MINUTES - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1997

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
of the
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MONTECITO WATER DISTRICT
held at the
DISTRICT BOARD ROOM

583 SAN YSIDRO ROAD, MONTECITO, CALIFORNIA
at 3:00 p.m. on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1997

Present:	Directors Abel (arrived at 3:15 p.m. after jury duty), Campbell, Muller, Puddicombe and Wilson
Absent:	None
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager Cathy Muneio, Secretary Michael & Michelle Smith Rodger Dawson

Several suggested changes were made to the minutes. A motion was made by Director Puddicombe, seconded by Director Campbell and unanimously carried to approve the amended minutes of October 7, 1997.

The General Manager said that an item arose subsequent to the agenda being posted. Director Puddicombe made a motion to approve Resolution No. 1848, to hold a closed session/conference with the District’s real estate negotiator. It was seconded by Director Wilson. A roll call vote resulted as follows:

Michael Smith discussed with the Board his request for the District to pay the site grading costs for the building site on the District’s Yaggy parcel that he has an offer on. He said that he is a tree contractor and would perform the work associated with the removal of an oak tree and the planting of new oak trees. He stated that the District costs would be $7,000 rather than $10,000 originally requested in Paul Suding’s October 15, 1997 letter.

After discussion the Board went into closed session at 3:25 p.m. When the Board returned to open session at 3:50 p.m., the Board directed that a letter be written to the buyers rejecting the request for certain site development costs to be borne by the seller. The Board of Directors also confirmed that the property was sold as is and there was a back-up offer for $175,000, which is the appraised value of the property. The Board did not extend the escrow close date by three weeks because Mr. Smith indicated that the request was only necessary if the District was going to perform the site preparation.

The Board discussed the water operations report for September, 1997, and it was stated that the new Cachuma water year had begun.

The bills for payment were reviewed by the Board. Director Campbell made a motion to approve the bills for payment for the month of September. The motion was seconded by Director Puddicombe. The motion carried unanimously.

A motion was made by Director Puddicombe, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to ratify the October 10, 1997 transfer of $300,000 from the District’s Montecito Bank and Trust operational account to the District’s LAIF/General Capital Repair & Replacement/Operations fund account.

During the Montecito Association report the General Manager reported that the District has participate in an emergency earthquake which had been held by MERRAG.

A motion was made by Director Puddicombe, seconded by Director Campbell and unanimously carried to approve the Urban Water Management Plan.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Muller and unanimously carried to approve the Water Conservation Survey that will be placed in the next customer water bills.

The Engineering Manager reported that the Operations Committee had met and discussed the request from Tom Bollay to connect the internal Riven Rock distribution system to the District mains. The Committee recommended that no action be taken at this time since the condition of, and connections to, the Riven Rock distribution system was unknown. Director Puddicombe made a motion to table this until further information is provided. It was seconded by Director Wilson, and the motion carried unanimously.

The Board discussed the letter from the County of Santa Barbara regarding the Mission Hills Community District consolidating its board election with the November, 2000, Statewide General Election.

The Operations Committee had met and reviewed the bids for the pipeline replacement projects on Pimiento Lane and Humphrey Road. The General Manager asked that the Engineering Manager be commended for the excellent bids that were received. The recommended bid was $89,000 lower than the District Engineer’s estimate. A motion was made by Director Puddicombe to award a contract in the total amount of $184,930 from Water Availability Charge program funds to Tierra Contracting for the replacement of 1,300 feet of 1923 pipeline on Humphrey Road and 1,490 feet of 1927 pipeline on Pimiento Lane. It was seconded by Director Campbell. The motion carried unanimously.

The Engineering Manager said that Flowers and Associates, engineers for the owner of 501 Valley Club Road, had requested the possible relocation of the District’s Valley Club Well. The easement is located within the building envelope of this property, and the owner is requesting it be moved at his expense. After discussion Director Puddicombe made a motion to approve in concept and to research the feasibility of this request. It was seconded by Director Wilson. The motion carried unanimously.

The General Manager explained that two new District vehicles had been purchased to replace three trucks no longer in use, and that it would be appropriate to declare these as surplus. A motion was made by Director Puddicombe, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to declare three field vehicles as surplus.

Prior to the celebration of the termination of the water moratorium Director Puddicombe moved that the Board reconfirm the adoption of Ordinance No. 81 to allow those directors who were not present at the original adoption of the ordinance on October 7, 1997 to express their formal approval of the ordinance. It was seconded by Director Wilson. A roll call vote resulted as follows:

President Muller thanked staff for the nice celebration and the meeting resumed at 5:05 p.m.

Director Abel said that there was nothing new to report regarding the SWRCB Board Order 94-5 studies or fishery matters since CCRB would not meet until December 3rd.

Director Wilson reported on the ACWA-USA meeting he had attended with Jerry Smith, General Manager for the Montecito Sanitary District, in Santa Clarita on October 16th to sign up for the 5% guaranteed savings for electrical power. He said the only drawback was that the District would have to purchase Schlumberger meters at $800 per meter. He also said that Southern California Edison would be reimbursed for stranded costs until the year 2000, after which there should be much greater savings from being a member of ACWA-USA.

President Muller reported on the COMB meeting held on October 20, 1997. He said that there would be a visit to see the progress of the work being performed for the seismic work at Cachuma. He also reported that County Flood Control had sent a letter to the USBR without sending a copy of the letter to COMB regarding the operation of Lake Cachuma for flood control. There was also a discussion on the work of Dr. Castro; he said the USBR had not determined the strength of the Bradbury Dam foundation material and probably could not do so. Dr. Castro was asked to provide a report on whether he could make such a determination himself and what the cost would be. President Muller said that COMB had sent a letter to Mr. Patterson at the USBR regarding the negotiation of the operation and maintenance agreement for the Cachuma Project. The USBR would like to transfer all liability to the member units, and this is being challenged by COMB.

Director Puddicombe reported that everything regarding the Operations Committee had already been discussed under previous agenda items.

Director Campbell said that the Finance Committee had not yet met so there was nothing new to report.

Director Abel reported that the Public Information Committee had met and that the newsletter would be out the first week of December. She said the newsletter would include articles on the water moratorium being terminated, the elections, the General Manager’s reappointment to Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the progress on the Capital Improvements Program.

It was reported that there had been no Water Marketing Committee meeting so there was nothing new to report.

Director Campbell reported on the Ad Hoc Committee. He said that after the Committee received a report from Smith Barney it would be meeting on November 3rd, and a special Board meeting was scheduled for November 25th.

Respectfully submitted,
___________________________
C. Charles Evans, Secretary
Approved:

Note: The agenda for this meeting was posted at the front counter and outside front wall at the Montecito Water District on October 3, 1997.