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The Board of Directors of Brooktrails Township Community Services District met in regular session April 25, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Brooktrails Community Center.
A. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
B. ROLL CALL
Roll call showed the following Directors present: Williams, Ziady, Orth, Horrick and Skezas. Also present were General Manager Chapman and District Counsel Neary.
REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION
None.
C. ADDITIONS/ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
None.
D. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. April 8, 2006. Director Orth moved to approve the minutes as corrected; Director Horrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
April 11, 2006. Director Orth moved to approve the minutes as corrected; Director Ziady seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
None.
F. PUBLIC HEARING
2. Sewer Standby Ordinance, 2006. President Skezas opened the hearing at 7:02 p.m. There being no comments from the public, the hearing was closed at 7:05 p.m.
3. Water Availability Charge, 2006. President Skezas opened the hearing at 7:05 p.m. There being no comments from the public, the hearing was closed at 7:06 p.m.
G. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Bob Terry noted the upcoming agenda item in May for bird flu and said he wanted to expand the emergency operating plan so that it covered any emergency in Brooktrails, including bird flu. He asked who would take charge if the Fire Chief and General Manager were both out of town. Director Orth said we should work on an emergency response plan over time and add components as they are identified. We should have water and earthquake response included. Director Williams asked who does what in the event of what and who the backup is. As an example, General Manager Chapman said he and his staff discussed the potential December 30, 2005 storm several days before; when the storm hit (Saturday) he called everyone to convene in his office early that morning, and every individual performed admirably as to what they had to do.
H. CONSENT CALENDAR
4. Review of Accounts Payable report and authorization to issue checks. Director Ziady noted the payment to County of Mendocino for lot merger fees, and General Manager Chapman confirmed we only merged two lots. Director Orth moved to approve payment of the accounts; Director Horrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Ginger Pohlson asked from the audience when the District last put out public notice about the lot merger program, such as a mention in the newspaper. General Manager Chapman we are up to about 350 lots merged / donated at this point; several years ago we had groups of 12. Ms. Pohlson said people might like to buy lots but don't know there is a program that will help them do it. Director Orth said there will be a future 218 election where if you merge after that, you will have to pay assessments still on two lots, and confirmed with District Counsel Neary that this was correct. He said this is a real incentive to merge now. District Counsel Neary answered a question from Claudia Reed of the Willits News by saying that he suspected there would be four or five different levels of assessment. President Skezas asked to return to the agenda.
5. Authorization to issue checks, Clearwell project. Director Orth moved to approve payment of the checks; Director Horrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
I. ACTION AGENDA
6. Consideration of Sewer Standby Charge Ordinance; schedule public hearing for protests to individual charges for June 27, 2006. General Manager Chapman briefly discussed the purpose of the sewer standby charge. Director Orth moved to waive further reading of Ordinance 131, adopt it, and set a public hearing for protests for June 27, 2006. Director Horrick seconded. Director Williams received clarification of what the charge was and when it was instituted. Roll call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Williams, Ziady, Orth, Horrick, Skezas
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
7. Consideration of resolution setting Water Availability charge for FY 2006-07; schedule public hearing for protests to individual charges for June 27, 2006. General Manager Chapman noted the Board was being requested to adopt a resolution establishing a $30.00 water availability charge for undeveloped lots and a $5.00 water availability charge for developed lots for Fiscal Year 2006-07, and to set a public hearing for protests for June 27, 2006. Director Orth so moved; Director Horrick seconded; the motion carried unanimously. Roll call vote was as follows:
AYES: Directors: Williams, Ziady, Orth, Horrick, Skezas
NOES: Directors: None
ABSENT: Directors: None
8. Consideration of rates and fees for FY 2006-07; schedule two public hearings for June 12 and June 27, 2006. General Manager Chapman discussed the revisions to the rates and fees and associated revisions to the draft budget. Regarding the proposed decrease in sewer monthly base rate, he stated that since City of Willits was still undecided as to which direction they wanted to go on their sewer plant (i.e., mechanical or ponding), and since we increased our sewer rates to prepare for those expenditures four years ago in anticipation of the ponding system, he would like to decrease the rates at this time because we have built up a considerable fund already. The sewer rate can be readjusted back if needed. He reviewed other suggestions from the Board which have been incorporated into the rates and fees, such as adding two additional water usage tiers. Director Orth asked whether the sewer project at the north end of Lake Emily could still be accommodated with this rate decrease. General Manager Chapman responded he would not want to do that now, with the pending water projects requiring a potential new lift station, and suspecting that if we did it now, we may have to repeat ourselves five years down the road. Director Orth asked if we had adequate funds to do the CEQA work and the pre-218 election work. General Manager Chapman said we have not addressed how we're going to fund a 218 ballot measure, and that we needed to find out from Hanson Engineering how much it will cost to raise the dam 15', and then get the experts in to advise us about the ballot election process. He said we have about $1.2 million cash in the sewer department.
Ginger Pohlson asked if the existing sewer conditions would be folded into the funding of the Lake Emily project or would that be separate. Mr. Chapman said we will probably have to re-route the sewer lines behind Lake Emily, because if the lake were raised 15' it will probably be over the sewer line on the west side of the reservoir.
