The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in regular session Tuesday, April 12, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. in Brooktrails Community Center.
A. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
B. ROLL CALL
Roll call showed the following Directors present: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas and Orth. Also present were General Manager Chapman and District Counsel Neary.
REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION
District Counsel Neary reported that the directors considered a real estate matter regarding APN 098-114-03 and directed the General Manager as to the matter of price.
C. ADDITIONS/ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
President Orth advised that at the Saturday, April 12, 2005 planning meeting a request was made to vote regarding the question of delaying loan repayment transfers from the General Fund to other funds. Director Horrick moved to add this to the agenda; Director Pohlson seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
D. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. March 12, 2005 – Director Skezas moved to approve the minutes; Director Horrick seconded. President Orth requested that the heading read "annual planning meeting" as opposed to regular session. Director Skezas modified his motion accordingly, and it carried unanimously.
2. March 22, 2005 – Director Horrick moved to approve; Director Skezas seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.
E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Howard Dashiell, Director (and Road Commissioner), Mendocino County Department of Transportation. Mr. Dashiell was present to discuss Brooktrails transportation issues. He said the left-turn pocket on Sherwood Road at Birch was planned for completion this summer. All participants then reviewed a large diagram of the project with Mr. Dashiell.
Stop signs and pedestrian crosswalk at Birch Street/Clover Road intersection. Pedestrian safety for events in the Ohl Grove was stressed by Director Ziady as a first priority. Then the attention turned to the sidewalk project adjacent Willits Creek. Mr. Dashiell said a traffic study would be needed first. He said that MCOG could fund the whole project, but the District could hire a traffic consultant, design the sidewalks, and get it done faster than if DOT tried to do it. Director Ziady said she would rather see the crosswalks and stop signs directed through DOT; she felt they were not a major thing for DOT and should be on their list as a public safety matter. General Manager Chapman said there was a traffic study completed in 2002, but we did not own the park at that time. Director Ziady said there can be 100 people, children and families, at Grove events.
Fog lines. Director Pohlson said the District had to ensure evacuation and emergency access. She said there are some fog lines now, but they are sporadic. She said she wanted fog lines on major collector streets as the first goal. She asked what DOT would require the District to do to make this possible. Mr. Dashiell responded that a lot of County roads were so narrow they don't even center-stripe them, and typically won't fog stripe those under 24' wide. He said fog lines indicate there is a shoulder — and very few County roads really live up to that standard. He felt the fog striping was perpetuated from what the original subdivider did; he suspected that crews are simply restriping what was already there. Director Pohlson said they have done new fog lines, and on roads without pullout areas. She said we needed to complete fog lines on collector roads, and that it was imperative that the side roads be free of congestion for emergency access and egress. She followed up by saying a constituent had e-mailed her that a school bus could not go through because of parked cars.
President Orth mentioned a fog line here was genuinely going to be a major collector road. Mr. Dashiell said he thought that what the District was calling a collector road, DOT would have called a local road, and 18' was the travel way (two 9' lengths). He said emergency vehicles could go right up the middle of an 18' road. He said fog striping for two 9' lengths probably wouldn't leave enough room for parking. He said DOT had some material from some years ago from the District about parking on one side of the road, and asked if this was where the District still wanted to go. President Orth responded that if the Fire Chief determined to mark a fire lane because people were parking on both sides of a street, and therefore we needed to create some sort of enforcement process, he could see that happening if the fog lines were maintained where they are now.
President Orth and Director Pohlson commented on creating parking pads in the County easement; Director Pohlson said if the grade were less than 3% you did not need a permit, and you didn’t need to pave it. Mr. Dashiell said you have to think about why people are parking on the street and treat the cause.
Claudia Reed of the Willits News asked about already-developed areas with cars parked on both sides, and whether there was any reason why the community could not declare a fire lane and parking on one side only. Mr. Dashiell responded he typically he likes to have a public meeting (public hearings) on any matter. Director Ziady asked whether in such instances DOT would provide the resulting signage or the District would have to. Mr. Dashiell said in some instances this has to be approved by the Board of Supervisors; he said he would have to check whether the fire official can make this call. Claudia Reed referred to Vehicle Code section 22500.1 regarding designation of fire lanes and asked whether tickets could be issued; Mr. Dashiell said the fog line does help the enforcement officer, but if there is no fog line it is more of the officer's call.
