Minutes of the Board of Trustees – Wednesday, December 10, 2008.
1. Roll Call:
Present: President, Bruce Myers; Secretary, Belen Gomez; Bette George; Evan Long; and Harold Dozier.
Staff: Manager, Michael Alburn.
2. Approval of November Minutes:
It was moved by Evan Long, seconded by Harold Dozier, and unanimously carried that the Minutes of the November meeting be amended to show that the meeting was adjourned out of respect to the memory of Barbara Myers.
3. Approval of November Bills:
Following discussion, it was moved by Belen Gomez, seconded by Harold Dozier, and unanimously carried that the November Bills be approved as mailed. See: Board Order to disburse funds No. 11, Exhibit I.
4. Approval of December Payroll:
Following discussion, it was moved by Harold Dozier, seconded by Evan Long, and unanimously carried that the December Payroll be approved as mailed. See: Board Order to disburse funds No. 12, Exhibit II.
5. Public Forum:
None.
6. Operational Report:
The Manager reported that annual source reduction efforts have been initiated along the Kings River. Future work is expected to be carried out along the St. Johns and Kaweah river ways after the holidays.
The District’s booth used at health fairs and other public relation events was displayed for the Board to review.
The Safety Committee will rotate Technician membership with Don Peterson having completed service for 2008. Bryan Ruiz has been selected to serve on the committee in 2009.
The District hosted State Certification Testing on November 20th.
Scheduled maintenance continues along with scheduled vacation days being utilized.
7. East County Mosquito Abatement Study Steering Committee:
The Manager reported that the Committee met on November 17th in Porterville. Discussion was short due to the supervisors having to attend the highway dedication of Officer Ken Hawes. Pete McCracken of Porterville City Council said that he would ask to have the item of mosquito control placed on the agenda so that a representative of the committee could present information as what a MAD actually does. The council did not have any information to discuss so they had dismissed the item earlier in the month. Lindsay councilman Salinas asked to have a speaker set up a study item for his city as well. Manager Alburn offered to provide information and did so at the council meeting on Dec 9th.
The cost for providing service was discussed and it appears the base to perform service is under $10.00 per SFE. Delta indicated that the entire area, including: Three Rivers, Yokohl Ranch, Lindsay, Strathmore, Springville, Porterville, Terra Bella. Tulare MAD had the same costs confined to the area of Lindsay, Porterville, Strathmore, and Terra Bella.
The Tulare MAD offered 2 full time, and 2 part time seasonal employees along with $5,000 for surveillance. Delta offered 1 Tech II, 1 Tech I, .88 Biologist, .88 Tech I (lab), along with $20,000 in surveillance activities that including 600 mosquito sample submissions to UC Davis per year.
Given the current fiscal considerations at the State level much discussion was entertained regarding the prospect of Delta spending money for an election in the East County area only to then need to pass a similar action within the current boundary of service. It was the consensus of the Board to direct the Manager to recommend that Tulare be given first consideration in providing service to the area. Delta would officially withdraw from the process. The Board did feel that should the Tulare MAD fail to effect service to the area within a period of LAFCo’s determination, Delta would reconsider the question to provide service.
The next meeting of the Committee is Dec 15.
8. Tulare / Delta Sphere of Influence Discussion:
Following up on the Delta VCD effort to cooperate with Tulare MAD to develop a coterminous SOI/ Boundary in South Visalia the Manager reported that counter to the information provided by the Tulare Manager prior to the November meeting, the Tulare BOD has stated it will oppose any action or request to detach territory from Tulare with annexation to Delta. The foundation for this position is stated to be an accusation that Delta is engaged in a veiled attempt at District expansion. No solution to the SOI / Boundary concern was addressed by the Tulare BOD. The Manager will continue to work with LAFCO to develop a solution and will report back as progress dictates.
9. MVCAC 77th Annual Conference, Burlingame, Jan 25 - 28:
The Manager requested travel approval for staff (Yolanda, Kathy, Mark and himself) to attend the conference. The item is budgeted for and all have roles for which attendance will benefit the Association, the District as well as on a professional level. It was moved by Evan Long, seconded by Belen Gomez and unanimously carried to approve the travel as requested.
10. Holiday Ham:
The Manager requested authorization for the distribution of a holiday ham to each employee for extraordinary performance this past season. The employee is assessed for the cost of the hams and such is reflected on the W-2 issued at the end of the year. The Board instructed the Manager to carry out the distribution as service has been outstanding. It was moved by Bette George, seconded by Harold Dozier and unanimously carried to approve the distribution.
11. Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
Board Minutes approved on January 14, 2009.
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Michael W. Alburn, Recording Secretary