BOARD MEETING MINUTES

WORKSHOP MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007

A.    CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

Director Sapanai called a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Stinson Beach County Water District to order on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 5:05p.m., at the District Office located at 3785 Shoreline Highway in Stinson Beach, California.

Directors present:
Elizabeth Sapanai, President
Jim Zell, Vice President
Lawrence Baskin, Director
Barbara Boucke, Director
Scott Tye, Director

Staff present:
Toby Bisson, Interim Secretary
Christine Casper, Recording Secretary

B.    PUBLIC EXPRESSION

None.

C.    SETTING OF AGENDA

Director Baskin made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented; motion approved by unanimous vote.

D.    GENERAL BUSINESS

1. Discussion of Water Use Charge/Leak Reduction Policy, Resolution GB 2002-07: Director Zell stated that the board is revisiting this policy in order to reduce the amount of money that the District loses to water use charge reductions and to encourage water conservation. Director Zell suggested that leak reductions be granted for primary residents only. Board discussed limiting reductions to a maximum number of cubic feet, due to the danger posed to the community of depleting the District's storage capacity.
   
   Board discussed the verbiage in the policy stating "In the event of water loss resulting from circumstances beyond reasonable control of the customer...there shall be no reduction." Director Baskin questioned what kind of leak would not be within the customer's control. Director Sapanai stated that the District now has the technology to monitor any water loss (MDUs); the intention of the ("reasonable control") verbiage in the policy was to differentiate between the "secret leak" versus the audible leak in the toilet or the leak in the irrigation system that should be checked periodically. Director Baskin stated that he does not believe there is such a thing as "a secret leak"; for the most part, leaks are within the customer's control.
   
   Director Sapanai summarized that leak reductions will only be granted for 1) fully occupied properties, and for 2) leaks on the mainline coming from the meter to the house (no secondary lines). Director Sapanai stated that she would highly recommend that residents install MDUs, but that it would not be required as a condition for a water use charge reduction.
   
   Director Zell suggested that the board not grant reductions for leaks occurring outside the footprint of the main house and for those not between the meter and the main house. Director Zell added that he would also like to reduce the upper limit (of cubic feet) allowed for reductions. Director Sapanai disagreed with putting the footprint of the house on the policy.
   
   Director Baskin reiterated the Board's decision to remove the word "reasonable" from the policy. In addition, the two bulleted sentences should be removed that state, "Main lateral supply line failure, in which case a water use charge reduction may be made for losses no greater than 13,400 cubic feet. Usage above 13,400 cubic feet shall be calculated at the tier three rate," and "Secondary supply line failure, in which case a water use charge reduction may be made for losses no greater than 10,000 cubic feet. Usage above 10,000 cubic feet shall be calculated at the tier three rate." Mr. Baskin added that the last sentence of paragraph three should read, "The Directors, upon finding the water loss resulted from circumstances beyond the control of the customer, may grant a water use charge reduction for losses no greater than 6,700 cubic feet."
   
   Director Baskin stated that he would hand the water use charge reduction policy, marked with the Board's proposed changes, to Christine to type for the next board meeting. The policy would read as follows: The first and second paragraph remain unchanged. In the third paragraph, the first sentence should read, "In the event of water loss resulting from circumstances beyond the control of the customer..." Also in the third paragraph, the last sentence should be replaced with, "The Directors, upon finding that the water loss resulted from circumstances beyond the control of the customer, may grant a water use charge reduction for losses no greater than 6,700 cubic feet." The two bulleted sentences after the third paragraph should be deleted. The paragraph following the two bulleted sentences should also be deleted. The asterisk at the bottom of the page that reads, "The customer still maintains the right to be heard in front of the Board of Directors" should also be deleted. The Board will evaluate applications on an individual basis to make the finding of whether the (leak) circumstances were under the control of the customer. Director Baskin stated that along with the customer's bills, the District should send notice of the revision of the water use charge reduction policy, its rational, and the information for installation of MDUs.
   
   Director Tye stated that the Board should more strictly enforce the District's water conservation policy. While on the subject of water conservation, Richard Reasoner, Stinson Beach resident, presented a technology that allows customers to check their meter read and account information online.
2. Review of California Solar Initiative: Toby Bisson stated that the Board should consider this initiative as part of the District's infrastructure and capital improvements. The Board decided to postpone implementation of the initiative until it becomes more cost-effective for the District.
3. Review of Garbage Waiver Policy: Board discussed implementing a policy of mandatory garbage service. The Board decided that Toby Bisson will contact Waste Management to procure a list of all addresses that do not receive garbage service, then the policy will be reviewed at the next regular board meeting.

E.    COMMITTEE REPORTS

Director Baskin, of the Legal Committee, stated that he is very close to finalizing a contract between the District and Ed Schmidt for the position of general manager.

Director Boucke stated that the Finance Committee met with Raven Schauf, Christine Casper and Toby Bisson to create a preliminary budget for fiscal year 2007-2008; a draft of the budget should be available for the next board meeting on March 24. The Board discussed increasing fees for new water connections, and discussed creating a formula to arrive at that cost. Board decided that the Finance Committee will present rate/fee increases for the next fiscal year at the next board meeting.

Director Baskin, of the Finance Committee, reported that he has received January financial statements from the bookkeeper, Janice Payne; the District is now up to date on its monthly financial statements. There are, however, three areas of problems with respect to the financial statements 1) the totals are not matching up because if a line item had no activity in a given year, then it would not show up on the financial statements or carry over the number from the previous year, 2) the Trial Balance accounts for the Water Fund are out of balance, and 3) a variance of $32,000 in accounts payable still exists.

Director Baskin reported that year to date, revenues are up and expenses are down.

F.    ADJOURNMENT

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Director Baskin, seconded by Director Zell, and approved by unanimous vote.