20180821Juengling Direct.pdf

RECEIVED
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TESTIMONY OF BRIAN SUBDIVISION WATER USERS ASSN.
RICHARD JUENGLING, PRES.
Brian Sub Water Users Association Comments on Public Utility Commission deliberations on SUEZ water surcharge
We believe the homeowners in the Brian Subdivision should pay for the construction costs for the connection within
their subdivision only. No portion of the cost to bring the pipeline under the Boise River should be separately borne by
the Brian Sub homeowners. The reason the Brian homeowners were originally asked to bear LO% of the cost of the
main pipeline was that Suez (then United Water) would install the pipeline under the river earlier than they would
otherwise, in order to accommodate the Brian subdivision. With the delays encountered by Suez/United Water, the
wider need for the new pipeline became evident. lts installation was not accelerated to accommodate the Brian way
homeowners.
As detailed below:
o Suez is responsible for the delays, and the additional project costs, including inflation.
o Enough additional customers were added since 2014 such that the pipeline was necessary immediately.
o ThepipelineundertheriversupportsnumerouscustomersandispartoftheSuezmainsystem. ltshouldbe
paid for the same as other necessary improvements of Suez's system, by all the customers who benefit from
that system.
Three vears of delavs. and maior proiect cost increases that Brian homeowners did not cause.
The cost of the water project increased dramatically through no fault of Brian Subdivision residents
7. SUEZ hired an inexperienced and ill equipped firm to drill for the pipeline under the river, meaning it took three
years rather than three months to bore under the river and pull in the pipe.
a. They did not have enough experience to handle the scope of the job
b. They did not have large enough machines to handle either the boring or the pulling of the pipe
c. They first tried pulling the pipe uphill rather than downhill (where gravity obviously would have helped
them)
d. They had an outdated locator system so they could not even be sure where the drill was going, resulting in a
significant miss as they tried to join the lower and upper bores (see the jog in the drawing from SUEZ).
e. Ultimately, a more experienced and better equipped firm had to come in to finish the job for the first firm.
They finished in just a few weeks what the first firm had struggled unsuccessfully to complete for three
years.
2. SUEZ initially quoted the cost of the project based on using one contractor for the work within the subdivision,
but by time the pipeline was finally done, they had to hire a different, more costly contractor to perform that
portion of the work.
3. SUEZ reports they also had to replace more of the existing pipe within the subdivision than originally
anticipated. When we discussed this project at the outset, it was our understanding that all of the old pipe
would be replaced because it was reaching the end of its useful life (40+/- years).
There are about 20 times more new customers benefitine from the new pipeline than there are in Brian subdivision.
A much larger area (with many more homes/residents) throughout the Barber Valley area is now being served by the
pipeline than any of us we knew of in 2074:
1. 794 new single family homes built between2O!4 and 2018
2, Unknown number of new multi-family units (150 at Arboretum alone)
3. The Harris North foothills development is booming because elevation is no longer an issue due to the pipeline.
4. Large areas of Harris Ranch are still planned for development (see yellow outlined areas on map).
5. Other new subdivisions are still being planned and permitted (Finis Terra, Pheasant Heights, etc.)
6. Multiple new businesses have been established or are in the planning stages in the Barber Valley (memory care
facility, dance studio, restaurant, office building, gas station/market, coffee shop, assisted living facility, yoga
studio) and clearly several more are anticipated that are not yet identified.
7. The areas circled in yellow on the attached Exhibit 1 show areas that have been cleared for construction, or
where new construction has already begun or been completed since 2014.
Most of this new development would still be on-hold without the water supplied by the pipeline under the river.
The Brian Subdivision homeowners should not bear a larger portion of the expansion costs than other beneficiaries.
o Brian Sub is an older (1960s and 1970s) subdivision consisting of only 46 homes (with a 47'h soon to be built).
The majority of residents in Brian Subdivision are either retirees on fixed incomes or families with incomes much
lower than the average residents in the newer Harris Ranch and Barber Valley subdivisions. A significant water
surcharge will be a serious burden for most of the residents.
o Yes, we are grateful to now have water that does not threaten our health or that of our children.o We are willing to share in the cost, but we feel there are hundreds of other Barber Valley residents and
businesses who benefit just as much as us from this new pipeline.
o We believe we should pay for the work within our subdivision, but that each of SUEZ's customers should pay a
few pennies more on their water bill to cover the cost of the pipeline - which truly is part of the backbone of the
Suez vallev-wide water delivery system.
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