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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20070301Comments.pdf-I~~LOT 111 3/'J/o'J SPIRIT LAKE EAST ENFORCED PLAT COMMENT FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION HEARING FEBRUARY 28 , 2007 ::!:,: .",1"0 ~ /1 "', RE: CASE NO. SPL-O6-in~- - ' ~;3- C:' =--' -- .. , For the record. '-'. (fJ, aMy name is Robert Costigan. I am a retired Naval Officer, a Veteran of World Waf II and Vietnam, with a specialty in naval aviation, shipboard navigation, and aviation safety. I am a graduate of the Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and Joint Service Staff College, Latimer, United Kingdom, with Postgraduate studies in Business Administration at San Diego State College. I am a former Registered Investment Advisor with the Securities Exchange Commission, a WSDOT Transportation Engineer in District Six, and Manager of Aeronautics Marine Planning, for the Washington State Department of Transportation,. I was the Department's and Spokane s Representative to the Washington State Committee for Standard Specifications for Road, Bridge, and Municipal Construction, Spokane Representative and Member of the American Society for Testing and Materials Relating to Soils, Sewer and Water Member of the American Public Works Association, and Materials and Project Engineer for the City of Spokane Public Works Department until my final retirement in May 1994. I reside at 33588 North Kelso Drive in the Spirit Lake East Plat, in a comfortable four bedroom , three bath, California styled Ranch, built in 1978 and designed by V. Neil Dredge now deceased. Neil was a Realtor, Architect, and Charter Member of the Spirit Lake East Homeowners' Association Incorporated in April 1978. At one time Neil had exclusive sale of realty in the ESLEPLAT. Association Officers are by virtue of their position Officers of the Corporation and theoretically subject to State of Idaho regulations and requirements. I took residence with my daughter and two grandchildren in the Summer of 1993. I find that living in Spirit Lake East Plat is a like taking part in a badly orchestrated Keystone Cops Movie. There is a lot of noise from the Homeowners' Association Incorporated , mostly about the road system, snow removal, the water system, offroad vehicles, signing and knapweed control with very little effort of a productive nature. Various administrations and their Corporate officers demonstrate a lack of even minimal knowledge of the platted roadway as to its length, composition, or recommended care or the Plat's history in general. One President published estimated costs for an improved roadway system for TWENTY -SIX miles of roadway even after being made aware there are less than TWENTY miles of roadway in the Spirit Lake East Plat. Any engineer making that type of error should have been fired on the spot. chapter straight out of Civil Engineering 101. As a consequence, I place very little value on the efforts of individuals with reference to the Water System. Some residents of many years occupancy choose to avoid participation in the Homeowners' Association in the realization that without a quorum the organization can do very little harm. LOT 111 SPIRIT LAKE EAST ENFORCED PLAT COMMENT FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION HEARING FEBRUARY 28, 2007 After meeting with former Secretary of State, Pete T. Cennarrusa, and members of hislegal staff, regarding this Plat and Regulations regarding the actions, responsibility and liabilityof its Corporate Officers. The Spirit Lake East Homeowners ' Association Incorporated (April 21 , 1978), is governed by the Idaho Nonprofit Corporation Act.I was informed thatthe State ofIdaho makes the law, it doesn t enforce it. After that meeting, I never sought tobecome an Officer of the Association. As a knowledgeable individual, I am aware of theresponsibility for acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and non-feasance by virtue of my formeremployment. If you are not knowledgeable, qualified or licensed by Federal, State, or Countygovernments to perform certain actions you mayor may not be held liable for the consequencesof actions based on a good faith effort. The only successful effort to amend the covenants forthis organization, by one administration burdened properties in an adjacent plat and although successive administrations are aware of this error, no effort has been made to correct it. I admitI now share the philosophy of residents with longer occupancy than I. A lot of Donder andBlitzen with very