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The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in special session on March 13, 2004 at 9:05 a.m. in Brooktrails Community Center.
A. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
B. ROLL CALL
Roll call showed the following Directors present: Ziady, Horrick, Skezas, Pohlson and Orth. Also present were General Manager Chapman and District Counsel Neary.
C. ADDITIONS/ ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
None.
D. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
E. CONSENT CALENDAR
None
F. ACTION AGENDA
1. REVIEW OF BROWN ACT
General Manager Chapman reviewed provisions regarding open meetings, collective concurrence, ad hoc committees, noticing requirements, and closed session items. District Counsel Neary answered questions from Directors regarding specific applications of the rule. Director Pohlson asked for clarification of conflict of interest rules as extending to her committee appointments, specifically the Recreation/Greenbelt Committee. Mr. Chapman suggested that Director Pohlson and Director Ziady switch their current appointments as Director Pohlson's conflict of interest could hamper the Recreation Committee's functioning. Public comment was solicited.
Bob Turner commented that Director Pohlson should still be part of the process of the committees due to her experience and knowledge, even if she is excluded from voting.
Brief discussion resulted in consensus that this should be included on the agenda for the March 25, 2004 meeting.
2. ANNUAL REVIEW OF BOARD POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND
RELATIONSHIPS
General Manager Chapman and President Orth reviewed specific points of Ordinance 93 as amended. President Orth initiated discussion of changing the meeting schedule by having only a fourth Tuesday meeting in August. Director Skezas stated this should happen only if the budget has been passed. Director Pohlson discussed the need for in-depth assessment of committee progress, which is not possible in typical Board meeting schedules. Director Ziady suggested a special fall meeting with reports from each committee. President Orth suggested directing staff to develop an amending ordinance having only one meeting in August and adding a Saturday meeting in September for a community forum. Director Skezas clarified that the community forum, as a special meeting, does not require a change to the ordinance.
District Counsel Neary noted typographical errors in Ordinance 93 at Sec. 3.11 to be corrected by the amending ordinance.
3. REVIEW OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR PRIOR YEAR AND DEVELOPMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR UPCOMING YEAR
The Board reviewed a chart of Goals and Objectives as developed for the fiscal year 2003/2004, and updated and revised the chart to create Goals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 2004/2005. (See attached chart.)
4. REVIEW POWERS OF THE DISTRICT AND OTHER LIMITATIONS
General Manager Chapman reviewed a chart outlining the powers granted to the District. Discussion followed regarding category (j) and the need for a second access road.
5. FIRE TAX - PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION
Director Pohlson questioned why Brooktrails does not receive a portion of County tax funds, as other districts do, and requested District Counsel Chris Neary to investigate whether the District can obtain this and also obtain a breakdown of how the County allocates its received taxes.
General Manager Chapman recounted the failed 2002 effort to raise the fire tax and the resulting abandonment of the idea of hiring a full-time fire prevention officer, the Fire Department's first priority shifting from lot abatement to structure protection, and abandoning ambulance service. Mr. Neary indicated that it is possible to shift some funding from water fees to partial funding of some fire functions. Mr. Chapman presented the figures for two specific tax rate increases: Alternative A would raise the rates $10 and allow a reserve but not the hiring of an abatement officer; Alternative B would raise the rates $20 and allow this hiring.
Mr. Neary departed the meeting at 11:52 a.m.
President Orth commented that the abatement officer does not have to be full-time. Extended discussion ensued regarding splitting the issues into two or more ballot questions, one for basic tax and one for adding a fire prevention officer. Director Skezas asked Mr. Chapman to investigate how this might affect the cost of the election. The Directors discussed whether any ambulance service should be part of the tax issue. Director Pohlson suggested choosing ambulance vs. abatement could be on the ballot. Director Ziady asked whether abatement would be part of the greenbelt management plan; President Orth stated that CDF presently removes more tonnage annually from the greenbelt than the District's abatement does and that fuel reduction should not be confused with abatement. Director Pohlson pointed out that the District needs to abate its own lots but does not have the funds to do so.
