FAQ

Welcome to our new FAQ page! Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions about us.

Q: I would like clarification on Open Meeting Law, Call to the Public and the District's Policy with regards to questions I may have.

Per our policy (Call to the Public is not mandatory per state law), the Request to Speak portion of our agendas, when on the agenda, limits the public time for speaking to 3 minutes and must be limited to items on the agenda. Requests for concerns you wish to have considered for an upcoming agenda, must be made in writing at least 7 days prior to our meeting date. You may drop off your request to our office during business hours, use our drop box at the front of our office building or by email. Requesting an item be placed on the agenda does not mean it will be added to the agenda. A response via email will be given within 5 business days on how your request will be handled:

It will be added to the upcoming agenda or future agenda(s)
It will be responded to within 30 business days via direct email
It will be published on our website

Board members are free to consult with customers (and frequently do) with regards to individual concerns on a one-on-one basis if they feel it will resolve an issue. They are NOT required to address individuals personally and may deem it is in CDWID's best interest to respond in writing to avoid confusion OR they may request a response to an inquiry be placed on the website to inform the community at large.

If you would like to review the State Legislation, please click here.

Q: Please explain the items of discussion at the District's meetings and why some items are not addressed at future meetings.

Employees may (and often do) update the board members at meetings with regards to information they obtain between board meetings. This is not information that requires follow-up at future board meetings and is simply to update the board. Financial decisions made by the board for over $1,000.00 and policy/procedure changes are subject to open meeting law. Day-to-day business transacted by the office staff that is between the staff and customers along with general office activities are not subject to general customer review. For example, if the Office Manager sates that she has spoken with a customer with regards to their account and future intent, that information is part of a briefing and not an agenda item that requires follow-up. Often that information is provided throughout the month outside of a public meeting as action by the board is not required.

Q: Please explain why you are having meetings at the office that are not noticed as a public meeting. Why are they different?

We reached out to the Clerk of the Board at the beginning of our scheduled Critical Infrastructure Project to inquire about how to handle our weekly discussions with regards to construction meetings and asked how they handled those same meetings for the County. We were told that Board members are allowed to meet with contractors to discuss issues such as construction project status and to communicate intent agreed upon at open board meetings as long as no action is being taken on behalf of CDWID that has not been discussed at an open meeting. All actionable items must and have been handled at a published board meeting. We were told that publishing notice of the meeting at its location 24 hours prior to the meeting, covers the requirement for open meeting law.

Q: What if I feel I have not received all of the documents specified in a Request for Information Form or have questions about the documents I received?

If you have asked for a specific document that you have not received on a previous request, you may reach out to our office via email and we will do our best to respond within 5 business days (please specify in the subject section of your email if you are requesting missing information). If you request additional information or clarification based on the records supplied from a previous records request, an additional Request for Information form must be filled out and submitted. We will not respond to records requests via email unless the above criteria are met. Please remember that our staff are all part time to keep our costs low and these protocols are put in place to limit the burden these requests put on those limited hours.

Please do not request records through our board members. It will only delay a response as they will need to forward it on to the office staff.

Q: Rate Increase Concerns

Our rate increase, voted into place at our September board meeting was not considered or implemented lightly. We understand the financial situation many of our customers face. Our budget reflects the losses we have been facing for several years now and our efforts to minimize costs wherever possible are no longer allowing us to put off raising rates. Materials and labor are not cheap (unusually high inflation/material costs and minimum wage increases have both happened within the past few years). We are attempting to find ways to rectify our biggest cost, our water losses, by establishing a protocol that gradually replaces old lines. This will cost more money in manpower and materials. We would also like to replenish our savings accounts to cover unforeseen emergencies. We do NOT make a profit. Our board members do NOT make an income from their work as board members. Any funds not spent are placed in our savings account and any expenses over $1,000 are discussed and voted upon at an open board meeting. Each year the budget produced reflects all of the actual spending of the previous year and an estimate of what we project to spend the following year. Budgets for the current and previous years are placed on our website for your review (work in progress-please be patient while those budgets are uploaded). If you have questions with regards to the budgets, please follow the records request protocol above.

Q: Status of the fire hydrant replacement on Rainbow (temporary posting pending completion)

There has been some confusion with regards to the status of the fire hydrant replacement on Rainbow. We will be replacing the non-working fire hydrant on Rainbow with the functioning fire hydrant on 2nd Street (currently located in front of Yesterday's restaurant) when it is replaced as part of the new construction project (Critical Infrastructure Project). We cannot move that unit currently because it is an active fire hydrant and could be used by the fire department in the case of a fire. As soon as the new unit is in place and is part of the new line/system being installed, we can move the existing working hydrant to replace the one on Rainbow. The local volunteer fire department is aware that the existing hydrant on Rainbow does not function and will inform any fire department that responds of the situation.

We appreciate being informed when the cover on the malfunctioning hydrant has been removed due to high winds or vandalism and will work to get it replaced as soon as possible when notified.

Q: What can you tell me about the status of the Critical Infrastructure project? (temporary posting pending completion)

We have elected to update our construction page with our current project status along with a general costs versus projected expenses to date to answer some confusion. You can find information to that page here.

Q: What is your relationship with the Rural Water Association?

We have been a continual member of the Rural Water Association for over a decade. It is not free for our organization, but understand the value of that resource. They were, in fact, instrumental in putting us in contact with the consultants that assisted us with our ERP (Emergency Response Plan) and the consultants that helped with leak detection (although they did not find anything). A circuit rider generally stops by annually to inquire about our needs and offer assistance if requested. It has been suggested that we attend their annual seminar. That suggestion has been considered both recently and in the past. The general consensus of those who have attended is that the cost of attending outweighs the value of attending as it is really a chance for vendors to make connections with clients more than water districts learning new skills. Every year we take a look at what will be offered/presented at the seminar and consider its value and how it measures up against the cost of attending.

Q: Does Chloride Domestic Water Improvement District pursue funding in an effort to improve the current water system?

Yes! We have a board member regularly looking into various funding options for our District. Most of the funding sources available (so far) turn out to be grants that are in the form of low interest loans. Of those, quite a few are 50/50 splits that require us to come up with half of the funds ourselves and we do not have the capital required. We currently spend a little less than $3,000.00 monthly to pay back a federal loan on the pipeline we purchased to provide us water from Mineral Park Rd. and cannot extend ourselves further at this time. This loan will be paid off around 2040. We will be requesting some of the County's annual CDBG funds to cover our 2nd generator and continue to look for additional resources that will enable us to work to replace our existing infrastructure. If you are made aware of funding you believe we do not know about, please email our office and we will look into it.