little Rain. Although my finances are constrained by reality, I fully support the Spirit Lake East Water Company s requested increase and I believe you should know why. It incorporatessubstance to the Company s professed and verifiable improvements to the system. It enhancesthe Company s prospects for sale to any company with the financial backing, knowledge equipment and talent to take on the task of servicing, maintaining and improving the existing system. Look at the numbers: This Company owns, operates and maintains twenty-six miles ofwaterline; in the Spirit Lake East Plat with a projected buildout of 313 taps and the TreeportPublic Plat with a projected buildout of 65 taps, supplying a minimal estimate of 4.6 millioncubic feet of water annually on virtually a shoestring budget. Increase the rate, tie it to requirethe replacement or repair of damaged pip~line and redundaJlcy and we all benefit. From afinancial standpoint our service is a charitable act on the Company s part at its best. One forwhich I as a client am sincerely grateful. By comparison, from information provided by your Staff , the Stone Ridge WaterCompanyin Blanchard, a mere 150 ft above the water table, is servicing 374 households with aprojected increase to 1207 households. Their request goes from $14 per month and $.30/1000for commodity use to $38 per month and $. 67/1000 right out of the tap, there is no provisionfor the initial consumption of water per month as offered by SLEWCO , unless I misheard yourStaffs presentation in Stoneridge, last Wednesday evening. I am certain you Commissionerwill agree, it makes the SLEWCO request mild by comparison. Staff s recommendation forSpirit Lake East Water Company is unreal in todays marketplace. Fortunately youCommissioners possess the authority and the empowerment to bring the request into the realm of reality in todays marketplace. LOT 111 SPIRIT LAKE EAST ENFORCED PLAT COMMENT FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION HEARING FEBRUARY 28 , 2007 Since 1977, Federal, State and County agencies chose a path of benign neglect for the Enforced Plat of Spirit Lake East.Until the Spring of 2001 , the Veterans ' Administrationnow the Department of Veterans Affairs, would not Loan Guaranty in the Spirit Lake East Enforced Plat , " until the rights of all residents not only Veterans were protected " I laterfound the reference to the Water System to be erroneous. Department of Environmental Quality, in 1993 confused SLEPLAT with the development of Sheep Springs, located to the Eastof this Community. During the transfer of Loan Administration responsibility from Boise toDenver and downgrading of the Boise Office, in the Spring of2001 , all, just not some, recordspertaining to the Spirit Lake East Plat , dating as far back as 1977, vanished from the federalsystem. A diligent search of Public Records by the County Commissioner s Office and myselffailed to reveal any record of Kootenai County Agencies and the County Commissioners involvement in the creation of the Spirit Lake East Plat, other than the Commissioners signatures recorded on the Plat Map. How did a Plat of five and three quarter square miles slip through thecracks? The Treeport Public Plat in Bonner County, by the same developer, in 1980, is welldocumented by the approving authorities signatures on the Plat Map. Have you Commissioners considered the question of ownership of water or utiilty rights in either Plat? I question theoperation or sale of a water company without the concurrent transfer of utility rights, by theexisting Owner of those Rights, in the TWENTY (20) miles of dirt and graveled clay roads inthe Spirit Lake East Plat. The Owner twice Grant Deeded the roads to the Association reservingutility rights. This creates a problem for sale to any interested party or for other prospective future utilities as well. Bank of America once solicited Residents for a proposed gas line in the development. Utility rights was a question to be dealt with then as now. I see no Public Recordevidencing the Company owns utility rights in the Spirit Lake East Plat roadway, although this may not be a consideration in the Treeport Public Plat in Bonner County as evidenced from the Plat Map. My family and I use the water to drink, bathe, cook, wash clothes, cars, the barn, waterthe lawn and garden from the Yard Hydrant and fill the tank for the deer and moose, which roamfree in the forest tracts until poached by a resident or others. In almost thirteen years ofcontinuous service our usage cost never exceeded the $12 Minimum monthly