20110714Comments.pdf

NEIL PRICE
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
BARNO. 6864
RECEIVED
ion JUL 14
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W. WASHINGTON
BOISE, IDAHO 83702-5918
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF )
RESORT WATER COMPANY FOR THE DE- )
ANNEXATION OF A PORTION OF ITS )SERVICE TERRTORY. )
)
)
)
CASE NO. RES-W-ll-Ol
COMMENTS OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF
COMES NOW the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its
attorney of record, Neil Price, Deputy Attorney General, and in response to the Notice of
Application and Notice of Modified Procedure issued in Order No. 32271 on June 23, 2011, in
Case No. RES- W -11-01, submits the following comments.'
BACKGROUND
Mountain Utilty Company/Resort Water Company ("Resort Water" or "Company") is
seeking the Commission's approval of its plan to de-anex a portion of the Company's
Commission-approved service territory. Resort Water has agreed to transfer "Lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Block E, plus the adjoining un-platted 2.3 acre piece of land, all of the Crystal Springs
Subdivision" to Spires Water Co. Resort Water Letter at 1.
The Application includes several exhibits, including maps and correspondence between
representatives of both Companies. See Spires Letter, Exhibits A-D.
STAFF COMMENTS 1 JULY 14,2011
Proposed Area for De-annexation
The Resort Water Company currently holds Certificate No. 445 previously issued by the
Commission pursuant to the findings and conclusions of Order No. 29732 in Case No.
RES-W-04-01. The legal description of the Company's curent service area is described as
follows:
Township 58 North, Range 2 West, Section 20, Boise Meridian, Bonner County, Idaho.
More specifically described as the South ~ of the Northwest v., the West Y2 of the
Northwest v., and the North Y2 of the Southwest v..
The area of the proposed de-anexation is located in a portion of the Company's service
area in North ~ of the Southwest v. of Section 20, Township 58 North, Range 2 West, B.M.,
Bonner County. As noted earlier, the specific parcel of land proposed to be de-anexed is legally
described as Lots 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, Block E of Crystal Springs Subdivision and the adjoining 2.3
acres unplatted area between Crystal Springs Subdivision Block E and The Spires, PUD (Planed
Unit Development). Exhibits Band C of the Application are also attached hereto for reference
(Attachments A and B of the Staff Comments).
It is Staffs understanding that Lot Nos. 6 and 7 have been sold to private parties and that a
residential building is currently being built on one of these lots. The rest of the lots and the
unplatted area are owned by The Spires, LLC.
Resort Water Company Water System
Resort Water Company is a water utility curently regulated by the Commission. The
Company currently serves a total of 406 residential and commercial customers. (Company's
2010 Anual Report). The Company's sources of water supplies are from three wells. There are
three storage reservoirs and no booster pumps within the system.
Spires Water Company Water System
The Spires Water Company is a water utilty not curently regulated by the Commission.
A search conducted by the Staff showed this Company is registered in good standing with the
Idaho Secretary of State as The Spires Water Company, LLC and has been operating since May
10,2001. R. Barclay Hutchinson is the registered manager of Spires Water. Additional research
conducted by Staff indicates that water for The Spires at Schweitzer, an 80-acre planed mountain
STAFF COMMENTS 2 JULY 14,2011
community located on the South Ridge of the main bowl at Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, wil
be provided by the Spires Water Company. i Staff was also informed by IDEQ-Northern Region
that Spires Water Company is not regulated by IDEQ since the total number of year-round
customers (connections) curently served is less 15 or the total number of household served is less
than 25, which does not yet meet the requirements ofIDEQ as a community public drinking water
system. According to IDEQ, all new public drinking water systems must meet the facilty and
design stadards as promulgated by IDEQ, and Spires Water has the infrastructure in place to
become a IDEQ regulated public water system in the future. The bulk of the water distribution
system has not been completed yet, but Spires Water is working with IDEQ in approving
construction plans to complete the system.
To date, the Spires Water system is parly operational with two wells, a small reservoir,
some mains and an intertie with the Schweitzer Basic Water Company. Spires Water is currently
serving two customers and expects to hook up additional customers in the near future.
