GDPUD Dec Meeting Recap

DIVIDE CITIZENS FOR WATER

DECEMBER 11, 2012

http://flushthewaste.com

Board Members Present:  Director Bonnie McLane,  Director Ray Griffiths, Director Norm Krizl, Director Maria Capraun and Director Kathy Otermat.  (Director Krizl & Capraun were sworn in at a previous meeting)

PLEASE NOTE:  Resolution 2012-18 passed at the November meeting was approval of all contracts previously approved by past board members.

RECOGNITION OF RETIRED STAFF

A formal recognition was offered to Mary Pat Frick upon her retirement. 

Director Otermat and Capraun wondered why Janis Fayer had not been recognized for her retirement.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Potato commented on the extremely high fine for late payment on the water bill as compared to other utilities ie PGE.  Once the bill is paid, there is an extremely high hook up fee.  (If people do not pay on time as they don't have the money, it is unfair to charge such a high fee for hooking up again.)

Jan Falkenstein presented the board with pictures and an invoice showing damage done by the ditch flowing onto his property and washing out the road.  He stated this was a known problem and would happen when there was a high amount of rain.  (This would be an ideal project for the ditch crew to repair rather than the customer.  The district has never had such a high amount of ditch workers (apprx 10).  They should be eliminating potential problems before they occur, what are all the workers doing while the customer is repairing overflowing ditches & roads?) 

Ray Kringel made a comment about the disparaging article in the Mtn Demo about GDPUD special meeting and the lack of 3 board members.  Three members, one of which was not sworn in yet, one director with a death in the family and one with computer problems.  (Would behoove the staff to contact directors via phone about emergency meetings.)  This meeting pertained to the time limit for CalPERS to accept the change from 2.7% to 2% by the end of the year.........the decision on this item was made during 2011 budget talks, why now with 28 days to go is it just being done??

CONSENT CALENDAR

There were several questions about accounts payable from new Director Maria Capraun.  One question, why the high phone bill, how many workers cell phones are we paying for???

Approval of 2013 meeting dates, the second Tuesday of each month with the meetings being held at 5:00p.m. for the months of April, May, and June.  (These meetings pertain to the budget and would be of interest to the public that may work during morning meetings.)

GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT

Update on Stumpy and waste water usage.  The GM said he had received a grant for a little over one million dollars, this is the remainder of the grant that had been approved several years by congress for the Greenwood Water Treatment Plant.  The original grant was for the amount $1,433,600, $352,041 has been spent on the abandoned Greenwood Plant, but the remaining $1,081,559 could now be applied to the Cool Pilot Hill Treatment Plant.

DISCUSSION OF CDS

The board passed a motion to bring the district into compliance with Resolution 2008-11 bringing the wastewater ALT charge into compliance.  (this is a reduction of $2.15)  The board directed the GM to prepare for a COS analysis of the CDS and all of ALT wastewater, in light of outsourcing lab work thereby eliminating the fulltime wastewater position.  The amount for waste water service must cover the actual amount of service (should have a reserve fund for emergency).  The motion passed with Director Otermat, Capraun, and McLane in favor with Director Krizl and Griffiths opposed. 

WORKSHOPS

The board decided to hold workshops through the month of January and February every Thursday from 4:00p,m. to 6:00p.m. to discuss specific topics with no action, but to report back at the monthly board meeting.  The first workshop would be January 3, 2013 and cover Board Meeting Procedure, with the next workshops on consecutive Thursdays with topics to be announced and publicized in the paper.  (This will give board members a more thorough understanding of an issue and be a time savings at the monthly general meeting.) 

CALTRANS PROJECT ON CATBIRD HILL

Director Otermat and citizen Steve Miller traveled to Marysville to discuss the project with Caltrans.  At the last meeting the GM reported on an issue with Caltrans and the project.  Director Otermat discussed her discussion with Caltrans and the board requested the GM contact Caltrans with an inquiry and to keep the full board notified of all correspondence.  (thanks to Director Otermat and Steve Miller for taking of their valuable time and continued monitoring of the project to keep the cost at a minimum for ratepayers.)

DISCUSSION OF LEGAL COUNSEL

Bill Wright, general counsel for the district had submitted his resignation at the last meeting.  There was discussion of an interim attorney while an RFP and applications were reviewed. The cost was discussed, with the present general counsel having an approximate 6 figure yearly salary with only 15% attributed to the monthly general meeting.  With a new attorney and new board members there should be oversight by the  board to monitor service and costs.  There was a vote of Director Otermat, Capraun, and McLane voting yes and Director Krizl and Griffiths voting no, motion passed to retain John Knowlton of Shaffer Law Group in Auburn as interim counsel.  An RFP would be sent out for a permanent replacement.

REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTATION OF VARIOUS DISTRICT DOCUMENTS

The board acknowledged several pages of documentation covering a variety of subjects that had been presented to each member by the GM.

COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS AND ITEMS TO BE HEARD AT THE NEXT MEETING

Director McLane requested:

GM to check with EID and Joe Harn as to their availability and cost to do GDPUD accounts payable and human resource.  (this presently being done by outside consultants at an exorbitant cost)

WTPO for weekends, discussion and action.  (Steve Atkins, previous WTPO may be available at a minimal charge to work weekends, thereby saving the district high overtime cost)

Review and action on the GM's contract

RFP for attorney

Reimbursement to Jan Falkenstein, discussion and action.

Topics were suggested for review of past records by Director Capraun, with documentation to be presented in February. 

CLOSED SESSION

Litigation Jean Lee Choo Leow

Negotiations with Management and Confidential  Employees Assoc.

Litigation Larry and Korby Battenberg

Negotiations for GM evaluation

ADJOURN TO OPEN SESSION

The motion passed by Director Otermat, Capraun, and McLane to concur with the courts findings in the  Battenberg case.