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MINUTES
BROOKTRAILS TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BROOKTRAILS COMMUNITY CENTER
24850 Birch Street, Willits, CA 95490
March 22, 2005 |
The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in regular session March 22, 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 was General Manager Chapman. District Counsel Neary attended by telephone.
REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION
General Manager Chapman reported that two matters were considered. The directors took action on a real estate matter and gave direction to the General Manager to make an offer of $6,112 on the "Rock Quarry Site" on Sherwood Road; its use would be as a potential storage site for water and/or dredging. District Counsel also advised the directors regarding one matter of potential litigation.
C. ADDITIONS/ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
None.
D. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. March 8, 2005 – President Orth requested changes as follows: , p. 3540, second paragraph under Item 6, add after ". . . don't meet standards" the phrase, "and the County of Mendocino accepting a road system that did not meet road standards of the day and were built under a variance," and to drop the section that says "parts of Spring Creek's . . . variance." Director Skezas moved to approve the minutes. Director Pohlson seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
None.
F. PUBLIC HEARING
None.
G. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
2. Review of Accounts Payable Report and authorization to issue checks. Director Pohlson moved to authorize payment of checks. Director Skezas seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
I. ACTION AGENDA
3. Johnson Request for Extension of Time – Water Connection. General Manager Chapman recommended that the requested extension of time be granted. Director Skezas moved to authorize an extension of time until December 31, 2005 to accomplish the Johnsons' water connection. Director Horrick seconded. Director Pohlson discussed with Mr. Johnson the fact that they had cancelled their order of the 2002 modular home depicted in their approved plans. She explained that they would have to resubmit plans for approval. Mr. Johnson said they would get new ones.Director Ziady asked why the Johnsons did not act within their original time allowance. Mr. Johnson said because his wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness at that time.
Roll call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: Pohlson
ABSENT: Directors: None
4. Ohl Grove policies, rental fees and procedures. General Manager Chapman asked the Board to consider having a flat weekend fee of $175, and also requested confirmation of procedures in case of rain. Dirctor Ziady said she believed rained-out events should be refunded. She said there should be more than one event possible each weekend; she agreed with the concept of a party being able to rope off their area, but not the entire Grove. Director Horrick agreed that the alcohol question should be referred to District Counsel. Director Pohlson said people will take advantage and try to string out their rental time, as the Community Center experiences. She cited Redwood Empire Fairground's hall rentals of $750/day or $400/evening and said that $350 is a very fair amount, and that allowing people to tear down the day after makes the facility unavailable for another rental day. Director Skezas concurred with this. He suggested that the cleaning/security deposit could be the reservation deposit to hold the facility, but said that the rental fee should be kept separate because the cleaning/security deposit is refundable. He asked also who would do the inspection and said it was a considerable job. He said you need to be sure no one else enters the property before the inspection, and if this is on a weekend you have to consider overtime. He said he believed no current job descriptions cover this instance.
President Orth said he saw the rationale, given current staffing, for having only one event on the weekend, but said he would look for volunteers, perhaps from the Recreation Committee. He said that a flat rate for the weekend, but a higher rate, would be appropriate, and it should be for a defined area so the public could still use the rest. Director Pohlson again cited the Redwood Empire Fairground fees, stating that if an event extends over two days, they are charged full rate for two days. President Orth said two events could be held on a weekend if they don't have the extensive set-up/tear-down time that a wedding does. He suggested that for weddings, they could be told they must rent for the weekend. Director Ziady said if there is one event per weekend we should charge accordingly. She asked who would check to see that the renters are out. Director Pohlson said a weekend should be Friday through Sunday and cost $700.00. President Orth clarified that if a renter chooses the daily rate as opposed to the weekend rate, they must complete their rental in one day and there will be a penalty if they don't. He suggested research on what wedding events cost in the area. General Manager Chapman said we have that information at the office. Director Skezas said that the Community Center charges $350.00 for a full day. Bob Terry suggested that if they run over, they need to provide security. President Orth said we should have a liability clause in the contracts that the District has no liability for this, and he asked District Counsel to work up some language to this effect and also to review the alcohol situation. It was agreed that the weekend rate would be $700.00 and the daily rate, $350.00.
Bob Turner of Blue Jay Lane said the prices don't have to be fixed; President Orth clarified that they must be set and reviewed annually as part of the budget process. Mr. Turner suggested volunteers from the Recreation Committee or Fire Department or BPOA or the Golf Shop staff or golfers. President Orth clarified that reservations are processed by the office staff. Director Pohlson suggested a broker for the entire process, paid with a percentage of the fee. Director Ziady said she would like to see how this season goes. Reference was made to the historical caretaker who lived in a trailer in the summer and took care of the grounds.
