SALT LAKE COUNTY

SERVICE AREA #3 – SNOWBIRD

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES

March 17th, 2025

9567 E. By-Pass Road

Snowbird, Utah 84092

ATTENDEES:              

                                    Dave Richards, Chairman

                                    Chris Bremer, Vice Chairman

                                    Tom Prosek, Trustee

                                    Kasey Carpenter, General Manager/Treasurer   

Bryauna Alderin, Office Manager/Clerk

John Brindle, System Operator

                                       

The Salt Lake County Service Area #3 Board of Trustees meeting was called to order by Chairman Richards at 12:01 pm.

 

9840 S Martha Road Property Discussion – Chairman Richards welcomed Mr. Matthew Weil to our meeting to further discuss the 9840 S. Martha Road property. Mr. Weil stated he has this property under contract to purchase to build a single-family home on the property and is requesting water service from the board. Mr. Weil stated he has been in the office multiple times to discuss this issue with Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Alderin. Mr. Carpenter told Mr. Weil that the property is not within the Service District and explained the Service Area’s boundary map and the water supply agreement Service Area #3 has with Salt Lake City. Mr. Weil’s stated he feels there is strong argument for the property to be included in the service district, because the current property owner has been paying taxes to the Service Area #3 for 40 plus years, he feels the property was excluded from the Service Area’s boundary map and the water supply agreement in error. Chairman Richard asked Mr. Weil if he has been in contact with Salt Lake City or The Town of Alta concerning the property. Mr. Weil answered, he stated the Town of Alta feels this is a Service Area #3 issue. Mr. Weil stated he has also been in contact with the Forest Service and Snowbird Resort, and he states it is a buildable lot. Mr. Weil stated the current issue is whether the property is within the Service Area boundary. Mr. Weil stated he is looking for a definitive answer from the board members on whether the property should be excluded or included. Chairman Richards stated that no definitive decision can be made today and explain to Mr. Weil that the board members or service area employees do not have the ability or power to change district boundary, and it would have to be a decision made by Salt Lake City. Ms. Alderin asked a question to Mr. Weil about whether there was any supporting documentation to negate the Service Area #3’s boundary or the water agreement. Mr. Weil answered the property has been paying taxes to the Service Area since the 1960’s and states he feels this property was mistakenly left out of the survey which in turn would not be an expansion but a correction to the Service Areas #3 boundary. Mr. Carpenter explained to Mr. Weil he understands where Mr. Weil comes from on the property tax issue and does not dispute the property has been paying taxes to the Service Area #3. Mr. Carpenter stated in his opinion and according to the Service Area #3 boundary map, Water Supply agreement and July 2024 boundary survey, the property is excluded from the Service Area #3 district. Chairman Richards stated the Service Area #3 will do our due diligence to contact our legal counsel regarding property tax issues and Salt Lake City to work on what the Service Area’s next steps will be.

 

Meeting Minutes approval –With no questions or comments Trustee Prosek motioned to approve the minutes from the February 18, 2025, board meeting. Vice Chairman Bremer seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. A copy of the minutes is attached for review.

 

2025 State Auditor Fraud Risk assessment – Ms. Alderin presented the Fraud Risk assessment. The 2025 assessment for Salt Lake County Service Area #3 scored 335/395 which puts the Service Area #3 at a Low risk level for 2025. Ms. Alderin provided the Board with updated copies of the Conflict-of-Interest Policy & Form and the Ethical Behavior Pledge annual signature requirements for the Fraud Risk assessment. A copy of the 2025 Fraud Risk assessment is attached for review.

 

2024 Municipal Wastewater Planning Program annual report - Mr. Carpenter presented the 17-page 2024 Municipal Wastewater Planning Program annual report to the Board. Utah Division of Environmental Quality requires this report. Mr. Carpenter submitted the report to the Utah Division of Environmental Quality. A copy of the report is attached to the meeting minutes for review.

 

SYSTEMS OPERATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT-

Town of Alta cross tow water loop – Mr. Carpenter stated the Town of Alta has received the final design plans for the project and Forest Service approval has been obtained. The Town of Alta is currently awaiting contractor bids to review with the engineers, town administration and Mr. Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter briefly discussed the $905k cost estimate given by the engineers, Mr. Carpenter stated the cost estimate is over what the town had projected. Trustee Prosek asked the cost portion to the Service Area. Mr. Carpenter stated there is no cost to the Service Area, we are managing the project via our interlocal agreement and will be tracking project hours.

 

Alta Ski Lift Albion Lodge expansion project – Mr. Carpenter stated Mr. Cawley from the Town of Alta asked him to assist with plan review for the Ski lift project. Mr. Carpenter stated there are questions regarding the water lines in the drawings and answering Water use questions from Salt Lake City. We will continue to work with the Town of Alta and the Ski Lift company on this project.

 

Alta Bay City filter media replacement- Mr. Carpenter stated the filter media replacement has been ordered from Pureflow and should arrive in the coming weeks. Mr. Carpenter stated when the new media arrives it will need to be switched out as soon as possible as the treated water has already tested over the Maximum contaminant level for Antimony with last month’s testing. Mr. Carpenter has been in discussion with the Town administrators on ways to extend the filter media life, to help mediate the rising costs of materials.

