Tuesday, December 8, 1998

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, DECEMBER 8, 1998

The meeting was called to order by President Puddicombe at 3:00 p.m.
Those in attendance were:

Present:	Directors Abel, Campbell, Puddicombe, Wilson
Absent:	Director Jones
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager/Assistant Secretary Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Gary Ricks, Counsel Cathy Muneio, Secretary Steve Hickox, Water Treatment Superintendent

The General Manager introduced Steve Hickox, the new Water Treatment Superintendent, to the Board. He gave a brief history of his experience with the City of Ventura and the Metropolitan Water District. The Engineering Manager said that he comes to the District with a lot of expertise and will be a great benefit to the District in the area of water quality.

There were several suggested changes to the minutes of November 17, 1998. A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Abel and carried 3-0-1, with Director Puddicombe abstaining, to approve the amended minutes of November 17, 1998.

There was a suggested change made to the minutes of November 18, 1998. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Campbell and unanimously carried to approve the amended minutes of November 18, 1998.

The General Manager reviewed with the Board the Water Production Report for November which showed water production of 420 acre feet.

The General Manager reviewed with the Board the Water Sales Reports for the month of November, 1998. He noted that water sales for the month were 353 acre feet and above budget by 4 acre feet. He said there was a difference between production and sales of 54 acre feet. He said that District staff had completed the testing of customer meters and that the District’s meters were reported to be accurate, but that there was some inefficiency with low flows. He noted that this item would be brought before the next Operations Committee meeting.

A motion was made by Director Campbell, seconded by Director Abel and unanimously carried to ratify the November 23, 1998 transfer of $400,000 from the District’s Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Operations account to the District’s LAIF/General Capital Repair & Replacement/Operations fund account.

The Board reviewed the status and schedule of the District’s Capital Projects to be completed. The General Manager reported that the next projects to be constructed would be the Chelham Way and Ortega Hill Road main replacements in January.

Director Wilson stated that the Montecito Association had not met so there was nothing new to report.

The General Manager requested that the Fox and Alder Creeks Biological Studies item be continued to the next meeting.

The General Manager reported that the Carpinteria Valley Water District would be holding a Board workshop on December 11, 1998. The Board will discuss whether the Carpinteria Valley Water District should assume ownership of pipes that were constructed with USBR funds. He said that currently before any replacements or repairs can be made to those pipelines, the District must first obtain permission from the USBR. He said that the District is interested in this because some of the Summerland pipelines were constructed with USBR funds. He reported that another topic of discussion will be the covering of Ortega Reservoir, for which Montecito Water District will be paying a portion. The General Manager said that this District would be represented at this meeting to review the costs estimated by Carpinteria Valley Water District for covering this reservoir.

Director Abel reported that the topic of establishing a Project Coordinator to prepare the CEQA document for the SWRCB Order No. 94-5 studies had previously been discussed with the Board and was now coming before the Board for action. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to ratify a 1998-99 CCRB budget augmentation of $54,600, with the District’s share being $6,273.54, for appointing a Project Coordinator for the SWRCB Order No. 94-5 water rights studies, and to appropriate that amount from District General Capital Repair and Replacement Operations Reserve funds.

RESOLUTION NO. 1870 ESTABLISHING DISTRICT EMPLOYEE
CLASSIFICATION SALARY RANGE AND SCHEDULE

The General Manager said that the Board had previously approved the reclassification of the salary range for the new Water Treatment and Production Superintendent, but that it was necessary to approve the appropriate salary resolution. A motion was made by Director Campbell to approve Resolution No. 1870 that will include a reclassification of the Water Treatment and Production Superintendent position from salary range 232 to 243. The motion was seconded by Director Abel and carried with the following roll call vote:

Director Campbell reported on the ACWA/JPIA meeting of November 30 - December 1, 1998. He said that a main topic of discussion was whether the November election results would cost the District more money. He reported that Montecito Water District had received good marks for its Property Program, but that the District’s Liability Program was more costly to the JPIA. There was a discussion among the directors about the benefits program that the JPIA offers. Director Campbell also said that JPIA recommends contractual agreements for employees, and that new employees be required to read their District Employee Manuals and sign that they have done so when completed. The JPIA also recommends that all employees attend defensive driving classes. The Board asked for a review of District insurance coverage.

Director Abel reported on the ACWA Conference held on December 2-4, 1998. She said that she attended several presentations and that one of particular interest had been given by DWR Director David Kennedy in which he recalled his career. Director Campbell commented that Director Abel’s Region 5 presentation by Scott Slater regarding the parallels between Western Australia and California’s water situation was very informative. Directors Campbell and Abel reported on several other seminars they attended.

The Public Information Committee had not met so there was nothing new to report.

The Board requested that information be provided regarding changing the District’s election period be supplied with the next Board packet. President Puddicombe stated that he had heard that recent legislation provides that directors may have a base pay of $150 per meeting. Counsel Wullbrandt said he would look into this.

Note: The agenda for this meeting was posted at the front counter and outside front wall at the Montecito Water District on December 4, 1998.