20260217Comment_1.pdf

From:Vern Stairs <[e-mail]>
Sent:Tuesday, February 17, 2026 3:30 PM
To: secretary<[e-mail]>
Subject: Interim Rate Evaluation RE Case BCW-W-25-02
Enclosed please find an attachment with written comments RE case BCW-W-25-02
addressing the interim rate Bear Claw Water System, LLC charges for service.
The attached contains all of the required identifying information.
If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me at this email
address
Thankyou,
-Vern Stairs
Vern Stairs February 17, 2026
Bear Claw Subdivision Resident
13 USFS 2109 Clark Fork, ID 83811
Case: BCW-W-25-02
The PUC staff is currently performing an evaluation of the interim rates charged by the Bear
Claw Water System, LLC (BCWSLLC)to see if they are fair,just and reasonable. This is in
response to your solicitation of customer comments.
During a telecom with one of your staff, we were informed that the rate evaluation will be
based on financial records for the one-year period from October 1, 2024, to September 30,
2025. lam concerned that the operating and maintenance expenses for that year are not
typical of previous years'expenses and may skew the evaluation outcome.
I am aware of several extraordinary expenses that occurred during the period being
considered. In July 2025 the well pump and motor were replaced as the original(and only)
pump had failed. The repair took 5 days. Two related failures immediately followed.
Because the well pump/motor job replaced 7.5 HP components with 10 HP components,
the feeder breaker repeatedly tripped on overcurrent and had to be replaced with one of a
higher rating. In addition, the water storage tank level control system was affected such
that the control system malfunctioned, the pump did not shut off, and the tank overflowed.
The control circuitry had to be modified to get around that problem. And finally, in
September 2025 the system experienced a loss of water due to a line break. That repair
took 3 days. Those are just the unusual expenses that I am aware of and are not the type
and frequency representative of the history of the water system.
I would also contend that the water system has not been operated as a business and, that
in the future, customers maybe paying for past negligence. Noted in Commissioners'
Order 36799 of October 9, 2025, is a requirement that the utility(Company) adopt the
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Commission's Customer Relations Rules and Customer Information Rules. The rules
address several administrative functions among which is billing. To date, I am not aware of
compliance with any of those rules. In October 2024 one of our residents contacted
Spurgetis Law Firm, the water system's current trustee, requesting that customers be
billed. In response, a letter from the president of Spurgetis included several telling points:
1)the history of the water system is extensive, complicated and unorganized, 2)there never
was an agreement or contract in place that established payment as a requirement for
service, 3)the"honor system" has apparently been in place for decades and has worked
well enough to at least keep the water system operating and 4) should residents decline to
pay, maintenance of the water system will be exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, due
to a lack of available funds. While the current trustee's performance is not to be
applauded, the former trustee's (US Bank) performance was much worse. Evidently there
were no financial accounting records kept by them. That maybe the reason why the Staff's
evaluation period begins with the year after Spurgetis began as trustee since only now are
financial records available for review.
Finally, if the water system had been operated as a business, customers billed, past rates
adjusted to address ongoing and anticipated expenses, and fees for hookups collected, the
water system's bank account might have a balance today. So who is culpable for past
transgressions and lack of financial responsibility, the system developer, the past and
current trustees, or the current customers? As James Spurgetis accurately stated, the Bear
Claw water system's history is complicated and unorganized.
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