January 18, 2011
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: Board Room
29300 Valley Center Road
Valley Center, CA 92082
The Valley Center Municipal Water District Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by President Broomell at 2:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Board members present were: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell. Staff members present were: General Manager Arant, General Counsel de Sousa, District Engineer Grabbe, Director of Operations Hoyle, Director of Finance Jeffrey, Board Secretary Johnson, Manager of IT Pilve. Spectators present were Mr. Ayala, Mr. Steinke and Mr. Ziegaus representing Pardee Homes, and Mr. Hilbig, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Bunts representing Village Redevelopment.
ELECTED OFFICERS FOR 2011-12 TERM
President - Gary Broomell
Vice President - Robert Polito
With the retirement of Kathy Stetson, a new Secretary to the Board was appointed by the Board of Directors.
Upon motion by Stone, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2011-03
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
APPOINTING CHRISTINE M. JOHNSON AS SECRETARY TO THE
BOARD EFFECTIVE JANUARY 18, 2011
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meeting held December 20, 2010
• Audit demand check numbers 127780 through 127884 and wire disbursements for December 2010
• Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements for the period ended November 30, 2010
• Quarterly report of employees’ expense reimbursements for the quarter ended December 31, 2010
• Population estimate for the District as of January 1, 2011
ACTION AGENDA
2. Resolution Approving an Addendum to the Final Environmental Impact Report and Amending the South Village Master Plan Report:
District Engineer Grabbe reported that the South Village Environmental Impact Report and Master Plan Report had been prepared by staff and approved by the Board in 2008. While developing the financial assistance application for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Program, the project proponents proposed an alternative seasonal storage site located on 6.8 acres adjacent to the Woods Valley Ranch Golf Course, at the end of Charlan Road. This alternative site provides sufficient area for construction of a seasonal storage pond in multiple phases of adequate capacity to accommodate the recycled water demand of the golf course.
The next step was to evaluate the unit capacities of the treatment processes that were proposed. The original Master Plan, prepared by Dudek, recommended two 200,000 gpd treatment units. This was modified to three 125,000 gpd units and provides a slight reduction in capacity (from 1,900 to 1,800 EDUs). The three phase approach provides a more favorable build out plan. The cost for three units will be a little more overall but, when divided into three projects, will make each expansion phase a more affordable, smaller project.
The seasonal storage and irrigation requirements were reviewed to ensure the components match the change in capacity to 450,000 gpd. The Charlan Road site is anticipated to meet the needs of Phases 2 and 3A (up to 900 EDUs). Other sites will be needed to meet the capacity needs of the remaining phases. Those sites would be provided in conjunction with development of other major parcels. Each development is required to provide seasonal storage and an adequate location for irrigation of the amount of recycled water they produce. The proposed developments and the golf course will still fall slightly short of the required irrigation area necessary. The Community Service District ball fields and the District’s future corporate facility site are potential areas that may be available to take recycled water. It is important to identify these sites because there is no other way to dispose of the effluent. The Orchard Run and Village Redevelopment projects plan on irrigating their open areas with groundwater, so their need for recycled water is reduced. The District’s recycled water pricing policy needs to be reviewed to include incentives for properties to use recycled water rather than groundwater.
It was questioned whether the recycled water could be released back into the creek. The General Manager stated that Federal regulatory requirements for live stream discharge make it nearly impossible, and certainly cost prohibitive.
General Manager Arant explained the District’s current water pricing policy is to sell reclaimed water at 85% of the price of imported water. Under state law, if you are delivering water to a site, the Board has the authority to say they are interrupting the flow of domestic water and can replace it with reclaimed water, if feasible. Currently, Woods Valley Ranch Golf Course is no longer purchasing imported water from the District and are able to meet all of their irrigation needs with a combination of reclaimed water and well water. To tell them that they need to buy 200 acre feet of reclaimed water and we will give them a 15% discount won’t work. A similar case with Castle Creek Golf Course occurred. The District had an agreement for them to buy the reclaimed water at a nominal fee, instead of using their wells. If, in the future, an end user is found that could be reasonably charged for the reclaimed water, the District would divert the reclaimed water away from the golf course and pay Castle Creek the cost to restore their wells. Similar agreements may have to be worked out with Woods Valley Ranch Golf Course or some of the other properties who have the potential to accept more reclaimed water than they produce.
The modifications to the Master Plan required that an addendum be prepared to the previously certified EIR. The Addendum was prepared by Brian F. Smith, under contract with the project proponent. It was determined that the proposed modifications created no greater environmental impacts than what was previously determined in the original EIR. The Addendum was routed for public review and staff notified the property owners along Charlan Road. Copies were also sent to the State Clearinghouse for distribution and the Water Resources Control Board for their review.
The next step in the process is to obtain the Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) recommendation for a Preliminary Funding Commitment. With approval of Resolution 2011-01, the WRCB will have everything they need for a recommendation at a May 2011 WRCB meeting. The District would assist the proponents in obtaining property owner commitments to participate in the project and formation of an Assessment District. Once the Assessment District is formed, the conditions for the preliminary funding commitment would be met and the District would be able to close on the loan.