Director Williams asked what rules are involved in late charges and door hangers and what the time frame was for disconnection. People not receiving bills were discussed. General Manager Chapman said a late charge is posted on the 21st; there is a 15-day process for unpaid bills; we do not disconnect water on a weekend or holiday. General Manager Chapman said by the time your water is shut off, you were technically 66 days late, and we have quite a few customers that we are dealing with on this all the time; many do not pay until they get the disconnect notice. Director Williams felt that $10.00 for the red postcard was a little stiff. General Manager Chapman discussed the various amounts of staff time involved in addressing late bills.
Director Orth moved to approve the rates as listed in Attachment A to the report and in the draft resolution and to schedule two public hearings on June 12 and June 27, 2006. Director Williams seconded. General Manager Chapman noticed a correction that needed to be made to the rates and fees mailer in the area discussing committees. Director Williams asked about golf course green fees; President Skezas clarified that the operator sets them but the Board has to approve them. The motion carried unanimously. Director Orth then moved to approve the rates and fees mailer, with the correction noted by the General Manager, with a cost not to exceed $600.00 for printing and postage; Director Horrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
9. Review of proposed changes and approval of Draft Greenbelt Stewardship Plan sections: Recreation; Restoration of the Core Zone. Director Ziady reviewed the text of the Recreation and Restoration of the Core Zone sections of the draft Plan, along with suggested revisions. Recreation had an addition of "entry parking with rock barrier protection of park" to the Ohl Grove section. She said she was not sure yet how many parking spaces would be provided. General Manager Chapman said he believed there were four. One was designated a handicapped space. Also, the Funding section was rewritten entirely, to avoid naming particular grants to be sought. In discussing Restoration of the Core Zone, she stressed this is a really long-term project with a massive amount of money, and the public had been found to be very sensitive to this issue and wanted protections and guidelines for the future. Don Morris noted a typographical error in the Natural Selection Forestry Principles. The Funding section was also rewritten in this chapter.
Director Horrick asked if there would be trees suitable for a sawmill as part of this program. Director Ziady said that trees will not be logged for funding purposes, but if a tree needs to come down, the tree won't be wasted and will be milled, probably for partial recovery of costs. Director Horrick asked if it wouldn't be simpler to take the trees to the mill. Director Ziady responded that this was part of developing public trust. She said the public has come a long way since its reaction to the CFIP report a year ago.
Ginger Pohlson said it was a good idea to keep track of the value in the lumber and what you're going to do with it, or getting credit for it in an equal amount of costs later on, because you're dealing with public funds and you need to make a good effort to recover, if you can. Director Orth said in a project that does generate several truckloads of excess wood, you will want to address that. He said that he understood about individual project approval, but asked District Counsel Neary what would need to be done when the point came to approve the entire Plan. Mr. Neary said completion of the CEQA checklist. General Manager Chapman said there would be an example within 18 months regarding the rubber spillway project; vegetation and trees up to 3 feet would have to be cleared along the banks of the reservoir. Directors discussed and confirmed that there would be no payments from the General Fund. President Skezas said this might be part of the bond election. Director Ziady said that's when she would bring a facilitator in.
Director Orth moved to approve the Recreation and Restoration of the Core Zone sections of the Greenbelt Stewardship Plan as presented. Director Horrick seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
10. Adopt Goals & Objectives for FY 2006-07. General Manager Chapman reviewed that the suggested changes had been incorporated into the list, including adding raising Lake Ada Rose and reforestation of the 160-acre parcel. Director Orth moved to adopt the Goals & Objectives for Fiscal Year 2006-07; Director Horrick seconded. Director Williams asked what contacts are made with the Wild Turkey Club. General Manager Chapman said they typically contact us, notifying us of downed trees on trails. Director Ziady said some are members of the Recreation Committee. Director Williams said he was thinking about a trail improvement project. Director Orth said the current trails map came from the Club. Bob Terry said he was continuing the insertion of the invasive species page in the BPOA booklet. Claudia Reed asked about items that had been removed from the list and specifically parking, and Director Orth clarified that the Board had already dealt with some goals. He said the Board will be discussing making the Specific Plan Committee an ad hoc committee of the Board. The motion carried unanimously.
J. ADDITIONS TO FUTURE AGENDAS
Director Ziady asked that revisions and approval of the remaining sections of the Greenbelt Stewardship Plan be placed on the next agenda; General Manager Chapman said the next meeting would be very busy, but there was more time at the second May meeting. Director Orth said he would be gone for the final approval of the budge in Junet. General Manager Chapman said President Skezas would be gone also, and so it was very important that three directors attend or the entire process would have to be redone.
K. SPECIAL REPORTS
Directors: Director Orth said he met for two hours with Rob Gitlin, who showed him his new proposal to the Board, and he wanted the Board to be aware of this meeting. Director Ziady said the abatement class on April 22. 2006 was well attended and conducted; it has been suggested that the next one be near the fall.
District Counsel: Mr. Neary said we would be transmitting a proposed contract called the Fourth Amendment to the City of Willits, which relates to the District assuming its share of cost of the new sewer plant project. He said there were actually two documents named "Fourth Amendment," because the Board approved transmission of the first one to the City over a year ago and the City took no action, and there has been another since (i.e., historical operation percentage).
General Manager Chapman: Mr. Chapman discussed the diagram and photo of the rubber spillway. At the next meeting he expected to present a contract with AES for the environmental review.
L. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
M. ADJOURNMENT
Director Orth moved to adjourn and President Skezas declared the meeting of April 25, 2006 closed at 8:05 p.m.
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GEORGE C. SKEZAS
President
ATTEST:
______________________________
MICHAEL V. CHAPMAN
Secretary to the Board of Directors
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