MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SERRANO WATER DISTRICT

The Board of Directors of the Serrano Water District met in a special board meeting on Tuesday, May 23, 2018.  The meeting was held at the District Office located at 18021 Lincoln Street, Villa Park, California.

CALL TO ORDER:  President Bryant called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS PRESENT:

Frank Bryant                           President

Greg Mills                               Vice President

Brad Reese                              Board Member

Jerry Haight                            Board Member

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS ABSENT:

C.L. “Larry” Pharris, Jr.           Board Member

STAFF PRESENT:

Jerry Vilander                         General Manager

Ann Michel                             Director, Finance & Administration

Vittorio Roggero                     Business Manager

Laura Heflin                            Administrative Assistant

Joel Kuperberg                        Legal Counsel

GUESTS PRESENT:

Katie Pringle                           Curt Pringle & Associates

Robert “Woody” Rickerl        Prior Board Member

Diana Fascenelli                      Villa Park City Council Woman

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

BOARD MINUTES

Consideration of Serrano Water District Board Meeting minutes of April 10, 2018.  Director Mills moved that the minutes of the April 10, 2018 meeting be approved as submitted, Director Reese seconded the motion, and the motion was carried with Directors Bryant, Mills, Reese, and Haight voting yes.

GENERAL MANAGER REPORT

General Manager Vilander summarized the status of Board Committee and management matters as agendized for the month of May.  Highlights included an annual inspection by the Division of Safety of Dams and a meeting with staff from Irvine Ranch Water District to review the preliminary design report for the dam tower. General Manager Vilander remarked that it will still be a while before the District has solid numbers.  The cost is preliminarily $16M for the dam tower which includes $4M for contingency.  General Manager Vilander discussed the potential of dredging and draining.  The project is still at least two to three years out.   General Manager Vilander reported that the pump at Lockett is working well and that an automatic shutoff will be installed next month.  The District

has been contacted by legal counsel for ACWA-JPIA in regard to the Smith Reservoir incident.  They are pursuing the contractor and have requested the District’s assistance in potential recovery of funds.  Director Bryant and Mills will be attending the O.C. Summit on June 1^st.  General Manager Vilander remarked that he will be on vacation tomorrow through Wednesday, May 30^th. 

Business Manager Roggero reviewed the various options offered with financial advisors for the District’s proposed debt structuring for upcoming capital projects.  Discussion ensued.  It was determined that it would be premature to enter into an agreement with a financial advisor at this time as the District did not have solid numbers for capital improvement projects related to the Santiago Reservoir.  Business Manager Roggero will continue to review options with financial brokers regarding existing debt in the interim and report back to the Finance Committee with options. 

FINANCIAL REPORT

Following presentation of the financial report by Ann Michel, Director of Finance and Administration, it was moved (Director Mills), seconded (Director Haight), and carried with Directors Bryant, Mills, Reese and Haight voting yes to approve the disbursements in the amount of $631,497.24.  The option of solar panels was discussed but will not be pursued as it was agreed that this is not a viable option for the District.  Director Reese questioned the disbursement to I.T. Problem Solvers and requested to see I.T. Problem Solver’s invoice.  Director Haight asked for a comparison of the amount of Southern California Edison billing as compared to prior periods.  The reserve resolution will be updated and brought to the Board of Directors for approval to reflect current reserve goals and will be updated on the District’s website.  Director Haight expressed concern about the potential meter charge given the upcoming capital improvement projects. 

Business Manager Roggero reported that he is planning on refreshing the budget and financial reporting and will be providing executive level analytics in coming months.  The proposed revisions will be brought to the Finance Committee for initial approval and subsequent Board adoption.  This concept was received well. 

WATER REPORT

Ann Michel, Director of Finance and Administration, presented the water report.  It was moved (Director Mills), seconded (Director Haight), and carried with Directors Bryant, Reese, Haight and Mills voting yes to receive and file the water report.  

RESOLUTION NO. 2018-05-01 OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SERRANO WATER DISTRICT APPOINTING TREASURER, DEPUTY SECRETARIES AND DEPUTY TREASURER

Following discussion led by General Manager Vilander, it was moved (Director Reese), seconded (Director Mills), and carried with Directors Bryant, Reese, Haight, and Mills voting yes to adopt Resolution No. 2018-05-01 as presented.

REVISION TO BILLING STATEMENT

Following discussion, it was moved (Director Reese), seconded (Director Mills), and carried with Directors Haight, Reese, Mills and Bryant voting yes to adopt the revised billing statement with the addition of putting the total past due dollar amount in red also on the yellow sheet.

BALLOTS FOR REGULAR SPECIAL DISTRICT MEMBER AND ALTERNATE SPECIAL DISTRICT MEMBER TO THE ORANGE COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION

Director Bryant reported that he would be sending the ballot to LAFCO on behalf of the District voting for Douglass S. Davert Regular Special District Member and James Fisler for Alternate Special District Member.

BAD DEBT WRITE-OFFS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018

Following presentation of the bad debt write-offs for fiscal year 2017-2018 which had previously been sent to the collection agency, it was moved (Director Mills), seconded (Director Haight), and carried with Directors Haight, Reese, Mills and Bryant voting yes to authorize staff to write off $1,235.48.

CORRESPONDENCE

Correspondence was reviewed as agendized.

SANTIAGO RESERVOIR WATER RIGHTS AND ACCOUNTING – JOEL D. KUPERBERG

Attorney Kuperberg gave a very informative presentation on Santiago Reservoir Water Rights and Accounting.  The Board of Directors and staff thanked Attorney Kuperberg for his very informative presentation.

DIRECTOR COMMENTS AND REPORTS

None.

ATTORNEY’S REPORT

None.

It was announced at 6:45 p.m. that the Board of Directors would be entering into closed session.

RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION

Potential initiation of litigation pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Government Code Section 54956.9, one case.

CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS

(Government Code Section 54956.8)

Property:   Lockett Tower site, located at 6112 E. Carver Lane, Orange, CA

Agency Negotiator:  Jerry Vilander

Negotiating Parties:  Crowne Castle

Under Negotiation:  Price and Terms

The meeting was reconvened into open session at 7:55 p.m., and it was announced that the motion had been made by Director Reese, seconded by Director Haight, and carried with Director Bryant voting yes and Director Mills voting no to authorize staff to accept the offer presented by Ware Disposal contingent upon review of language by Rutan & Tucker.

Business Manager Roggero announced that he was awaiting response from Crowne Castle regarding the proposal that he had made earlier. 

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was formally adjourned at 8:00 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 @ 8:30 a.m. at the District office.

Laura Heflin, Administrative Assistant