BOARD MEETING MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 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 Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 9:30a.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
General Manager present:
Ed Schmidt
Staff present:
Toby Bisson, Water Supervisor
Rich Souza, Wastewater Engineer
B. PUBLIC EXPRESSION
Director Boucke requested a status report on the cellular tower lease; Director Tye stated that a contract was
received about a week ago that is currently under review.
Director Zell asked if the District has a protocol for handling wastewater alarms that are sounding at unoccupied
residences; policy regarding silencing alarms was referred to the Wastewater Committee.
C. SETTING OF AGENDA
Motion to adopt the agenda as presented made by Director Baskin, seconded by Director Zell and approved by
unanimous vote.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion to approve minutes for April 11th made by Director Boucke, seconded by Director Tye and approved by
unanimous vote with the following amendments: page 2, line 48, annual depreciation shall be changed to
$148,000, and on page 4, line 4 "defer" shall be changed to "refer".
Motion to approve minutes for April 21st made by Director Baskin, seconded by Director Boucke and approved by
unanimous vote.
E. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
Motion to approve disbursements for April 5th and April 18th made by Director Tye, seconded by Director Boucke
and approved by unanimous vote.
Director Tye asked if the $3,292.50 paid to Janice Payne for March bookkeeping services is her typical pay for a
month. Director Boucke responded that Janice was paid more than her contracted amount for the month of
March due to some additional hours she spent investigating accounting software problems.
Motion to approve the following Board Member Compensation Requests made by Director Baskin, seconded by
Director Tye and approved by unanimous vote: Scott Tye, Apri 16, Water Operations Committee; Barbara
Boucke, May 16, Finance Committee.
F. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Director Boucke reported on the third quarter 2006-2007 financial statements: At the end of March, the District is
at 75% of the year. In revenues for water, the District is at 85%, expenses for water are at 71%. For wastewater,
revenues are at 84% and expenses are at 66%. Revenues are higher than 75% of budget in interest and in
property tax received, and the debt service is low.
Director Tye asked why on page 2 of the statement for water, account 5490 "Miscellaneous Outside Services" is
410 percent of budget; it was budgeted at $4,200 and YTD total expenses are $17,208. Director Boucke replied
that she would investigate the overage.
Director Sapanai asked if the District's overage in revenues is attributable to property taxes; Director Boucke
responded that property taxes are accounted for separately in the financial statements. The overage is due to the
water use charges currently at 94% of budget, and to an increase in wastewater fees (variances, inspections,
etc.)
G. MANAGER'S REPORT
Ed Schmidt reported that he would like to continue the practice of publishing a task list following board meetings;
board discussed tracking projects in spreadsheet format.
Barbara Boucke requested that Ed set as a priority the District's capital improvement program/budget.
H. CORRESPONDENCE
Ed Schmidt referenced a letter to the District from Arthur Moritz regarding code enforcement at 12 Marine Way.
Ed stated that he responded to Mr. Moritz's letter, and that both letters are in the reading binder at the District
Office. Mr. Schmidt reported that the code enforcement officer is slated to meet with the inspector and the
applicant; about a week later, there will be another inspection at the site with all three present.
I. PUBLIC HEARING
-
Consideration/Adoption of a Draft Resolution Granting a Variance for Property Located at 318 Seadrift Road,
Account #6970, Kenneth Werner, Owner: Rich Souza reported that the proposed septic system has an average
daily flow of 300 gallons, and a 450 gallon maximum daily flow. The application was sent to the Regional Water
Quality Control Board thirty days ago, but the District is still awaiting their comments. Neighbor notification was
sent. The variances include installation of a gravel driveway over the leachfield and installation of an Advantex
Pretreatment Device. The draft resolution also stipulates the use of low flow toilets and the use of a Vericomm
telemetry control panel. If the water main is within ten feet, the District will require a ten thousand dollar deposit
and a signed agreement for relocation of the water main. In addition, the District will require quarterly monitoring
by staff for the first year and submittal of a maintenance contract agreement with a District approved service
provider.
