MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE HARBOR WATER PUD

July 9, 2026

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The regular meeting of the Harbor Water P.U.D. Board of Directors was called to order by President Dan Fraser at 4:00 pm, July 9, 2026, in the administrative building, at 98069 W. Benham Lane, Harbor, Oregon
 

Board and employee Attendance was taken
President: Dan Fraser “present” Vice President: Tom Beene “absent” Board Member: Jim White “present” Board Member: Herman Bloemsma “present” Board Member: Bill Frye “absent” Superintendent: Ken Burshem “present”
District Manager: Ami Arneson “present” IT: Ariel Poston “present” Engineer: Matt Robart / Camas “absent” Office Staff: April Hempenstall “present”
 

Pledge of Allegiance was said.
No modification, addition or change to the agenda, or conflicts of interest was made. White made a motion to accept the agenda, Bloemsma seconded, the motion passed 3-0. Yes:
Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None. Minutes from the previous board meetings held on June 11, 2026, and May 14, 2026, were reviewed. White made a motion to accept June 11, 2026, and May 14, 2026, minutes, Bloemsma seconded, the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None. July 2026 current bills, in the amount of $132,233.84 were presented, discussed, and approved. White made a motion to accept the July Bills, Bloemsma seconded, the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None.
 

Items For Action:
The board discussed the basic rate increase to all Harbor Water PUD Customers by $1.00 a month starting on the August billing. White made a motion to increase the basic rate by $1.00 starting in August 2026, and another rate increase by $1.00 in July 2027.Bloemsma seconded, the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None. Arneson presented the attorney corrections for the proposed new contract between Harbor Water PUD and Harbor Sanitation. Poston will rewrite the contract with the attorney's suggestions. Bloemsma made a motion to accept the corrections made by the attorney for the new contract between Harbor Water PUD and Harbor Sanitation. White seconded, the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Fraser, White, Bloemsma. No: None. Bloemsma will deliver the proposed contract to Harbor Sanitation when Poston has it ready. Harbor Sanitation will have to Sept 1, 2026, to respond.
 

Superintendent Report:

Burshem reported no leaks this month. The port has put in a new service. Burshem is prioritizing on replacing 2 in meters in the district. They will give generate significant amount of revenue for the district. He will follow up with Poston after the reads to review the impact of the new meters.
 

District Manager Report:
The inventory audit report should be done by week ending July 18, 2026. Once we have received it, Kim Anderson from RCAC will review with the board via Zoom if so, requested or possibly attend one of our meetings. Arneson also brought up that Hempenstall has completed her probation and requested that she be given a raise. Bloemsma made a motion to give Hempenstall a raise to $23.00 an hour, seconded by White the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None.

 

Engineer:
Given by Fraser.
The HWPUD's emergency declaration” caught the attention of several state agencies, and we held a call with the governor’s office, Senator Merkeley’s office, OWRD, OEM, Curry County Emergency Management, and other agencies to discuss ongoing project challenges. The governor’s office followed up with DSL, and we are on track for an approved jurisdictional delineation document by October. We have verbal confirmation that the information is correct,
so, we are now able to submit the permit application. FEMA reached out to me this week, and I provided the Compensatory Mitigation Plan so that they can finish their environmental review and consultation with NMFS on the Endangered Species Act. I believe this will be concluded within the next few weeks. I will submit the permit application next week, and I expect approvals by the end of the calendar year. The next step for me is to build a new budget for project implementation, as the current budget is spent.
 

IT Report: None
 

Public comments:
Amy Cusumano from Narcotics Anonymous requested to rent the meeting room on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 – 1:45. Bloemsma made a motion to rent the meeting room to NA for $10.00 a week, seconded by White the motion passed 3-0. Yes: Bloemsma, White, Fraser. No: None. Cusumano will email Arneson a list of their board members and their phone numbers.

 

Board comments:

Bloemsma requested that Arneson email him the Camas bills when we receive them. It was discussed that Robart and Camas Engineering need to have a better oversight of their billing. Fraser asked Arneson to email Robart for a new materials list for the Ranney Collector project. Also, for Robart to clarify if the permit type was an individual or other. The board also requested the total amount that Camas has billed Harbor Water PUD to date.

 

Public Revenue Fund 158,097.46
Security 206,983.08
Money Market 968,741.91
LGIP 1,517,797.09

Meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM