MINUTES - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 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 4:00 p.m. on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1997

Present:	Directors Abel (arrived at 4:45 p.m.after jury duty), Campbell, Muller, Puddicombe and Wilson
Absent:	None
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Cathy Muneio, Secretary

J. Timothy Campbell, Robert M. Jones and Robert W. Puddicombe were given the Oath of Office by the General Manager.

Several suggested changes were made to the minutes of November 25, 1997. A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to approve the amended minutes of November 25, 1997. A suggestion was made to state what the comments were regarding the analysis of debt restructuring was made regarding the minutes of December 2, 1997. A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of December 2, 1997.

The Board reviewed the water sales report for November 1997. It was noted that sales were below budget for the month and that if this trend continued it may bring annual sales below budget.

The General Manager said that the water production report now included state water project water. The Board reviewed the rainfall report.

The Board reviewed the water works operation report for November 1997. There was concern that 102 a/f of water was not accounted for. The Engineering Manager said that the customer usage books and meter production meters were checked. He said that the production meters would be recalibrated to make sure they are recording properly, but felt that the discrepancy would correct itself with the following month operations report. Further discussion of this matter will be made at next month’s January 20, 1998 meeting.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to ratify the December 15, 1997 transfer of $175,000 from the District’s Montecito Bank and Trust operational account to the District’s LAIF/General Capital Repair & Replacement/Operations fund account and the January 2, 1998 transfer of $1,000,000 from the District’s LAIF/General Capital Repair & Replacement/Operations fund account to the District’s Montecito Bank & Trust operational account.

A motion was made by Director Campbell to adopt Resolution No. 1850 to approve the bank account signatures. It was seconded by Director Wilson. A roll call resulted as follows:

The bills for November were reviewed by the Board. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to approve the bills for November.

The General Manager noted that former Director Ambrose Cramer had called prior to the meeting to give his congratulations to new Director Robert Jones. President Puddicombe noted that the flag presented by Henry Muller had been placed in the Board room and expressed the Board’s pleasure that it had been given to the District.

Director Wilson said there was nothing new to report regarding the Montecito Association.

The Board discussed adopting the schedule for public hearings to determine whether the two tier rate should be changed to a one tier rate. Director Wilson did not agree with having a public meeting on just this one item and did not agree with the change to a one tier rate. A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Puddicombe and carried 4-1 with Director Wilson opposed to adopt the schedule for public hearings on January 6, 1998. Director Wilson indicated he was opposed for the previously stated reasons. The date of this public hearing was later changed to January 20, 1998 by Board Consensus.

Vice President Puddicombe announced that, pursuant to law, that this was the time and place for reorganization of the Board of Directors. Director Campbell moved that Robert Puddicombe be nominated as President of the Board. Director Abel seconded the motion. There being no other nominations, the nominations were declared closed, and Robert Puddicombe was unanimously elected President of the Board of Directors with the reorganization of the Board being revisited in one year.

President Puddicombe announced that nominations were now open for Vice President of the Board. Director Wilson moved that Tim Campbell be nominated as Vice President of the Board. Director Puddicombe seconded the motion. There being no other nominations, the nominations were declared closed, and Tim Campbell was unanimously elected Vice President of the Board of Directors.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Abel and unanimously carried that C. Charles Evans be appointed General Manager, District Engineer and Secretary of the District, at his present salary and under a blanket bond of $100,000.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried that Evalyn Kerman be appointed Auditor, Business Manager and Assistant Secretary of the District, at her present salary and under a blanket bond of $100,000.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously approved that the Board designate the Bank of Montecito as the depository for District funds.

Counsel Wullbrandt advised the Board that while new Director Bob Jones had previously been employed by Price, Postel & Parma, he had retired from the firm, has no ownership interest and has received no compensation from the firm for some time prior to taking office. He said Director Jones does rent office space at the firm. This rental is on a month-to-month basis at market rate. District Counsel has consulted with the Attorney General’s office, which informally advised that this would be considered a permissible remote financial interest, but advised that Director Jones not participate in any action to retain Price, Postel & Parma. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Puddicombe, and carried 3-0-1, with Director Campbell abstaining and Director Jones not participating, to retain the firm of Price, Postel & Parma as attorneys for the District. Director Campbell indicated he was abstaining because he previously retained Price, Postel & Parma. Director Jones did not participate because of his rental of office space from Price, Postel & Parma.

Designating the District’s time and place to hold the Board meetings was continued until January 20, 1998. The General Manager said he wanted to recommend going to one Board meeting per month; he distributed a tabulation of the pros and cons of that proposal.

President Puddicombe left the meeting at 5:40 p.m. and Vice President Campbell ran the remainder of the meeting.

A motion was made by Director Jones, seconded by Director Abel, and unanimously carried that the provisions of Government Code Section Nos. 54956 and 54956.6 be adopted as the manner by which special meetings and emergency special meetings shall be called.

A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to adopt Robert’s Rules of Order for Board proceedings.

A motion was made by Director Wilson to approve Resolution No. 1851 concerning the inventory of District lands and air space. A roll call resulted as follows:

The General Manager explained that the position of Office Technician I had had a change in responsibilities that I was not applicable and that it should be considered an Office Technician II position. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Abel, and unanimously carried to reclassify the Office Technician I position from a salary range schedule 151, $935 to $1,137 biweekly to an Office Technician II, salary range schedule 174, $1,080 to $1,312 biweekly for the 1997/98 fiscal year.

The General Manager said that the letter from the Department of Water Resources regarding the Groundwater Management Plan was for Board information.

The General Manager reported on the field trip to Bradbury Dam to review the progress of the seismic safety work.

Director Wilson reported on the status of the SWRCB Board Order 94-5 studies and the fishery matters other than the 94-5 studies. A revised handout on these issues was presented to the Board.

The President continued the verbal reports on meetings and committee reports until January 6, 1998.

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 December 12, 1997.