MINUTES

DEPARTMENT OF WATER & POWER
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
MINUTES FOR A REGULAR BOARD MEETING
AUGUST 24, 2004

A meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Water & Power, City of Big Bear Lake, was called to order at 8:05 a.m., by Chairman Herrick, at the DWP Board Room, 41972 Garstin Drive, Big Bear Lake, California.

FLAG SALUTE: Led by Treasurer Conley

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Rick Herrick, Chairman
Eddie Etter, Vice Chairman
Susan Conley, Treasurer
Bill Speyers, Board Member
Barbara Willey, Board Member

BOARD MEMBERS EXCUSED: None

OTHERS PRESENT:

Jerome D. Gruber, General Manager
Scott Heule, Assistant General Manager
Diane Muir, Office Manager
Steve Wilson, Water Superintendent
Bill La Haye, Water Conservation Specialist
Mark Van Dam, Engineer, CDM
Robyn Bratton, Secretary to the Board
Darrell Mulvihill, Mayor ProTem
Neal Hertzman, City Council Member
Ken Dally, City Council Member
Michael Perry, City Manager
Sheila Hamilton, MWD General Manager
John Eminger, MWD Board Director
Bob Colven, CSD Board President
Rick Ollila, CSD Board Director
Steve Schindler, BBARWA General Manager
Liz Stevens, Big Bear News
Danielle Seckler, Bear Valley News
Reporter from the Sun Newspaper
60-75 Members of the Public

ITEM NO. 2 - PRESENTATION BY CHAIRMAN HERRICK OF 5-YEAR PIN TO KELLE BARRETTE

Chairman Herrick presented Kelle Barrette with her 5-year pin and thanked her for her hard work over the past five years. General Manager Gruber also thanked Kelle for the hard work she has done, especially regarding the Springbrook conversion.

ITEM NO. 3 - PUBLIC FORUM

Chairman Herrick opened up the meeting to public forum.

Rick Babin wanted to speak about the water meters and changing to EDUs. Chairman Herrick asked that Mr. Babin wait until this issue was addressed on Item No. 10.

ITEM NO. 4 - HUFI UPDATE BY CITY MANAGER PERRY

City Manager Perry gave the Board and staff an update on the progress of tree/underbrush removal from the Valley. He reported that Randy Clawson, from the Forestry District, said that enough tree removal/underbrush will be removed, along with new fire breaks, to last for the next ten years. City Manager Perry stated that in the meantime, enough funds would need to be available to maintain the forest and prepare for the end of that ten years.

ITEM NO. 5 - CONSENT CALENDAR

...Motion made by Treasurer Conley, seconded by Board Member Etter, and carried 5-0 to remove Items No. 5.1 and 5.4 from the Consent Calendar.

...Motion made by Treasurer Conley, seconded by Vice Chairman Etter, and carried 5-0 to approve the Consent Calendar.

ITEM NO. 6 - ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR

5.1...Motion made by Board Member Speyers, seconded by Board Member Willey, and carried 5-0 to approve the Minutes of a Regular meeting dated July 27, 2004 with amendments, and Minutes of a Special Meeting dated August 2, 2004 as presented.

5.4...Assistant General Manager Heule reported that the McAlister well will be producing 100 gpm from the upper aquifer. The lower aquifer is not very productive, which is the reason the well will not produce more than the 100 gpm.

The development and test pump for the Canvasback Well should be installed and operational by the end of the week and we will know soon about how many gpms the well will produce.

The initial study and biological survey reports in draft form for the Lake Williams Pipeline Project have been received by staff.

ITEM NO. 7a - PRESENTATION BY SHEILA HAMILTON ON CLOUD SEEDING

Sheila Hamilton introduced John Eminger, MWD Board Director. Mr. Eminger gave a presentation on cloud seeding. He reported that cloud seeding was not something new and has been around for the past 50 years. It is used all over the United States and also in 12 foreign countries. He feels that cloud seeding in the Valley has a chance of success.

There was a question that if successful, is there a possibility it could cause flooding. Mr. Eminger stated that there has never been a successful court case finding against a cloud seeding project. Also, if there is a risk of flooding, no seeding would occur during that storm.

All agencies approached have been favorable to contributing monies for a three-year test run. The first three years would be a good gage to see if the process will be successful. Snow Summit was one of the first to offer $15,000 towards the project.

The MWD would like to begin cloud seeding this winter; however, the environmental process needs to take place through CEQA.

The first three years would be funded by the designated agencies. After that, and if successful, the MWD would again approach these agencies for more funding support.

If an El Nino should occur at any time during the three-year period, the "Suspension Criteria" would go into effect and then revert back to cloud seeding after the El Nino event.

ITEM NO. 7b - REQUEST FOR FUNDING FOR CLOUD SEEDING BY GENERAL MANGER GRUBER

...Motion made by Vice Chairman Etter, seconded by Board Member Speyers, and carried 5-0 to approve up to $40,000 per year, for the next three years, to support cloud seeding within the Big Bear Valley. The first year's cost would be taken from the Fund Balance, second and third year's costs would be budgeted from the "Interagency Support Account No. 510-5291-3931.

