- The agenda for the meeting was approved on motion by Craig Palmer and carried.
- The Minutes of the April 23, 2021 board meeting were approved on motion by John McKee and carried.
- O&M Report and IRP Project Update:
Cody Heggie showed a slide presentation of the work performed over the past month. Pipelines are filled and irrigators have been using water. The crew has been completing various repairs as needed.
- Irrican – Kelvin Kado reported:
Power pool prices have been better this spring than the past couple years at this same time.
All plants are running at near capacity. We have a good hedged price for 5Mhr. There has only been a few problems with Fortis shutting the plants off.
- RID financial – Kelvin Kado reported:
R7-1, R8-2 and R15 energy billing is now completed. Reminder statements were also sent out for outstanding A/R. The 2020 Municipal water conveyance through Ridge Water Services for Raymond, Stirling, Warner and the County of Warner were also mailed out.
Rate enforcement came and went, with nothing to report.
Solar array materials and parts are on order and expected by end of May, with a project completion by mid-July. We will be amending our power contracts in July as we are contracted with ENMAX and they indicated that we can get out of our contract without penalty with a 10 day notice. Our contract is for $6.25/Kwh and doesn’t end till November 2023. Kelvin has been in contact with Ridge Utilities about power contracts (they are a sister company with Spot Power and they can do the same deals). We will work with our solar provider to make the switch. A review of power charges to R7-1 and R8-2 irrigators will be presented at the July board meeting. A notice and agreement of the change to solar will be sent to irrigators by fall for their acknowledgement and signatures.
Addition of land to the district was advertised in the paper, but there are a few correction Ads to be put in next week paper.
We are opening a new ATB savings account to deposit our CIB funds. The ATB paperwork for the account was signed at the Board meeting.
- CIB/Government of Alberta Program Update – Jason reported:
Jason reviewed the approved projects and shared a detailed cashflow analysis for each of the projects. The board is very pleased and excited about these projects and their benefit to the RID. In conjunction with these projects, the board discussed the Hoferland pipeline and agreed to proceed with the project subject to the irrigators on the pipeline agreeing to contribute $1,000 per acre towards the project. This project will open up a previously unirrigated portion of the RID. Jason will discuss the project with the affected irrigators and make plans to hold an information session for irrigators.
- Future Project Land Easements Update – Jason reported:
Easements for RS4 are completed. Easements for the 9 Mile are underway.
- Common Carrier Agreement – Jason reported:
TID shared a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between TID and SMRID for an addendum to the Main Canal Agreement, wherein TID agrees to pay for the east main canal costs from Horsefly check to Sauder spillway. The MOU has many additional points which the board discussed in detail.
- RID Policy Manual Review:
The Board has previously reviewed policies 1-40. No items were reviewed during this meeting.
- Directors’ Items:
No director items were brought forward.
- Keeler’s – Address the Board RE: 9 Mile Easements:
Dave Keeler addressed the Board regarding the proposed 9 Mile easement through NE3-6-21-W4. The RID advised that an alternative route is in the works and the line is no longer planned to go through NE3-6-21-W4. The Board had a nice visit with Dave and discussed several other irrigation items.
- Household Purposes Agreement (“HPA”) requests:
The RID has received HPA requests for 3 parcels:
- 7-6-20-W4; Plan 4489J; Block 105; Lot 1
- NE18-6-20-W4; Plan 0714422; Block 1; Lot 2
- SW21-6-19-W4; Plan 0112585; Block 1; Lot 1
On motion made by Rod Wendorff, and carried, the RID Board approves the HPA agreements as presented.
- Alternative Parcel Agreements:
The RID has received alternative parcel agreements for the 2021 irrigating season as follows:
100 acres from NW 19-6-20-W4 to SW3-7-19-W4
On motion made by John McKee, and carried, the RID Board approves the alternate parcel agreements as presented.
- Transfer of Acres:
The RID has received a request to permanently transfer 8 irrigation acres from SE 19-6-20-W4 to SE 23-6-20-W4. RID administration noted that SE23-6-20-W4 is included in the RID and is classified as irrigable land.
On motion made by John McKee, and carried, the RID Board approves the transfer of 8 acres from SE 19-6-20-W4 to SE 23-6-20-W4 as presented.
- Next Meeting Date
The next meeting is set for June 16, 2021.