STAFF ANALYSIS
There are several issues that Staff believes the Commission needs to consider before
deciding whether to approve the proposed de-anexation of some pars of Resort Water
Company's service area: 1) no Commission rules and or policies are violated with the proposed
de-anexation; 2) assurance that curent Company customers are not adversely affected by the de-
anexation; 3) the potential Company customers included in the de-anexation wil be better
served by another public water system; 4) major paries involved in the de-anexation are in
general agreement with the proposal (i.e., Resort Water Company, Spire Water Company and the
potential Resort Water customers within the proposed de-anexed area); and 5) the proposal wil
not interfere with any other public water utilties in the area.
The Commission has the authority to issue a new Certificate of Public Convenience and
Necessity (CPCN) to any existing water utilty it regulates and approve expansion of a water
utilty's current CPCN. Idaho Code 61-526; IDAPA 31.01.01.111-112. The Commission does
not have any rule that precludes the transfer of service from one water utilty to another. Staff
believes that the Commission should generally look at the entity better able to service these lots
1 htt://www.thespiresatschweitzer.com/
STAFF COMMENTS 3 JULY 14,2011
technically and economically while looking at the potential impact to current Resort Water
customers.
Resort Water currently serves a total of 406 customers; 280 residential and 126
commerciaL. Because no expansion of the curent Resort Water pumping and distribution water
system is involved, Staff believes the existing customers would not be hared by the proposed
de-anexation.
The potential customers of Resort Water located at Block E of Crystal Springs
Subdivision that include Mr. Barclay Hutchison (developer of the five plotted lots 6,7,8,9,10
Block E and the unplatted 2.3 acres) have explored various alternatives in obtaining water service.
Initial discussions by Staff with Resort Water indicate that it would be very costly to extend its
water distribution system and provide the necessary pressure (Option 1) to serve these potential
customers. Since Resort Water Company has no existing water infrastructure to serve these
potential customers, the developer requesting water service would have to shoulder the cost of
extending the service under the Company's Mainline Line Extension Rules. The developer would
also need to construct booster pumping facilties to provide the required operating pressure to
service these lots. With Option 1, an existing 6-inch mainline of Resort Water along Crystal
Court (private road) would be tapped approximately 40 feet from the NE corner of Lot 6 and a
6-inch pipeline about 500 feet ruing east to west would be installed to serve the said lots. The
static pressure at the proposed location of the booster pump (inlet static pressure) is
approximately 39 psi. (Water Service Alternatives Overview Map, T-O Engineers, May 201 1).
The difference in elevation between the proposed booster pump station and the highest point to be
served is approximately 145 feet. The cost estimates for Option 1 provided to Staff by T-O
Engineers, the Company's engineering consultat, are:
· Mobilzation $ 9,300
· Booster Pump Station $159,150
· Water Main Extension $ 17,750
· Engineering $ 37,240
· Total Cost $223,440*
*This total cost does not include the cost of extending power line to booster site and
transformer.
For Option 2, the potential customers would be served by Spires Water Company. As
noted earlier, Spires Water currently has a water system in place serving two customers.
According to IDEQ, Spires Water Company's original water system with 18 connections was
STAFF COMMENTS 4 JULY 14,2011
approved in the early 2000s. An addition to the original water system (1 st Addition) has been
proposed with a total built out capacity of 165 connections. The 1 st Addition is comprised of 12
Phases. Phases I, II and III have been approved by DEQ within the last two years. The water
system covering Club/Crystal Springs area, which includes the lots being proposed for
de-anexation by Resort Water, was approved by DEQ in Januar 11,2011. Attachment C of
Staff Comments.
Spires Water plans to extend approximately 350 feet of its water main to serve these lots.
No booster pump would be necessar since the grade of the mainline extension is either flat or
downil. The estimated costs for this alternative as provided by T -0 Engineers are:
. Mobilzation $ 1,100
. Water Main Extension $ 20,725
· Engineering $ 4,365· Total $ 26,190
As presented above, the cost of Option 2 is less than Option 1. Staff believes that the
potential customers of Resort Water would be better served technically and economically if
domestic water is supplied by Spires Water Company.
