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MINUTES
BROOKTRAILS TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BROOKTRAILS COMMUNITY CENTER
24850 Birch Street, Willits, CA 95490
February 8, 2005 |
The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in regular session Tuesday, February 8, 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, Pohlson, and Orth. Directors Horrick and Skezas were absent on leave. Also present were General Manager Chapman and District Counsel Neary.
REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION
None.
C. ADDITIONS/ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
Director Pohlson stated she wanted to comment about the General Manager's report.
D. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. January 25, 2005 – President Orth requested a change to page 3524, third paragraph from bottom, second clause of first sentence. The word "use" should be inserted after "herbicides" and the phrase, "and had been rejected for use in the watershed of Brooktrails" should be added to complete the sentence. On page 3525, second paragraph from the bottom, he requested removal of the phrase "to work with Fire Safe Council designees for the final language" and insertion of the phrase "to sign the letter in support" in its stead. Director Ziady moved to approve the minutes as so amended and Director Pohlson seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Fire Chief Daryl Schoeppner reviewed the volunteer firefighters' work on the new truck's equipment, which had saved the District thousands of dollars. He said they are still $5,000 to $7,000 short of funds for more desired equipment and reviewed the volunteer firefighters' fundraising projects. He then presented the equipped and in-service new fire truck to the directors and the public in the parking lot.
F. PUBLIC HEARING
None.
G. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Bob Terry spoke about the safety status of Sherwood Road in the event of an accident blocking the road if a resident needed to exit for medical purposes. President Orth advised this question could be asked of Supervisor Wagenet, who would be appearing at this evening's meeting.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
2. Review of Accounts Payable Report and authorization to issue checks; Retroactive approval of computer system check issued 1/26/05. Director Pohlson moved to approve the accounts payable report; Director Ziady seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Director Pohlson then moved to retroactively approve the computer system check issued 1/26/05; Director Ziady seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
I. ACTION AGENDA
3. Discussion of Edge Wireless Cell Tower Proposal on Upper Bear Drive. General Manager Chapman announced the Edge Wireless proposal to construct a 90' cell tower on a District-owned lot zoned R-1 on Upper Bear Drive at Weasel Place. The lot was flagged. Mr. Chapman said the topic was being introduced at tonight's meeting, and he had been advised the process could take as long as a year. He said a company representative from Eagle Consulting could attend any subsequent meetings.
Director Ziady said she wanted to listen to the public on this issue. Director Pohlson said the site was too close to a residence. She said every surrounding lot would have to be notified, and that, in her opinion, this was not the spot for a tower. She said the District does not have an ordinance pertaining to cell towers, and she suggested that one be created first before any proposal was entertained. President Orth felt a cell tower should not be located within a residential neighborhood and that a District-owned area zoned Public Facility could be found. He said there is a legitimate need for use by emergency personnel as well as the need for cell phone coverage. He agreed that after legal review an ordinance should be drafted, but commented that the ordinance could not retroactively apply to the current proposal. He said he felt that the District could pre-select potential sites for cell tower installation and have an ordinance prepared and ready for future applications.
General Manager Chapman said the distance from the proposed tower to the nearest residence was 111 feet. He said Frank Zotter, Mendocino County Counsel, had told him the Board has power in this matter primarily over aesthetics, and that a tower could not be denied for alleged health effects.
Howard Letovsky of 27551 Bear Drive, the immediate neighbor to the proposed site, spoke primarily to the County regulations, and quoted those as a minimum setback for the tower of 110% of its overall height from any property line and a minimum of 500% of its overall height from any off-site residence or school. He said it had to be 450 feet from the cell tower to his house, and it isn't, and the only way it could therefore be put there would be with the approval of all affected neighbors. He also said that county regulations required camouflage techniques that could not be done on a lot where the trees were only 30' tall.
Maria Highwaters, 27811 Bear Drive, asked if 24-hour notification was normal procedure regarding cell phone tower placement. President Orth said the District is just beginning discussion of the topic; should it proceed, public hearings will be set and written notice mailed. Ms. Waters asked several questions: Were more towers on the way? Would you want to have a tower 500 feet from your home? Could the Board guarantee her neighborhood that this was safe? Would there be other public meetings? What levels of electromagnetic frequencies were acceptable in a neighborhood? Was the neighborhood zoned for this type of use? President Orth responded briefly to some of the questions and said the District would seek legal counsel as well.
David Drell of Willits spoke to the health issues of cell phones. He felt it was an extremely dangerous technology which was not adequately tested, and is being tested now on all its users.
