1.
Call to Order.
7: 30 p.m.
2.
Roll.
Directors
Amoroso, Comstock, Godino, Siedman and Smith present; director Siedman
presiding.
3. Manager’s Report.
-- Update
on the Terrace Avenue Bluff Stabilization Project.
The Working Group is attempting to finalize a
date for the town meeting to discuss whether to save Terrace Avenue at Surfer’s
Overlook. Supervisor Kinsey is available
in November and the effort is being made to identify a Saturday morning and
secure an appropriate location. The
meeting likely will be held either in the Bolinas Community Center or the Fire
Station public meeting room. Director
Amoroso commented that the community might be willing to assess itself the
funds to pay for a stabilization project given the importance of this road; he
suggested that an advisory ballot measure might be a good next step after the
town meeting.
-- Update on the BCPUD Chlorine Disinfection
Byproduct Reduction Project.
Staff reported that work is underway on the rehabilitation
of the clarifier. BCPUD staff and
temporary hire are demolishing portions of the existing structure and will then
replace it with safer, new components.
Specifically, the ladder, steps and access structure on the top of the
clarifier will be rehabilitated, rebuilt and repainted, and the clarifier
itself will be cleaned out. Plumbing then
will be installed to route the backwash water to the clarifier for settling
purposes before being pumped back to the reservoir. Staff also will install new process equipment
(i.e., a new chlorine analyzer and a new turbidimeter). Most of the staff time will be dedicated to completing
this work over the next several weeks.
--
Update on BCPUD’s Current Capital Improvement Projects and Status of Capital
Improvement Plan.
Staff is collecting information needed by the
district’s engineers to perform the valuation of the district’s assets that staff
have prioritized for rehabilitation or replacement in the next 5 – 10
years. As this work progresses, the
staff is prioritizing the elimination of deadends as well as water mains that
serve only one or two properties; both of these conditions on the distribution
system result in long detention times and associated water quality issues. One of the most significant project
recommendations the staff will propose for this purpose is the installation of
a new water main under Poplar Road between Evergreen and Vine. In response to questions from director
Comstock, staff said the goal is to have the valuations and capital plan in at
least draft form by the end of the year (and prior to the commencement of the
next budget cycle).
Staff reported that the billing software replacement
project is moving along,. Staff is
working with the software vendor to resolve difficulties with printing the most
recent bills; those difficulties should be resolved shortly.
As for the flow meter installation project,
the flow meter to be installed to measure the wastewater flows from downtown to
the sewer ponds has been identified. The
cost of the meter is approximately $3,000 and the cost to run electrical power
to the meter is approximately $1,000.
Staff is reconsidering the installation of a second meter to monitor the
flows out of the ponds to the disposal fields in light of a site visit on
September 19th by one of the original engineers who designed the
treatment facility, Bailey Greene. The
site visit was more than 2 hours and attended by staff and directors Amoroso
and Smith; staff received a lot of valuable
advice concerning improvements to the operational protocols for recirculation,
transferring between ponds, placement of aerators, and the pond level at which
the wastewater is diverted for spray disposal.
The County’s repair of the seawall on Wharf
Road is moving forward on schedule. The
sheet pilings and tie-back rods are now fully installed, but staff has concerns
that the impact of the heavy equipment and vibrations have compromised the
integrity of the sewer collection main.
As such, staff advised the County that the district will video the main at
the project location and report back as to whether repairs are required.
Staff reported that a proposed date for the
special BCPUD Board meeting to host the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito & Vector
Control District representatives has been selected: January 6, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting room at the Firehouse is
available and thereore has been reserved for the meeting.
Staff is pleased to report that access has
been installed along the Zebra right-of-way to the Verhalen property line. Staff is preparing a drainage plan for the
Board’s consideration and will present it as soon as possible. Finally, the property owner previously encroaching
into the Zebra Right-of-way has advised the district that the studio building
still located there is scheduled to be removed, likely by the end of the week.
Staff met recently with Janine Aroyan and the
property owner at 98 Brighton to discuss the possible trash enclosure
improvement project at the entrance to Brighton Beach. The property owner requested more information
and staff clarified that the project is not a BCPUD project, but rather a project
of the Bolinas Community Center as part of it’s downtown clearn-up activities. On a related note, at the request of the
Community Center, staff requested that the garbage company provide an
additional dumpster for recycling at Mesa Park and the garbage company agreed
to provide one.