ITEM NO. 10 - TRT REPORT CONCERNING NEW CONNECTIONS 11/1/04- 10/31/05

Several members of the public spoke about EDUs vs Connections and are opposed to a building moratorium as it would create an economic hardship on the Valley to completely halt construction. It was suggested that the DWP initiate a low flow toilet/shower head program. The Board stated that the DWP has had such a program in place for the past ten years.

General Manager Gruber discussed the efforts the DWP has made to inform the public of all the water issues that face the Valley, and if anyone has questions to please call the DWP to obtain the correct information. He also reported that the DWP has a new web site that will be updated on a regular basis to inform the public of what is going on.

Assistant General Manager Heule reviewed the TRT report with the Board and staff and there was general discussion.

Vice Chairman Etter felt that the sale of connections based on 200 EDUs would be fair and comparable to approximately 150-160 connections.

Treasurer Conley stated that the Board's decisions should be based upon water availability and not how much money the contractors will make. She felt that 160 connections would be fair and is opposed to changing the number of connections.

Board Member Willey felt the number should go down even more and we need to look ahead to the future. We need to have the infrastructure to support the growth.

Board Member Speyers felt the number should stay where it is.

Chairman Herrick did not feel comfortable with basing the sale of meters by EDUs and leans more towards one connection per house.

Vice Chairman Etter felt the issue of EDUs vs connections needs to be revisited and we need to stay with connections for the time being and consider EDUs when we are in a wet cycle.

...Motion made by Vice Chairman Etter, seconded by Treasurer Conley, and carried 5-0 to establish new service installations at the reduced number of 160 connections, based on one house equals one connection for the period of November 1, 2004 through October 31, 2005, and start releasing meters at the conclusion of the Board Meeting.

Chairman Herrick adjourned the meeting for a break at 10:15 a.m.

Chairman Herrick reconvened the meeting at 10:30 a.m.

ITEM NO. 8 - RESOLUTION NO. DWP 2004-08 AMENDING REGULATION NO. 2

General Manager Gruber reviewed and discussed with the Board why DWP Regulation No. 2 was being amended.

...Motion made by Treasurer Conley, seconded by Board Member Willey, and carried 5-0 to Approve Resolution No. DWP 2004-08 amending DWP Regulation No. 2 Cross-Connection Control.

ITEM NO. 9 - SUMMER 2004 IRRIGATION AUDITS FOR SCHOOLS

Bill La Haye reported that the Bear Valley Unified School District is one of the DWP's highest water users. Bill and General Manager Gruber will be meeting with Allan Pelletier, BVUSD's Superintendent, to discuss how the District can find ways to reduce their water consumption.

Treasurer Conley suggested that General Manager Gruber give a presentation to the Bear Valley Unified School District's Board.

ITEM NO. 11 - PROPOSED WATER DEMAND OFFSET PLAN - 1ST DRAFT

General Manager Gruber briefly discussed the offset plan with the Board and staff. He introduced Mark Van Dam, the DWP's Engineer from CDM. He explained how the offset plan would work.

Treasurer Conley requested that the Board review a procedure before approving a policy and how it would fit into the budget.

ITEM NO. 12 - ASSIST PUBLIC WORKS WITH COST FOR DISTRIBUTING RECLAIMED WATER FOR IRRIGATION

General Manager Gruber discussed with the Board the possibility of the DWP contributing to the cost for distributing reclaimed water for irrigation in the Village.

...Motion made by Treasurer Conley, seconded by Board Member Willey, and carried 5-0 to not subsidize 1/3 of the cost to the City to use reclaimed water for irrigation to the Village.

ITEM NO. 13 - FUND ADDITIONAL STAFF IN THE SOS DEPARTMENT

General Manager Gruber gave a brief history of the SOS Department and the number of wells the DWP services vs the staff to maintain and support the water system. He feels an additional staff member is crucial to adequately maintain the wells within the DWP's water system.

...Motion made by Treasurer Conley, seconded by Vice Chairman Etter, and carried 5-0 to approve hiring a Pumper I in the SOS Department.

ITEM NO. 14 - CONSIDER HAVING TWO BOARD MEETINGS EACH MONTH

After general discussion, the Board agreed to stay at one Board Meeting each month.

ITEM NO. 15 - CITY REPORTS

City Council Member Dally reported that to date, the forest service has cleared 4,000 acres of dead trees and underbrush from the mountaintop since the "Old Fire; the Council approved to replace the sign in the Village that was previously damaged; and the Fox Farm paving project was approved and came in under budget; therefore, sidewalks on Fox Farm road will be constructed.

ITEM NO. 16 - BOARD MEMBER REPORTS

Rick Herrick reported that the City and DWP are deciding on how to follow-up with the county to impose tougher landscaping restrictions for inefficient outdoor irrigation. Further research is needed, with other cities, to find out what they are doing regarding ordinances for landscaping and then come back to City and county to finalize an ordinance.

Also, Chairman Herrick has a concern about long-term planning for one acre lots that have a potential of being sub-divided into two or more parcels, and how will the DWP be able to accommodate that down the road as far as providing water.

ITEM NO. 17 - CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION
Pursuant to Section 54956.9
Name of Parties:     William Marcoux vs. City of Big Bear Lake

Chairman Herrick removed this item from the Agenda.

ITEM NO. 18 - ADJOURN

There being no further business to come before the Board, Chairman Herrick adjourned the meeting at Noon.

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Robyn Bratton
Secretary to the Board

Approved at meeting dated:

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