July Minutes

STONES-BENGARD COMMUNITY SERVICE DISTRICT

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

509-695 Stone Road, District Office, Eagle Lake, Susanville, CA 96130

Phone & Fax: (530) 825-3350

E-mail stonesb@frontiernet.net

Monday, July 21, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.

APPROVED MINUTES

ROLL CALL:

Meeting called to order at 6:01 pm by Chairman Sam Shapiro.  Present were Directors Kay Oring and Tom Spanton. Ron ReBell was absent. There is now one vacancy on the Board. Also present were General Manager Martin Balding, Fire Chief Adolf Oberst and Secretary Sandy Jansen.  We have a quorum. 

CONSENT CALENDAR:

APPROVAL OF JULY AGENDA

APPROVAL OF JUNE MINUTES

APPROVAL OF PAYMENT OF BILLS for MAY; FIRE $3,370.61; SEWER $2,190.61.

APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S REPORT, by Kay Oring for JUNE.  Fire Account is $88,692.20; Sewer Account is $123,005.32, and Capital Fund had $254,816.54 moved to a new Agency Note and $15,748.83 is remaining.

          Director Oring explained the Agency Note that the Board set up with Lassen County. We will realize more interest than before.   Report is attached.

A motion was made by Director Spanton with a second by Director Oring to accept the JULY Agenda as amended, approval of minutes for JUNE and approval of the payment of JUNE bills and Treasurer’s report for JUNE. Motion carried.

         

GUEST:    Virginia and Jack Carrington and Vern Hart

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Fire Chief Oberst:  Training is going well and Cal Fire is helping with training.  There is progress joining Spalding and Stones and the ambulance for callouts.

          Water Manager Balding report is attached.  Martin explained the stock water and how it is utilized and that it is available for emergency use also.   

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          Secretary’s report:   There were 102 web hits. About 96% of the payments for last year’s waste water is collected.   

PUBLIC COMMENT:

 Mrs. Carrington noted that more information could be sent in the annual letter.  People are interested in what the District has done.     The Board explained how they set up a budget and that the information is posted on the website and bulletin board.

Vern Hart stated that there needs to be a solution to the transfer dump at Spalding having unreliable hours because of the bins being already full.  Martin Balding will contact both Supervisor Albaugh and Pyle to try to get this situation improved.

CORRESPONDENCE:  A letter from Marilyn Hubbard was read thanking the Board for a good job. 

           

OLD BUSINESS:

CALFIRE 2013 Grant:   The first reimbursement has been received and the remaining invoices have been sent for 50/50 reimbursement. 

IRS and form 941 Payroll Tax, 2^nd quarter 2012: Refund is still being pursued.

Work Crew for Roadway:  This will be on hold during fire season.

Weed Abatement: Directors discussed the need for a letter to the property owners stating the need to keep their own areas cleaned up so that an ordinance or legislation will not be needed.  Martin Balding has written a letter to be mailed to the property owners.

Director Spanton moved and Director Oring seconded a motion to send the letter regarding fire safety and property clean-up to the property owners.  Motion carried.  Letter is attached.

NEW BUSINESS:

Assessment List approval:  Carried over until next month.

Approve Painting of Office and Fire Station:  Director Oring moved and Director Spanton seconded a motion to authorize Director Spanton to gather information and three estimates for painting the office and station including prep work and cleanup.  Motion carried.

Approve Fire Station Truck Door Openers:  The Board authorized Chief Oberst to gather information and estimates on automatic garage door openers with emergency manual operation.

Purchase Photovoltaic System:  Martin Balding explained what a photovoltaic System is and how it works.  He explained where he wants the solar panels to be installed.  He explained costs and benefits to the panels and installing them before rebates are discontinued

Director Spanton moved and Director Oring seconded a motion to authorize Martin Balding to gather more information and estimates for the photovoltaic system, installation on the roof and on the ground including security for ground installation.  Motion carried.

BOARD MEMBER ITEMS:

Chairman Shapiro reported that the Fourth of July parade and event at Spalding went well.  Stone’s fire engines looked great.  The donations of hats and shirts was appreciated and she added a barbeque lighter that looked like a fishing pole to the two donation packages.  The turnout was good at the event and raffle.

Also she reported that PELT, Project Eagle Lake Trout, will hire a person to correlate data collected over the past 30 years on the trout, Pine Creek and other issues. The funds would have been used to add more fish to the lake, but at this point the Lake has as many trout as it can sustain because of the very low water.

ADJOURNMENT:   The next meeting will be held on August 18, 2014, 6:00 pm.   With no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

BOARD MEMBERS SIGNING OF BILLS:  Bills were signed. 

Respectfully Submitted,

_____________________________Sandy Jansen, Secretary    

BOARD MEETING  Monday, July 21, 2014 at 6pm

Notes by Martin Balding, General Manager

NO SPILL REPORT: The monthly "No Spill" report for June has been made to the state.

LIFTS STATIONS AND PONDS: The lift stations and ponds have been working well with an annual average flow of about 5,800 gallons per day compared to eight years ago when the flow was over 14,000 gallons per day. At present the ponds, at a level of 1.88' are holding about 400,000 gallons less water than last year. More water would be beneficial. Pan evaporation totaled three inches for the last eight days, extreme.

LAHONTAN: We have received out amended WDR's, Waste Discharge Requirements, which now allow us to send 5.05 Million Gallons per Year to our evaporation ponds. That is an increase from 4.38 MGY.

Also, the semi Annual Wastewater Report has been completed and sent to Lahontan.

LAKE LEVEL: The estimated lake level is 5,092.75', which is below the low point in 1951, 1936 next!

HOMEOWNER SYSTEMS: There were three home owner calls, one for an inspection which was done, another for a flooded system because a circuit breaker was turned off and a third because cables in the tank interfered with the float switches. All resolved.

LATE PAYMENT COLLECTIONS:Sandy has been following up on accounts due with excellent results.

CAL FIRE INMATE ROAD WORK: Probably on hold because of the fire season.

PUBLIC GREEN WASTE PILE: The CSD serves the community, and promotes fire safety, by allowing green waste to be deposited in a suitable area where it can be burned by the Fire Department for training purposes. An initial area for burn piles has been selected and homeowners may check with the Service District Fire Chief or the Manager for permission to dump brush and limbs.

911 SIGNS: No work.

POSSIBLE ORDINANCES: We have a copy of the Spalding weed control ordinance to be reviewed and possibly adapted for approval and use.

STOCK WATER: The pump motor for the Stock Water had to be replaced. It was nine years old and failed with a locked rotor. Also the pressure tank was re-filled with air and a new pressue gage was installed.

SOLAR SYSTEM FOR ROOF: Two contractors were asked to give quotes for a complete, working installation of about ten Kilowatts of solar panels on the Firehouse Roof. At present the Rebates from LMUD are substantial at about two dollars a watt, Calculations show that a system can give a return on investment of 10% or more. Staff recommends moving forward with a Solar Electric Project.

WEED ABATEMENT LETTER: In progress.