Flathead Irrigation District Meeting, October 27, 2021. 1:00 PM
Lake County Extension Office, back door.
303 3rd Avenue NW., Ronan, Mt. 59864
Attending Commissioners: Paul Guenzler, David Lake, Bruce White, Trent Coleman and Janette Rosman.
Absent Commissioners: No-one.
Pledge:
Safety of Dams and BIA were unable to attend our October meeting.
September Minutes: Motion was made by David Lake, second by Trent Coleman. Passed
October Warrants: Motion was made by Janette Rosman, second by Bruce White, passed to accept the following warrants. Click Here Design $55.00, Five Valleys Law Firm 1462.50 Collective Management Entity.
$27.50 Lake County Commissioners Resolution of Intent, collection of Assessments and $401.50 Distribution of FJBC Check Book funds (September budget shows $12,952.00 was deposited in FID Admin Account by Judy Day, Whaley Accounting). Whaley & Associates Monthly warrant $750.00. Total Warrants for October $3096.50. Flathead Admin $605,152.00. O&M $490,437.00 thru September 2021.
Cassie Dellwo: Draft agreement with CS&KT. Cassie stated, in the beginning Paul and David worked with CS&KT attorneys before Cassie came on board to help draft the New CME. David and Paul continue to be involved in the drafting of New CME. Cassie also stated Presently before we move on Lawyers need to know how to move forward. Especially in the formation of the board. Cassie and FID commissioners reviewed Three Alternatives and there was discussion regarding all three and input from the commissioners on their choice. No decision was made it was an informative discussion for feedback from commissioners.
There was discussion about having a four-member board verses five. Two public members preferred a four member. There was public input regarding the hiring of a Project Manager. It was stated that Project operator operates in the benefit of whole project.
Draft discussion regarding the two Alternatives for Member Removal. Number 1. Shall be filled by a majority vote of the FIMB and vote shall take place within 45 days of vacancy and allows the board to establish rules for removal. Number 2 defined five rules, there were no decisions made on either Alternative for Member Removal.
Cassie provided copies of the Draft agreement for the Commissioners and Public. Draft Agreement was not an Action Item on the Agenda. There were many Flathead Irrigators there and good discussion was in place for everyone.
Cassie also shared the letter from Assistant County Attorney Wally Congdon who stated at the County Commissioners Resolution of Intent meeting August 30th there were no Contracts in place for the County to collect tax assessments. It appeared at the time that all three County Commissioners continued to support the Resolution of Intent. On August 30th the County Commissioners voted to put the Resolution of Intent on hold for a short time. Since then, Cassie submitted a copy of 1928 contract entered into by Districts that is a continuing obligation of the Districts that meets the requirement of 85-7-2104 as the obligation of the contract is an expense of each district and therefore assessable.
Audit Report: Paul signed an Information We Have Provided Document for Wipfli. A draft copy was also sent to the commissioners. As of November 9, I Janette Rosman am not aware 2019-2020 FID audits have been submitted for Local Government Services. WE have not received a billing for the audit.
Unitarian Board, Flathead Irrigation District received Public Notice Lake County Commissioners are seeking qualified individuals interested in being nominated to serve on the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board for a period of two to four years. Application packet needs to be in no later than November 1, 2021.
Digitalizing Vault Documents at Districts Office. Mission and Jocko District are in the process of applying for a grant to digitalize vault documents does Flathead District want to be involved in doing so as well? There was a short discussion and Flathead District Commissioners would like to be kept up dated on the process.
November/December meetings: Motion was made by David Lake to move November meeting to November 16, 2021 due to Thanksgiving. Trent Second. Passed. Notice was sent out to Irrigators and published in Valley Journal.
Public Comment: There was none.
Adjourn: Trent made motion to Adjourn and Bruce second.
Janette Rosman, Secretary