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MINUTES
BROOKTRAILS TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BROOKTRAILS COMMUNITY CENTER
24850 Birch Street, Willits, CA 95490
May 10, 2005 |
The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in regular session May 10, 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 arrived at 7:05 p.m..
REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION
None.
C. ADDITIONS/ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
General Manager Chapman advised of the need to consider the $200,000 additional loan for clearwell/backwash ponds construction due to time sensitivity (this item was received after the agenda packet was printed). Director Skezas moved to add this item to the agenda; Director Horrick 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. April 26, 2005 – Director Horrick moved to approve the minutes; Director Pohlson seconded and the motion carried, with Director Skezas abstaining.
E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Fire Chief Schoeppner described a fire that occurred May 7, 2005 at a Brooktrails Lodge cabin. The structure was a total loss due to explosions, and the cause was butane gas used in a hashish manufacture. The two residents were arrested. Chief Schoeppner said we needed to know which propane tank belongs to which unit at the Lodge.
F. PUBLIC HEARING
None.
G. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
2-4. Review of Accounts Payable Report and authorization to issue checks; Retroactive approval of checks for newsletter mailing; Advance authorization for postage check for rates and fees mailer. Director Skezas moved to authorize payment of outstanding invoices listed on the report. Director Horrick seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Director Horrick moved to retroactively approve the postage checks for the newsletter (preapproved at the April 26th meeting); Director Skezas seconded and the motion carried unanimously. The deposit check of $1,000.00 for the Sherwood Road lot purchase was confirmed to be included on the accounts payable report. Director Pohlson moved to authorize in advance issuing a check for the rates and fees mailer for $360.02; Director Horrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
I. ACTION AGENDA
5. Annual Fire Report. Director Skezas moved to receive and file the report. Director Horrick seconded. Fire Chief Schoeppner said this report was the first generated by a new program that enables the Fire Department to track incidents and their details, with key information needed for grant applications. Director Skezas said the report was outstanding. Director Ziady commented, considering the amount of time involved in vehicle accidents and EMT work, that she was glad the department now had the "jaws of life" and the suction units (two) used to maintain patient airways. Director Horrick asked if there had been any injuries to personnel this year; Chief Schoeppner described a shoulder injury to himself while moving a very heavy person up a set of stairs in a wheelchair. He had shoulder surgery and was still in rehab. He said the department needed a $2,500 stair climber assist which would prevent this type of injury.
Director Pohlson then commented about the department's projected budget, and a list of goals and objectives. Chief Schoeppner said that that budget information would have to come from the General Manager; the annual report was strictly a relating of events. Director Pohlson further commented that the fire department needed the stair climber device. Director Pohlson then questioned the figure of 116 hours of training for the year and asked for a breakdown. Captain Jon Noyer described the details kept for the training drills and said each training event would have to have its data page pulled; he was not able to include all the details in this report. Director Ziady said she would accept that Chief Schoeppner would train people as he should, but said she would like to see information about what he hoped to accomplish by a certain time, such as grant applications and equipment acquisition. Chief Schoeppner said that was next on his list. President Orth commented that no "wish list" was included, and he would like to see a list of actual and possible joint purchases between the fire department and the auxiliary broken down by percentage, to demonstrate community support. Chief Schoeppner agreed to this. President Orth asked for a vote; the motion carried unanimously.
Chief Schoeppner then went on to describe goals and objectives for the fire department. He said they would like to increase their volunteer base. Director Skezas recalled having approved 20 before the fire tax, and asked Chief Schoeppner to advise how many he felt should be approved now. Chief Schoeppner said he would like to see the budget back on its feet first and then this could be addressed next year. He expected to continue training efforts, and to continue work with the Fire Safe Council and the grants they were working on. Continuing with creation of the CERT program was a goal. He informed that the department will receive a multi-casualty trailer from a grant within the next 30 days, and this will be referred to CERT for supply and equipment review. Another goal listed was the Hazard Abatement Program. Lastly, he confirmed that the annual tabletop drill has not yet been scheduled, but it will be strictly on evacuation.
6. Consideration of hazard abatement program. General Manager Chapman commented that he would like more input about the restrictions on cutting trees 6" in diameter and greater; a comment he frequently receives is that 6” is too restrictive.
Chief Schoeppner said they will need help from District Counsel on drafting this program, which would allow enforcement under PRC 4291. Captain Jon Noyer then made a lengthy presentation with slides and read the draft program before the Board, briefly answering questions throughout. He stressed the following point: Abatement will be required from the property line to the roadway, an opinion having been obtained that it is legal for residents to cut and clear within the County easement.
President Orth commented about enforcement and fines. Fire Chief Schoeppner said their focus was not to write tickets and collect fines, but to activate abatement enforcement to make the community safe.
Captain Noyer then described a database program for the District which can track each incident, and then can produce statistical reports sorted by various criteria. Director Ziady commented that the rough draft was outstanding, and thanked Chief Schoeppner and Mr. Noyer. Questions were solicited from the audience.