Director Zell asked Mr. Souza how long the District has been approving driveways over leachfields; Mr. Souza responded that as long as he has been with the District, driveways over leachfields have been approved, especially when Advantex pretreatment devices are employed.
Director Tye made a motion to adopt the draft resolution granting a variance for 318 Seadrift Road, seconded by Director Boucke and approved by unanimous vote. -
Consideration/Adoption of a Draft Resolution Granting a Water Use Charge Reduction for Property Located at
215 Seadrift Road, Account #7500, H. Boyd Seymour, Owner: Mr. Seymour handed a letter to Director Sapanai
who recited aloud:
To Whom It May Concern,
Director Tye stated that since the leak occurred on a secondary irrigation system, the Board is limited in granting a reduction.
On behalf of Boyd Seymour we would like to explain the reasons of his unusually high water bill in the early 2007. I received a call from Deborah Brandon saying that one of the 3/4" anti-siphon valves was not shutting down, and attempts by her to find the gate valve to isolate the irrigation valves proved futile. I was out of the area at the time, so I drove by the following morning to see what the problem was. When I arrived at 215 Seadrift, I could see the water running and also found no isolating gate valve. This particular valve had no flow control device attached to it. I went to the controller to try to determine why the valve was receiving the signal to stay on, and found the display window was flickering and not responding to any attempts I made. This generally indicates that a power surge had sent too much electricity into the circuit boards and caused it to malfunction. This being an older model controller that did not have a surge protector, the solution was to shut the power off to the controller, remove the backup battery (the source of power) and let the circuits rest for a few minutes. This is similar to letting your computer reboot. Once I turned the power back on and replaced the nine volt battery with a fresh one, I was able to reprogram the controller and the valve in question was no longer receiving signal to stay open. To my knowledge, the system has been functioning well since then. I then faxed a letter with suggestions for avoiding this crisis in the future. The suggestions would be to install an electrical switch to make it possible to shut off the controller more easily; as it is now, the controller is hardwired to the controller and has no switch. [I recommend] installing a gate valve where the source of water is hooked into the system so any gardener or person may shut the water off to the valve without turning the water off to the whole house. Installing a master valve after the gate valve but before the valve manifold system...[inaudible] Installing a surge protector somewhere between the 110v power source and the controller switch or upgrading to controller that has a built-in surge protector fuse. I hope this answers your questions and/or concerns,
Peter Herbert
Peter Herbert Landscaping
Mr. Seymour stated that he does not live in Stinson Beach, but that he and his wife stay at their Stinson Beach residence most weekends; he was notified of the leak from office staff who left a message that he would be receiving a $1,600 water bill. Mr. Seymour stated that he then called Charmaine [at Seadrift Realty] who then called Deborah Brandon to investigate the leak.
Director Zell stated that the request falls outside of the Board's consideration for a reduction because it is an irrigation system and is within the control of the owner or the owner's agent.
Director Baskin stated that under the District's ordinance, "...in the event of water loss resulting from circumstances within the customer's reasonable control, including, but not limited to, failure of sprinkler/irrigation systems.." the Board does not have the authority to grant a reduction.
Director Sapanai stated that water loss is big deal in Stinson Beach due to limited storage capacity; Director Sapanai suggested that Mr. Seymour install an MDU and that he have a shut-off valve installed.
Water use charge reduction request was denied by unanimous vote. - Consideration/Adoption of a Draft Resolution Granting a Water Use Charge Reduction for Property Located at 1 Alameda Patio, Account #1060, Donald Santa, Owner: This item was continued to Saturday, June 23.
J. GENERAL BUSINESS
- Review of Proposed Title IV Amendments: The board reviewed the Wastewater Committee's proposed Title IV changes; proposed changes approved by unanimous vote.
- Consideration/Adoption of a Water Use Charge Reduction Policy: The board reviewed the amended policy; policy approved by unanimous vote.
K. CLOSED SESSION/RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
- Review of Compensation Proposals: The Board met in closed session pursuant to Government Code section 54957 to discuss compensation and benefits for fiscal year 2007-2008.
L. COMMITTEE REPORTS
None.
M. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn meeting approved by unanimous vote.