Font ResizeAfter administering oaths of office to John Rogers, Linda Sutton and Michael McKaskle, the board dealt with a last-minute non-agenda item. Business Manager Troy Harrington-Dean had received a request for RCSD to relinquish their standing reservation for the Healy on March 17. The request came from Missy Mendes on behalf of the Redway School 7th grade class which is raising money for its end of the year trip by having dinners at the Healy once a month. March 17 being also St. Patrick’s Day, the class wanted to have a corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Healy. The board agreed that they should probably attend the dinner and hold their meeting on another night or another location to support the 7th graders.
Operations Manager Ken Dean reported that he is short an employee. Dean had already posted the vacancy for a certified water treatment operator and the posting was drawing interest from as far away as San Diego and as close as Laytonville. He expected to continue accepting applications for another week.
Dean said that it is now certain that work on the infiltration gallery realignment will start in July, as all the needed permits have been granted. The final engineering work should be completed in March, he said. The foundation work for the district’s new storage tank will start in June with the tank itself to be built in August. The last phase of that project will be the upgrade at the water treatment plant, which should begin in the fall of 2010.
As far as the district’s chances of getting more grant money to pay for the project, Dean said that the State is still trying to figure out how to disperse the rest of the stimulus money it has already received. The district has been guaranteed $1 million in grants for the project from other sources and is still in contention for some of the stimulus money. The project overall will cost about $3 million.
Harrington-Dean said that the district had already drawn from its RCAC account to make a payment to Waterworks for their engineering of the project.
With the recent rains, water availability is no longer a concern in Redway, but a subcommittee comprised of Chairman John Rogers and Vice-Chair Michael McKaskle have been hard at work on revising the water rate structure. The plan is to move to a tiered rate structure and the two are using a spreadsheet program to move the rates and usage amounts around in hopes of coming up with an equitable outcome that will also encourage conservation. Although there is plenty of water right now, June could bring a return to shortages.
McKaskle said that he was afraid the state would never return the tax money they have taken away from special districts. The goal is to strike a balance between encouraging conservation and providing a cushion of water for dry cycles, while still maintaining enough income to operate the water and wastewater systems. McKaskle said he thought it was a good time to get the public involved in the discussion and he proposed a public meeting, complete with computer and projection screen.
”This is a fun game to play with people,” McKaskle said, and clearly he and Rogers are enjoying working with the spreadsheet program.
There was some discussion as to whether or not people would come for what at times seems a rather mind numbing assemblage of numbers, but the board was in consensus that the public should be offered the opportunity to participate in the exercise. A meeting in March was discussed, but no date set.
Dean and Harrington-Dean both attended a California Special Districts Association education day in Eureka and came away with a couple of suggestions. They were advised that the district should have a policy on employee use of the Internet for personal purposes. This policy would also include use of the cell phones the district provides its employees so they can be reached in the event of an emergency.
They were also advised to consider making their board secretary an hourly or salaried employee so that she could be covered by Workers’ Compensation. However, board secretary Nancy Jurrens said that she was comfortable with being an independent contractor and didn’t want to change her status.
Dean presented the directors with a Water Shortage Contingency Plan. The directors will study it and the item will be on the board’s agenda on Feb. 17.
The directors also accepted the resignation of board member Fred Green. Chair Rogers expressed appreciation to Green for his service on behalf of the other board members. They now have 60 days to find a replacement for Green and will be actively seeking applicants. Any Redway resident interested in serving on the district board should contact the RCSD office at 923-3101.
Finally, the board elected new officers for the coming year. McKaskle was elected Chairman and Rogers will serve as Vice Chairman.