Jim West asked if there was a way to put an actual firebreak around a large area of meadow, between it and the trees. He said that cutting these plants before they have a chance to seed is cutting out food supplies for wildlife. He suggested leaving some vegetation under trees. Director Pohlson said she believed you don't have to cut everything when doing fire abatement. Director Pohlson moved to direct the hazard abatement program to District Counsel for further review. Director Skezas seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
Due to interested persons waiting in the audience for discussion of the ACWA health benefits for retired employees agenda item (#8), President Orth suggested that this matter be heard at this time, allowing Chief Schoeppner and Mr. Noyer a break as well.
8. Consideration of ACWA health insurance for retirees. Director Pohlson left the table as she had a conflict of interest. General Manager Chapman described this matter as a policy outside the scope of the ACWA memorandum of understanding, and he planned to give the Directors two meetings to discuss the issue. He wanted to correct some errors in the current policy, and also address the issue of removing the $2,500/year District contribution ceiling. He said the current practice was that the District paid 100% of the premium for the first six months of the year, and the retiree paid 100% of the premium for the last six months, and he would like to see this standardized so that each party pays 50% of the premium each month (50/50). He then referred to draft language for the revised policy in the staff report. Directors commented on the District's desire to treat retirees fairly. Director Horrick suggested that the item be voted on at this meeting rather than waiting. Director Ziady concurred. General Manager Chapman said he had felt that Director Skezas, just returning from a long trip, would need more time to review the matter. Director Skezas then said he was ready to vote. Then Pat Wilson, a former retired employee (25 years), asked that a statement in paragraph 7 of the sample Mojave District policy be added to the new policy. This language stated "such action shall not affect vested rights of an employee." District Counsel Neary concurred. Director Horrick moved to authorize the change and approve the new Section 7 of Personnel Policies and remove the $2,500/year ceiling. Director Skezas seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
7. Consideration of parking issues, fog lines, and fire lanes with Fire Chief. The General Manager had instructed the Fire Chief to visit Oakland Hills and report back on what has changed since the 1991 fire. Chief Schoeppner prefaced a slide show with remarks that his own preference was that no vehicles be allowed to be parked on the streets — but that that wasn’t practical or reality. He then reviewed slides he took regarding parking/fire lane situations at Oakland. He said he found much more vegetation than he would expect, given the Oakland fire of 1991. He measured the typical Oakland fire engine and found it to be 1-1/2" wider than our largest truck, and about 2-1/2" taller. He said the fuel in Oakland was completely different from Brooktrails, being largely composed of highly flammable manzanita and chamisa. Oakland had a high density population area, lots of high power lines which slap together during winds and start fires, and a lot of shake roofs, which they still allow. Their roads were smaller than ours, and did not even have a center line. There were no fire lanes and no parking restrictions. He said he could see no evidence of any shaded fuel break, despite being shown an area which was claimed to have been created in 2001, and showed a slide of this. The local Oakland fire department did not appear to be specifically enforcing PRC4921 in its area. Chief Schoeppner discussed with Claudia Reed of the Willits News the fact that Oakland Hills had also designated certain evacuation routes and that they had a lot of ways out.
Chief Schoeppner said he talked to the State Fire Marshall's office, by which he was told he did not have the authority to designate fire lanes. Chief Schoeppner felt that enforcement of fire lanes was the problem. President Orth said he would hate for Brooktrails to become a "test case" on this issue and we could not afford this. He went on to suggest that (1) during fire season they could have the Fire Chief determine if there was a hazard condition on a road segment, and (2) distribute an educational mailer to the neighborhood alerting them to the situation, and (3) suggest that they modify their behavior, and (4) if necessary, move a public hearing process, and (5) have the Fire Chief declare a temporary fire lane with no parking on one side of the street. President Orth asked Chief Schoeppner if there were any similar jurisdictions in the country with a fire lane ordinance or methodology designating fire lanes. Chief Schoeppner said he had researched this to some degree and tried to locate some area like this. He put forward the concept of an "evacuation route" as opposed to a fire lane (which has definite legal standards). He said he had seen signs designating evacuation routes in Louisiana and to his knowledge this kind of signage did not fall under the Fire Code. Cul-de-sacs need to be addressed along with evacuation routes/fire lanes.
Director Ziady asked if we could explore some official labeling signs with the Sheriff's Office regarding evacuation routes, and then temporarily declare fire lanes on those posted evacuation routes during high fire season. Chief Schoeppner said they could probably do a temporary one based on recommendations from CDF and weather conditions, but could not necessarily declare a fire lane, which becomes a Vehicle Code violation requiring a peace officer to issue a citation.
President Orth clarified for Claudia Reed that fire lanes designated in the city areas are based on occupancy, on areas where large numbers of people assemble — for example, in front of the theatre in Willits. Ms. Reed said Jeff Smith (Little Lake Fire Dept. Fire Chief) had told her he did have the authority to declare a fire lane if a fire truck couldn't get through, and the Fire Chief for the Town of Mendocino told her he believed he had the authority to declare it and then go to the Board of Supervisors for approval. Chief Schoeppner agreed that he and Jeff Smith could declare fire lanes in front of structures based on occupancy, in an area designated as a fire hazard. However, these were not done on county roads. Claudia Reed felt a dense residential area could also qualify. Director Skezas added that Jeff Smith might have the authority to do this, but has he done it.
