Three Board Positions Up For Election

Three of the Otter Rock Water District board positions are up for election this year during the May Special Election. Election day is May 16, 2023. The board positions that are open for election in the May 16, 2023 election are #2,  currently filled by Eileen Goldhammer, #3, vacant, and #5, vacant. The last day to file for office is March 16, 2023 in order to appear on the ballot. Please see the  Lincoln County Clerk's website for more information about the filing and elections process.

Board members (Commissioners) are unpaid volunteers, and must be an "elector of the district" (registered to vote as a resident of the district). Monthly board meetings are regularly held on the Tuesday after the second Monday of each month. Board members review and approve bills and contracts, make policy decisions, and provide general oversight of the function of the water district. In addition to attending the board’s monthly meetings, commissioners are assigned additional duties or projects by the board.

For more information on the role of the board of commissioners, see the “Special Board Member Handbook” and other documents on the Board Reference page on this  website.

ORWD Autopay Program

Otter Rock Water District began charging late fees in the month of September 2022. The District also began an Autopay program in the month of September 2022. If you pay monthly by check, consider signing up for our Autopay program by filling out and returning the ACH Debit Authorization Form to our office. This form must be returned by the first of the month to begin the Autopay program for that month. See ORWD Autopay for more information.

Two Unfilled Board Positions

The district needs to fill two board positions - #5 & #3.  Dick Cutler resigned his position as Commissioner 3 as of the end of August 2022. We want to thank Dick for his service on the board. 

The terms for both of the unfilled positions end on June 30, 2023. This is the perfect opportunity to volunteer with a short term committment to try it out.  

Board postion # 2 has been filled! The board is pleased to announce the appointment of Eileen Goldhammer to the Commissioner #2 position as of the July 14, 2022 monthly meeting. The commissioner #2 position term ends June 30, 2023.

Commissioners are unpaid volunteers, and must be an "elector of the district" (registered to vote as a resident of the district). Monthly board meeting are currently held on the Tuesday after the second Monday of each month. Occasionally additional meetings are scheduled. In addition to attending the board meetings, commissioners are assigned additional duties or projects by the board.

To inquire about the position or to apply for appointment, please contact Commissioner Lisa Hall. You will be sent an application form to fill out and return. Applications will be due by the weekend before the next board meeting.

Chlorination System Active

On October 12th 2021, Hiland Water completed installing the required chlorination system and the facility has obtained final approval from Oregon Health Authority (OHA).

Our water is now chlorinated after leaving the large storage tank on its way to town. Excess water that overflows from the tanks into the creek is not chlorinated.

The amount of chlorine in the distribution system will be kept as low as possible while still providing a detectable level of chlorine everywhere in the system, as required by OHA. You may notice some variability in chlorine levels for a while as the chlorination system is tested and adjusted.

Water District Meetings

The board holds regular monthly meetings as well as special work session meetings, special information meetings and budget committee meetings. For information on the upcoming scheduled meetings see the District Meetings page or the individual meeting pages. All currently scheduled meetings are also accessible from the lower portion of the Home page. 

How to attend district meetings online  

Instructions for attending district meetings online are included on each meeting notice and agenda.  To attend with video and audio, you will need to download  free Zoom meeting software.  If you have not downloaded the software, a prompt from Zoom should appear asking permission to do so.

To attend by phone (audio only) without downloading software, follow the instructions on meeting notice.

For community members on the district news email list, a direct invitation with a link and a phone number will be sent.  If you are not on that email list, and wish to be added, contact orwdcom4@gmail.com.  By Oregon law, no district board meetings or board work sessions, in person or online or by phone, can occur without public notice and access.

Notices and agendas will be posted for all  public meetings convened by the district.

All public meetings will be recorded and links to those recordings will be posted on the website as a public record.  In addition, an archive of all meeting recordings will be maintained.

New water operator services

Starting July 1, 2021, we began a new fiscal year with a new water operator. Hiland Water Corp who provides the water district with water operator services. They are a company that provides water services to a number of small water systems in the area, in fact right next door to Otter Rock at Johnson Creek Water and Seacrest. If you need to contact our water operator, call the Hiland office at 503-554-8333 or toll free 855-554-8333. Their office hours are M-F 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00 daily, but they have an answering service who can contact the water operator for emergencies outside their regular hours.

Office operating on restricted basis

To reduce risk to both customers and staff during the pandemic, the district office will be not be engaging in face-to-face interaction with customers until further notice. If you have an urgent concern and have any trouble communicating via the office phone or email, you probably know how to reach the community volunteers who serve as board members...or your neighbor does. For non-urgent issues, the office and board members can also be reached by email through this website.