• Directly below are the March 10, 2025 Trustee / Operatiions Minutes.
• The April 23 2025 Admin-Finance Meeting Minutes will be posted after adoption at the next trustee meeting, date not yet determined.
• The 2024 Annual General Meeting Minutes are draft until amended or adopted at the 2025 AGM.
• Minutes from 2024 can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
• For Minutes from 2016 - 2023, please see the Archived Minutes page.
MINUTES
Trustee / Operations Meeting
4:30 pm March 10, 2025
via Zoom
Present: Chair Bryan Miles, Trustee Lee Davis, Trustee Brent Brucker, Operator Kerby Fisher, Administrator Janine Reimer, Electrical Consultant Neil McLean.
1. Approval of the Agenda Moved B.Brucker, 2nd L.Davis. Carried.
2. Approval of the Minutes
of September 16, 2024 Moved B.Brucker, 2nd L.Davis. Carried.
of January 20, 2025 Moved L.Davis, 2nd B.Brucker. Carried.
3. Operator’s Reports K.Fisher
The operator summarized the key developments and tasks of his 4 recent written reports. He said that on the weekend of September 21 2024, he had chlorinated and flushed the lower water system. In October and November he had replaced the 3 air release valves, which had corrected the problem of small air bubbles in the upper system. In mid-November, he had completed a pressure test of the upper system while running off the lower tank. In January, he had flushed water out of the blow-offs at each of the 4 dead-end lines.
4. Operations 2025 K.Fisher
The operator said he would be continuing the hydrant replacement program in the fall. In the spring, he would replace 2 of the ARV chamber lids with the cement lids from the blowoffs. The 4 blowoffs would be filled with sand, and the controls moved to the surface.
5. Solar Panels / EG4 Lithium Battery J.Reimer, N.McLean
The administrator had collected data on the solar inputs since the EG4 installation, and found the January solar data to be inadequate for keeping the EG4 battery charged during the darkest months to power the Thomson controller. It would be necessary to purchase a higher capacity charger for the December-January dark period.
Outside of those 2 dark months, increasing solar inputs and generator/pumping charges would keep the EG4 charged. The administrator said the trustees had approved a 2025 budget figure for the solar purchase, and electrician Mark Long had recommended keeping the panels in operation (currently on loan) for system redundancy.
Electrical consultant Neil McLean explained that the EG4 had a 200 amp-hours (Ah) capacity, and the Thomson consumed about 20 Ah per day, so the battery power should last about 10 days without additional charge from solar and/or generator/pumping power. In periods of dark days, and when there are no calls for water, the EG4 battery would continue to deplete. Neil suggested SSID replace the charger, on loan from Mark, with two 50Ah chargers, and run them at the same time as the electric heater in the pump house, to balance the load on the generator’s 3 phases.
The trustees discussed, and agreed to purchase the solar panels as budgeted. No decision was made on the chargers at this time.
6. Generators K.Fisher, N.McLean
The operator said he would be replacing the old diesel fuel in the generator-2 TidyTank because of potential algae growth associated with stagnant fuel.
He said he had some trouble starting generator-2 in January, and noted the starter battery was low. The EG4 had reduced the need for generator starts that used to recharge both generators’ starter batteries, and as a result the gen-2 battery in particular could go dead.
Neil advised that a small charger could be hooked up to each generator, and estimated the cost at $50.00 each. He would start with one, and test. The trustees requested he proceed with the purchase.
7. Upper Tank options All
The administrator displayed on screen the draft graphics of upper tank options, as previously circulated. Four options were included from the engineers’ feasibility study, and two options were from SSID.
Regarding the costs, the Chair said SSID had cash funds and real property, and had started researching borrowing to cover the project. The administrator had exchanged emails with the First Credit Union about borrowing requirements, and it was not yet certain that SSID would be able to meet the requirements of a very large loan.
Option-1 proposed one large tank to replace both existing upper and lower tanks, to avoid having to go through a lower tank replacement exercise and expense in future. However, it was questioned as to why SSID would use only the new 43,000-gallon tank and decommission the existing 40,000-tank in good condition.
The Option-2 standpipe was considered unfeasible because of its imposing size and price, but would otherwise accomplish the goals of volume, pressure, and fire suppression. It was decided to keep this option for review at the AGM.
Option-3 using a booster station only, was reviewed as to how the existing 40,000-gallon lower tank would service both the lower system with gravity-fed water while servicing the upper system through a booster station. It was also noted that the pumps would respond on demand, making the generator use continuous, but that an underground chamber could help suppress the noise.
Option-4 was a series of five 100-gallon pressure tanks, considered impractical in that it would require near continuous pumping, and offered no fire suppression capacity. It was suggested this option be removed from future consideration.
Option-5 involved a welded replacement of the bottom panel of the upper tank, and repair of the interior coating that would result from the welding. The costs would include an engineering review, and a team on scaffolding under the tank. The trustees had previously disqualified this option, and reiterated that continuing to use the steel tower may be unsound practice due to its age and legal non-conformity with current seismic building code.
Option-6 would require an underground chamber to house a hydro pneumatic tank with a draw-down capacity equal to the drawdown of the 10,000-gallon tank it would replace. Fire suppression would be a separate system, on site as four 5,000-gallon plastic tanks, to be refilled as necessary. The operator noted that water from the plastic tanks would not be potable and therefore could not run through the pipes of the upper system to the hydrants. It was also discussed that the compressor noise would be contained, and the pressure may need adjustment.
The trustees discussed the possibility of funding Option-6, the hydro pneumatic tank, through a Special Assessment rather than through borrowing. The 2025 estimate of Option-6 would result in a one-time Special Assessment of $1,700 per property if purchased in 2026.
It was suggested that whichever Option is decided, it might be funded in part by donations.
It was considered that the hydro pneumatic tank would have a shorter service life than the other Options, and would therefore require future replacements that could push the actual cost over time to be comparable with the other Options. Also, a better longevity would avoid repeating the effort required to replace this same asset in 20 years.
There was some technical discussion of water volume drawdown and pressure management in regard to the Option-6 hydro pneumatic tank.
8. Wharf Fire Protection Plan B.Miles
The Chair reported on his zoom meeting with qathet General Manager of Operations Patrick Devereaux, and the SSID administrator, regarding the escalation of costs associated with Vancouver Coastal Health engineering requirements, and the concerns of SSID’s mandate and bylaw that protect its water supply for SSID taxpayers. The meeting had concluded with the qathet manager’s decision to forego SSID involvement in the project, so as to cancel VCH requirements and the reliance on SSID water flow during a wharf fire.
9. Connection Charge Bylaw no. 139 Trustees
The Chair read the bylaw aloud, and the trustees approved it.
Motion
THAT the Connection Charge Bylaw no. 139 be approved. Moved L.Davis, 2nd B.Brucker. Carried.
10. Next meeting B.Miles
The Chair asked that the Minutes of this meeting be circulated to the trustees for further review of the thoughts exchanged today, before a new meeting is scheduled.
Administrator to expedite the minutes
11. Adjournment B.Miles
6:26pm