On the water side of operations, staff noted
that consumption has held fairly steady until the recent hot holiday weekend
with huge surf swells – on that weekend, consumption jumped up to about 100,000
gallons per day, but is now back down in the 70,000 – 80,000 gallon per day
range for the town. Staff noted that the
district continues to provide water to the community exclusively from the
Arroyo Hondo Creek and still has its full supply of emergency water in the
Woodrat reservoirs.
The district experienced a leak on a customer
service line at the bottom of Ocean Parkway last Saturday; unfortunately, a
problem at the answering service resulted in the on-call operator not being
paged to the leak until Sunday. The
problem with the answering service has been addressed, and staff estimates the
water loss at approximately 16,000 gallons.
Staff is now estimating all water losses and measuring all water used to
flush lines or take samples in an effort to better quantify the district’s
unintended water losses.
The district received a complaint about a
hazardous tree limb over the Terrace/Brighton stairs. Staff met with the property owner (the tree
itself is on private property but overhangs the district’s easement) and negotiated
the removal of the tree limb, which will be completed this week.
On the wastewater side of operations, flows continue to be low into the
system (i.e., approximately 16,000 – 18,000 gallons per day) with the exception
of a recent jump over the weekend when the weather was hot and surf was
up. Staff sent a letter to the Bolinas
School, a copy of which is in the Board binders, stating that the school is no
longer authorized to dump septic waste at the sewer ponds due to unacceptably
high levels of grease and other contaminants; the school also was asked to
inform school kids not to ride their
bikes or walk through the sewer pond sprayfields on their way to and from
school, but rather to use the bike and pedestrian path parallel to Mesa Road.
Staff noted that the C-SMART Technical
Advisory Committee met earlier in the day and director Siedman said that he and
Fire Chief Anita Tyrrell-Brown were there on behalf of Bolinas. Based on their input, the County will be
significantly revising its maps of Bolinas and its projected sea-level rise
projections to include important town infrastructure, such as the sewer lift
station on Wharf Road. Director Siedman
noted that there will be a local workshop on the C-SMART planning effort on
October 29th in Stinson Beach.
He also noted that the County is interested in obtaining copies of any
photos taken during the storms of 1982.
--
Drainage Project Manager’s Report.
Drainage Project Manager Lewie Likover
submitted a written report.
4. Community
Expression.
Eleanor Lynman expressed strong concerns
about a Proposed Environmental Impact Statement recently issued by the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) that contains troubling
provisions about the use of pesticides.
She noted that Earth Justice is preparing an opposition letter. Director Siedman noted that comments letters
are due by October 31st and director Comstock said the Board would
need to agendize such action per the Brown Act and therefore cannot approve a
letter at this meeting. Eleanor noted that
there are potential water supply implications of the CDFA’s pesticide
proposal. Ater a brief discussion,
director Amoroso suggested that the district review the template letters
prepared by Earth Justice and others as soon as they are issued and hold a
special meeting, if necessary, to approve a comment letter from the BCPUD.
5. Memorandum of Understanding between the BCPUD
and Mesa Park Concerning the Mesa Park Ballfield Irrigation and Public Restroom
Project.
Director
Siedman said that Bryan Lee from Mesa Park is not yet in attendance at the
meeting and he therefore deferred this item until later on the agenda.
6. BCPUD Resolution 634: Affirming Compliance of the District with the
Ralph M. Brown Act.
Director Amoroso moved to approve the draft resolution
and director Smith seconded for discussion
purposes. Director Comstock
objected to the Board passing a resolution that says it will follow the law,
since of course the Board will follow the law;
he said he understands Matt Lewis’ point about the potential for
non-compliance, but he does not believe there is a risk here. Director Smith said he agrees with director
Comstock, but feels it is important for this case only to specifically state
that the district will continue to comply with those sections of the Brown Act
that were suspended by the state legislature.
After a brief discussion, the Board agreed to delete the last “whereas”
from the resolution and make other clarifying revisions to the draft resolution.
V. Amoroso/D. Smith all in favor to
approve Resolution 634 as amended.
7. Amendment to BCPUD Resolution 572: A Resolution Implementing the California
Governmental Conflict of Interest Act.
