BOARD MEETING MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2008
A. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
Director Zell called a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Stinson Beach County Water District to order on
Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 9:35a.m., at the District Office located at 3785 Shoreline Highway in Stinson
Beach, California.
Directors present:
Jim Zell, President
Barbara Boucke, Vice President
Lawrence Baskin, Director
Elizabeth Sapanai, Director
Scott Tye, Director
General Manager present:
Ed Schmidt
Staff present:
Christine Casper
B. PUBLIC EXPRESSION
Director Tye announced that Porter Sesnon, who was a board member for many years, passed away in late 2007.
C. SETTING OF AGENDA
Motion to adopt the agenda as presented made by Director Sapanai, and seconded by Director Boucke. Hearing
no objections, Director Zell announced the agenda set as presented.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion to approve minutes for Saturday, December 15 made by Director Sapanai, seconded by Director Tye and
approved by unanimous vote with the following amendments: on page 4, line 26 property shall be changed to
personal property; on page 4, line 40 inventory of capital policy shall be changed to inventory policy.
E. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
Motion to approve disbursements for December 13, December 19 and January 8 made by Director Sapanai,
seconded by Director Baskin and approved by unanimous vote.
Director Zell asked if the District was reimbursed for check #16236 to Whitman's Auto Body for the repair of two
District vehicles; Mr. Schmidt replied that a total of $4,848.57 was paid to Whitman's Auto Body, and the District
was reimbursed for all repairs, minus a $500.00 deductible for each of the two vehicles.
Director Baskin stated that one of his checks for board meeting attendance has been lost by his bank, and asked
Christine to research which check issued to him has not been returned. The Board directed staff to cut a new
check without issuing a stop payment order on the lost check, since the bank charges to stop payment.
F. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Director Baskin stated that although the Board is ordinarily only presented with quarterly financial reports, the
Finance Committee decided to share with the Board a new cash flow report format called the "Operating Report"
for the Month of November, 2007 as well as the "Investment Report" for November, 2007.
With regards to the cash flow report, Director Baskin noted that the "Water Usage" charges reflect a $40,000
difference from the budgeted amount. Director Sapanai asked what percentage of the revenue overage is due to
leaks. Staff will research that question and forward a response.
Director Baskin noted that "Water Related Services" are down, as are "Wastewater Related Fees", but the District
is doing quite well financially. In fact, the District is running under budget on expenses. Director Baskin added
that the underage on revenues is simply a timing issue, as it pertains to the District's receipt of property taxes
which were received in December and will be reflected in next month's report.
Director Baskin stated that the District is continuing to pay for the development of the Water Treatment Plant
Replacement Project plans and site preparation out of cash flow. In fact, the last projected budget that the District
received from Stetson Engineering, Inc. for the project reflected a reduction in costs from the preliminary estimate.
In response to the Board's inquiry last month, Mr. Schmidt reported that the relationship between Stetson
Engineering, Inc.'s WTP costs and percentage of completion of the project design is 25% (budget) to 25%
(design). Mr. Schmidt added that the revised projected cost for the WTP Replacement Project is $2,159,000,
down from the original estimate of $2,300,000. Director Boucke noted that the District is still $80,000 short on
funding for the project.
Ed Schmidt stated that the amounts for the three reserves (on page two of the cash flow report) are incorrect;
each of the reserves should be $16,000, not $10,000, because they should each have been funded $3,300 per
month for five months. Funding for those reserves seems to have begun two months after the fiscal year started.
The Board and Mr. Schmidt decided to fully fund each of the reserves through December ($3,300 per month for
six months).
G. GENERAL BUSINESS
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Selection of Board Committees for 2008. Director Zell stated that in addition to the current standing
committees listed in the board packet, he would like to add an ad hoc committee to update Title II that should
consist of members of the Personnel Committee, the Legal Committee and staff. Director Zell added that since
the District is in the midst of several projects, it would be better if a change of committee members was not made
at this time; rather, changes could be revisited in six months.
Director Boucke stated that she would like to learn more about the technical side of the business, especially septic. Director Sapanai asked when the University of Washington short course on septic will be offered, as that would be an opportunity for board members to learn about septic. The Board discussed District-funded training opportunities and confirmed that all District-funded events need to be Board-approved well in advance and the expenditures that the District will cover for those events should be clearly specified. Director Zell stated that all Board members are welcome to attend all committee meetings to learn more about other aspects of the business.
The Board decided to have the Legal Committee meet with District counsel to review Title II before a workshop meeting is scheduled to review it (March-April timeframe).
Director Tye suggested scheduling a workshop retreat to develop a strategic plan/policy for the District sometime around July/August; it has been 8-9 years since the Board has had one. The Board decided to revisit this subject in the spring, for a potential retreat date sometime in September.
Director Zell concluded that standing committees will remain unchanged, and an ad hoc committee is added. -
Review of Current Water Supply and Conservation Policy. Mr. Schmidt reminded the Board that they passed a
motion several months ago that put the District in Stage 1 Alert, and customers were notified via the billing
system. Mr. Schmidt referred to Section 3.15.100 of the Water Conservation Policy and confirmed that the
District is no longer in Stage 1 Alert because the creek flow has increased to less than 15% below normal.
The Board discussed Section 3.13.100 of the District's Water Conservation Policy, "Indoor Plumbing Fixtures". The Board agreed on stricter enforcement of this policy for all new construction in Stinson Beach, via inspecting the interior of homes once construction is completed.
The Board discussed Section 3.13.300 of the District's Water Conservation Policy, "Limitations on Irrigated Turf and Other High Water Use Landscaping". Director Tye reminded the Board that this policy was drawn up in June of 2003 after reviewing the policies of the North Marin, Sonoma and the Marin Municipal Water Districts. The Board concluded that while there were a few questions regarding irrigated turf years ago, there have been no recent issues regarding this topic.
