Tuesday, August 18, 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, AUGUST 18, 1998

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

Present:	Directors Abel, Campbell, Wilson
Absent:	Director Puddicombe
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager/Assistant Secretary Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Cathy Muneio, Secretary Maeton Freel, U.S. Forest Service Jeanine Derby, U.S. Forest Service Gloria Silva, U.S. Forest Service Margaret Dent, District Customer

There were several suggested corrections to the minutes. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson and unanimously carried to approve the amended minutes of August 4, 1998.

Director Abel reported on the appeal of Margaret Dent to adjust charges due to a leak in May and June 1998. She said that the Appeals Committee had visited the site and met with Ms. Dent, and that the Committee did concur with her that the leak was difficult to detect and that she had acted promptly to repair this leak after it was detected. The General Manager stated that denying such a request was standard District policy and that this was consistent with past actions. Director Abel stated she had suggested to Ms. Dent that she might contact her insurance company to inquire about reimbursement. Director Abel pointed out that she had also suggested to Ms. Dent that she might want to have her gardener read her meter on a regular basis to detect any leaks early. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson, and unanimously carried to deny the appeal of Margaret Dent for relief of water charges since the Board continues to support the principle that, once water flows through the meter, it is the responsibility of the customer to pay for it because it would not be fair or equitable to relieve water charges for any one customer at the expense of all other customers in the District.

The General Manager stated that the focus of the 1997 Challenge Cost Share Agreement was to perform the monitoring for the diversions at Fox and Alder Creeks, including monitoring the occurrence of endangered species and their habitat, and that the focus for the 1998 Challenge Cost Share Agreement was the monitoring of red legged frogs. He said that the District had paid $6,250 for the first quarter of work in 1997, and the Forest Service was now billing for the remainder of the work, or $13,650. Director Abel shared her concerns about the 1997 Challenge Cost Share Agreement. She said that she was extremely disappointed that the Forest Service had not performed four out of five of their commitments in this agreement and that no field data had been provided or quarterly reports given to the Board. Jeanine Derby, Forest Supervisor with the U.S. Forest Service, reported that there had been several problems during the past year. She said that a staff member who was working on this project had become ill and that there had been no additional funding to hire someone else to perform this work. She also said that the Forest Service was involved in a lawsuit which had taken a large amount of staff time. Maeton Freel, the Senior Biologist with the Forest Service, stated that he had been in verbal contact with the Water District and that there had not been a request from the District for a written report. The General Manager reported that several changes had been made by the Water District to the proposed 1998 Challenge Cost Share Agreement, and the Forest Service had not had a chance to review them. He requested that the Board defer any decision on the 1997 or 1998 agreements until the next regular Board meeting. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Abel and carried 3-0-1 with Director Campbell abstaining to continue this item until the next regular Board meeting.

The General Manager reviewed the water sales report for July 1998. The District sold 568 acre feet as compared to the 647 acre feet budgeted, a difference of 79 acre feet. The General Manager said that staff had analyzed the percentages used to budget sales for each month and found that these projected sales should be adjusted on a monthly basis, but that this would not affect the total annual projected sales. The General Manager said that this would be brought to the Finance Committee for review.

The Engineering Manager reviewed with the Board the water works operations report for July 1998. It was noted that there was 62 acre feet of unaccounted water for the month. He also reviewed with the Board the production/meter use summary report which showed the annual average difference between production and meter use. In reviewing the differences on an annual basis the overall loss is within a normal range. The report showed a larger difference in the low flow months and it showed some of the low flows are not recording accurately on the District meters, and he said that the total percentage for 1998 will come down. He also reported that the South Portal meter was replaced and there was no change in unaccounted water.

The Engineering Manager said that he had inspected the Stone Meadow pipe and that the pipe was not old, and he had determined that 180 feet of 4" pipeline was in good condition. The section of pipeline to be replaced is about 60 feet of 1-1/2" galvanized pipe. The 1-1/2" of new pipeline was replaced.

A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson, and unanimously carried to ratify the August 14, 1998 transfer of $850,000 from the District’s Santa Barbara Bank & Trust account to the District’s LAIF/General Capital Repair and Replacement/Operations fund account.

Director Wilson inquired about several bills. A motion was made by Director Abel, seconded by Director Wilson, and unanimously carried to approve the bills for payment for July 1998.

Director Wilson said he had nothing to report on the activities of the Montecito Association.

The Board reviewed the letter to Cima Del Mundo from the District requesting additional information for the proposed subdivision.

LETTER TO U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REGARDING DRAFT RECOVERY PLAN FOR ARROYO TOAD

The Board reviewed the letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the draft Recovery Plan for the Arroyo Toad.

Director Campbell asked the Board members if there was any interest in attending the 1998 Special District Administration and Strategic Planning Seminars on August 27-29. No Board member expressed any interest in attending these seminars. Director Abel reported that ACWA has agreed to participate in a Board of Directors Certification Program and that this program is designed to provide the same information as the Special District Seminars.

Director Abel said the report on the Cachuma member units legal issues summary was included in the Board packet for information.

Due to the late hour Director Abel requested that she report on the ACWA Board Meeting of July 31, 1998 at the next regular meeting. She did report on the draft discussion regarding the Bay Delta System and the draft preferred program which was designed to cover the next seven years before any long term program can be initiated.

Director Campbell reported that there were several annexations at the LAFCO meeting of August 6, 1998.

The General Manager reported on the Cachuma Technical Advisory/Consensus Committee meeting of August 12, 1998. He said that the topics of discussion included fish studies work that Scott Engblom is completing, and the Fish Management Plan. He also reported that fishing below Bradbury Dam was no longer permitted.

Director Abel reported that the Operations Committee had not met so there was nothing new to report.

The General Manager reviewed with the Board the timeline for the proposed 1/1/99 District rate increase and presented a timeline for the public hearing to raise rates. Counsel Wullbrandt recommended that the District notify the public of the proposed rate increases 45 days in advance. Director Wilson made a motion to adopt the timeline for the adoption of rates with the change in notifying the public 45 days in advance. The motion was seconded by Director Jones. The motion carried unanimously.

The General Manager reviewed with the Board the proposed timeline for the Capital Cost Recovery Fee proposed changes. The General Manager reported that the Board had previously approved a formula to make an automatic annual change to these fees. When the Budget was considered Director Puddicombe felt that the District’s charge was too low. It was noted that the Capital Cost Recovery Fee is not subject to Prop. 218, and that a 50% increase was being discussed. Director Wilson made a motion to adopt the timeline for the Capital Cost Recovery Fee. The motion was seconded by Director Jones. The motion carried unanimously.

Director Abel said the Public Information Committee would be meeting on 8/28 and asked the Board for any ideas for the newsletter.

Note: The agenda for this meeting was posted at the front counter and on the front wall at the Montecito Water District on August 14, 1998.