SSID Water Story

September 2021

Dear SSID Member,

We are writing to inform you that at the upcoming SSID annual meeting on December 6, 2021, there will be a membership vote taken on key water district matters.

Described below are three necessary changes to SSID rules that you, as a member and user need to know and need to support with your votes in order to assure your future water security!

Number I: NEED TO KNOW: Presently, when members vote we each vote the number of acres that we individually own. There are 440 acres in the District owned by 128 members. Two members own 162 acres, hence 162 votes. 126 members own 1 or 2, maybe 5 or 10 acres, with a corresponding number of votes. Very unequal! 

NEED TO SUPPORT: Change the vote from acre to parcel. Then only owners of more than one parcel get more than one vote. Your vote will then really count, and the will of the majority membership will prevail!

Number II: NEED TO KNOW: Oregon rain has given us access to a lot of water over the years. However, increasing drought conditions may be limiting our ground water resource. Aquifer levels are declining. The time has come to examine and carefully regulate the District’s water usage. Current governing rules limit the Board’s ability to do this; for example, to set water use rates for better development and management of water and maintenance resources.

NEED TO SUPPPORT: Remove specific references to District rates and fees from District governing documents. In addition, charge the Board in consultation with members, with the responsibility for ongoing evaluation of the water supply, developing a schedule of rates & fees, and determining an appropriate level of maintenance resources.

Number III: NEED TO KNOW: SSID members own physical facilities worth approximately one million dollars. Six hundred thousand of that is in system infrastructure and distribution; four hundred thousand in above-ground hardware: reservoir, holding tanks, pumps, pump houses, hydrants, valves, meters, etcetera. Presently, District funding available to cover replacement of all or a portion of these resources is very limited.

NEED TO SUPPORT: Amend the governing documents to allow for an infrastructure (capital) replacement fund that complies with Oregon State law, and charge the Board with assessing the size of this replacement fund, then acting to institute and manage it.

You can access additional information on these three matters, prepared by long-time district member, former SSID board member, and SSID Member Liaison Group lead, Jim Sitzman, by using this link:   https://bit.ly/SSID-STORY

Thank you for your support,

Dave Bernel

President, Star Satellite Improvement District