Staff presented an amended version of BCPUD
Resolution 572 which adds the position of “General Manager” to those designated
positions (along with the Board members) subject to the Conflict of Interest
Act provisions.
G. Godino/D. Smith all in favor to approve Resolution 572, as amended.
8. BCPUD Comments on LAFCO’s Draft Agency
Profile of the District.
Staff presented a draft set of extenstive
comments for the Board’s consideration on the draft profile of the district prepared
by the Marin County Local Agency Formation Commission (“LAFCO”). In brief, staff recommends that the district
correct numerous inaccuracies in the report, as well as the subjective comments
concerning Bolinas residents. Staff
questioned the extent of LAFCO’s authority to issue such a report, which seems
almost regulatory in nature. The Board
directed staff to request the district’s counsel to assess this question, up to
a maximum of three hours of research. Director
Smith expressed strong concerns about the report and offered to assist staff
with the comments; staff expressed appreciation for the offer. Discussion ensued, and the Board directed
staff to request an extension of time to submit the district’s comments and to
agendize the matter for further consideration by the Board at the November
meeting.
9. Water Supply Update.
After
a review of the most recent data concerning the irrigation well at the Resource
Recovery site, the Board directed staff to confer with the district’s
consulting hydro-geologist about the utility of analyzing this data every month
vs. every quarter.
5. Memorandum of Understanding between the BCPUD
and Mesa Park Concerning the Mesa Park Ballfield Irrigation and Public Restroom
Project.
Director
Siedman called item 5 on the agenda which had been deferred earlier in the
meeting. Director Amoroso reported that
he attended the most recent meeting of the Mesa Park Board and learned that
they are very tight on funds; as such, he suggested the Board reduce the amount
Mesa Park is required to pay to the BCPUD on December 15, 2014 per the MOU from
$50,000 to $45,000. Director Comstock
objected on the ground that the MOU was negotiated and agreed to after
extensive discussion to protect the BCPUD from any responsibility for financing
this project and the terms should not be changed now. Discussion ensued and director Amoroso
ultimately concurred, noting that if Mesa Park has a serious cash flow issue,
it can come to the Board and request a change of terms on its own intiative.
D. Smith/G. Godino all in favor to approve
the Memorandum of Understanding between the BCPUD and Mesa Park concerning the
Mesa Park Ballfield Irrigation and Public Restroom project.
10. Volunteer Committee Reports.
-- Bolinas Lagoon Advisory
Committee: Nothing to
report.
-- Downtown Parking &
Traffic Committee: Nothing to report.
-- Resource Recovery: Nothing
to report.
-- Water Conservation
Assistance Committee: Nothing to report.
-- West Marin Mosquito Control
Coordinating Council: Nothing to report.
--
Land Stewardship Committee: Director Siedman reported that the committee
met recently with staff to discuss the possible development of a trail down
behind the Resource Recovery Project, as well as a possible budget for removal
of invasive non-natives and planting of
natives on the nonoperational areas of the property.
11. Other Business.
a. Board Committee Reports
-- Finance: Minutes of the September 24, 2014 committee
meeting; Minutes of the October 7, 2014 committee meeting; First Quarter
Financial Report (Draft).
Director Amoroso offered clarifying revisions
to the draft minutes of the September 24, 2014 Finance Committee meeting.
G. Godino/L. Comstock all in favor to approve the minutes of the September
24, 2014 Finance Committee meeting.
L. Comstock/D. Smith all in favor to
approve the minutes of the October 7, 2014 Finance Committee meeting.
Staff presented a draft First Quarter
Financial Report.
--
Legal: Nothing to report.
--
Mesa Septic, Flood Control and Roads: Nothing to report.
--
Operations: Nothing to report.
--
Park and Recreation: Nothing to report.
--
Personnel: Nothing to report.
--
Sewer: Nothing to report.
b. Minutes of the September 17, 2014 Regular
Meeting.
Director Comstock offered clarifying revisions to the draft minutes off
the September 17, 2014 BCPUD Board meeting.
L. Comstock/D. Smith all in favor to
approve the minutes of the September 17, 2014 regular Board meeting.
c. Warrants
D. Smith/L. Comstock all in
favor to approve the warrant list.
d. Scheduling of Next Meeting(s)
November 19, 2014 at 7:30
p.m.
12.
Adjournment.
9:54 p.m.