A letter was provided to the Commission by Clay Hutchison, Manager of the Spires Water
Company, on November 9, 2010 confirming that the Spires Water system can provide water
service to this parcel with a simple water main extension from its adjacent property. Mr.
Hutchison, who is also the owner of Lots 8, 9, 10 Block E of Crystal Springs and the 2.3 acre
unplatted parcel (Bonner County Parcel #RP 58N02W205200 A) requested release of these lots
from the Resort Water service area so that water service can be provided from the adjacent Spires
Water Company. (Application, Exhibit D-b). Similar request letters were also provided by
Harold Elofson and Rob Mercer, owners of Lots 6 and 7, respectively, of Block E, Crystal
Springs. (Application, Exhibits D-c and D-d). In addition, as part of the Application, Tom
Turlock, Manager of the Resort Water Company, indicated to Mr. Hutchison that the Company is
comfortble with Mr. Hutchison's request to serve Lots 6-10, Block E, Crystal Springs from the
Spires Water system. (Application, Exhibit D-a). These letters indicate that the major parties
involved are in agreement with the proposed de-annexation.
STAFF COMMENTS 5 JULY 14,2011
CUSTOMER RELATION ISSUES
No customers wil be impacted by a change in rates or a change in polices and practices of
the companies involved because curently no customers live in the territory being transferred to
Spires Water.
The deadline to fie comments was July 14, 2011. As of July 14, 2011, no comments had
been filed by customers and/or the general public.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff supports Resort Water's proposal to de-anex some portions of its service areas
for the reasons discussed above. Staff recommends that the Commission approve the proposed
de-anexation by the Resort Water Company.
Respectfully submitted this \ Up day of July 201 1.
/J'J~ ~
¡
Neil Price
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff: Gerr Galinato
Curis Thaden
i:umisc:commentsreswl I. Inpgdgct comments
STAFF COMMENTS 6 JULY 14,2011
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LE.GAL llESCRITlON
P-ar,cel 'Of Land to be lle-Al:llcxed from
&'ésort Water Cmnpa'ny Service Ârea
Crtal, $pti-.gs .S'ibdimiøll Lo:ts ...1¡6.,BloeK E
&'tDe
234'ace UiiplattedArea-netn'Cryhd Sprngs
Subdivision lloÇk Eand TheSpÎFes, POO. .
Lots 6, 7~ 8, 9, lO,BlOè E, of Cryst 'Sprgs SUhdvIsIon, acordg tothe Pla thero:(
recorded in Book 4 (JfPla, Page 193, reoor$ of Bonner Coun, Iào;
toer wi aifraeí oflad loeadf in a port of the NU2-SW1I4 of $:tion 29,Town 5iß Nort Ra.:2 Wes~ :B Merdi Boner Comi, Idt1tL more
pacularly. desôbèd as follows;
Begi at th SQuthas comerof,sai Nl12-8W1I4 øf Seeti'2í; thence NOO'lO"E
aIongthe Ea lí-e()f said .Ni/i.;SW14 a dìs'uf68.39 feet, møre or1ess, to tle '
Smitì :emt,øf:Lo 6 dfGrystä ~p.rSuódvision eim E, as recoded in- BQk 4
'o.fllat~ Pa 193J reooms ,of:SoDrer County, Ida; tÌeiee Wes alægtlé SOU -
lxun tlSâd :Plá adi'S of 52832 f:e thce N66FJ1 ioT'W áÌng sad .south
æmdaa distce or412.2'4 fee tQ the :gØUW.eSLèO:mëtöfLöt to of sad Piat; theim~~5.'1V Ii .dis(We of 24'348 £e~ more or less" wapomt onthe Søu1Ï1ioI said .
mI1-8WïJ4; ilc. S:g~9"03"E a1óngsad Sooth ñn a dIs1ce ofJOO553 ;feet to tlePOIItøfB~, .