Peter Fennell of Weasel Place stated that he works with this technology in his occupation and is very familiar with the Edge Wireless people. He said he called them and they had told him that this site was scrapped. General Manager Chapman explained that the originally chosen site (tank number 15) had been scrapped and replaced with the current site, across from Weasel Place. Mr. Fennell said a 90' tower was not an Edge Wireless standard; he said they use GPRS technology, General Packet Radio broadcasts, which carry video and so on. He said from his contacts in the industry that the amount of energy emitted by these towers in the winter heated the immediate area around the tower to 80 degrees. He said that he has a study of a tower installed on a high school over 18 months which resulted in the tower being torn down because of health effects. The size of the tower was discussed. He discussed the installation of cell phone repeaters on a casino which resulted in a 97% increase in health insurance premiums over two years for the casino employees due to increased claims. He said there is an appropriate place for the tower, and this is not it. President Orth asked if he would expect the wattage output of the tower to be over 800; Mr. Fennell said yes, and that high wattage is considered to be over 5,000. Director Ziady asked if the technology could be deployed with enough buffer zone to be safe. Mr. Fennell said that the goal of this tower is to cover the area beyond Willits, not to benefit Brooktrails. He said this tower would simply be a relay to a tower at the airport. General Manager Chapman invited him to attend the Specific Plan Committee meetings on the subject; Mr. Fennell accepted.
Director Pohlson said that she would like to see the issue sent to the Specific Plan Committee, and she invited Mr. Fennell and anyone else who would like to come to attend the meeting.
A resident of Bear Terrace said that she would not be comfortable with the cell tower on Bear Drive.
Ellen Drell spoke about the effects of microwave towers on wildlife, particularly bird migration routes.
Bob Turner of Blue Jay Lane said he did not approve of what they were trying to do here; he said he saw towers in Spring Creek and on the ridge, and asked why these signals can't be bounced off satellites. President Orth said he should disclose that he is a satellite dish/microwave installer.
General Manager Chapman suggested that before sending it to District Counsel, he check again with Edge Wireless, who had asked for a "temperature reading" of the community. He said Edge had told him they typically would make an offer to a municipality, and if this were not acceptable, they would approach private landowners. He said the District needed to decide in advance how to approach such applications in the future.
Wallace Stahle of Rose Terrace said the tower might affect resale value of the adjacent homes. He said he felt the Board could make a decision based on the temperature of the community, and if the community's interests are not served.
President Orth referred the audience to the Specific Plan Advisory Committee meeting and to the District office and website for meeting information.
Supervisor Hal Wagenet not having yet arrived, discussion began on the next agenda item:
5. NEST Request for Assistance. Robert Terry asked the District to consider creating a CERT (FEMA) (Community Emergency Response Team) concept for emergency services under the Fire Department. He felt it might take six months to set up. President Orth referenced the Community Fire Plan proposed in the Fire Safe Council grant application. He felt that designing a Fire Plan would include designing a CERT program. He said the grant would not be available this year but we could begin the preliminary process with the Fire Department.
Director Ziady said the grant was mostly for fire education, and she felt the CERT concept should be separate from the FSC grant and should address other types of disaster besides fire.
Director Pohlson said she understood NEST was going to make a proposal to the BPOA. Mr. Terry said he already had done so, and that they had agreed to put a mailer out, but at that point they didn't know for sure if NEST was dead. General Manager Chapman clarified that they would have the tax assessor roll for that purpose. Mr. Terry said that CERT would be a District project, not a co-sponsored program like NEST was, and that CERT would be completely responsible to the Fire Department.
President Orth directed staff to sit down with Mr. Terry and the Fire Department and discuss the issue.
Mr. Wagenet having arrived, the Board turned to Item 4 of the agenda.
4. Discussion with District Supervisor Hal Wagenet and coordination with DOT/MCOG. Director Pohlson said she had wanted Supervisor Wagenet to come because she felt the District did not have enough connection with the County. She gave an example of a Ukiah group who had gone before the Board of Supervisors about some available trail money, since the County had no Recreation Department. She asked whether the District would be eligible for this same type of money. Supervisor Wagenet then spoke to Proposition 40 per capita money for parks and recreation and said the County's share was $1.2 million. However, none of the monies had been spent by the County. He said the County had decided to give it to their General Services Department to see how best to improve the parks system as a whole, and a consultant had been sought with no result. Director Pohlson asked again what the District needed to do to get a piece of this pie. Supervisor Wagenet said we needed to talk to Mr. Pete Halstad at the General Services Department.
Supervisor Wagenet then referred to the Proposition 50 Integrated Regional Water Management Plans and the Sonoma County proposal and spoke in favor of it. He said the key element was interregional connectibility, and that the 3rd District, which he represented, was the source for all the water flowing through the region down to Marin County. He said Prop. 50 excludes water storage projects and this leaves Brooktrails out, but it did include habitat restoration.
