:::
COMMUNITY NEWS
CSD, like RMA, won't participate in county development talks
Published
Saturday, January 22, 2005
The
Rancho Murieta Community Services District has joined
the Rancho Murieta Association in opting out of county-facilitated
talks between the community and developers.
CSD
directors agreed at Wednesday’s board meeting
that while attending the sessions was important to
the district, participating as a member of the panel
was not. |
|
That’s
virtually the same conclusion the RMA board reached the
day before at its board meeting.
The
20-hour series of meetings is scheduled to begin in February
with about 20 participants. The goal is to find a middle
ground on development issues. Four local organizations were
invited to send two representatives each to the talks. In
addition to the RMA and the CSD, the Country Club and the
Rancho Murieta Development Concerned Citizens Committee
were included. Developers doing business in the community
were invited as well.
RMDCCC
members have said they do not want the other local groups
to participate and have told the county they will not participate
if they are restricted to two representatives. The group,
which is opposed to current development plans, believes
the limit on representation places them at a disadvantage
with the developer contingent that’s expected to attend.
The RMDCCC wants to have six representatives, with expertise
in different areas, at the table.
The
CSD board decided to have the General Manager Ed Crouse
or another staff member attend the meetings as a spectator
to keep the board informed and to protect the district against
being misrepresented during the proceedings.
“My
interest is limited solely to the issue of our being represented
… for the purpose of insuring that we are not misrepresented
in the comments that will in all probability be made,”
said Director Dick Taylor. “I don’t think we
want to be there for a contribution in any way, shape or
form.”
“It’s
a public meeting. … Anyone who wants to go can go,”
observed President John Merchant. “My concern would
be that (General Manager Ed Crouse) or somebody is in the
room to deal with the Bradley Sample effect” which
he defined as “… somebody using us as an argument
as to why there can’t be development and that argument
is not really forthright or accurate. … If we get
misquoted or someone presents inaccurate information, we
can deal with it as a matter of public comment.”
Merchant
was referring to a county Board of Supervisors’ workshop
held last fall, where Sample, a member of the RMDCCC, raised
questions about the capacity of the wastewater treatment
plant and was critical of the way the CSD runs its wastewater
reclamation operation. The CSD disputed Sample’s conclusions
in a public response and a letter to the county.
RMDCCC
member Ted Hart, who was at Wednesday’s board meeting,
told the directors he would ask the RMDCCC to notify the
CSD ahead of time if the group planned to bring up an issue
involving the CSD at the sessions.
CSD
cool to joint use of school facility
A
proposal for the CSD to build larger facilities for the
proposed elementary school and use them as a community center
seems unlikely to move forward. At Wednesday’s meeting,
the board discussed a proposal made by resident John Sullivan
at last month’s meeting and reviewed by the CSD Finance
Committee earlier this month.
Sullivan,
who represents the owner of the property where the Elk Grove
Unified School District plans to build the school, said
the upgrades would cost $2.3 to $3 million.
“There
were just insurmountable hurdles, one of which was time,”
said President John Merchant. “They were looking for
millions of dollars in a bond issue and they were looking
for it in 90 days. … It wasn’t going to happen.”
General
Manager Ed Crouse said there was concern about how much
the community could use the facilities since they were designed
and reserved for the use of school children.
Merchant
remarked that for the amount of money the district was being
asked for, “we could have built our own (community
center) inside the gates.” The school will be located
on Stonehouse Road, across from Rancho Murieta.
The
other directors agreed, although there was no vote on the
matter.
Sullivan
was not present during the five-minute discussion. He appeared
later in the one-hour meeting to report he had been unable
to meet with school district officials to address access
issues raised at the Finance Committee meeting.
The
CSD is working with the Elk Grove Unified School District
on others issues related to the school. The school district
has asked the CSD to provide water and sewer service for
the school.
At
Wednesday’s meeting, General Manager Ed Crouse estimated
the cost of the application to the Local Agency Formation
Commission at about $20,000. The district would be asking
LAFCO for permission to enter into an out-of-service-area
contract for services and an expansion of its sphere of
influence since the school site is outside the the district.