 

RWAU Conference Feb 24- Feb 28th, 2025- Mr. Carpenter, Ms. Alderin and Mr. Brindle attended the Rural water association conference in St. George the last week of February. Mr. Brindle took the Cross Connection administrator certification. Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Alderin attended regular classes, gained new industry knowledge, and earned CEU’s towards current certifications. Due to a planned power outage issue with Cogen and a fuse, the Service Area was on a single phase for approximately 18 hours, Ms. Alderin and Mr. McGuinnes worked to get the computers and tunnel power restored via telephone on Tuesday night. Mr. Carpenter stated after attempting to restore computers and programs remotely, he decided to come back Wednesday afternoon from the conference to repair the issues left over from the extended power outage. Mr. Carpenter stated that the biggest issue caused was our PLC in the tunnel lost programming which caused the Cogen cooling line to manually close as an emergency feature, which in turn would cause cooling issues for Cogen. Mr. McGuinness was able to open the cooling line valve manually Wednesday morning while Kasey was traveling back from St. George. After extensive troubleshooting, Mr. Carpenter, and Mr. Taylor from SKM were able to restore the PLC software programming.

 

Snowbird Mid Gad restaurant construction –Mr. Carpenter stated he has met with Mr. Schaffer from Snowbird and Mr. Taylor from SKM multiple times to discuss the water system and getting it connected to the Service Area’s SCADA monitoring system, due to the unique nature of the system Snowbird is getting a bid from SKM to finish the water portion of the project.

 

Service Area #3 re-named in Smith lawsuit- Mr. Carpenter explained the Service Area #3 through the Utah Local Government trust lawyer requested a motion to dismiss and it was granted by the court on the 11th of March. There is a 30-day appeal process for the filing parties and if there is no appeal we will be removed from the lawsuit process.

 

2025 Salt Lake County Clerks Election meeting- Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Alderin attended the Municipal Elections meeting for this year’s November election. Mr. Carpenter briefly reviewed the 2025 Interlocal Cooperation Agreement. Salt Lake County Service Area #3 has two 4-year terms up for election. Mr. Carpenter mentioned the biggest change to the interlocal agreement is the new administration flat fee of $200.00, a change from previous years when fees were estimated, and no fees were applied if the municipality or district canceled their election. This fee is to help recoup costs from work done on cancelled elections. Ms. Alderin reviewed upcoming election information that on May 1st, 2025, the public notice of Two open trustee positions will be posted. June 1st – 9th 2025 interested parties are welcome to the office to fill out the Declaration of Candidacy Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:00pm.

 

Snowbird Creekside water use – Mr. Carpenter stated Creekside water use was 106 thousand gallons which exceeded the 96 thousand gallons for the month of February, Mr. Carpenter also stated Mr. Nelson from Salt Lake City is in touch with Mr. Mahak and Mr. Schaffer from Snowbird concerning more data collection and solutions Mr. Carpenter has not heard any feedback from Salt Lake City concerning this overage.

 

SA3 Sewer Capital planning –Mr. Carpenter spoke with Mr. Hawks from Aqua Engineering at the RWAU conference regarding the start of our sewer capital improvement planning project. Mr. Hawks has estimated they will be freed up a bit from the current projects in April or May to start on the Service Area’s planning.

 

Utah Division of Water Rights, 2024 Water use report – Mr. Carpenter discussed public water supply use for 2024. The Annual water reports are completed for the Wasatch Drain Tunnel, Mid Gad Spring, Peruvian Spring, and the Town of Alta. This report was submitted in March 2025. A copy of these reports are attached for review.

 

Employee accident – Mr. Carpenter stated Mr. Brindle was involved in a minor pedestrian vs vehicle accident last week. The incident took place on the bypass road while Mr. Brindle was digging out fire hydrants during a significant snowstorm. Mr. Carpenter stated we are thankful this was a learning lesson and not a serious accident. Mr. Brindle briefly explained the incident to the board, he stated while he was digging out a fire hydrant on the bypass road there was a 2-car vehicle accident due to weather and slick roads. Mr. Brindle stated he was asked to assist in shoveling one of the cars out of the snowbank when a Toyota Tacoma came too fast around the corner, lost control and hit him with the back end of the truck. Mr. Brindle stated he was thrown into the snowbank but was unharmed, just shaken up from the incident. We reviewed this incident as a team and changed necessary protocols to better protect employees while working in inclement weather and roadways.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Carpenter reviewed with the Board of Trustees the Balance Sheet Previous Year Comparison report through February 28th, 2025, and the Profit and Loss Budget vs. Actual January 1st, 2025, through February 28th, 2025. These reports are emailed to members of the Board prior to the Board meeting for their review.

 

Approval of Bills paid – Approval of the bills listed on the check detail dated February 14th, through March 13th, 2025, as presented by Mr. Carpenter, and hereby authorized and ratified to be paid by the office manager. Vice Chairman Bremer made a motion to approve. Trustee Prosek seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Copies of the approved check detail are attached to the minutes.

 

Adjournment - With there being no further business, Chairman Richards adjourned the meeting at 1:27 pm.

 

Salt Lake County Service Area #3-Snowbird                                      

 

__________________________________________________

Dave Richards/Chairman

 

ATTEST: ________________________________________

Bryauna Alderin/Clerk

 

 

DATE: ____________________________________________