Tuesday, June 15, 1999 Minutes

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 2:00 p.m. on TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1999

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Abel at 2:00 p.m.
Those in attendance were:

Present:	Directors Abel, Campbell, Wilson
Absent:	Jones, Puddicombe
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Cathy Muneio, Secretary Maeton Freel, U.S. Forest Service Biologist Leticia Gallardo, Biologist Joan Duffield, Entrix – participated by phone

PUBLIC FORUM

There were no comments made from the public during public forum.

CONSENT AGENDA

A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to approve the consent agenda with the exception of the Minutes of the May 18 and June 1, 1999 Board meetings, since there were only three directors in attendance and two of those directors said they had not attended these meetings and would abstain.

ACTIVITIES OF MONTECITO ASSOCIATION

Director Wilson reported that the Vector Control District had attended the meeting and that the African killer bees were reported to have reached Oxnard, California.

DISCUSSION OF STATUS OF CHALLENGE COST-SHARE AGREEMENT
WITH U.S. FOREST SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES

Maeton Freel, the Senior Biologist for the Forest Service and Leticia Gallardo, the red-legged frog biologist working with the Forest Service and the Water District, attended the Board meeting. Ms. Gallardo gave a slide presentation and status report on her studies of the red-legged frogs and their habitat. She said she had almost completed obtaining data and was in the process of putting this information into a data base for analysis. Joan Duffield, the biologist with Entrix who is doing consulting work for the District, was available by conference call to answer questions. Maeton Freel said that this data will be used in formulating an Operations Plan. Second Vice-President Abel asked how many red-legged frogs she had found. Ms. Gallardo said she had found between 80 and 100 between all three of the study sites, Fox and Alder Creeks and the Juncal campgrounds. Second Vice-President Abel asked about the scheduling of future meetings. Joan Duffield said that Maeton Freel, Tom Mosby and herself would be meeting within the next several weeks, and that she had discussed meeting with Maeton Freel once a month by conference call or in person. Ms. Duffield responded to a question from Ms. Abel that we were on schedule to produce the operations plan in October or November of 1999. The Board expressed their thanks to Ms. Gallardo and Maeton Freel for making this presentation.

SCHOOLHOUSE ROAD (MONTECITO UNION SCHOOL PORTION)
MAIN REPLACEMENT PROJECT

The General Manager reported that the Montecito Union School was doing extensive construction and that the water line was under some free standing walls and that it was expected that this pipeline would be damaged when these walls are removed. This pipe was already scheduled to be replaced as part of the Santa Rosa Road main replacement project. He said that this portion of the pipe was expected to cost approximately $30,000, and will be funded from the 1998A bond funds. It was noted that no appropriation of funds was necessary since this project is scheduled to be completed in the next fiscal year and billing will occur after June 30, 1999. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to approve the interim, phased replacement of a 6" cast iron water main on the Montecito Union School property as part of the Santa Rosa Lane water main replacement project.

DISTRICT COMMENTS ON FISH MANAGEMENT PLAN

This item was continued until the whole Board could be present. Director Wilson requested that an analysis of the costs of the Fish Management Plan be made available at that time.

RATIFICATION OF 1999/2000 COMB BUDGET

The Board discussed the 1999/2000 COMB budget. There was discussion relative to the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, Improvement District No. 1 requesting a cost allocation modification. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to approve the 1999/2000 COMB budget.

REQUEST OF SAN YSIDRO RANCH TO RETURN WATER RIGHTS AND WELLS

San Ysidro Ranch was requesting return of its water rights and quitclaim of its easement for wells on this property. The General Manager explained that during the drought the District had a severe water shortage and, in return for District meters for a residential development, San Ysidro Ranch had agreed to be a site for District wells. San Ysidro Ranch granted the District an easement, granted permission to develop wells on the property in exchange for three meters and gave the District its water rights. The General Manager said that the District never developed the wells and now that the District has State Water, it does not plan to do so in the future. Counsel Wullbrandt said that he thought the District should follow its policy of looking at these requests on a case by case basis. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Dirctor Jones and unanimously caried to approve quitclaiming the wells, easements and groundwater rights on the San Ysidro Ranch property to the Ranch with a letter to the San Ysidro Ranch acknowledging this and explaining that this is granted by the Board on a case by case basis.

