10/25/2009 6:00:00 AM 'Odd' meeting latest twist for Chloride board Water district panel accepted resignation, changed bylaws in 7-minute Sunday session
CHLORIDE - A seven-minute Sunday morning board meeting is the latest twist in the Chloride Water Improvement District saga.
The meeting was called for 9 a.m. Oct. 11, and questions are being posed by residents about how and when it was posted.
"It's kind of an odd time to have a meeting," said resident Steven Woody.
According to several residents, two notices were posted Oct. 9 notifying the public of the meeting. One notice was posted inside the district's office, which is closed Saturday and Sunday, and the other was posted outside the Chloride Post Office.
The notice outside the post office disappeared sometime the afternoon of Oct. 11 and had to be reposted, said board chair Jay Combs. He apologized for the inconvenience to the public and promised that meetings would be better posted in the future.
"People out here have been burned in the past," he said. "We're trying to be as honest as we can. Everyone hopefully will start to understand that this is not the Ridgeway-Woody show," a reference to a current disagreement over the operation of the district between board member Tom Ridgeway and Woody.
The board did not take questions from residents during the meeting, but did stay a full hour after the meeting to answer questions about the pipeline, Combs said.
The pipeline would connect the town with fresh, drinkable water. The current system uses local wells.
Voices were raised at least once after the meeting, when resident Terry Smith asked why the board did not hold a Call to the Public during the meeting, Combs said. Ridgeway allegedly yelled at Smith during the ensuing discussion. According to state statute, boards are not required to have a Call to the Public.
"I feel and stated in the meeting that the board and the people of Chloride need to work toward being more respectful and open toward each other to afford better communication," Combs said.
During the meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Bill McAdam, then appointed Dennis Christman to fill McAdam's position. The board also changed the bylaws so that only one family member at a time could serve on the board, hired a maintenance man for the district's truck, approved letting the office manager set the office hours, elected Combs as the board chairman and allocated funds for computer upgrades.
The district went out to bid for its new pipeline on Oct. 4.
A pre-bid conference was held Oct. 14 and the bids will be opened on Tuesday.
Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Roxanne Finneman
I noticed that the people who complain the most about the water department are the ones who have something to hide and are afraid of getting caught. These same people only want to run things by their own set of rules rather than by the legal by -laws. Nothing is mentioned that Mr. Ridgeway is NOT the Chairperson of the board, so how can he "control" things, as is constantly being brought up. Oh and as to the real purpose of the meeting? How about discussing things with the engineers who have questions regarding the pipeline. The resignination and other items addressed were minor things that did not require "DICUSSION". If every meeting had a public call for questions and opinions these short meetings would be 6 hours long. I know I have attended those, and the only thing accomplished there was nonsensical ramblings of illiterate and bored people who have nothinhg better to do with their time that to tear down others and try to line their own greedy pockets. As to the postings for the meetings, I have never had a problem with seeing when and where the meetings were held. If it is to be posted in the CDWID office during their closed hours it was always posted in the window. The other areas of posting are also in plain sight.
My suggestion is quit this linch mob mentality and allow the CDWID to do their job. Also how about these town complainers thoroughly check their water lines for leaks and report them the day they first notice it rather than wait a week and tell the maintenance staff that they weren't sure if it was serious or not. If you see wet ground near any of your water lines report it immediately.
Oh, but wait according to you Tom Ridgeway probably even orchestrated the leak.
I wonder, if it rained it would be Tom's fault too. Come on people let's get realistic here.
Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Lets Use Logic
The whole thing needs to be put in a court supervised receivership.
Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Sylvia
Prior to Ridgway becoming a board member the Chloride Domestic Water Improvement District use to hold their meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at the Town Hall at 7 pm. This gave the townspeople an opportunity to attend the meetings. Even though Chloride is more or less a retirement community we do have working individuals who work in Kingman and surrounding areas during the day and would like the opportunity to attend these meetings. But when the meetings are held at different times of the day, different days of the week and posted in the business office after hours most people don't even know about the meetings.
This meeting had nine items on the agenda and the meeting was over in seven minutes. Give me a break!! Each item was read by Ridgway then one of the board members would make a motion and another one would second it to pass it. There was "NO DISCUSSION" on any one of the items. It appeared to have been a very rehearsed meeting.
Posted: Sunday, October 25, 2009
Article comment by:
The Watcher
It is enteresting that the story did not say where this water line will be coming from. Are they going to be hooked up to one of the two water companies currently located in golden Valley and if so, which one?