Mr. Dashiell summarized DOT would not just put the paint down at the District's request, but that there would be meetings and a process first. President Orth commented that the District is always looking for a fair share of its contribution to County funds. He said the District would like to thank the local road crew for the work they have done and said he understood the local crew boss was making all the recommendations for the area. Mr. Dashiell confirmed this. President Orth suggested meetings between Jerry Saunders, the crew boss, and General Manager Chapman once or twice a year. Mr. Dashiell said he would make that suggestion.
Sidewalk/footbridge – Ohl Grove. President Orth commented that the proposed walkway by the Grove would reactivate a historical walkway and bridge. He commented there really was no formal process available to the District to get this sidewalk brought up to MCOG's tech committee. Mr. Dashiell said a lot of times DOT looked at projects based on accident records. He said sometimes a funding source drives the choice of project.
President Orth reviewed the additional points on the staff memo. Mr. Dashiell said he believed that a streamlined permit process could be arranged with the County for water leak repairs. Director Ziady commented on sedimentation from County road culverts. She asked whether there were any long-term plan to start working on the culverts, given that the extensive data had already been collected. Mr. Dashiell said the whole county was inventoried for TMDL compliance; as each watershed is brought in, they provide a 10-year plan, and the entire county may be put under a TMDL plan spanning 30 years. He felt Brooktrails would need very expensive, urban-type storm drainage improvements, much more expensive than adding a culvert on a county road. Mr. Dashiell said DOT had given the whole inventory to the District's consultant and he had assumed that consultant was reviewing it.
Wallace Stahle asked about erosion-related problems. He stated he had personally viewed water running from County roads begin to cause erosion when it hit logging roads. He asked why the curbs could not be opened up more often to spread it out. Mr. Dashiell said that in greenbelt areas this could be done. He said that the developer had established drainages at certain intervals and to change this would require obtaining an easement from a lot owner. President Orth felt this needed to go to the committee level to identify where there were opportunities to take corrective action.
In closing, Mr. Dashiell said DOT does spend money in Brooktrails. He said DOT's first priority was driver safety. He said he has less than a third of the budget he had three years ago and his priority is unsafe driving conditions. President Orth thanked Mr. Dashiell for his appearance.
F. PUBLIC HEARING
None.
G. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
2. Review of Accounts Payable Report and authorization to issue checks. Director Skezas moved to authorize payment of checks. Director Horrick seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
I. ACTION AGENDA
3. Release of memorandum of opinion (Chris Neary, Esq.) – Parking Ordinance. General Manager Chapman indicated that this matter would be discussed at subsequent meetings. President Orth stated he would prefer to see it come back to the Board when Fire Chief Schoeppner's comments could be provided. Director Skezas moved to release the memorandum of opinion as public record; Director Horrick seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
District Counsel Neary said this issue arose when Director Pohlson presented a proposed parking ordinance for consideration. He had researched the matter and stated he has found clear authority vested within the Fire Chief for enforcement; however, that the authority to adopt the regulation lies with the Road Commissioner. He felt an opinion was needed from County Counsel and believed it would be found that the Road Commissioner can adopt the regulation under the County's general police power. He referred to Road Commissioner Dashiell's insistence upon public process in such matters just expressed in his previous presentation. He suggested the District request County Counsel and the Road Commissioner to jointly develop such a process. He said either the Road Commissioner or the Fire Chief has the power to designate fire lanes, and once so designated, the Fire Chief was empowered to enforce that regulation. He said if the County was uncooperative, there was a basis for the Fire Chief to act.
President Orth stated he had reviewed the Fire Chief's testimony in the public record as to his willingness, and referred to the need to address neighborhood concerns, and further stated he felt the District needed to address the difference in Brooktrails between areas becoming more urbanized and those remaining more rural. He agreed that the matter needs to be addressed through a public hearing and/or a citizen complaint which would cause a review and public hearing process looking at a particular situation. The Fire Marshal/Fire Chief could then address that particular situation. He said this could be part of the neighborhood-to-neighborhood fire planning. He felt that the educational process was preferable to a regulatory process, but that we did have a regulatory process to fall back on. He said only certain areas of Brooktrails should be addressed, those where most of the problems occur.
