November 23, 2023 Board Meeting Highlights
  • The agenda for the meeting was approved on motion by Rod Wendorff and carried.
  • The Minutes of the October 19, 2023 board meeting were approved on motion by Craig Palmer and carried.

Business Arising

  • O&M Report and AIM Project Update:

Cody shared a slideshow of pictures taken over the last month of repairs & maintenance and pipelining activities. The status reported on each project is as follows:

9 Mile & North – The crew is working very efficiently. They are installing between 150-250 meters/day. Our goal is to have the 9 Mile project, including the spur lines, completed by December 22. The only items to be completed in the spring will be to disc the trench, attached the riser tops, and tidy up.

GPS – In the new year we will work on collecting individual irrigators main line data for the engineer’s model. From there the final design can be completed and then our engineer will have the design peer reviewed.  

New Dayton CPR Crossing – CPKC has accepted our application, which includes the peer reviewed geotechnical report. We are now waiting to hear back from CPKC for a construction timeline.    

8-2 – We have all of the pipe, but the fittings are not ordered yet. Our engineer will be ordering the fittings shortly. Our goal is to start this project when we return from Christmas break on January 8, 2024.

Smith Estates – We are working with the engineer to finalize the design and complete plans for a spring installation.   

Chin Chute Rehabilitation (IRP 2392) – The Chin Chute modernization is well underway. The mild fall has made it possible for construction to move fast. We anticipate a bill from SMRID for work completed in 2023 within the next month.

  • Irrican – John and Jason reported:

Amanda has been working with Joyce Lamb from SMRID on the Irrican year end. We would like to have it ready for the audit by the end of November.

There is an open house scheduled for November 30 at 5:30-8:00pm at the Raymond Seniors Center regarding the Battery installation at the Raymond power plant.  

We continue to collect annual billings. The discount period ended on October 31, but the payment deadline is December 31.

Jason shared with the Board the most recent ATB investment report. Over the last 1 ½ years our investments have had a big loss, which decreased our overall rate of return, since investment inception, to only 1.28%. Our ATB advisors advise that this should begin to bounce back up over the next year. Jason will schedule our advisors to attend the next Board meeting to provide clarification and advise on what we can do to improve our rate of return.   

  • Staffing:

The Board discussed Christmas gifts to staff and decided to continue with the same gifts as last year.  

  • Snowpack Report / Water Supply Forecast / RID Diversion / DDIT:

The Board reviewed the most recent reservoir report and snow pack report from the government. The headworks storage has increased to 19% compared to 16% last month.  

  • Irrigating Alberta Inc. (“IAI”)– Jason reported:

Nothing to report.

  • Equipment

Jason found a small hydrovac unit at auction. The unit has low hours and is a stand-alone unit (meaning it has its own power plant) so it can be mounted on a trailer or on an old tandem or 3 ton. We have found that we are spending a significant amount of money on hydrovacing throughout the year. We have also found that it can be difficult to line up a hydrovac truck when we need it.  Having our own unit will save the RID money in the long run and ensure that we will be able to get hydrovacing completed when we require it. The unit is small, so we will still need to hire full size hydrovac trucks for the few times we have larger hydrovac projects.

On motion made by John McKee and carried, the Board approved the purchase of the hydrovac unit and a truck or trailer than can transport the unit.

  • Main Canal Agreement

The Board discussed the meeting held on November 8, 2023 at which the new main canal agreement was finalized.

On motion made by John McKee and carried, the Board ratifies the new Infrastructure Agreement signed with the SMRD on November 8, 2023.

  • Annual Agreements Review:

This item was tabled for 2 months.

New Business

  • Directors’ Items

No items were brought forward.

  • AIDA Board Meeting Report:

John and Jason reported on the AIDA Board meeting held on November 7, 2023. The main discussion was with respect to a presentation by AEP on preparing to water share next year due to the anticipated water shortage. AEP and the Irrigation Districts both exhibited a spirit of working together. Meetings will be held in the new year to facilitation further discussion.

  • AGM – March 21, 2024:

Our AGM is scheduled for March 21, 2024. In the next Board meeting we will discuss topics for the seminar.

  • AIDA Annual Conference – Feb 5-7 in Lethbridge:

The AIDA annual seminar is schedule for Feb 5-7 in Lethbridge. All of the Board determined that they would attend. Jason will register everyone.

  • Next Meeting Date

The next meeting is set for December 20, 2023.

Motion to adjourn – There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm on motion by Rod Wendorff.