AftiiClimeni B
Case No. RES-W-II-Ol
Staff Comments
07/14/11
.. ~
";#
STATE OF IDAHO
DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
2110 Ironwood Parkway, Coeurd'Alene.ID 83814 [phone] C. L. "Butch"Otter, Governor
Toni Hardesty, Director
January 11,2011
Mr. Clay Hutchison
The Spires LLC
217 Cedar St #284
Sandpoint, il 83864
Clay.hutchison(à)gmail.com
Subject:Constrction Plans and Specifications - Conditionally Approved; Club/Crystal
Springs Area, The Spires Water System - CORRCTED
Dear Mr. Hutchison:
Plans and specifications, prepared by Scott McNee, P.E. of TO Engineers, on December 7,2010
for the Club/Crystal Sprigs Area improvements have been reviewed. The project involves
extension of existing Spires drnkg water mains and Mountain Utilities Company wastewater
mains to serve i 6 service connections in the Spires 1 st Addition Lot 1, Block 4 and Crystal
Springs Subdivision Block E Lots 6- 1 O.
The plans and specifications have been reviewed and are hereby conditionally approved for
. constrction puroses in accordance with the Idaho Rules for Public Drinking Water Systems
(DW Rules), Wastewater Rules (WW Rules), and Idaho Code §39-1l8. To be in compliance
with the Rules, the following conditions must be satisfied prior to the completion of the project,
and a short sumary of these conditions and their implementation should be submitted by the
engineer when record drawings are submitted for the project:
1. Due to the various incarations of this and other development projects for the Spires
service area, it has been difficult to determne which 'will serve' letters are applicable
to individual projects. As discussed with your engineer, a declining balance sheet
wil be necessar that describes the lots & connections being served for both drnkg
water and wastewater for the Spires. The balance sheet should also include copies of
'will serve' letters from Mountain Utilities and a listing of how many servce
connections they are willing to serve for these projects. The declining balance sheet
will need to be submitted with record drawings for the proj ect.
2. Please note the use of pre-cast thst blocking is not acceptable for this project.
Record drawings should be submitted with a comment prepared by the inspecting
engineer verifyng the style of thst blocks constrcted.
If any material deviations to this accepted design are necessar, the design engineer must secure
DEQ approval of the changes prior to implementation of the changes.
Aitdiment C
Case No. RES.W-II-Ol
,Staff Comments
'07/14/11 Page 1 of2
,"
..
Clay Hutchison / The Spires - Club/Crystal Springs
Januar 11, 2011
Page 2
Withn thirt (30) days of completion of constrction, record drawings or a letter of material
compliance must be submitted to DEQ. Submittal of record drawings is the responsibility of the
water and/or sewer pureyor. The record drawings must depict actual constrction of facilities
pedormed. Inspection of constrction activities approved herein must be done by an Idaho
licensed Professional Engineer (P .E.) or by someone under the direct supervision of a P.E.
If constrction is not completed within one year ofthe date of this letter, the DEQ constrction
approval expires. An extension may be granted if the design engineer submits a written request
that DEQ re-approve the plans and specifications.
Regards,
Michael Camin, P.E.
Environmental Engineer
michae1.camin(cdeq . idaho .gov
c: Scott McNee, TO Engieers smcnee(ito-engineers.com
Mel Bailey, SBWC/Spires Operator mbatlake(itelevar.com
Eri Ketner/Anette Duerock, PHD eketner(fhdl.idaho.gov;
aduerock(iphdl.idaho.gov; cthompson(fhd l.idaho.gov
Troy Wassink, DEQ troy.wassink(cdeq.idaho.gov
Clare Marley, Bonner County cmarley(gco.bonner.id.us
Stephen Tanner, DEQ stephen.tannerc§deq.idaho.gov
File: Spires (#11613-plans S-36)
Attacl1eiit C
Case No. RES-W-II-Ol
Staff Comments
07/14/11 Page 2 of2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE THIS 14TH DAY OF JULY 2011,
SERVED THE FOREGOING COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF, IN
CASE NO. RES-W-II-0l, BY MAILING A COpy THEREOF, POSTAGE PREPAID,
TO THE FOLLOWING:
TOM TRULOCK PRESIDENT
MOUNTAIN UTILITY CO
RESORT WATER CO
165 VILLAGE LANE STE A
SANDPOINT ID 83864
Jo~SECRETARÝ~~
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE