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BOARD MEETING MINUTES

REGULAR MEETING
Saturday, November 19, 2016

A.    CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

President Cross called the Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Stinson Beach County Water District to order on Saturday, November 19, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., at the Stinson Beach County Water District office, located at 3785 Shoreline Highway, Stinson Beach, CA 94970.

Directors present:
Sandra Cross, President
Morey Nelsen, Vice President
Lawrence Baskin, Director
Barbara Boucke, Director
Jim Zell, Director

Treasurer present:
Judy Stemen

General Manager present:
Ed Schmidt

Staff present:
Rich Souza - District Engineer

B.    PUBLIC EXPRESSION

Matters not on the agenda: The Board requested that the flyer for the composting workshop to be held at the Stinson Beach Community Presbyterian Church on December 10, 2016 be posted on Nextdoor Stinson Beach.

C.    SETTING OF AGENDA

The agenda was unanimously adopted as set.

D.    PUBLIC HEARING

  1. Review and discuss variance application for new wastewater system at 282 Seadrift Road, Chao/Fujioka, Owners, APN 195-320-18.
    This design and variance application is for a new alternative wastewater system with a maximum and average daily flow rate of 450 and 300 gallons, respectively. The system is designed for a single family residential home with up to 2,800 square feet of habitable space on a 60' x 335' vacant lot on the ocean side of Seadrift Road. The water main shall be relocated to meet a 10 foot minimum setback to the proposed wastewater system.

    Groundwater testing on the neighboring property at 284 Seadrift Road had been done on March 16, 2016. Based on use of the proposed raised bed dispersal field, there is over 36 inches of vertical separation from seasonal high groundwater to the bottom of the raised bed dispersal field.

    Per the District's Title IV, Section 4.15.100 Site Criteria - Setbacks, variances are required from the dispersal field to a paved area and to allow parking over a portion of the dispersal field. To mitigate potential loss of treatment in the dispersal field from the loss of oxygen, perforated 4-inch diameter "breather" pipes are proposed next to each lateral. A variance is also required per Section 4.19.010 - Use of Alternative Wastewater Systems Design for use of a recirculating textile (Advantex) pretreatment device. The design consists of a new 1,500 gallon septic tank, an 810 gallon sump tank, Advantex AX20, and dual raised bed dispersal fields.

    A copy of the application documents were sent to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Wastewater Committee had discussed the application at its October 17, 2016 meeting, and neighbor notifications were sent on November 1, 2016.

    Director Baskin requested that the wording of condition "i." of Draft Resolution No. WW 2016- 13, regarding the submittal of a maintenance contract agreement between the District approved service provider and current homeowner be revised to read: "Submittal of a current maintenance contract agreement to the District between a District approved service provider and current homeowner for the alternative wastewater system lifespan." With this revision, Director Baskin moved to adopt Draft Resolution No. WW 2016-13 Granting a Variance to the Requirements of the Stinson Beach County Water District Wastewater Treatment Regulations Ordinance No. 2014-04 to Reduce Setback Requirements to a Driveway/Paved Area and to Utilize an Alternative Wastewater System for property located at 282 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach. Vice President Nelsen seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously by President Cross, Vice President Nelsen and Directors Baskin and Zell. Director Boucke recused herself as she resides within 300 feet of the project.
  2. Review and discuss variance application for new wastewater system at 285 Seadrift Road, Jacoby, Owner, APN 195-320-28.
    This design and variance application is for a new alternative wastewater system with a maximum and average daily flow rate of 300 and 200 gallons, respectively. The system is designed for a single family residential home with up to 1,900 square feet of habitable space. The subject property is a vacant parcel located on the northerly (lagoon) side of Seadrift Road. The water main within the Seadrift right-of-way is to be relocated by the owner to the District's approval.

    Groundwater testing on the neighboring property at 284 Seadrift Road had been done on March 16, 2016. Based on use of the proposed raised bed dispersal field, there is over 36 inches of vertical separation from seasonal high groundwater to the bottom of the raised bed dispersal field. The design consists of a new 1,500 gallon septic tank, an 810 gallon sump tank, Advantex AX20, and dual raised bed dispersal fields.

    Variances are required under Section 4.15.100 Site Criteria - Setbacks to reduce setback from the property line to the dispersal field from 5 feet to1 foot and to eliminate the 5 foot setback from driveway/parking to dispersal field. Also, a variance to Section 4.19.010 Use of Alternative Wastewater System Designs is needed to utilize a recirculating textile filter.

    A copy of the application documents were sent to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Wastewater Committee had discussed the application at its October 17, 2016 meeting, and neighbor notifications were sent on November 1, 2016.

    The Board noted a typographical error on page 2 of Draft Resolution No. WW 2016-14 regarding the square footage of habitable space as 2,800 square feet, instead of 1,900 square feet. With this correction and also changing the wording of condition "i" on page 2 relating to the maintenance contract to be similar to Item 1. above, 282 Seadrift Road, Director Baskin moved to Grant a Variance to the Requirements of the Stinson Beach County Water District Wastewater Treatment Regulations Ordinance No. 2014-04 to Reduce Setback Requirements to a Driveway and Property Line and to Utilize an Alternative Wastewater System for property located at 285 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach. Vice President Nelsen seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously by President Cross, Vice President Nelsen and Directors Baskin and Zell. Director Boucke recused herself as she resides within 300 feet of the project.
  3. Review and discuss variance application for repair/replacement wastewater system at 131 Seadrift Road, Traub/Epstein, Owners, Account No. 7700.
    This design and variance application is for the replacement of the failed single field gravity system with an alternative system. The Failed System Citation had been issued on June 7, 2016, as the slow leach field was unable to be repaired via maintenance. The maximum design flow rate will be decreased from 347 to 300 gallons per day. The property borders Seadrift Lagoon and is approximately 7,500 square feet. No increase of habitable space is proposed to the existing 1,499 square foot single family residential building. The owner shall be responsible for relocating the water main.

    The wastewater design consists of an existing 1,200 gallon traffic rated septic tank, Advantex AX20RT pretreatment device, and dual dispersal fields. The maximum and average daily flow rates will be 300 and 200 gallons, respectively.

    The following eight variances to Title IV were requested:

    Section 4.15.100 Site Criteria - Setbacks

    • Reduce dispersal field setback to deck foundation from 5 feet to 1 foot
    • Reduce septic & pretreatment tank setback to deck foundation from 5 to 1 foot
    • Reduce dispersal field setback to a property line from 5 feet to 1 foot
    • Reduce dispersal field setback to a water body from 100 feet to 90 feet
    • Reduce 5-foot setback to allow parking over the existing non-rated traffic rated septic tank
    Section 4.15.300 Septic Tank Construction and Size

    • Reduce required capacity of septic tank from 1,500 gallons to 1,200 gallons
    Section 4.19.020 Use of Alternative Wastewater Design - Repair or Replacement of Failed System - Granting of Variance

    • To utilize a recirculating textile filter
    Section 4.19.150 Drip Irrigation/Drip Dispersal Field Design Standards

    • Reduce required drip dispersal field capacity from 300% to 175% of the design requirement
    Neighbor and Regional Water Quality Control Board notifications were not applicable. The Wastewater Committee had discussed the application at its November 14, 2016 Committee meeting. However, the Board members felt they could not approve the present design application at this hearing. They were concerned about the large number of variances that were applied for by the applicant, and requested that the project's designer, Noadiah Eckman, revise the plans to reduce the number of variances. The matter is to be heard at the next Wastewater Committee meeting before being heard again at a future Board meeting.

E.    GENERAL BUSINESS

  1. Discuss the water allotment for the Village Green Parks and possible modification to that existing allotment.
    Charts prepared by Lance Meade show that both Village Green I and Village Green II exceed their water allotments. Mr. Meade requested that the allotments be modified to reflect the actual minimum amount necessary to maintain both lawns.

    The Board is willing to approve a combination of a water usage reduction and an increased water allotment. However, the increased allotment might be lowered or eliminated if the District needed to implement the Mandatory Water Rationing program.
  2. Review and discussion of a Draft Technical Memorandum of the Geology and Groundwater Potential in the Stinson Beach area, prepared by Stetson Engineers.
    The District requested that Stetson Engineers review and update the previous report prepared by E. H.Boudreau in 1979. The Board reviewed the Draft Technical Memorandum prepared by Stetson Engineers dated August 15, 2016.

F.    APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Board noted that the minutes of October 15, 2016 should be corrected to show that Director Boucke recused herself from voting to approve the variance application for 284 Seadrift Road. With that correction, the minutes were approved unanimously.

G.    FINANCIAL REPORT

The Board reviewed the District's Financial Statements for the period July through September 2016.

H.    APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS

The motion to approve the disbursements of October 12 and October 25, 2016 was passed unanimously.

I.    MANAGER'S REPORT

The General Manager discussed his monthly report. The grant reimbursement Progress Report#4 for the period from July 1 to September 30, 2016 has been submitted to the Department of Water Resources together with our invoice which exceeds $160,000.

Toby will prioritize his list of the District's needed future capital projects. The District's new well at the Laurel Avenue Water Treatment Plant is being pumped and the initial results show it produces about 40 gallons per minute.

J.    COMMITTEE REPORTS

None.

K.    CORRESPONDENCE

None.

L.    ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned and the next regular meeting will be on Saturday, December 17, 2016, at 9:30 a.m.

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