Last Board Meeting Recap & Today's Meeting with Helix Staff regarding Proposed 2015 Policy Changes.12/23/2014
December 17 Board Meeting Recap: Director Linden nominated Director Verbeke for President; Director Scalzitti nominated me for President. Verbeke got 3 votes, I got 2 votes. Followed with Director Linden then nominated Director Muse as Vice President; I nominated Director Scalzitti as Vice President. Muse got 3 votes, Scalzitti got 2 votes. Basically, the President and Vice President switched seats. Next Board Meeting the Board President Verbeke will assign Committee Seats. After 8 years of being on the Board I have never been President or Vice President...someday... AGENDA
REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Wednesday, December 17, 2014 – 2pm 7811 University Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942-0427 Helix Water District Board Package Interesting Items: Item 6: Administering of the oath of office for another 4 years to Director Hedberg and Director Verbeke. Item 7: The Board Elect Officers to Serve…President Muse is outgoing who will be the new President, Vice President? Me? Item 9, PDF Page 114: The Board Consider Changes to the Policies and Procedures Manual and Set the Date and Time for a Public Hearing. The changes are quite extensive, we hired a consultant Raftelis Financial Consultants to independently assess and perform a complete review of charges and fees. Although, the District staff has worked with Raftelis on these changes, this is the first time the Board has seen the changes, I have quite a few questions (basis for charges etc.) and to go through this may take some time. Board sets Policy. PDF Pages 172 – 185 have quite a few changes and some new fees for water district services to our customers. · Here is a news story featuring Helix Water District that aired today. Well coordinated by our new Senior Public Affairs Representative, Mike Uhrhammer, he used to work with Padre Dam MWD. I look forward to great outreach and communication to our customers! Water usage down thanks to San Diego County rainstorms 10News According to the Helix Water District in La Mesa, its water customers love the ... Water conservation specialist Michelle Curtis said the district saw a 28 ... Bright and early at 9am - Lake Jennings Committee Presentations and also the Cost of Service Water Rate Workshop Presentation.
Lake Jennings Meeting Summary: Trout opening was a success and every weekend continues to be great! January 3 - Kids Fish Free day is scheduled - glad to see it back I think the last one was 2008. We also approved the staff to do a $30K study on improvements (cost) needed for campground and also evaluation on decommission (to be done in February 2015 as requested by Board to evaluate the viability of the Lake etc). Campground recreation manager position has been offered...more to come this month...very exciting – more help for Ranger David Acevedo (who is doing a great job on the Lake/Campground! Cost of Service Water Rate Presentation: Water rate workshop was very interesting, the consultant has made some good recommendations of changes, they will be putting the numbers in the rate structure to present to us in January – everything is still draft/conceptual. Three structures were presented. The board agreed to continue to go forward with the proposed modified uniform rate structure for residential (no water budgets takes too much time for maintenance etc. and a uniform flat rate is not water "conserving"), but they are proposing to change the width of the tiers that are substantiated with water system statistics and guidance (Tier 1 0-14; Tier 2 14-34; Tier 3 >34 units). Include a line item for the pass through cost of San Diego County Water Authority (transparency). Rate adjustments will occur in January, starting January 2016 (as opposed to November – I have been saying this for a long time, coincides with SDCWA, during cooler part of the season, makes sense!). Also, considering a 3 or 5 year rate adoption plan. More information with actual numbers to come. In the meantime - We have a new, senior public affairs manager, Mike Uhrhammer, he used to work for Padre Dam MWD…He is very experienced with Water District issues and Santee Lake Promotion, he will be a great Helix asset and help with Lake Jennings, public communication, new rate structure and all our public relation needs! Great morning and good things happening at Helix! Two agendas for Special Board Meeting Agendas for TOMORROW:
http://www.hwd.com/board/meetings-etc.htm AGENDA SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Monday, December 8, 2014 - 9 AM – Lake Jennings Committee Meeting Monday, December 8, 2014 - 10 AM - Water Rate Workshop 7811 University Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942-0427 Interesting Items: 9:00am Lake Jennings Meeting update. I think we hired a new Recreation Manager, but not sure, hope to find out tomorrow. 10:00am The Board Conduct a Workshop to receive and Discuss the Presentation by Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc. Providing an Overview of the Water Rate Cost of Service Study of the Helix Water District. The District had nothing to forward to the Board on this, I asked for a copy of the presentation, but none was sent…should be interesting to see what they will be presenting, I was assured that nothing was to be voted on. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. Last week was the Fall Association of California Water Agencies Conference here in San Diego. It was titled the Moment of Truth - One State - One Water Future...what that meant was that the water bond passed on November 4th and we are all part of the drought and we all need to work together. They had a great exhibit/conference session ConservaCon, whereas all agencies throughout the State who had a great Water Conservation Program, came and displayed their program. Great ideas and catchy themes.
Next Helix Water District "Board" Meeting is on Monday, December 8th, a Lake Jennings Committee Meeting at 9:00am and then a 10am Water Rate Workshop. |
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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