Thursday, July 8, 1999 Minutes

MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
of the
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MONTECITO WATER DISTRICT
held at the
MONTECITO FIRE PROTECTION BOARD ROOM

595 SAN YSIDRO ROAD, MONTECITO, CALIFORNIA
at 2:00 p.m. on THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1999

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

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

Present:	Directors Abel, Campbell, Jones, Puddicombe, Wilson
Absent:	None
Also Present:	C. Charles Evans, General Manager/Secretary Tom Mosby, Engineering Manager Evalyn Kerman, Business Manager Chip Wullbrandt, District Counsel Cathy Muneio, Secretary Ethan Torpin Jeff Green, Citizens For Safe Drinking Water Maureen Jones, Citizens For Safe Drinking Water Herbert Koteen, M.D. Phyllis Koteen, M.D. Estelle Foster Ann C. White, RPT John Palmentari, KEYT

President Puddicombe opened the meeting and stated that no public comment would be received today on the topic of fluoridation since the public hearing held on July 7, 1999 was for that purpose.

The General Manager reviewed the comments made at the public hearing. He reviewed a few of the questions asked at the meeting, specifically about payments of operation and maintenance costs at the Cater Treatment Plant if the District chose to voluntarily fluoridate. He stated that Dr. Nelson, California Department of Health Services, Dental Section, noted that the State would not participate in the fluoridation costs for the District or Carpinteria Valley Water District.

District Counsel, Chip Wullbrandt, reviewed his interpretation of the Cater treatment contract with the City of Santa Barbara. He believes that the City is required to get the District’s approval before the District’s water is fluoridated. Additionally, he commented on the reporting and testing requirements that the District would be required to complete in the event that the District chooses to fluoridate. If the District chose to accept the fluoridated water from the City, and not fluoridate other water supplies, the District may have to separately comply with the sampling and reporting requirements.

Director Abel asked for further clarification of the costs as indicated in the Cater agreement with the City of Santa Barbara. District Counsel responded that the State is not requiring the District’s water to be fluoridated and the District should have a very clear agreement to indemnify the District and hold the District harmless to all costs of fluoridation. He suggested that if the Board does not wish for the District to receive fluoridated water, a letter should be sent to the City which states that the District does not give its approval and, if the City does choose to fluoridate, the District would not accept the cost.

Director Abel asked the General Manager to review the distribution concerns with the mixing of the District’s different water sources if the District chose to fluoridate. Mr. Evans described the distribution system and noted that approximately 1/3 of the District’s supplies is water that travels from Jameson Lake and through Doulton Tunnel which would not be fluoridated and the other 2/3 of the District’s supplies would get fluoridated at Cater. However, at times during the year the use of the water supply changes and Jameson water may not be used. A question was asked about the cost of this program to the District since the City had stated that they anticipated that it would cost $160,000. The General Manager and the President commented that, with the multiple fluoridation stations and testing stations, the costs would be several hundreds of thousands of dollars. The General Manager said that Mr. Roebuck had commented that a separate system could be installed at Cater Treatment Plant in order to avoid putting fluoride in the South Coast Conduit.

Director Wilson reviewed the District annual Water Quality Report which details the Maximum Contaminant Levels and regulations by the Department of Health Services pursuant to the Clean Water Act. There is a range for fluoride levels, and there is 0.4 mg/l naturally occurring in Jameson water.

Director Campbell stated that fluoride needs to be monitored daily and reported monthly. He reviewed the dependency of the public on clean water and the responsibility of the District to provide the public with a safe supply of water.

Director Abel asked the General Manager how the recordkeeping differs from the existing recordkeeping with copper, lead and chlorine. The General Manager commented that the recordkeeping that the District currently completes is extensive and the addition of the fluoride testing and reporting would not be excessive for the Staff to complete. Director Campbell had some concern over the use of information on fluoridation for Southern California and comparing those statistics to Montecito.

District Counsel said the funding would not be available until early 2001. A number of scenarios were reviewed where the District cooperated or not with the City relative to fluoridation. Director Abel asked if the City can legally fluoridate the water that is treated for the District without the District’s approval. Counsel reiterated that he believes that the City must get the District’s approval before it supplies fluoridated water.

President Puddicombe reviewed the letter from Bob Roebuck, Water Resources Manager for the City of Santa Barbara, which detailed a number of responses that the District could pursue, including an advisory vote of its customers, postpone it to study it further, or participate fully or partially.

Director Wilson stated that he is ambivalent about fluoridation because while he has no interest in removing the naturally occurring fluoride, he is not interested in incurring the expense of adding fluoride to the District’s water supplies. . Director Abel stated that she was concerned with the financial and legal questions, particularly to our District, in regards to Flouridation. Director Campbell indicated that he opposes fluoridation and supports the right for persons to choose medical care. Director Jones spoke of his conversations with experts on fluoridation he knows and was not happy with the comments at yesterday’s meeting and would like to further look into more testimony on fluoridation. He indicated that Docters Herbert and Phyllis Koteen were experts on fluoridation and he would like to hear them testify. President Puddicombe said public testimony was taken on July 7, 1999 and wouldn’t be opened up again. The Doctors Koteen did give their credentials. Directors Abel, Wilson and Puddicombe felt that, after reviewing all the information to date, they were well acquainted with the subject. Director Campbell agreed with Director Jones that he would not mind hearing additional information.

President Puddicombe suggested that a letter to be sent to the City stating that fluoridation is an important and complex issue with legal and liability ramifications that require additional study.

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF COMMENT LETTER TO CITY OF SANTA BARBARA
REGARDING CITY’S REQUEST TO THE DISTRICT FOR
COMMENTS ON POSSIBLE FLUORIDATION.

A motion was made by Director Campbell that a letter be sent to the City that states that fluoridation is an important and complex issue with legal and liability ramifications and that the District requires additional study, and that Staff be directed to respond to the District Board about unanswered questions heard at the meetings when information is made available. The motion was seconded by Director Abel, and carried 4-1 with Director Wilson opposed, to approve the response letter to the City of Santa Barbara.

PUBLIC FORUM

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

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_____________________________________
C. Charles Evans, Secretary

_____________________________________
Robert Puddicombe, President

Note: The agenda for this meeting was posted at the entrance to the Montecito Fire Protection District and the front counter and the front wall at the Montecito Water District at 3:00 p.m. on June 20, 1999.