Staff recommends adopting Resolution No. 2011-01:
a) Approving and adopting the Addendum to the Final EIR for the South Village Water Reclamation Project,
b) Authorizing staff to prepare and file a Notice of Determination pursuant to the District’s guidelines, and
c) Approving and adopting the amendments to the South Village Master Plan Report Update.
Upon motion by Stone, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2011-01
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ADDENDUM TO THE
FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT AND
AMENDING THE SOUTH VILLAGE MASTER PLAN REPORT FOR THE
SOUTH VILLAGE WATER RECLAMATION PROJECT
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
3. Pardee Homes’ Request for Annexation of the Meadowood Project:
District Engineer Grabbe reported that a request from Pardee Homes to annex the Meadowood Project property into Valley Center Municipal Water District was received on December 9, 2010. The proposed 390 acre project is located north of the District, just north of Hwy 76 and east of I-15. A portion of the proposed property is located in the San Luis Rey MWD and is bordered on three sides by Rainbow MWD.
Mr. Jimmy Ayala of Pardee Homes presented an overview of their company, which has been in business for 90 years, the future planned community, and their commitment to water conservation and environmentally friendly buildings. The Meadowood Project would consist of 850 single and multi-family homes, a 13-acre elementary school site, a 10-acre park, a 0.225 gpd wastewater treatment facility, 49 acres of preserved avocado and citrus groves, and more than 122 acres of natural open space.
Pardee submitted an Amendment to the County in July 2003 which was deemed complete in March 2004. Their EIR was circulated to the public in 2009 and they are now in the process of finalizing their comments. Pardee hopes to get before the Board of Supervisors in the next 3 to 4 months for ultimate approval of the project and certification of the environmental documents.
Pardee has a commitment to a net zero water demand and a commitment to offset the water supply as much as possible in conjunction with the District. To achieve the net zero footprint, Pardee plans advanced water conservation in the homes with low flow toilets and shower heads, tankless water heaters, and energy efficient appliances; outside the homes they will use low water use landscaping and weather based irrigation controllers. Slope and parkway irrigation will be provided by recycled water and groundwater. Currently, the property uses 300 acre feet of groundwater per year on the avocado and citrus groves. They plan to utilize this as much as possible in their development.
The Meadowood property is included in the SDCWA Urban Water Management Plan. Pardee is looking to partner with a service provider and is seeking annexation into the Valley Center Municipal Water District.
General Manager Arant highlighted some options for achieving a net zero water demand which included finding a new source of water for the District, to participate in some of the District’s local projects, or importing some of their groundwater into the District to offset a current potable water user.
District Engineer Grabbe summarized the actions needed prior to annexation which include a Municipal Service Review (MSR) by LAFCO to determine the preferred service provider and amending the Sphere of Influence prior to annexing to the MWD, SDCWA and VCMWD. Mr. Arant pointed out that the District had participated in a MSR for a larger area which included most of the San Luis Rey MWD, plus some other areas. Data was collected for the MSR from VCMWD, Rainbow, San Luis Rey, and Yuima approximately 4 years ago. It is likely that this data will have to be updated and the new MSR will include more than the Meadowood property. The last official indication from Rainbow MWD is that they are not interested in serving this area. LAFCO will decide the MSR boundary. If the District is selected as service provider for the entire area, their position is to have one treatment plant to serve all of it.
Staff is proposing a resolution in support of Pardee’s request for annexation which, if approved, will be given to LAFCO to start the process of determining the service provider and initiating annexation proceedings. The resolution also lists some draft terms and conditions of annexation which includes following Article 220, paying all annexation and processing costs, and installing all required water, wastewater and recycled water facilities at no cost to the District. This proposed annexation would benefit the District through the monthly water and wastewater customer service charges, the annexation fees, and Pardee would pay for all the required state-of-the-art facilities and donate them to the District for operation and maintenance. This service area would be self contained and would be served through a new connection to the CWA First Aqueduct.
Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2011-02
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
INDICATING SUPPORT FOR THE PROPOSED MEADOWOOD ANNEXATION
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
4. Review of Miscellaneous Informational Items:
General Manager Arant indicated that the December Status Report is projecting water sales below 27,000 acre feet. He stated that “our water deliveries continue to be lower than the same months last year, and we just don’t know where we will end up.”
GENERAL COUNSEL’S AGENDA
5. General Counsel de Sousa reported on the following ongoing litigation:
Ms. de Sousa reported last month that the biological opinion on the Delta Smelt litigation had been overturned by Judge Wanger. There will be an interim remedy trial for the Delta Smelt in late February to determine what the pumping restrictions will be pending the Federal Government’s preparation of a scientific biological opinion.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ AGENDA
6. Informational Items:
• At the first Board meeting of the Health Benefits Authority, Director Aleshire reported that he was chosen as Chairman of the Ancillary Programs (vision, dental, employee assistance, disability, etc.)
• Director Aleshire shared a chart obtained from a recent JPIA meeting showing VCMWD’s insurance performance over a 3-year period. The ratios between losses and premiums for liability, property and work comp, all fall in the excellent range.
CLOSED SESSIONS
7. Closed sessions were called by President Broomell at 3:40 p.m. pursuant to:
• Government Code §54956.9(c), Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation
Number of potential cases: 1
• Government Code §54957, Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release
ADJOURNMENT
8. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 4:26 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ _______________________________
President Secretary