SUPPLEMENT TO LETTER OF INTENT - ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
FOR BELLA VISTA RESERVOIR

The Engineering Manager reported that this request had come to the Board before. He reported that John Howard has been working with the District in providing access to the District’s Bella Vista Treatment Plant Edison meter for demonstrating KWERY. He said that John Howard had installed an Edison meter conversion pulse output from the District’s electrical meter which would allow him to access the District’s energy usage at Bella Vista, and in order to do this he would need a phone line so that he could access the Edison meter by modem. The Engineering Manager said that the District was looking into converting one of its phone lines into a multi-use line with a new phone service that allows several applications to work at the same time from the same phone line. A motion was made by Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to execute the Supplement to the Letter of Intent with John Howard, District Consultant, for providing direct access to District real time energy usage at its Bella Vista Treatment Plant.

REQUEST OF MONTECITO ASSOCIATION FOR DISTRICT BILL STUFFERS
REGARDING BEAUTIFICATION DAY

The General Manager said that the Montecito Association was requesting a bill stuffer to be sent out in August for Montecito Beautification Day nominations for awards of properties or projects within the Montecito community that recognize the character of the community. The General Manager said he felt it would also be approriate at this time to approve a bill stuffer publicizing the event to be sent out later in the year if the Board so wished. A motion was made by

Director Wilson, seconded by Director Jones and unanimously carried to approve both bill stuffers, subject to their review and approval by the General Manager.

RESOLUTION RELATIVE TO CALPERS AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT

The General Manager explained that this was being brought to the Board for discussion but that no action was recommended at this time. The General Manager is recommending an amendment to the PERS contract to provide a change in retirement benefits from 2% at 60 to 2% at 55. This would allow District staff to retire at the age of 55 with the same benefits as age 60. Director Wilson asked whether or not this would entice District staff to retire early. The Business Manager stated that several other Districts have this benefit and it may keep District staff from going elsewhere where this benefit is already in effect. She explained that the District has a large surplus in PERS, and that this would not cost the District any money for 15 years. The General Manager said that this will be brought before the entire Board at the June 29, 1999 Special Board meeting.

VERBAL REPORTS ON MEETINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

Cachuma Conservation Release Board Meeting of May 24, 1999

Director Abel said that the CCRB Board had approved the 1998-99 Budget augmentation. Counsel Wullbrandt reported on his Washington DC meetings regarding the Pacific Coastal Salmonid Initiative. He said that this initiative was in the Federal budget for this year and, if it proved successful, would be in next year’s budget. He said the funds will be distributed on a geographical area. The tri-counties will be receiving approximately 20% of $20 million.

Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board Meeting of May 24, 1999

Director Abel said that the main focus of the last COMB Board meeting was its budget.

Special Districts Association Meeting of May 24, 1999

This item was continued to the next meeting since Director Campbell was not present.

Central Coast Water Authority Meeting of May 27, 1999

The General Manager said that a report was included in the Board packet.

LAFCO Meeting of June 3, 1999

This item was continued to the next meeting since Director Capbell was not present.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Operations Committee

Director Abel said that the committee had not met.

Finance Committee

Director Wilson said that all items were previously discussed.

Water Marketing Committee

Director Abel said that the Water Marketing Committee had not met.

Ad Hoc Search Committee

Director Abel reported that the committee will be meeting after President Puddicombe returns. She said that 40 applications had been received to date.

REQUESTS FROM DIRECTORS FOR ITEMS OTHER THAN REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS TO BE INCLUDED ON NEXT BOARD MEETING

The General Manager asked if the Board would consider a special meeting regarding the topic of possible flouridation at the City of Santa Barbara’s Cater Treatment Plant. This was brought before the City of Santa Barbara Council and proved to be a very much discussed topic. The manager said he expects that the City of Santa Barbara will be asking the districts which have water treated at Cater Treatment Plant for their input. The Board concurred with the need to hold a special Board meeting when the formal request is received.

CLOSED SESSION

The Board went into closed session at 5:00 p.m. When the Board returned to open session at 5:40 p.m. the General Manager reported that the Board had approved the 3.0% COLA adjustment and additional salary adjustments which were included in the staff memorandum.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________________
C. Charles Evans, Secretary

Approved:

______________________________
Robert Puddicombe, President

Note: The agenda for this meeting was posted at the front counter and on the front wall at the Montecito Water District on
June 11, 1999.