Director Pohlson said it was the District's responsibility to educate the residents. She said a survey had been done and she felt there were only about five vehicles that were a problem, and these probably would not have been a problem had the owner known of the potential risks. She questioned whether striping or signage was more cost-efficient, and said it might be cheaper to pay the County to put up signs.
Director Horrick commented that someone had the idea that if one-side-of-street parking was chosen, cars should be pointed toward the emergency egress direction. President Orth said neighborhoods should comment as to which side of the street they prefer.
Director Ziady suggested there should be neighborhood input and management. President Orth suggested the Specific Plan Committee looking at which areas are becoming more dense and urbanized and plan around that.
Claudia Reed, former Brooktrails resident, took the podium to thank the Board for addressing the issue. She provided a copy of the vehicle code she had referred to earlier.
4. Appeal by Valentine Corporation – Clearwell/backwash ponds project bid protest. District Counsel Neary reviewed the two bid amounts received for this project, stating that the apparent low bidder was Richardson Engineering. Shortly after bid opening, Valentine Corporation of San Rafael, the high bidder, lodged a bid protest. District Counsel Neary said the bidding process was designed to benefit the public by getting the best available price. He stated it was appropriate, however, for bidders to point out potential irregularities in other bids, as was the case here. The protest stated that the apparent low bidder did not possess the requirements to perform the job, and that Richardson, having failed to list a steel tank erector/fabricator subcontractor, intended to perform this job itself but lacked the requisite five years experience in this work. He said the District asked Richardson to state their qualifications, which had now been received and reviewed. First of all, Richardson built two tanks within the District, in 1983 and 1985. The District's records reflected satisfactory performance on these projects. Their other experience were checked and confirmed as accurate, and District Counsel Neary provided detail.
Robert Valentine of Valentine Corporation said it would have been helpful to have District Counsel's information faxed to them as they had requested. He said he had not had an opportunity to review this. He asked for a copy of the qualifications list. Brief discussion followed of the nature of the projects listed by Richardson. Director Skezas moved to find that the protestor was withdrawing the protest. Director Horrick seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
5. Adopt Goals & Objectives for Fiscal Year 2005-06. General Manager Chapman advised that changes from previous meetings had been incorporated into the list. Director Skezas moved to adopt the goals and objectives for 2005-06. President Orth asked that his motion be modified to reflect a change under "Water System" goals from a 24" raw delivery line to 10", and Director Skezas so modified it. Director Horrick seconded. Director Pohlson said Director Ziady had asked for the Fire Department to forward its goals and objectives. General Manager Chapman responded that he had asked them to review, and these issues would be discussed in the Fire Department annual report back this May. Director Pohlson said she would like to approve the present list, but include having the Fire Chief present his goals and objectives.
Robert Terry of Poppy Lane asked whether line items listed in the "Action" column were in the budget, and was told no. Vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.
6. Materials Holding Yard – Environmental Procedures. General Manager Chapman asked the Board to approve posting the Notice of Intent to adopt a negative declaration for the project. He also pointed out the suggestion to send the matter to the Recreation Committee to review at their next meeting as well. President Orth complimented the work reflected in the negative declaration. He asked for a motion to approve the posting and publishing of the Notice of Intent to Adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration for the materials holding yard project. Director Pohlson so moved and Director Skezas seconded. Director Ziady requested that the Greenbelt Committee get copies of the document. President Orth said that while the Board did have a request to send the matter to the Recreation Committee, he felt it should just be policy to send it to them as part of the process, and the other directors agreed. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
7. Reintroduction of Ordinance 128 – Private Water Tanks – and Set Public Hearing. General Manager Chapman noted that changes made by the Specific Plan Advisory Committee as per the Board's direction. He noted that the focus was on preserving landscaping. He said that if an owner had a larger parcel they would be able to request additional storage capacity via smaller additional tanks.
President Orth asked District Counsel about various properties along Sherwood Road and other areas that retain a degree of independent water rights. District Counsel Neary said that parcels in "Brooktrails proper" (the original subdivision) typically did not retain water rights because there was going to be a water district exercising those rights. Mr. Neary said that normally individuals with water rights under a property could only use the water on that property, whereas municipalities could draw from any property within their jurisdiction and apply the water to any parcel. President Orth said he felt the ordinance needed to be modified to recognize the parcels that do retain water rights, specifically referring to "Cobb 1 and 2," perhaps with a map included identifying these. District Counsel suggested stating that the ordinance apply to any parcel located within Tract 86 and/or any other specific tract which had a reservation of water rights.