The school district will be responsible for the costs if
the CSD handles the request in its standard way, Crouse
said. Costs include a $1,000 application fee, maps, and
exhibits, some of which the school district may already
have prepared, he said.
Repair
and replacement of Rio Oso tanks
Directors
questioned why repairs to the Rio Oso water tank have been
delayed until fall since problems with the tank were identified
three years ago when the roof supports were found to be
corroded. Based on engineering studies by consultants, a
decision was made to rehabilitate the tank instead of replacing
it.
The
1.2-million-gallon tank supplies about 30 percent of Murieta
North households with water. The tank was built in 1977.
Last
fall, a smaller, pressurized tank located at the same site
developed pin-hole-size leaks due to corrosion and caused
the system to lose pressure, leaving residents without water
for part of a day. Pressure was restored by welding patches
over the holes. Field Operations Director Joe Majarucon
came up with a long-term fix with a plan that bypasses the
tank and uses the variable speed pumps at the site to pressurize
the water for delivery to homes.
General
Manager Ed Crouse said the district decided to replace the
corroded tank, bid the two projects at the same time, and
tackle the work in phases. Once the pressurized tank is
replaced, he said it will be possible to see if that tank
and the pumps can provide a sufficient flow of water so
that emergency storage tanks won’t have to be brought
in while the large tank is off-line during repairs.
The
work is scheduled for the fall to take advantage of the
reduced demand for water at that time of the year, Crouse
said.
Majarucon
is in the process of completing a maintenance review of
equipment at the district’s facilities to cut down
on emergency repairs.
List of bar-code holders requested
by RMA
The
Rancho Murieta Association has requested a list of people
who have vehicle bar codes, said President John Merchant.
He said he wanted clarification about the CSD’s responsibility
to provide the list.
According
to Merchant, RMA officials asked for the list at the request
of an RMA board member.
“If
they’re going to ask for that kind of information,
I’d really like to know what is it that requires them
to know the name of every person who has a bar code and
where they live. … Now if RMA wants to know how many
bar codes per household there are, that’s fine, how
many cars per household, that’s fine.”
Interim
Security Chief Greg Remson said the RMA could compile the
information themselves from a computer terminal the CSD
has provided for the RMA compliance officer’s use.
General Manager Ed Crouse said RMA directors do not have
access to the information.
When
contacted the day after the CSD meeting, RMA General Manager
Greg Vorster said the compliance officer is not supposed
to share the CSD information he views on the computer terminal.
Also, the CSD’s computer system isn’t working
now, except at the North and South gates, because a server
failure earlier in the month is being addressed.
Vorster
said the CSD has provided the RMA with the total number
of bar codes and explained that the list of bar-code holders
would have to be developed at RMA expense because the software
program doesn’t provide the information in that form.
After
the meeting, Greg Hall, CSD director of administrative services,
explained the system isn’t programmed to produce the
type of report the RMA is requesting and it would cost $80
an hour to have the software provider develop the report.
Hall
said Merchant “wants to make sure we don’t invade
anyone’s privacy. Actually, that’s what we’re
trying to be careful of. So our main question is …
who’s making the request? Is this the RMA board making
the request? Or is this one director making the request?”
There
are other questions that need answers, Hall said. What does
the resident need the information for, or what does the
board need it for, and what do they want to do with it?
“We’re not stonewalling them … we’re
not saying they don’t have any right to it. It’s
nothing like that at all,” Hall said.
Merchant
said he wanted clarification from CSD legal counsel about
what information the district “would be in a position
to provide” under the Public Information Act.
At his request, the issue will be discussed at next month’s
board meeting.
Safety
Center lease with sheriff approved
The
board approved a 10-year lease agreement with the Sheriff’s
Department for space in the James L. Noller Safety Center.
The safety center, located next to the CSD parking lot,
is expected to open soon and increase law enforcement presence
in the community.
The
CSD is offering rent-free office space in the building to
the CHP and the Sheriff’s Department. CSD Security
will also be located in the building.
Even
though the only cost to the Sheriff’s Department is
its telephone bill, a lease was still required, explained
Interim Security Chief Greg Remson.
The
lease has to be approved by the county Board of Supervisors
before it goes into effect, noted Director Dick Taylor.
© RanchoMurieta.com
