[59:59] off with the public on the website and in meetings. So

[1:00:03] » do you want me to draft up something? >> Sure. You're the best person to do it.

[1:00:08] » This you guys

[1:00:10] » and I have spent the last three weeks. >> This is excellent.

[1:00:14] » Putting together everything we could. Now, let me tell you how we did it.

[1:00:18] » We went and we we said, "Let's just start writing. Don't try to organize

[1:00:22] anything." >> We said, "Put questions down. What

[1:00:25] happens if this or what if we don't do this or what if we do that?"

[1:00:28] » Is that what this is? >> That's what that is. So, it's not it's

[1:00:32] not made to be say don't do it. is to say if you do it, here's what you should

[1:00:37] do. And it's not complete by any means, but it's at least it's all of our

[1:00:42] thoughts that we put a lot of time and effort in. And and the the alder, you

[1:00:48] can laugh at some of those alternates, but we got to say, what's the wildest or

[1:00:53] alder you could ask for? And we put a couple of those in there,

[1:00:57] » but but the last page is questions and the first page is whatever we put on

[1:01:03] there as a title. you really need that first page answered. I think that'll

[1:01:07] help you get started. So, use those David to your discretion.

[1:01:11] » Well, >> if you know the answer, don't do it. But

[1:01:14] » yeah, many times they don't. So, >> but it it's better to have can some 10

[1:01:19] people ask you the same question. Not but anybody not.

[1:01:23] » We're going to focus since we are the water utility board focus on the water.

[1:01:28] » Yeah. >> Exclusively.

[1:01:29] » Yes. and our I think some of the questions we

[1:01:35] want answered should be separate from our

[1:01:37] » recommendations. Correct. >> Oh, absolutely.

[1:01:40] » Yeah. And I also talked to him about the the wellhead protection area, the 200

[1:01:46] foot thing and uh he's seems confident that I mean he's talked with the

[1:01:53] neighboring owners and seems confident he'll get a variance on that. And uh he

[1:01:59] said that the rumors about him him being sued about it are false. He's not being

[1:02:04] sued about it. So >> well there's enough rumors that

[1:02:07] » the variance what what is the variance? >> 200 foot wellhead protection.

[1:02:12] » I know but the does the variance say that

[1:02:16] would it say that within that 200t area there would not be developed a septic

[1:02:22] game. >> Yeah.

[1:02:23] » Is that what it's going to say with the with the neighboring land owner?

[1:02:26] » Basically >> I would think so. Yeah. So then that

[1:02:28] well I'm just trying to understand it. So that would have to be something that

[1:02:33] would have to be um that would run with that neighbor's land.

[1:02:38] » So any subsequent owner knows that >> and it has to be conveyable

[1:02:44] to the town. >> Yeah.

[1:02:48] » That variance has to be something that the town can enforce

[1:02:51] » separate transaction. >> It it yes it has to be enforceable. And

[1:02:55] then there's also a condition, a covenant that runs with that neighbor's

[1:02:59] land >> that that variance is in place and no

[1:03:03] septic tank can be developed. >> Yeah.

[1:03:05] » Because if she ends up selling that land, that new owner needs to know that

[1:03:08] it just runs with the land. >> Mhm.

[1:03:11] » Well, the if you look at the circle, there's one of his lots that's about 65

[1:03:16] 70% inside that circle. Right. I would recommend very strongly that you

[1:03:21] consider making that a utility

Water Board Meeting 2026 02 26 16 30 53

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