It was specified that the matter would be returned to the Board.
5. FY 2005-06 budget handout; discussion of clearwell/backwash ponds project. General Manager Chapman informed that the bids were much higher than the expected $790,000 maximum. They are a low bid of $989,000 from Richardson Engineering, and another of $1,154,000 from Valentine Corp. He cited the increased price of steel and the need for hand digging in the earthwork as probable components of this overage. He reviewed his subsequent conferences with USDA Rural Development and bond counsel Stephen Casaleggio and described different ways to acquire the higher financing now required and to absorb the annual increase in the loan projection of about $10,000 by budget transfers/cuts. He said the District has 60 days from the bid submissions in which to solve the financing situation and award the contract.
Discussion followed as to which options to pursue. Director Pohlson asked what would save the most water for distribution, this project or the rubber dam. General Manager Chapman stated the rubber dam, without question; however, he stressed, there are refurbishment issues that must be addressed with the clearwell project. He said there is enough money to address both projects, but cash must be taken out next year to accomplish this. The rubber spillway is estimated at about $350,000. Phase 1 would be pre-construction and done in this fiscal year; Phase 2 would be construction and done next year. President Orth urged quick action given the rising price of steel and the 60-day deadline.
Director Skezas moved to authorize the General Manager to increase the loan amount to match the bid amount. Director Horrick seconded. General Manager Chapman pointed out that he felt a 10% contingency amount should be added for possible change orders. President Orth said he felt the loan amount should be for the bid amount, with the District paying for any contingencies.
Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
General Manager Chapman requested to meet with District Counsel Neary on this matter as soon as possible.
6. Adopt Goals & Objectives for Fiscal Year 2005-06.
The directors offered and discussed changes to the list of goals and objectives. Director Pohlson commented that she felt a need for specific dates and timelines for most items and that all of her multiple comments dealt with this and with a need for reports.
Changes made were:
under GENERAL, p. 1:
- add "and MCOG" to "Form subcommittee with County."
- for action item "Link our website to County's," change this to
"correct our listing on County website to Local Government" under WATER, p. 1:
- add "within budget constraints" to action item, "one well annually"
- add "and raising Lake Emily 15 feet" to "Investigate off-stream storage," and add in the action column for this item, "pool into water rights application". under MAINTENANCE, p. 2:
- add date of "Dec. 2005 or Jan. 2006" to "Biannual facilities tour" to tie this in with Board elections under RECREATION, p. 2:
- add "review CEQA and EIR documents" as an action under "Environmental Watch" under PLANNING, p. 3:
- add in action column "Track annual progress" to item "Completion of Second Access"
Staff was directed to make appropriate changes and return the matter to the Board.
7. Ohl Grove – Restroom/Multi-Use Court Estimating/Bids. Bob Terry asked what projects could be done partly by volunteers; Director Ziady mentioned the need to fence the children's playground. Director Pohlson stated volunteers might refurbish the old buildings. Director Skezas moved to prepare a work order for Axt & Mitchell to design the restroom and prepare a bid package and to put the restroom and multi-use court out to bid.
Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
J. ADDITIONS TO FUTURE AGENDAS.
None.
K. SPECIAL REPORTS
Directors: Director Ziady reported from the Recreation, Greenbelt & Conservation Committee that a demonstration site had been marked for cutting for a shaded fuel break by the Par Course, and she encouraged the public to look at this to see what is involved. Director Pohlson reported from the Specific Plan Advisory Committee that the 2500 gallon tank will water, according to her calculations, a 200 SF surface once a week 1" deep for 22 weeks. She said that therefore the 2,500 gallon limit is enough. She said that District Architect Axt had presented calculations for 2,000 SF of landscaping that would require 7100 gallons at 1/4" watering. President Orth commented that there is also greater flexibility because it is also allowed to haul in non-potable water.
District Counsel: None.
General Manager Chapman: Mr. Chapman said that the conditions letter had been received from the Division of Dams regarding the rubber dam. He described the need to hire an engineer to do a strike-line study for the dam.
L. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
M. ADJOURNMENT
Director Skezas moved to adjourn and President Orth declared the meeting of March 22, 2005 closed at 8:15 p.m.
CHARLES A. ORTH
President Orth
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
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