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Thank you to the San Diego County Republican Liberty Caucus for honoring and recognizing me
as your January 2015 Thomas Paine Liberty Torchbearer Award Recipient. Thomas Paine stood by his convictions and inspired freedom, justice and reasoned thinking - as a Civil Engineer I too resolve to stand by my convictions of truth and logic. I work hard for my constituents and I strongly believe in good governance, transparency and I will always be the advocate for the ratepayers! Thank you again for this very special recognition.
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Here is the agenda & Board Package for our Regular Board Meeting:
AGENDA REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Wednesday, January 21, 2015 – 2pm 7811 University Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942-0427 Interesting Items: Item 6: The Board Receive a Presentation by Executive Director John Bolthouse of The Water Conservation Garden regarding the Habitat Garden Project and Development of an Education Program Exclusively for Helix Water District Ratepayers As always, I welcome your comments and feedback Transparency - Openness and Accountability!
At our 2:00pm meeting on January 7, 2015 we had the Public Hearing for the Proposed Policy & Procedure Manual Changes. No one from the public attended. I brought up Section 2.12-2, that I was concerned with the significant policy change that would occur after November 2015 and would increase some customers $400 per billing cycle, $2400 per year. I asked if Helix notified the customers of this proposed change so they could attend the public hearing and they could mention to us any concerns. I was told we did not, that Helix was preparing to send out a letter after we adopted the policy change. A Public Hearing is an official meeting where members of the public hear the facts about a planned road, building, etc. and give their opinions about it... I could not support the change before notification and made a motion to pull the Section until notification of the affected (only 20 customers). And we could adopt it later. My motion failed and subsequently, I could not support the P&P changes - opposed (4-1). It reminded me of a recent change that affected my household, when the High School District Board changed our High School Boundary and we were not made aware of the change until after it was voted on - I was definitely not happy about that Board's decision. Happy New Year!
Here is the agenda & Board Package for our Regular Board Meeting: AGENDA REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Wednesday, January 7, 2015 – 2pm 7811 University Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942-0427 Interesting Items: Item 6, PDF Page 37 (changes are in red): Public Hearing to Receive Comments on Miscellaneous Fees and Charges Proposed for 2015 in the Policies and Procedures Manual. During the December 17th meeting, the Board did not approve the changes proposed, since Director Scalzitti and I had many questions on the changes. We agreed to simply set the date for January 7th to discuss the changes or any concerns with the changes at the Public Hearing. Director Scalzitti and I met with staff on Monday, December 22 for nearly 2 hours and went over all the proposed changes. The changes were very extensive, new fees, and changes in fees: service charges – new same day service fees; fire flow meter charges complicated structure simplified; and new processes temporary meter program & fees; meter and lateral fees will be based on estimate to allow for better customer service; photocopy changes in cost; CD cost changes. We were given a presentation on the excel spreadsheet type of format that was created to determine better estimates of costs and also why some of the new fees were created. Staff explained the reasoning for the changes and answered our many questions. It was very much appreciated and needed, should have been in a workshop or separate meeting. Item 7 PDF Page 248: Board Authorize to Hire a New Independent Auditor. Item A, ii, our new Board President DeAna Verbeke will be making Committee Assignments The last storm brought Lake Cuyamaca 0.48 inch of rain & 6 inches of snow! Lake Jennings is hosting Kids Fish Day, Tomorrow, 6am, prizes at noon, kids up to 15 free – Saturday, January 3rd https://www.facebook.com/LakeJenningsRecreation As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. |
Author: Kathleen HedbergCivil Engineer in 5th Term as a Helix Water District Board Director and Past President of the Board! CategoriesArchives
April 2023
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