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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-10-10 - Board of Directors Meeting MinutesPage 3557 October 10, 1996 MINUTES OF THE YORBA LINDA WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING October 10, 1996 The October 10, 1996 Regular Meeting of the Yorba Linda Water District Board of Directors was called to order by President Michael J. Beverage at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was held at District Headquarters, 4622 Plumosa Drive, Yorba Linda. Directors present at Roll Call: President Michael J. Beverage Vice President Paul R. Armstrong Sterling L. Fox Arthur C. Korn Carl T. Scanlin Directors absent at roll call none Staff present: William J. Robertson, Secretary/General Manager Arthur G. Kidman, General Counsel Charles Gray, Engineering Manager Ray Harsma, Operations Superintendent Raquel Lazo, Secretary to the General Manager Roger Lubin, Exec. Asst. to the General Manager Pati Medina, Customer Service Representative Beverly Meza, Business Manager Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager Michael J. Robinson, Assistant Administrator SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Item 1. Introduction of new employee. Beverly Meza introduced Pati Medina, who transferred to Customer Service Representative II from Meter Reader. Ms. Medina left the meeting at the conclusion of this item. CONSENT CALENDAR Director Beverage requested that Item 3 be pulled from the Consent Calendar, in order to abstain from approving minutes of a meeting he did not attend. On a motion by Director Fox, seconded by Vice President Paul R. Armstrong, the Board of Directors voted 5-0 to approve the Consent Calendar item 2, and items 4 through 7. Item 2. Minutes of adjourned regular meeting, September 19, 1996. Item 4. Authorization for the Directors to leave the State of California prior to next meeting. Item 5. Disbursements of $456,197.62 on Checks 20959 and 20960, and 21092 through 21237; a wire to MWDOC for $559,323.25, dated 10/10/96; $95,482.48 on checks 11729 through 11796 for Payroll 19; and $98,183.67 on checks 11799 through 11873 for Payroll 20. Page3558 October 10, 1996 Item 6. Progress Payment 2, to Shook Building, Systems, Inc., for design and construction of a new District warehouse, Job 9416. Item 7. Deny claim and deny application to present late claim from W. A. Douglass,. Inc. On a motion by Vice President Paul R. Armstrong, seconded by Director Fox, the Board of Directors voted 4-0-1 (Beverage abstaining) to approve the following item. Item 3. Minutes of adjourned regular meeting, October 1, 1996. ACTION CALENDAR Item 8. Consider audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 1996. On a motion made by Director Fox, and seconded by Director Scanlin, the Board of Directors voted 5-0 to continue this item to the October 24 Board meeting. Michael Payne left the meeting at the conclusion of this item. Item 9. Consideration of Resolution 96-15, in support of Proposition 204. General Manager William J. Robertson reported that Proposition 204, a $995 million general obligation bond measure for Bay-Delta environmental restoration and other water programs, known as the Safe, Clean, Reliable Water Supply Act, will appear on the November 5 ballot. This proposition is supported by urban and agricultural water interests, environmental groups and business organizations throughout the state. On a motion made by Vice-president Armstrong, and seconded by Director Fox, the Board of Directors voted 5-0-1 on a roll call (Korn abstaining), to adopt Resolution 96-15 in support of Proposition 204. DISCUSSION CALENDAR Item 10. Consider of a position on Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act. General Manager William J. Robertson reported that Proposition 218 will appear on the November 5 ballot. If passed, all local taxes, benefit assessments and standby charges will be defined as "special taxes," or "general measures," which require popular vote. New "general taxes" require a majority approval. "Special taxes" require two-thirds approval. Mr. Robertson also reported that taxes and assessments levied by special districts are defined as special taxes. Proposition 218 also requires that any taxes imposed after January 1, 1995 be repealed, and confirmed at election by November, 1998. All "property related fees" must be submitted for voter approval. The District imposes fees, such as the backflow monitoring fee, which may be interpreted as "property related fees," although they are collected on water bills, not property tax bills. Page 3559 October 10, 1996 If approved, the measure could affect water and sewer rates. After discussion by the Board of Directors, the Chair informed staff that it was not necessary to bring this item back to the Board for additional consideration. President Beverage declared a recess at 10:00. The meeting reconvened at 10:07. Item 11. Consideration of policies to guide the water rate process (continued from the Board meeting of September 19, 1996). General Manager William J. Robertson reviewed policies used to guide the rate-setting process, and reported that certain conditions changed since the Board approved water rates for 1995-96 and 1996-97. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reduced their rates from $466 to $430.50 per acre foot on July 1, 1996, and Orange County Water District reduced their planned increase from $95 to $88 per acre foot. Total estimated savings from these rate changes are forecast at $344,700 for 1996-97. At the August 22 and September 19 Board meetings, considerable discussion ensued about changing the 1996-97 water rates, which were adopted by Resolution 95-19, but no consensus was reached. The Finance Committee also discussed several water rate alternatives at their September 27 meeting, with no consensus. Director Korn pointed out policies he believed result in excessive increases in water rates. President Beverage mentioned that it was important to realize that this items deals with rates and policies, and that it was necessary to distinguish between them. On a motion made by President Beverage, and seconded by Director Korn, the Board of Directors voted 5-0 to leave the water rate at $0.98 per billing unit; to bring a resolution to the Board at their October 24 meeting that rescinds the rate increase in Resolution 95-19; and to suspend policies used to guide the rate-setting process. Chuck Gray and Beverly Meza left the meeting at the conclusion of this item. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT Item 12. General Manager's report. 1. Heritage Days Parade, October 12. Assistant Administrator Mike Robinson reported on the upcoming parade. 2. Report on Well 11. Operations Superintendent Ray Harsma reported on repairs taking, place at Well 11. He indicated that the well would be out of service for approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Page 3560 October 10, 1996 3. Status on Computer System. Business Manager Beverly Meza reported that the new system is stable, and the contract with Dynasty Systems to provide billing software has been approved by both parties, reviewed by counsel, and will come before the Board for approval at their next meeting. 4. District activities. No report was made. GENERAL COUNSEL'S REPORT Item 11. General Counsel's report. General Counsel Arthur G. Kidman reported that he is preparing, a year-end legislative report, which will probably be completed next week. COMMITTEE REPORTS Item 14. Legislative Ad Hoc Committee. No report. Item 15. Executive-Administration Committee. President Beverage indicated that he planned to call a meeting later this month. Item 16. Finance-Accounting Committee. Met Friday, September 27, at 8:30. Attended by Directors Sterling Fox and Art Korn, and staff members Robertson, and Meza, as well as Rod McDaniel, of Diehl, Evans and Company, the District's auditors. They discussed the recently concluded annual audit - with Mr. McDaniel leaving at the conclusion of this item - and water rates. Item 17. Personnel-Risk Management Committee. No report Item 18. Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee. No report Item 19. Public Information Committee. Will meet Wednesday, October 16, at 8:00 a.m. INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS Item 20. LAFCO advisory meeting, September 19 (Fox): This meeting was rescheduled to October 17. Item 21. SDWCA meeting, September 20 (Korn): They received an actuarial study indicating how large their reserve needed to be. Item 22. CSDA Fall Conference, September 22-25 (Beverage/Korn/Fox): President Beverage reviewed the sessions he attended, and discussed his meeting with Ralph Helm, CSDA's lobbyist, as well as other networking activities. Director Fox also discussed his networking efforts at the meeting. Ray Harsma left the meeting at the conclusion of this item. Page 3561 October 10, 1996 Item 23. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, September 25 (Scanlin): Nothing of concern to the District transpired. Item 24. Yorba Linda City Council, October I (Armstrong): Discussed street-widening projects and annexation of the Shell property. Item 25. MWDOC/OCWD/CMWD meeting, October 2 (Scanlin): Attendees were briefed on MWDOC's education programs. In addition, they were informed that Met's Inland Feeder, originally scheduled to be on-line in 1998, is now slated to go on-line in 2004. Item 26. OCWD meeting, October 2 (Scanlin): This was not a separate meeting; it was part of Item 25. Item 27. WACO meeting, October 4 (Fox): John Withers gave report on LAFCO, stating that the South County Study is about to enter Phase II, which has a projected cost of $400,000. Item 28. ISDOC Board meeting, October 8 (Fox): Director Fox invited his fellow Board members to an ISDOC luncheon meeting scheduled for November 21. Item 29. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, October 9 (Scanlin): Nothing of concern to the District transpired. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS/ITEMS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION Carl Scanlin: Stated he will be out of town on October 24, and will not be able to attend the Board meeting. Michael Beverage: Suggested a joint presentation on the Bay/Delta to Rotary and the Board of Directors. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIVITY CALENDAR The Board of Directors reviewed the Activity Calendar and made assignment changes. The Board meetings in November will be held on the 14`h and 26`h. Board meetings December will be take place on the 12' and 24`x. CLOSED SESSION General Counsel Arthur G. Kidman indicated there was no need for a closed session. Item 30. Pending litigation to which the District is a party, (Subsection (a) of Section 54956.9), County of Orange, Chapter 9, Case No SA 94-22272-JR; Orange County Investment Pools, Chapter 9, Case No. SA 94-22273-JR before the US Bankruptcy Court, the Central District of California. Page 3562 October 10, 1996 Item 31. Conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation. Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b)(3) (1 case). On a motion by Director Fox, seconded by Vice-president Armstrong, the Board of Directors voted 5-0, at 11:32 a.m., to adjourn to Thursday, October 17, at 8:00 a.m., at the District's headquarters on Plumosa Drive. E William . Robertson Secretary/General Manager