charge or the upfront authorization of 9000 gallons. During that time, service discontinuity, in my opinion has been minimal and never of the catastrophic proportions now being bandied about. Waterservice on a line serving one or more blocks in Spokane would be discontinued for a minimum of three days just to flush the line. My home is now highly valued from its purchase in 1993 and barring unforeseen circumstances won t be up for sale during my lifetime. Chicken little the skyis not falling. LOT 111 SPIRIT LAKE EAST ENFORCED PLAT COMMENT FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION HEARING FEBRUARY 28 , 2007 Barring the intrusion of Developers and existing Owners desiring to subdivide ten acre tracts into the Cookie Cutter development now taking place on the Rathdrurn Prairie this is a virtual paradise. Could it happen here? Yes, I saw it happen on Five Mile Drive Tracts on septic tanks in Spokane County. The City water line went in and a year later five acre tracts were crawling with developers and Realtors for half-acre lots. For the wish list, fire hydrantsevery 1000 ft, sanitary sewer, gas, and underground electrical and cable connections for every lot. In 1976, the initial development proposal for this area , New York Montain Properties Incorporated was a Planned Unit Development of ONE ACRE homes. Most owners never sawthe Covenants in effect before R.A. Hanson aggregated adjacent tracts and revoked their restrictive covenants. Like mine, their Title Company may have saved them the cost of $26 for the referenced pages and deprived them of a piece of relevant history for this plat. Mostcommercial lending institutions include a Planned Unit Development insertion in their loan documents although some companies such as Stewart Title of Coeur d' Alene may not. Only R. A. Hanson s vision, personal involvement, and reputation in the 1970's created and moved County Commissioners and the Tax Assessor to authorize an Enforced Plat, over thisburned out area, shortly before new Zoning Regulations went into effect on September 1, 1978.Love the man or hate the man, you certainly have to give him credit, he is a mover and a shaker. I sincerely hope that I can continue to enjoy the benefits of his creation during my lifetime, withall of its bumps and warts. Increase the capitalization rate by amending the Spirit Lake East Water Company request to a reasonable compensation for their service. Recharging the aquifer through conduitleakage is not environmentally enhancing at this elevation of 2500 ft MSL. Now that we haveyour attention ,after thirty years, use the persuasive effort vested in the Public Utilities Commission s mandate from the State of Idaho to assist the Spirit Lake East Water Company in pursuing a healthier and more beneficial path. For the Company s sake as well as that of its clients. Thank you for your attention. Signed and attested to this date. 7- ~CJtJ February 27 2007 Bob Boyle: You don t know me but over the years, I have talked with Roxann and shared my thoughts with her concerning the Water Company. I regard her as a friend although we only met occasionally at the office. I have written to the PUC in support of SLEW CO's requested rate increase and believethe Staff s counter to be out of touch with the reality of the marketplace and the unique character of the water system in Spirit Lake. I am going to be in Sandpoint on Wednesday evening and will be unable to attend the hearing with the PUC Commissioners, Paul Kjellander, Dennis Hansen, and Marsha Smith. I amnot enthusiastic about the way prices have been increasing, I simply believe the cost of thewater service is undervalued to the disadvantage ofthe Company s ability to continue to maintain and improve the system for the mutual benefit of Client and Company. In 1977 who would have believed we could be asked to pay forty-two cents to mail a letter in 2007. I would like to have my position represented at the Wednesday meeting with the Commissioners. There are personal reasons, I would not ask one of my neighbors to deliver my letter to the Court Reporter. If you are going to be there, I would be grateful to you for delivering it to the Reporter. I am mailing a copy of my letter to Jewell at PUC in Boise forinclusion in the record along with my previous comments as well. The Commissioners willprobably render a decision in two weeks or so subject to further appeal and so forth. Based onwhat I learned at Stoneridge, on the 21 st, it could be mid-Summer before a final decision is reached. Bob Costigan End: Comments for Hearing