TCID Board of Directors held an official signing ceremony during their regular board meeting last week to memorialize the Old Lahontan Power Plant (OLPP) Title Transfer Agreement.
“We appreciate Reclamation for what has culminated to this point,” said General Manager Rusty Jardine.
In other business, Jardine announced that there are four board of director seats open in the upcoming election that is scheduled to be held on April 5. Filing for those seats will open on February 17 and run through March 16. Board members Wade Workman, Eric Olsen, Abe Schank, and Lester deBraga are all up for reelection. If no one files to run against the board member by March 16, he will be considered elected to his seat.
Registration for the election is now open and will close Tuesday, March 22, at the hour of 4:30 p.m. Voter eligibility in the District is based upon ownership of land in the Newlands Reclamation Project to which a surface water right is appurtenant.
The Carson Division voting will take place at the TCID office and Truckee Division electors will cast their vote in Fernley at the firehouse.
Board members heard a presentation from Capitol Hill Consulting Group representative in Washington D.C., Jack Victory regarding assistance obtaining funds for the Extraordinary Maintenance to the Truckee Canal in Fernley. The District is seeking funding and has submitted a grant application to the Bureau of Reclamation for $35 million to complete the project. Jardine said if the maintenance of the canal can be characterized as “emergency maintenance” there is a significant amount of cost that can be characterized as non-reimbursable and TCID would not have to repay that amount.
Last month board members heard from Mark Limbaugh of the Ferguson Group, regarding the possibility of performing the same services.
After a lengthy discussion and heated words between Directors Eric Olsen and Davy Stix, the board voted to hire the Ferguson Group for three months at $8,000 per month including expenses, not to exceed $30,000.
The representative of the Farmer’s Conservation Alliance, Julie O’Shea reminded directors that her organization is helping the District with some of these activities and federal representation should augment their work. “You need someone on the federal level,” said O’Shea.
The Annual Rate and Levy of Assessment for Operation and Maintenance did not change, and the District General Assessment was raised based on the Consumer Price Index from $6.10 to $6.29 for the fiscal year 2022/23. That levy of the annual assessment is on all lands in the District for deposit in a capital improvement fund to be used for construction, reconstruction, or maintenance of the District.
The date for the Annual Water Users Meeting was set for March 2 in Fallon and March 3 in Fernley. More details will be forthcoming. Directors anticipate setting the annual allocation at the March board meeting on March 1.
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