HERITAGE RANCH
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS MEETING
MINUTES OF July 16, 2009
Directors present: Marilyn
Breland, Dan Burgess, Richard Gourley, Don Clarke
Directors absent:
Staff present: John D’Ornellas, Manager
OPEN SESSION 4:00 PM
CALL to ORDER/FLAG SALUTE
Vice President
Breland called the meeting to order and led the flag salute.
ROLL CALL
Director
Allison absent.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Stan Heyne
asked if there was access problems at lift station 2 when vehicles/boats park
in the area. D’Ornellas responded.
MINUTES
3. Minutes of June 18, 2009: Vice President Breland said approval of the
June 18 minutes should be postponed until the August 20 meeting because the
three Board members present at the June 18 meeting are not at today’s
meeting. She suggested the June 18 minutes
should be taken off the agenda and placed on the August 20, 2009, agenda for review
and approval. There were was Board consenses
to postpone approval of the minutes until the three Board members in attendance
at the June 18 meeting were present.
PAYABLES
4 June 2009 Payables: Vice President Breland asked if there were
any questions about the June payables. There
were none. Director Clarke moved to
approve the Warrant Register for June.
Director Gourley seconded the motion.
The vote carried 4-0 in favor.
PUBLIC HEARING
5A. Adopt
Resolution 09-07 Approving a Water Conservation and Staged Water Use Reduction
Plan: D’Ornellas said this item has
been before the Board seven times over the last two years and this meeting is a
continuance of the public hearing from June 18, 2009. He indicated the public hearing is for approval
and adoption of Resolution 09-07 which will establish water shortage regulations
and a staged water use reduction ordinance.
D’Ornellas reported that at the June 18 meeting the Board received
public comment and requested staff to make amendments to the proposed ordinance
language. He summarized the Board’s
suggested changes to the ordinance as a reduction in the surcharge fee,
regrouping of tracts into less groups, and more flexibility with the variance
language. D’Ornellas conducted a Power
Point presentation with background information and the details of the ordinance. Information included the District’s water
supply history, system capacity and Nacimiento Reservoir drought condition
impact on the District. D’Ornellas
outlined the ordinance’s structure and the five stages or trigger points
relative to water elevations in
There were Board comments and questions about public education,
current status of the reservoir, customer retrofit options, and non-residential
conservation. Vice President Breland
indicated this public hearing was continued from the June 18 meeting and asked
if there were any public comments on the proposed ordinance. Stan Heyne commented that water conservation
will reduce the District’s revenues and may cause an increase in fees to make
up for the reduced demand for water. There
were no other comments and Vice President Breland closed the public hearing.
Director
Clarke made the motion to adopt Resolution 09-07 approving the water
conservation and staged water use reduction plan. This motion was seconded by Director
Burgess. D’Ornellas conducted a roll
call vote with all Directors in attendance responding yes. Resolution 09-07 was adopted with a 4-0 vote in
favor.
5B. Adopt
Resolution 09-08 Authorizing Recordation of Tax Liens for Properties in Arrears
in Payment of Solid Waste Fees
D’Ornellas presented the report to collect unpaid solid waste fees as
tax liens. He said the District adopted
a mandatory solid waste policy into its Code of Ordinance on July 29,
1999. He indicated this action was the
result of a series of public joint workshops in late 1998 and into 1999, with
the District and HROA addressing the issue of unauthorized use of bins and
illegal dumping.
He said this policy was confirmed by both the District and HROA at a joint
meeting on June 21, 2007. D’Ornellas reported that
pursuant to District Code Section 8.200 all
developed properties located within the District with a water meter are subject
to mandatory solid waste service. He said this Ordinance
incorporates the procedures of Government Code Section 61115(3)(b) for the
collection of delinquent solid waste charges on the tax rolls. D’Ornellas said this Code section allows the
Board to authorize the San Luis Obispo
County Auditor to levy the amount due to San Miguel Garbage Company for
delinquent solid waste services as a tax lien against the property. He reported the tax lien will be placed on a
property owner’s tax bill for collection.
D’Ornellas reported that San Miguel Garbage sent certified letters to each
delinquent account giving a 45-day notice to pay pursuant to District Code
8.330. He indicated the District sent a
Notice of Public Hearing to each delinquent property owner regarding the
Board’s action today. D’Ornellas updated
the attachment of delinquent accounts with the deletion of three customers because
they had paid their fees subsequent to the posting of the agenda.
Vice President Breland opened the public hearing. There were no public comments and Vice
President Breland closed the public hearing.
Director Gourley made the motion to adopt Resolution 09-08 authorizing recordation of tax liens for
properties in arrears in payment of solid waste fees. This motion was seconded by Director Clarke. D’Ornellas conducted a roll call vote. Directors Gourley, Breland and Clarke voted
yes, Director Burgess abstained from voting. Resolution 09-08 was adopted with a 3 -1 - 0
vote in favor.
5C. Adopt Resolution 09-09 Approving Final
Budget for FY 2009/10. D’Ornellas
presented an overview of the 2009/10 Final Budget. D’Ornellas indicated the Final Budget was
reduced by $200 from the Preliminary Budget.
D’Ornellas summarized the budget categories including major capital items. He said the budget is based on a projected 8%
decrease in property taxes due to the State’s fiscal crises. D’Ornellas reported the State may reduce local
property taxes by more than 8%, and this could require use of reserve funds for
operations.
Vice President Breland opened the Public Hearing. There was Board discussion and questions on
various capital projects including meter replacement and gas station
closure. Vice President Breland asked if
there were any public questions.
D’Ornellas indicated that no written comments were received. There was no public comment and Vice
President Breland closed the public hearing and called for a motion to adopt
Resolution 09-09. Director Clarke moved
to adopt Resolution 09-09. Director Gourley
seconded the motion. A roll call vote
was held, all Directors in attendance responded yes. Resolution 09-09 was adopted with a 4-0 vote in
favor.
6A. Water Supply Evaluation D’Ornellas
presented a proposal from the District’s Engineers at the Wallace Group to
evaluate the District’s water supply in regards to a new source and/or access
point. He explained the work does not
design, create or construct any project.
D’Ornellas said the project will produce a series of technical
memorandums discussing their findings and evaluations of two key water supply
alternatives. He indicated these
alternatives include accessing
D’Ornellas
said we are at the first step of this project in which we need to decide what
we want to do, its general size/shape, roughly what it cost, and the
environmental impacts of the project. He
said once we answer these questions, we can move on to the design and
construction of a project. D’Ornellas indicated
that any new water supply option will be expensive and we may eventually decide
to do nothing and hope that it rains ever few years to fill up the reservoir
and provide us with steady river flow. There
were Board comments on the importance of evaluating alternative water
supplies. Director Burgess made the
motion to approve the scope of work and proposal from the Wallace Group to
establish an alternate water supply. Director
Clarke seconded the motion. The vote was
4-0 in favor.
7A. Treasurer’s Report for June 2009: D’Ornellas presented the Treasurer’s Report
for June 2009. There were no
questions. Item was received and filed.
7B. Manager’s Report June 2009: D’Ornellas presented the report. Item was received and filed.
7C. Engineer’s Report June 2009: Vice President Breland asked if there were
any questions on the Engineer’s Report. There
were no questions. Item was received and
filed.
7D. Staff Report June 2009: D’Ornellas asked if there were any questions
on the Staff Reports. Item was received
and filed.
7E. Director
Report on Class: Director Burgess gave an overview
of the recent special district administration class he attended in
BOARD STAFF GENERAL DISCUSSION
Director
Clarke commented that he would like to see the Manager take some time off soon
for rest and relaxation. He suggested an
offshore albacore fishing trip.
Director Clarke made a motion to adjourn the
meeting. Director Gourley seconded the
motion. The vote was 4-0 in favor. The meeting adjourned at 5:44 PM.
Approved:
_____________________________
Attest:
_________________________________
John
D’Ornellas, Secretary Board of Directors