The regular monthly meeting of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District was held on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, at the office of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District located at 3209 W 28 St, Greeley Colorado. The meeting was called to order at 10:06 A.M. and the following Directors were present: Randy Knutson, President; Gary Herman, Vice President; Vern Kammerzell, Treasurer; Frank Eckhardt, At Large; Everett Kissler; Ralph Anders; Jim Reasoner; Bret Schmidt; Steve Bruntz; Chad Schafer; Doug Dill; Don Rosenbrock; Alan Axton; Tom Brown; and Dave Bernhardt.
Others present were: Randy Ray, Executive Director; William Mihelich, District Engineer; Danyelle McCannon, Financial Analyst; Ed Armbruster of White Sands Water Engineers; and Kim Lawrence and Brad Grasmick of Lawrence, Jones, Custer and Grasmick. Special guests were: Joe Dischinger representing Amrepco; Aaron Million from the Flaming Gorge project; Don Diones from George K. Baum; Steve Smith from Colorado Energy Resources LLC; and Kevin Lamb.
President Randy Knutson opened the meeting.
ACCEPT INTO THE RECORD THE CONSENT CALENDAR, FINANCIALS, AND MINUTES OF NOVEMBER, DECEMBER AND JANUARY AS PRESENTED.
Motion: Dave Bernhardt
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Randy Ray introduced the new District Engineer, William Mihelich, to the Board of Directors.
Aaron Million provided updates to the Board on behalf of the Flaming Gorge project. Currently, the expectation is that this is a 55,000 A/F project, and that permitting may be complete in the next 18-20 months. The group is hoping for a federal Record of Decision sometime by next summer or fall. Mr. Million would like to know if the CCWCD Board would like to sign on to the project now for an option of water delivery in the future. The Board requested that Mr. Million put together a proposal in writing that will be taken to the committees in February.
Legal Action
There are none.
Legal Reports
Kim Lawrence reviewed the monthly resume. Recommend opposing diligence cases No. 17CW3186 and 17CW3187.
MOVE TO OPPOSE CASE NUMBERS 17CW3186 AND 17CW3187.
Motion: Everett Kissler
Second: Ralph Anders
MOTION CARRIED WITH ALAN AXTON VOTING NAY.
District Action:
Randy Ray presented the Valley Education Foundation’s request for funds for scholarships and grants to schools for students and staff. Recommend that requests go through the P.R. committee prior to coming to the board for approval. Recommend that the committee develop an annual budget for school district funding requests.
Randy Ray presented the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture’s request for funds for the Colorado Readers program.
CONTINUE CONTRIBUTING TO COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE LIKE CCWCD HAS DONE IN THE PAST.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Bret Schmidt
MOTION CARRIED
Randy Ray presented the DARCA sponsorship funding request.
APPROVE A $250 CONTRIBUTION TO THE DARCA SPONSORSHIP.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Ralph Anders
MOTION CARRIED
APPROVE TO BECOME MEMBERS OF THE DARCA ASSOCIATION.
Motion: Don Rosenbrock
Second: Frank Eckhardt
MOTION CARRIED
MOVE TO APPROVE DIRECT DEPOSIT BY STAFF ALONG WITH THE WELLS FARGO BILL PAY PORTAL.
Motion: Everett Kissler
Second: Dave Bernhardt
MOTION CARRIED
RESOLUTION REGARDING THE RETIREMENT OF KIM ROBERT LAWRENCE FROM THE PRACTICE OF LAW.
Motion: Alan Axton
Second: Vern Kammerzell
MOTION CARRIED
ADJOURN FOR LUNCH AND RECONVIENE.
Don Diones from George K. Baum addressed the board to provide updated figures on the current assessed valuations, the status of past bond elections, and the anticipated upcoming election environment.
The additional Chatfield Reallocation Project funding sources were discussed. Additional funds are due June 1, 2018.
PUT THE CHATFIELD FUNDING DECISION ON HOLD UNTIL THE LEGISLATURE DECISION IS MADE ON THE ADDITIONAL WESTERN SHARES GRANT AND WATER PROJECT BILL.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
DIRECT STAFF TO NEGOTIATE THE PURCHASE OF THE 4 WESTERN SHARES OFFERED BY GOODNER.
