HMC

Island Manager Report

Board Meeting

January 12, 2002

Summary

Administration

• V-CART: there has been no response to requests for information from the founders of V-CART. For Board discussion: whether to continue HMC financial support.
• Website: there has been no response to requests for information made to the webmaster. The site has not been materially updated for months. For Board discussion: how to effectively maintain the website.

Transportation

• Relief ferry captain. One potential relief captain has been interviewed and appears to be a good candidate. He is, however, not available during a four- to five-month period each year. Another candidate is to be interviewed shortly. It may be necessary to have, and to keep trained, more than one relief captain.
• Marine insurance was renewed in December. The I. M. met this week with a Seattle brokerage that appears to offer some benefits, including lower costs, that may make it worthwhile to change brokers and carriers. This needs some further investigation.
• Ferry ramp motors: the old spare motor is not compatible. A new spare motor is ready and will be picked up next week. Spare parts for light repairs will also be kept on hand.
• Ferry ramp lifting mechanism: the wire ropes (cables) that are part of the lifting mechanism are now about seven years old. Investigation by the I. M. reveals that, since a cable failure recently did major damage to the State Ferries’ Kingston ferry dock, the State has decided to replace cables every five years. I recommend that HMC do the same, in order to avoid very expensive damage and the possibility of the ferry being essentially out of service for weeks if a cable breaks. A bid from General Construction Company has been requested and they are to have it ready in about one week.

Finance

• Tacoma Diesel is raising their fees for servicing the ferry (oil changes and ancillary work) by approximately 10%.
• The Washington Employment Security Department has significantly raised HMC’s unemployment insurance tax rate this year. Even though we appealed the inclusion of former employee Patrick Steehler and were successful in having his claims removed, several other former employees filed subsequent claims that had a negative impact on HMC’s claim experience data. The State uses a rolling four-year database and we had quite a few employees in that period that did not stay long. HMC has the option of “voluntarily” lowering next year’s tax rate by paying a single large payment now to the State.

Water

• The water system, particularly the well site, pumps and reservoir were inspected in December by the water manager, Larry Williams, and the I. M. Following that, the State Department of Health inspected the facilities. Although the State’s report is not back yet, it was obvious that the reservoir access hatchcover does not provide a good seal, though it does lock in place and prevent unauthorized entry. It will need to be replaced or upgraded. Larry Williams is looking at various solutions. Also in December he and Dick Provencal disinfected both wells, the reservoir and the entire distribution system. This resulted in us getting good test results (a safe total coliform reading) on subsequent testing. The State has told us that we can go back to our normal sampling process (once a month).
• Purdy prison water tank. Discussions with maintenance personnel at the prison indicate that the 1970-era tank, which has not been used for six years, is not going to be a viable solution to HMC’s need for more water storage capacity. A contractor is going to cut the tank up in place, as it is large enough to make it extremely difficult to move from the site unless it is first demolished. The head of prison maintenance did not think that the tank would be in very good condition anyway.

Legal Liaison

· I. M. has corresponded with and had a discussion with HMC’s attorney regarding the lack of progress on the attorney’s part in getting the By-Laws updated.

· The Coast Guard has proposed a civil penalty of $5000.00 for HMC violations of various sections of the Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to the causes of the fatal accident in November, 1999. The I. M. has filed a formal written statement in response to the Coast Guard, requesting that the penalty be waived in its entirety and citing a number of allowable reasons for making the request for a waiver. The penalty could have been as high as $16,000.00. The case that we have made appears to have a reasonable chance of getting the penalty significantly lowered or waived but the decision now rests with the Coast Guard Hearing Officer in California.

Land Use

• There are a couple of properties that the Board may wish to consider selling.
• There is an old, abandoned boat that a mainland resident has moved onto HMC’s parking lot. For discussion: disposal of the boat, and the mainland parking area situation generally.

Parks

· No report.

Roads

• Dick Mowry is out of town for at least three months. A contractor friend of his is starting to do routine maintenance on the roads, using Dick’s equipment.
• North end: considerable slumping of the soft soils at the north end of the island has resulted in a slide that blocked the drainage ditch at roadside. As material is removed, more slumps into the ditch. A couple of tall trees at the top of the bank that is sliding are potentially in danger of falling over.