Board members had another lengthy debate last week over whether they were on the right track by initiating a Proposition 218 process to raise rates on non-metered lots served by the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District.
They heard a number of pleas from ratepayers in the audience who complained that the drastic rate hike, from $60 per year up to $240 per year, was unfair.
Several said they also believe the majority of customers were unaware that they were required to lodge a formal protest on or before the June 28 public hearing in order to keep it from going through.
As of the June 21 meeting, fewer than 300 protest letters had been received. At least 1,598 customers needed to protest to keep the rate hike from going into effect.
Director Bill Kinsella made the motion to rescind the Proposition 218 process, calling it “a lose-lose” proposition for both the community services district and the public.
“Whatever benefit we would get, we’re going to lose in legal fees (from lawsuits over the plan),” Kinsella said. He urged his fellow board members to “cease and desist” from the 218 process, adding, “let’s go back and do it right.”
But in the end only Director Emery Ross joined him in voting for that motion. The three others, Wes Barton, Sally Punte and Charles Day, voted no. The public hearing was scheduled to go on as planned June 28, after this issue of The Foothill Express went to press.
Day said the need for the rate hike is urgent. “The problem is, we’re running out of money.”
Financial Administrator Charise Reeves told the board, “If we keep the rates the same, we’ll be out of business in a year and a half.”
Kinsella acknowledged that the district is in dire financial straits. “I don’t think there’s a question that the CSD needs the money,” he said. “But the way to get the money is in dispute.”
Later in the meeting, the board approved a preliminary budget for 2010-2011, showing an expected revenue of $1,491,264 and total expenses of $1,445,000. Reeves has said the budget would come up short by $184,500 if the Proposition 218 rate hike did not go through.
In other business, the LDPCSD directors announced that they are planning to use Jeff Mann and another person as consultants to help run the district while they search for a new general manager. Mann resigned effective June 21 to take another job.
The board also voted to nullify contracts that had been signed by Mann with three local construction companies to provide emergency repairs when district employees are not available. Board members said only they are authorized to sign contracts, not the general manager. Some directors also expressed hope that they could negotiate a cheaper rate for the service, but board member Charles Day said the district has no choice but to pay prevailing wage if state law requires it. That could cost the district more than $404 per hour to hire a four-man crew from one of the companies to do the work.
To help the regular staff catch up on leak repairs, Mann advised the board to hire a couple of part-time employees at $10 per hour to help them catch up on repairing leaks, which he said are so numerous due to many years of neglected preventive maintenance.
Directors also heard a report from Mariposa County Solid Waste and Recycling Manager Michelle Miller, informing them of plans to create a household hazardous waste disposal facility near the CSD’s water treatment plant.
Miller described the equipment and procedures that will be used to dispose of old paint, pool chemicals, fertilizer and pesticides. “It’s a very safe, secure structure,” she said. In the case of an accident in handling the materials, the chances of hazardous materials leaking into the soil “are negligible.”
Director Sally Punte expressed disappointment that the hazardous waste disposal project is going forward on land whose ownership is evidently in dispute. Punte said the property in question is believed by some to belong to the LDPCSD, not Mariposa County.
In other business, the board members agreed that a new contract with Internet provider Throckwisp should be sent to the CSD’s attorneys and engineers for review. The contract allows Throckwisp to lease space on three of the district’s water tank sites to transmit wireless Internet signals to customers’ homes for $100 per month per tank site. It also provides for free Internet services for the CSD office and the homes of up to six CSD employees so they can use the service to remotely monitor the water plant.
Several of the directors were concerned that the contract sets fees for the next 20 years.
General Manager Jeff Mann reported that, in a recent meeting with the Merced Irrigation District, they compared various maps which give conflicting views of which local properties are within the CSD’s boundaries. Mann said the district will have its map filed with the State Water Resources Control Board.
In Mann’s report to the board, he stated that, due to recent concerns about the release of backwash water from the water treatment plant, he has developed a plan to divert the water into the district’s raw water basin and then use the water for irrigation of the grounds at the plant and possibly to neighboring ranchers.
“We would also set up a non-potable water station so that ranchers, fire department, contractors or anyone that could use non-potable water may receive it,” Mann wrote.
In discussing unpaid accounts receivable, Reeves advised board members that they would probably have to write off $4,056 billed to Don Pedro resident Steve Marquette for parts, handling, and an engineering review for a vineyard project. Reeves said the deal evidently was set up by the previous general manager with no written contract, and Marquette said he never received the water, so he does not feel he has to pay.
