EWUA Meeting Collects Rain-Soaked Crowd

— by Lin McNulty —

Water, water everywhere falling outside, yet a concerned capacity crowd filled the Eastsound Fire Station to listen and discuss the current Eastsound Water Users Association (EWUA) plan to enforce membership of guest houses in the Eastsound service area.

Board Member John MacLeod opened the meeting by acknowledging that “misconceptions abound” and expressed hope that the meeting would not be an adversarial situation.

While having to comply with State Department of Health (DOH) procedures, EWUA is actively looking for equitable allocation of policies to all members. One of the misconceptions is that the EWUA Board can do whatever it wants.  DOH has mandated that all member guest houses must have an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) number associated with it. ERU is the average annual water use of a single family home. Each home represents 1.0 ERU. And while 1.0 ERU is the number commonly used by Washington State water systems, EWUA has negotiated so that guest houses in our system can be assigned a .5 ERU. We do not have the option of a non-ERU system.

Almost 90 percent of EWUA expenses are to provide the ability to ensure there is an adequate supply of water to members’ homes and businesses, and to provide water for fire fighting, even if that capacity is only required one day of the year. In other words, the ERU assignment is not necessarily based on the amount of water a guest house uses during the year, but on potential capacity. ERU is the method by which DOH measures water system capacity.

All other water systems require a property with two living units to have 2.0 ERU. Friday Harbor does not allow guest houses and Eastsound Sewer requires a full second connection if you have a guest house. The State definition of a “guest house” is unknown. EWUA considers a guest house to have both a bathroom and a kitchen.

The questioned and disputed guest house initiative is not a new requirement. This initiative simply offers a reduced price for a guest house membership for a limited time.

“It is not fair, ” explained Paul Kamin, “that members without guest houses and members with guest houses who have complied with requirements should pay for members with guest houses who have not complied with EWUA regulations.”

Rented or not, occupied or not, the State still requires potential load to be considered.

An offer for a 50 percent price reduction for guest houses will end on December 31, 2014. Although a group of members has asked that the EWUA board extend this date for six months, the board does not believe there is a legitimate reason to do so. Application for the reduced price must be submitted by December 31; however, no payment will be required until the summer of 2015 and payment plans are available. The proposed payment plan asks for $1500 in May 2015, and $800 per year for 2016 and 2017. Alternative plans can be negotiated. In March 2015 new Membership Agreements will be mailed.

There are a couple of ways around this new requirement: (1) Members can alter their property so that it does not meet the definition of a guest house; and (2) Living units built prior to 1980 can be grandfathered in.

EWUA will also provide an ERU upgrade at no cost to members who have a guest house, but have never signed a membership agreement.

The number of members requesting to participate is, right now, in the low 30s. And at this point in time it is only an expression of interest and the method by which the discount is requested.

On another note, one of the things EWUA is considering is a tiered-rate structure and a couple of options have been explored. Usage-only rate plans result in higher water bills for permanent residents, as well as many non-permanent residents, but the Board is willing to look at this approach again. If enacted, it should be noted that a usage-only rate plan will not change the State requirement. Sole regulator of the cost of our water is EWUA, and the only oversight is the votes the membership makes when electing board members. It should also be noted that EWUA does not pay for our water supply; it comes from the sky.

Kamin sees a “peak-season surcharge” as being the most beneficial change to current rate structure. That option has yet to be investigated.

With a water system based on 2009 GMA growth predictions, how far out on a limb does EWUA need to go to prepare for growth? In response to those predictions, 50 percent growth was planned for, while 18 percent has been realized.

An Annual Meeting of EWUA is scheduled for some time in April, at which time all board positions will be open for election, as well as vacancies that exist now.

A downloadable PDF of the EWUA slideshow presentation is available HERE.