Director Skezas was concerned that the committee was approving things when their function was to make recommendations to the Board; and objected to the committee comments that would be provided to the District Architect as guidance. Director Pohlson said the recommendations had been brought to the General Manager's office and discussed there, and said the committee knew that it only made recommendations, and that the language of the staff report should be corrected. President Orth commented that he liked the inclusion of the reasons for certain standards.
8. Review of Annual Newsletter. After a lengthy discussion, and a consensus that the Board was displeased with many parts of the overall letter, Director Skezas moved to authorize the General Manager to meet with the Board President to modify the newsletter, and proceed. The vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.
9. Fish & Game releases monitoring. General Manager Chapman briefly reviewed the new method proposed to assist in monitoring Fish & Game-required releases. Director Skezas moved to approve and commence the project; Director Pohlson seconded. Richard Estabrook commented briefly on Robert Melluish's ingenuity in coming up with the idea and stated so. President Orth thanked Mr. Estabrook for all his work for the District. Vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.
10. Introduce Resolution Establishing Water Availability Charge for Fiscal Year 2005-06 and Set Public Hearing for April 26, 2005. General Manager Chapman pointed out that the annual charges remained at $30.00 for undeveloped lots, and $5.00 for developed lots. Director Skezas moved to introduce the resolution and schedule a public hearing for April 26, 2005. Director Horrick seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
11. Introduce Draft Ordinance 129, Sewer Standby Charge for Fiscal Year 2005-06, and Set Public Hearing for April 26, 2005. General Manager Chapman commented that the ordinance was being introduced and would be scheduled for public hearing and adoption on April 26, 2005. Director Horrick moved to introduce the ordinance, waive further reading, and scheduled it for public hearing for April 26, 2005. Director Skezas seconded. Brief discussion followed about procedures with District Counsel Neary. He said the District could adopt one ordinance which would then be ratified each year with a resolution, and the process could be changed as desired. It was decided to address this at next year's planning meeting.
12. Schedule Public Hearing on Budget for June 14, 2005. Director Skezas moved to set a public hearing on the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2005-06 for June 14, 2005 and the publication of the notice of hearing; Director Pohlson seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
13. Consideration of selection of clearwell/backwash ponds project bid contractor. General Manager Chapman clarified that the low bid amount was $989,450. He said that if this bid were approved he would be returning immediately to discussion with Oscar Larson & Associates about certain aspects of the technical specifications, which still had to finalized by USDA engineers in Sacramento, and then forwarded to the Santa Rose office for financing. The contract could not be awarded until all of this was completed, and he requested authorization to proceed. District Counsel Neary confirmed that he recommended the Board proceed. Director Horrick moved to approve the bid of $989,450 and authorize the General Manager to process and execute related documents as required. Director Horrick seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
14. Transfers between funds to repay interdepartmental loans. General Manager Chapman said the Board had agreed last year to pay these loans back to the Water Department. However, at the annual budget meeting, Director Pohlson had suggested these repayment transfers be delayed considering the ERAF budget cuts. Discussion followed on the pros and cons of delaying repayment, and focused on the current need to avoid depletion of the General Fund. The directors concurred that the debt transfer payments would be held off for two years.
J. ADDITIONS TO FUTURE AGENDAS.
None.
K. SPECIAL REPORTS
Directors: None.
District Counsel: None.
General Manager Chapman: Mr. Chapman said that he had received a prospectus from a Sacramento firm on the rubber spillway which would be presented at the next meeting. Also, a letter of thanks was being sent to Sherwood Valley Rancheria for their donation to the Fire Department.
L. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Robert Terry commented that the appointed committee of himself, General Manager Chapman and Fire Chief Schoeppner had been working on the CERT concept. He asked whether this committee was subject to the Brown Act and whether a Board member's presence was necessary, and was told no on both counts.
M. ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made to adjourn and President Orth declared the meeting of April 12, 2005 closed at 9:17 p.m.
CHARLES A. ORTH
President Orth
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
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