Motion: Chad Schafer
Second: Gary Herman
MOTION CARRIED
Direct staff to form a new committee to go over plans for the Rinn Valley shop design. This committee will include: Alan Axton, Rick Hoffman, Randy Ray, Dave Bernhardt, and Don Rosenbrock.
APPROVE THE OGILVY BYPASS AGREEMENT AND THE BIJOU BYPASS AGREEMENT WITH CER, LLC FOR ONE YEAR ONLY. $5000 BUY IN FEE PER STRUCTURE AND THEN A $25/AF PER STRUCTURE FEE, ALL FUNDS DUE AT SIGNING. ANNUAL VOLUME OF 1,000 A/F AND 1,600 A/F.
Motion: Ralph Anders
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED WITH JIM REASONER, GARY HERMAN, CHAD SCHAFER, VERN KAMMERZELL, ALAN AXTON, TOM BROWN, AND FRANK ECKHARDT VOTING NAY.
APPROVE THE REMOVAL OF THE JACKSON LAKE RECHARGE PROJECT FROM THE 05CW331 DECREE.
Motion: Alan Axton
Second: Gary Herman
MOTION CARRIED
MOVE TO DELAY A DECISION ON AMREPCO UNTIL LEGAL STAFF CAN REVIEW THE AGREEMENT FURTHER AND CORRESPOND WITH AMREPCO STAFF.
Motion: Vern Kammerzell
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
APPROVE THE MICHAEL WALLACE PROPOSAL.
Motion: Ralph Anders
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION DENIED
APPROVE PHASE TWO OF THE HELICOPTER STUDY CONTINGENT UPON FINDING THE FUNDING.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Steve Bruntz
MOTION CARRIED WITH ALAN AXTON VOTING NAY
APPROVE THE FIDCO PIPELINE AGREEMENT.
Motion: Ralph Anders
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED WITH FRANK ECKHARDT ABSTAINING
APPROVE THE WESTERN PIPELINE AGREEMENT.
Motion: Everett Kissler
Second: Ralph Anders
MOTION CARRIED WITH FRANK ECKHARDT ABSTAINIG
DIRECT STAFF TO EVALUATE THE 19 WESTERN SHARES OWNED BY ECKHARDT FARMS AND THE POTENTIAL WATER STORAGE AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY.
Motion: Bret Schmidt
Second: Dave Bernhardt
MOTION CARRIED WITH FRANK ECKHARDT ABSTAINING
Committee Action:
There were none.
Staff Action:
APPROVE THE RESOLUTION REGARDING STOCK REPRESENTATION.
Motion: Ralph Anders
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
APPROVE THE PEGGRAM GRAZING LEASE FOR ONE MORE YEAR.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Doug Dill
MOTION CARRIED
There is a proposed Hawkins grazing lease for Walker Recharge that will be very similar to the Peggram lease. This will be brought to the board in future months for consideration.
Presidents Report
The Officer Elections were discussed.
NOMINATE CHAD SCHAFER AS VICE PRESIDENT.
Motion: Dave Bernhardt
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
RETAIN THE REMAINING SLATE OF BOARD OFFICERS.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Ralph Anders
MOTION CARRIED
FRANK ECKHARDT TO REMAIN IN THE AT-LARGE POSITION ON THE BOARD.
Motion: Ralph Anders
Second: Everett Kissler
MOTION CARRIED
Legislative/Education:
House Bill 18-1073 was discussed, along with the potential TABOR implications.
MOVE TO SUPPORT HOUSE BILL 18-1073.
Motion: Gary Herman
Second: Steve Bruntz
MOTION CARRIED
Water Quality Report:
Water samples are currently being taken by staff.
District Report:
Photos were shared with the board to update them on the Koenig and Rinn Valley construction projects.
The Kiowa recharge project was also discussed. Bijou Irrigation Company and CCWCD will name each other as additional insureds on their insurance policies.
The Walker Recharge project was discussed. Staff is working on completing cost estimates.
Operations Report:
Billy Mihelich gave an overview of the operations report, as well as precipitation and temperature outlooks.
Secretaries Report:
The South Platte Storage Bill final report has been released and it was summarized for the meeting.
Randy Ray gave an overview of the recent GMDA conference.
Upcoming calendar items were discussed
New Business
There was none.
The regular meeting was adjourned at 4:24 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Danyelle McCannon,
Financial Analyst