6. REPORT FROM GENERAL MANAGER ON CURRENT AND FUTURE
WATER ISSUES AND POLICIES
General Manager Chapman discussed the present options and strategy. First has been to test drill three exploratory water wells at three different elevations in Brooktrails. The drilling total for the three could easily exceed $250,000. If not enough water is found, the District will need to explore other options. He listed preexisting current projects already affecting cash flow, including the clearwell tank, backwash pond, the bypass valve project, and the $17,000 cost for USGS monitoring station. He stated his opinion that raising Lake Emily would be the next logical step should the wells fail, but this will require a bond study. He stated the question of the third dam being possible must be finally addressed, as there are three huge obstacles to it: in-stream fishery; raising of the flood plain, and landslide instability at the toe of the proposed dam.
General Manager Chapman asked the Board of Directors to correct him if they disagreed with the current water strategy, summarized as: (1) pursuing at least three wells prior to making a further policy decision regarding wells; (2) continue with the pursuit of building the 160,000 gallon clearwell tank and backwash pond facility located at the water plant in the next year; (3) continue with the estimated four inch bypass valve project this fall at Lake Emily; (4) continue with the District's active telemetrics program; (5) evaluate the dredging prospects after the three test wells are in place due to cash-flow reasons; and (6) continue with the possibility of raising Lake Emily 15 feet at some future date after the dredging project occurs. Director Skezas stated that he believed the Board was in basic agreement with these steps.
Discussion followed regarding wells being the cheapest option and needing to be thoroughly explored. President Orth stated the time has come to potentially transfer the 1982 water rights application (State's water resource division) from the third dam to the raising of Lake Emily. He pointed out that raising existing dams seems to be the State's current trend. Director Ziady stressed that resident owners would not be in favor of paying for increasing the lot values of non-resident owners who do not contribute. President Orth mentioned grant funds for feasibility studies and Mr. Chapman stated that under Prop. 50 the District requested $50,000 in October 2002 to fund a feasibility study on raising Lake Emily. Director Pohlson stated that Dam Safety Division should give the District an analysis as to what mitigations might be required. Claudia Reed of the Willits News questioned whether a bond would be weighted based on value received. President Orth clarified that it would, as it would be a Prop. 218 bond. Ms. Reed questioned when a bond election would occur and Mr. Chapman responded that at the earliest it would be 2006 or 2007.
Richard Estabrook, resident of Primrose Drive, suggested that the cost to create pipelines to bring well water back for treatment should be included in the projected cost of the wells up front. Mr. Chapman stated it might be feasible to simply place the well water into the lake.
Director Ziady initiated discussion regarding lot merging and sale of surplus lots. President Orth stated the District should advertise available surplus lots to present owners.
An audience member questioned why dredging, as a sure thing, was not being done first. Director Skezas responded that because of the steps involved the dredging could not be begun before Fall 2005. Director Pohlson stated that the attempt with the wells was also to find enough water for the present residents. President Orth said the District still has unused water rights to Willits Creek and as far as water for the golf course is concerned, the District should begin to use its riparian rights to supply them separately. Director Pohlson stated that until 1996 a pump in the creek supplied the golf course directly.
Mr. Estabrook stated that if people were willing to have water rationing in dry years and personal water tanks, the District would not have to spend any money on this, as the DHS order is based on average water use. Therefore, he stated, the District could survive a dry year now. Mr. Chapman stated this depends on the local resident users. Claudia Reed questioned whether the State would accept this and the Directors advised doing this would not lift the DHS order.
G. SPECIAL REPORTS - GENERAL MANAGER
None
H. PUBLIC COMMENTS
A community member asked whether Brooktrails has ever considered its own sewer plant. President Orth responded that there was one originally which failed. He further discussed the current arrangement with Willits and the need to address sewage routing to Willits in the future.
Citizen Bob Terry requested that the NEST program be placed on an upcoming agenda to give the Board an update on its progress.
I. ADJOURNMENT
Director Skezas moved to adjourn and President Orth declared the meeting of March 13, 2004 closed at 12:47 p.m.
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
CHARLES A. ORTH,
President
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