Mark Dolson
Routine Approvals and Some Open Issues.
The July 15th Board Meeting for the SLVWD had just four fairly routine agenda items and was a mere one hour in duration. The Board began by unanimously approving the first instantiation of its new past-due collections process which transfers debts to the property tax roll rather than shutting off water. Recognizing the potential for Covid-related financial hardships, the District is initially pursuing only accounts with long-standing past-due balances from the end of 2019 or earlier. The Board also unanimously accepted the long-delayed and recently completed 2020 Annual Report for the Lompico Assessment District. The SLVWD is continuing to follow through on its established commitment to improving the Lompico infrastructure. The third agenda item involved the selection of a contractor for the design of relocated water mains along Highway 9 in two locations where Caltrans has determined that existing bridges must be replaced. There were two bidders, and there was unanimous agreement that MME was the superior choice with a bid of $152,567.80. Lastly, the Board unanimously accepted the final project report from Utility Services Associates for its tri-annual waterline leak detection survey. As a consequence of the District’s aging infrastructure, water leakage (e.g., from storage tanks, from mainline pipes, and from service meters) is quite a significant concern (because wasted water negatively impacts both the District’s spending and its water conservation efforts). The District has made recent progress in reducing leakage from tanks, but the Board discussion highlighted the potential for further savings via more frequent (e.g., annual) leak detection surveys of its pipes. Two other items of note surfaced during the opening comments section of the meeting. President Mahood explained that a subgroup had reviewed the recently released Environmental Impact Report (EIR) from the City of Santa Cruz and determined that there is very little in the EIR that bears directly on the District’s water rights; hence, it would not be a good use of Staff time to prepare a critique of the EIR for SLV public consumption. Director Henry noted that Director Fultz has recently been acting contrary to widely-shared expectations for a public board member in that he has been campaigning to undermine the Board’s 4-1 decision to pursue a fire-recovery surcharge. The District is facing an anticipated $5 million in CZU-Fire-related expenses that will not be covered by FEMA, by insurance, or by grants. No other actionable plan for addressing this shortfall was identified in multiple Board discussions leading up to the Board’s decision. For more information on this topic, see the FAQ at: https://www.friendsofsanlorenzovalleywater.org/fire-recovery-surcharge The next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for 6:30 PM on August 5th.