Supervisor Wagenet then spoke to MCOG and the Willits Bypass Project. He mentioned that once CalTrans decided the route there would be target(s) for a second access road, and that an application for $4 million funding had just been submitted for that cause. President Orth felt that we need to develop a better functioning system whereby people like the District can get the planning done so when the funds are available for constructing, the planning is done. President Orth said the MCOG commission was very receptive to the District's proposal for some sort of committee to look at special districts in relationship to transportation projects and coordination with the county, and the District will continue to work on that. Director Pohlson said MCOG has had special relationships, like a memorandum of understanding, for coordinating with specific entities. The executive officer of MCOG suggested a look at possible avenues to accommodate, including up to a memorandum of understanding between MCOG, the County, and special districts.
In other matters President Orth advised Supervisor Wagenet that in the final changes to the Fire Safe Council grant, mentions of timber harvest and shaded fuel breaks had now been removed, and the focus should be on ladder fuels. He pointed out that the federal definition of "shaded fuel break" specifies that the canopy should remain intact, and the District has heard repeatedly from the public that they do not see timber harvesting as a component of the District fire plan. Director Ziady commented that the income would not be sufficient to fund even 10-year maintenance.
6. Amendment of Ordinance 127 and Ordinance 76. General Manager Chapman provided background information on Ordinance 127 passed in November 2004 regarding private water tank standards. After its passage, Keith Rutledge from Spring Creek reminded the District that that area needed much larger tanks, for reasons such as fire protection. The purpose of the new revised amendment was to exclude Spring Creek from certain of the restrictions on private water tanks, although other parts of the ordinance would still apply. He pointed out also that it had been found that Article 7 of Ordinance 76 appeared to be inapplicable and self-contradictory and suggested repeal of that Article.
President Orth responded that he understood that every lot in Spring Creek with our water service has a cross-connection control device in. Furthermore, he said they have their own separate water rights. District Counsel Neary said parcels over 5 acres were required to have such a device. President Orth commented that inspections for these were easy because they were in the utility easement. Director Ziady inquired about a way to enforce notification, and said she approved of the other changes.
Jim West questioned about going onto a property to inspect backflow devices. President Orth clarified that if they are placed on the meter they can be inspected in the utility easement. Mr. West asked if these people were being charged $3.24/month and was told yes.
7. Consideration of a resolution updating travel allowance policy. After a brief discussion this matter was tabled to the next meeting because legal counsel advised the Board that Director Pohlson could not participate in the discussion due to a possible conflict. For the record, Director Pohlson's spouse works for the District. President Orth then tabled the matter until the next meeting.
8. Consideration of water attorney consultation. General Manager Chapman stated he and District Counsel Neary had a meeting scheduled for February 9, 2005 with water attorney Jan Goldsmith, and were requesting a formal motion authorizing such consultations, in person or by telephone, as needed on pending water issues. Director Pohlson so moved; Director Ziady seconded; the motion carried unanimously.
J. ADDITIONS TO FUTURE AGENDAS
Director Ziady said the Recreation Committee would like to present the development plan for Ohl Redwood Grove, and asked what the date of the July annual report should be.
K. SPECIAL REPORTS
General Manager Chapman reviewed his report. He said Bob Turner had declined the invitation to join the Finance Committee, due to health issues. He reported that a major water leak which had been found in Spring Creek had been repaired, and presented actual sections of the affected pipes to the directors to depict the gravity of the damage to this pipe, and the condition of related piping. The leak, caused by seismic earth movement, had been found by means of the sonic listening device, and an estimated 80,000 gallons had been lost in 24 hours.
Director Pohlson then discussed the state's newly proposed definition of "park district" – which could exclude smaller districts from funding by requiring that a "district" have two recreational employees. Director Pohlson suggested that Ron Runberg, manager of the Golf Course, might satisfy the requirement of recreation employee even though he is an independent contractor. President Orth said he believed the bill would be quashed. Director Pohlson said there was about $4,000 left in a grant fund and we do need to spend that money.
L. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Jim West took the podium and stated he disagreed with the data on which the water moratorium had been based, in particular, the use of the Outlet Creek water station as part of the report. A brief discussion ensued. He then questioned the requirement to do annual inspections for backflow devices, coupled with the prohibition against using trucked-in water to fill private water tanks and the size restrictions on those tanks. Directors provided more information on these topics.
M. ADJOURNMENT
Director Pohlson made a motion to adjourn and President Orth declared the meeting of February 8, 2005 closed at 9:54 p.m.
CHARLES A. ORTH
President Orth
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
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