CGCI News
Page 24 April 2018
CGCI News
Charbonneau Golf Club, Inc.
Did you know Charbonneau has its Own Irrigation Water Company?
Since the beginning days of Charbonneau in the 70s, the Charbonneau Golf Course, Inc.( CGCI) has provided irrigation water to homeowners and businesses within the French Prairie loop- essentially at no cost. As finances got tougher and the irrigation system became dated, the CGCI Board of Directors determined something needed to change in order to continue to provide reliable irrigation water. As a result, in 2008, the Charbonneau Water Company( CWC) was formed as a separate subsidiary of CGCI and became subject to Oregon Public Utilities Commission( OPUC) rate regulation at that time.
CWC is responsible for the delivery of irrigation water to 14 homeowners association customers, including Charbonneau Country Club and the Charbonneau Golf Course at rates approved by the OPUC. CWC’ s current weighted average rate for HOAs for last year was about $ 2.75 / unit including fixed charges.
To give you a comparison, City of Wilsonville residential rates for summer irrigation are more than double that amount at $ 5.76 per unit. CWC’ s current rates have been in effect since 2008.
The delivery of water is a capital-intensive business and often requires large expenditures to maintain and upgrade systems. Because CWC has generally been profitable and there had been no large, unforeseen expenditures prior to last year, we were able to accumulate cash reserves of more than $ 200,000 to address some of the irrigation distribution system needs.
A little over a year ago, CWC made its first major expenditure from its reserves and installed a new control panel at a cost of around $ 80,000. This is the“ brains” of CWC’ s distribution system as it controls multiple pumps and balances pressure in our main distribution lines. The prior control panel was old, outdated and had been subject to failure when power surges occur.
While our preference is to use cash reserves for system improvements, like the control panel replacement, reserves also protect us from less profitable years and other“ unforeseen occurrences.”
We’ ve had several unexpected expenditures in the last 12 months. We settled a tax issue with Clackamas County, repaired a pipe flange connector at our well site and removed and stabilized a landslide area that blocked the access road to our river pump. The outlay for these projects was in excess of $ 250,000.
Being subject to OPUC regulations as a water company brings its own challenges and restrictions. To help us better understand our current position, CWC
The water for these sprinklers comes from the Charbonneau Water Company which is owned by the Charbonneau Golf Club, Inc.
hired a regulatory consultant this year to review our overall operation and provide us insight on how we should proceed. Bottom line, the consultant’ s recommendation was to maintain our current course of upgrading our infrastructure and wait for a while to determine if a rate filing is necessary. If CWC were to file with the OPUC to change rates, there would be at least a year’ s notice to all customers.
Several capital projects are scheduled this year to continue our investment in the CWC infrastructure. Some of these will not be visible as they relate to work done in the underground vaults and piping. A couple of other projects you likely will notice include the construction of a safety / security fence around the electrical boxes and control panel( located next to the main irrigation pond) and a fountain at the west end of the main irrigation pond to increase water circulation. We also are considering rebuilding the west pond intake structure in the main irrigation pond this fall. That project may be expanded to include both the east and west intake systems and a general cleaning and relining of that pond. If we choose to do the expanded project, we will likely have to borrow funds to complete this project as our current reserve funds would not be sufficient to cover that expenditure. CWC currently has no debt, but our regulatory consultant has suggested there may be an advantage to having some debt on the books from a regulatory standpoint.
Visit the Charbonneau“ Cubby Hole” Library Located in the Charbonneau Country Club Clubhouse at the
back of the main meeting room( next to the CCC offices)
Members of: Angies List BBB
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Come and enjoy books donated by
Charbonneau residents. No check-out system, simply find books you want to read and take them home with you. Bring back your books when finished or donate new ones. We also have: magazines, jigsaw puzzles, audio books and movies! Open whenever the Charbonneau Clubhouse is open.
www. charbonneaucountryclub. com