Water District 19 Commission Proposes New Master Policy Resolution

The Water District 19 Commissioners, staff and lawyers have been working for 3 years to consolidate a multitude of policy resolutions into one master resolution governing the District’s operating policies. Advised by the District’s lawyers to do so, the Commission has recently completed the consolidation after the review of nearly 1200 resolutions dating back to 1925. The forty page draft master resolution is available for public review at the Vashon public library, at the District Office, and on line at www.water19.com. TheCommission plans to vote on acceptance of the master resolution at the District’s next regularly-scheduled meeting, January 8, 2013.

"We didn’t intend the review process to result in any notable policy changes," said Commission President Steve Haworth. "We simply wanted to review our spate of resolutions, issued over many decades; to be sure we eliminated any possible contradictions, removed obsolete resolutions, and clarified our rules and regulations into one accessible document."

The new mater resolution contains only two minor changes in policy that were suggested in the process of reviewing old resolutions. These changes are:

1)Waiting List Policy: When the District offers a water service connection to people on the waiting list for new water, they have 30 days to respond affirmatively and 120 days to pay the new connection fee. Otherwise they will be eliminated from the waiting list. This is intended to facilitate people on the list to get connections in an expeditious manner. [Article III, paragraph iv (a)]

2)New Service Connection—Residential: Out-buildings on a property with a water service connection can be serviced with water after issuance of an engineering study that assures the out-building and the primary residence in combination will use less than one equivalent residential unit worth of water. This new regulation is in conformity with the Accessory Dwelling Unit policy passed earlier by the commission , that allows an ADU to be serviced with water from the same water connection that serves the principal residence. [Article III, paragraph iv (b)]

For More Information, contact: Jeff Lakin, General Manager, 463-9007 or Steve Haworth, Commission President 463-3509