Director Pohlson said she felt the central problem was for evacuation. She said she had never wanted to designate fire lanes, but wanted to ensure ingress and egress in any given neighborhood. She further elaborated that we need to assess our evacuation routes, and the priority would be based by the number of vehicles. These priority streets should have fog lines. She mentioned that some widely-used smaller streets are connectors to larger streets and so technically are a part of the collector streets. She suggested contracting out for striping of fog lines and finding a grant for it if they find it to be essential, and that the District should focus on this "safety first" issue.
General Manager Chapman asked for direction as to requests of Howard Dashiell (DOT Director). Director Skezas suggested we ask Mr. Dashiell the cost to do our fog lines. President Orth said he felt the tabletop drill, focusing on evacuation, was a great forum to come up with a renewed evacuation plan and through that process, designate those routes, and then see whether we can actually define evacuation routes. President Orth thanked the Fire Department employees for their attendance and presentation.
9. Consideration of revised Ord. 128 – private water tanks. General Manager Chapman explained that this draft ordinance had been modified by District Counsel Neary to include the exclusionary language for specific properties as requested by President Orth. Director Skezas moved to reintroduce the ordinance, waive reading and set a public hearing for May 24, 2005. Director Pohlson seconded. Roll-call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Ziady, Horrick, Pohlson, Skezas, Orth
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
10. Consideration of human resources consultant bids for review of District job descriptions/salary schedules. Director Pohlson left the table as she had a conflict of interest. General Manager Chapman said that since the official review completed in 1994, job duties in all areas have significantly changed. Three quotes had been obtained to perform a job description revision and the associated salary review. He recommended the quote presented by Gary Wilkening with 39 years of experience in this line of work, and he estimated he could perform the project for $2,750. Director Skezas moved to hire Gary Wilkening to perform the job description and salary review and to authorize a project cost not to exceed $3,000; Director Horrick seconded. Director Ziady then asked whether it would not be preferable to hire CPS, in the event the project should ever have a court challenge; she felt that Mr. Wilkening would not qualify as an expert witness in such a case, and that it would therefore be prudent to pay the higher cost to CPS, whom she understood would qualify as an expert witness. District Counsel Neary then discussed the criteria used to qualify an expert witness in litigation and stated that these include relevant education and/or experience and that the threshold was not really that high. He said that the area of job descriptions was ripe, if not for litigation, at least for a lot of consternation in personnel administration. General Manager Chapman said he had spent an hour with Mr. Wilkening and felt comfortable, and that he was currently performing such a review for the County of Mendocino. Director Horrick asked if the consultant hired would provide us with a database with which we could then modify our job descriptions in future as duties change. Director Skezas asked Mr. Chapman to review each employee's interview so that the duties they describe were checked for accuracy. General Manager Chapman suggested an ad hoc committee of the Board review the matter. He said he might want to step up the certification requirements in the Sewer Department to bring it to uniformity with the Water Department. President Orth suggested sending it to the Finance Committee; General Manager Chapman said he would ask for a committee meeting within the next few weeks. The motion died for lack of action.
11. Consideration of Amendment to JPA with FDAC-FASIS (workers compensation through Fire Districts Association). General Manager Chapman stated his overall concern that the FDAC-FASIS announced rates that were artificially low compared to the State, but then amplified at the end of the year via a special assessment (beginning three years ago) to cover their deficit, which has significantly increased the cost of the insurance. He said the District was investigating alternatives as a way out of this group because we were repeatedly vulnerable to special assessments. His one concern about leaving the group was the possibility of being assessed for the entire outstanding special assessment debt, currently about $50,000, which the District could not presently afford. He believed that to ratify the revised joint powers agreement would lock us into an arrangement which, under the current agreement, we might be able to further contest or escape. He said rates from other carriers were currently being researched, but requested advice from District Counsel because the deadline to approve the new JPA was May 27, 2005. District Counsel Neary said this item should be on the closed session agenda for the next meeting, and discussion ended.
12. Consideration of $200,000 additional loan from USDA Rural Development for Clearwell/Backwash Ponds Project and authorize President and General Manager to execute loan documents and adopt Resolution 2005-5 approving additional loan. Director Skezas moved to adopt Resolution 2005-5 and authorize the President and General Manager to execute the related documents. Director Horrick seconded. 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 requested a correction by the media regarding the figure of $30-50,000 given as the cost to cut the CFIP demonstration site, and said the correct figure was $3-5,000. Claudia Reed of the Willits News agreed to put in a correction.
District Counsel: None.
General Manager Chapman: Mr. Chapman said that he had no additional comments besides those in his written report.
L. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
M. ADJOURNMENT
Director Skezas moved to adjourn and President Orth declared the meeting of May 10, 2005 closed at 9:45 p.m.
CHARLES A. ORTH
President Orth
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
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