Board perseveres through power outage to conduct routine business
by Mark Dolson
The June 17th Board Meeting for the SLVWD was perhaps most notable for the efforts the participants went to in order to continue meeting despite a power outage affecting over 5000 SLV homes. In the end, only two topics on the lengthy agenda were deferred to an upcoming special meeting set for Monday June 28th: a mandatory public hearing on the District’s updated Urban Water Management Plan, and a careful final review of the District’s Fiscal 2021-2023 Bi-Annual Budget.
The meeting began with an announcement from the preceding closed session at which the Board once again discussed the County’s perplexing lawsuit against the District. The County claims that a leaking water pipe was responsible for a landslide and associated damage to Bear Creek Road in January, 2020 whereas the District maintains that the pipe damage resulted from the slide and that it warned the County well in advance that the road was at risk. The District announcement stated: The consensus of the Board was to direct the District Manager to communicate to Supervisor McPherson’s office to propose a meeting of principals in an effort to resolve the County’s lawsuit against the District.
In New Business, the Board formalized acceptance of a $200,000 grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy’s Wildfire Resilience Program for vegetation removal around District infrastructure. It also approved a $248,500 contract (to be 75% reimbursed by FEMA) with Freyer & Laureta for a sophisticated engineering assessment of options for responding to the loss of the District’s “Five-Mile Pipeline” in the CZU Fire. This is a complicated issue that will require careful analysis and subsequent deliberation.
The Board also approved a $42,120 contract with Sandis for development of a federally required Emergency Response Plan to address threats such as trespass, mischief, theft, and cyberterrorism.
In anticipation of the upcoming budget review, the Board approved three staff promotions and one new position, Project Manager, accounting for an increase in annual spending of approximately $205,000. The Project Manager is a new high level management position reporting directly to the District Manager and intended to substantially increase overall productivity and effectiveness. The Board unanimously endorsed the promotions, but Director Fultz objected to the increase in headcount.
In Unfinished Business, the Board promptly adopted the revised Utility Billing Policy (eliminating water shutoffs but also no longer supporting tenant accounts) first discussed at the May 20th Board meeting. It also reviewed the District’s ready-to-launch web page explaining the proposed 5-year Fire Recovery Surcharge and the associated Proposition 218 public notification and acceptance process. For most residential customers, the surcharge will add about $10 per month to cover the estimated $5 million in CZU-Fire-related expenses that the District will not be reimbursed for via FEMA. Formal public notifications are to be mailed June 21st, and objections will be tabulated at the Board meeting on August 5th.