H. MANAGER'S REPORT
Mr. Schmidt stated that water production is up by about thirty percent and that staff spent a lot of time this past
month working on several leaks. The District's water loss due to those leaks is an estimated 120,000 gallons.
Mr. Schmidt stated that the Golden Gate National Recreation Area has lost about 500,000 gallons of water due to
a leak on their side of the meter. Mr. Schmidt said that he visited the GGNRA leak site twice, and that they are
tearing up their entire water line. Director Zell mentioned that a few nights ago he saw a hose line coming off of
the hydrant in the park without a meter attached, and that it appears the GGNRA is also hooked-up to the Fire
District's hydrant; thus, it is unclear who is paying for the water. Mr. Schmidt stated that he would look into why
there is no meter on the hydrant.
Mr. Schmidt stated that a considerable amount of corrosion control for copper has been done. Director Sapanai
stated that her house used to get a container for testing, but no longer does. Mr. Schmidt stated that he will
forward a list of the current testing sites.
Mr. Schmidt reported that several committee meetings were held during the past month, including: a Wastewater
Committee meeting on January 28, a Water Operations Committee meeting on January 30, a Finance Committee
meeting on January 16 and a Personnel Committee meeting on January 9.
Mr. Schmidt reported that $5,000 was paid to Liquivision Technology for divers that scanned and cleaned the
District's four water storage tanks. Mr. Schmidt said Liquivision also took some photographs that will determine
which tanks to recoat first, as all of the tanks need recoating inside and out. The recoating project will follow the
building of the Water Treatment Plant.
Mr. Schmidt stated that the easement issue with Pacific Gas and Electric is nearly resolved, and that it is not
holding up the Water Treatment Plant Replacement Project at the County. The issue that has been slowing the
project at the County for the past month is the County's request for a biological assessment of the site. Mr.
Schmidt said that he contacted Wetlands Research Associates (WRA), the company that did the District's
previous biological assessment. For $3,500, WRA is going to do a biological assessment of a small drainage
area on the far side of the treatment plant site. A report from WRA will be completed in about two weeks and
forwarded to the County. Mr. Schmidt stated that Jeremy Tejirian, the County Planner for the project, won't set a
public hearing until he receives a copy of that report.
Mr. Schmidt stated that he called the Registrar of Voters and confirmed that Measure C is on the ballot for the
February 5th election.
Mr. Schmidt stated that Redwood Empire Disposal wants to do a "Clean-Up Day" in Stinson Beach, but a date
has yet to be set. Director Tye suggested scheduling the day during a weekend to get more participation; Director
Sapanai replied that a Monday pick-up would be best so that people can use the weekend to collect refuse. Mr.
Schmidt said that the disposal company plans to provide several big debris boxes, and that they may even offer a
pick-up service. The Board identified several optimal locations for the debris boxes: outside of the Seadrift gate
near the Seadrift Realty office, Fire Station II, the Community Center or Fire Station I, the Post Office and maybe
Panoramic Highway. Mr. Schmidt said he would suggest those locations to the disposal company. Director Tye
asked if the Clean-Up Day is taking the place of the old Redwood Empire/Waste Management voucher system;
specifically, if Redwood Empire Disposal comes around and picks up garbage on the street during the Clean-Up
day, would that eliminate the vouchers that customers got for taking items to the dump for free?
Mr. Schmidt stated that an old 2" diameter fire hydrant along Shoreline Highway was replaced with a new one.
Mr. Schmidt added that the old hydrant was so worn that it could have been responsible for some of the District's
18% unaccounted for water loss, as the water would have been leaking directly into the lagoon undetected.
The Board discussed the Wastewater Report from Chris Kelley. Director Sapanai stated that she is glad that
telemetry is now available for the aerobic wastewater units.
I. CORRESPONDENCE
Mr. Schmidt referred to the letter from CSW Stuber/Stroeh notifying the District of in increase in the hourly rate for
the Wastewater Engineer (from $125/hour to $150/hour). Director Baskin said that the contract with CSW Stuber-
Stroeh allows them to raise their rates, and that the letter was reviewed at the Finance Committee meeting.
Director Baskin stated that $125/hour was a highly discounted rate, and that $150/hour for an engineer of Rich
Souza's caliber and experience is still low. Mr. Schmidt concurred that the rate is reasonable.
Mr. Schmidt stated that the West Marin Citizen ran an article with several errors about the District's appropriations
limit and the Treatment Plant Replacement Project. Mr. Schmidt said that he relayed the facts to the reporter, and
that the reporter might correct those mistakes in a future article.
Mr. Schmidt referred to the Community Survey Questionnaire from the Village Association. Director Tye reported
that so far the Village Association has received 156 responses. Chris Harrington, of the Village Association,
stated that the survey data will be reduced by two graduate students at the U.C. Berkeley Urban and Regional
Planning Department into a cohesive report that will be made available to the District.
Mr. Harrington said that if the Board intends to do some kind of septic training, he would like the Village
Association to be notified. Mr. Harrington also suggested making the training available to the public.
The Board supported Mr. Harrington's suggestion and discussed holding an introductory septic course at the
Community Center. Mr. Schmidt said that he would discuss a potential agenda for such a course at the next
Wastewater Committee meeting.
J. COMMITTEE REPORTS
None.
K. CLOSED SESSION/RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
The Board met in closed session pursuant to
Government Code Section 54957
to discuss assessment of personnel.
L. ADJOURNMENT
The next regular board meeting was set for Saturday, February 16 at 9:30a.m. Motion to adjourn the meeting
was approved by unanimous vote.