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Minutes - Board - 2007-08-0617-j • • COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIAL MEETING AUGUST 6, 2007 Call to Order The Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District met in special session on August 6, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. at 1845 Park Avenue, Costa Mesa. Pledge of Allegiance Invocation Roll Call Directors Present: Directors Absent: Vice President Schafer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Director Ferryman led the Pledge of Allegiance. Assistant Manager Tom Fauth gave the Invocation. Arlene Schafer, Robert Ooten, James Ferryman, Gary Monahan Art Perry (absence excused) Staff Present: Robin, B. Hamers, Manager /District Engineer; Alan Burns, Legal Counsel; Tom Fauth, Assistant Manager; Joan Revak, Board Secretary/Program Manager /Clerk of the District; Marc Davis, Treasurer; Sherry Kallab, Accountant; Denise Gilbert, Permit Processing Specialist; Ron Shef, Ordinance Enforcement Officer Others Present: David Inocente, 4199 Campus Dr., Irvine, Lisa Reedy, Mesa Del Mar Homeowners Association, 2747 San Carlos, Costa Mesa • ,a Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting AA August 6, 2006 Page 2 Public Hearing - Consideration of Annual Trash Collection Charges to be Collected with the General Taxes Mr. Burns gave a brief overview outlining the process for consideration of annual trash collection charges, explaining Proposition 218 procedural rules will be followed. Mr. Burns read the requirements necessary to follow Proposition 218: "Revenues derived from the fee or charge must not exceed the funds required to provide the property related service. Revenue from the fee or charge must not be used for any purpose other than that for which the fee or charge is imposed. The amount of a fee or charge imposed upon any parcel or person as an incident of property ownership must not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel. The fee or charge may not be imposed for service unless the service is actually used by, or immediately available to, the owner of the property in question. Fees or charges based on potential or future use of a service are not permitted. Standby charges must be classified as assessments and must not be imposed without compliance with the proportionality requirement for assessments. No fee or charge may be imposed for general governmental services such as police, fire, ambulance, or libraries, where the service is available to the public in substantially the same manner as it is to property owners. The Assistant Manager shall be presenting a report for each charge in which he will document how each of these tests have been met. This report has been made available to the public for their review. Once that report has been presented, you should ask any questions of staff that you might have, then ask the Clerk to provide the status report on whether any protests have been received. The Clerk has provided notice by mail to all parcels subject to the charges. The law provides that if written protests are presented by a majority of the owners of the parcels, the charges may not be imposed. Since only written protests can be considered, staff has developed forms for the use of the protesting owners so that any person wishing to protest tonight can have their vote counted. There are over 17,863 parcels that are subject to the charges being considered tonight. If there is not a sufficient protest, the Board may consider whether or not to impose the charge and adopt the proposed Resolution." say Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting v AA August 6, 2006 r w. $a, Page 3 Presentation of Report Mr. Fauth presented a report stating trash collection charges for 2007 -08 are $239.41 per dwelling unit per year. The charge meets the substantive requirements of Proposition 218 as follows: 1. Revenues derived from the fee or charge do not exceed the funds required to provide the trash collection service. The charges are calculated by adding together the cost of components necessary to provide the service and then apportioning this to those receiving trash collection services. No components other than those directly related to providing service are used to establish rates. The components include trash collection, recycling, education and special programs, and administration. 2. Revenue from the fee or charge is not used for any purpose other than for which the fee or charge is imposed. The revenue is to be used only for the components of providing trash collection service as outlined in Paragraph 1 above and as identified in the District's yearly budget. • 3. The amount of a fee or charge imposed upon any parcel or person as an incident of property ownership does not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel. The amount of the yearly charge is determined by dividing the cost of all the components of providing service by the number of parcels receiving service, as the vast majority of parcels produce an approximately equal amount of solid waste and all parcels enjoy the benefits of the public education and have an opportunity to participate in the special programs. The District has considered a variable charge program based on the number of trash containers at each residence and those persons will pay added charges in addition to the basic service. 4. The fee or charge is not imposed for service unless the service is actually used by, or immediately available to, the owner of the property in question. Properties not receiving trash collection service or that receive service from other entities providing trash collection, are not charged. 5. No fee or charge is imposed for general governmental services such as police, fire, ambulance, or libraries, but is only imposed for trash services. The District provides only trash collection and sewer service and all fees collected for trash collection are used only for that purpose. Vice President Schafer verified from Joan Revak, Clerk of the District, that all required • notices were duly published. �a Costa Mesa Sanitary District A Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting August 6, 2006 Page 4 Ms. Revak reported the District received no protests to date from a total of 17,863 parcels notified. Open Public Hearing Vice President Schafer opened the public hearing, requesting each speaker to limit their comments to three minutes and advising participants that, by law, only a written protest will count. The following protests were received: Ms. Lisa Reedy, 2747 San Carlos Lane, Costa Mesa was present at the hearing and filed a written protest to the proposed rate for trash collection. Ms. Reedy, also representing the Mesa Del Mar Homeowners Association, expressed concern related to the Large Item Collection Program and the confusion on the pickup dates for the area and failure to receive door hanger notification of when the large items would be collected. Ms. Revak, Large Item Collection Program Manager, will contact CR &R with regard to the matter and call Ms. Reedy on Tuesday, August 7. Close Public Hearing is Vice President Schafer closed the public hearing. Determination Regarding Protests Vice President Schafer directed Ms. Revak, Clerk of the District, to tally the number of protests. Ms. Revak determined there was 1 protest filed from a total of 17,863 parcels. Vice President Schafer determined the protest failed. Adopt Resolution No. 2007 -737 Confirming and Adopting the Report and Directing Clerk to File with County Auditor Director Monahan motioned to adopt Resolution No. 2007 -737, A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT OF ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, DETERMINING THAT A MAJORITY PROTEST DID NOT OCCUR WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPOSED CHARGES FOR TRASH COLLECTION, ADOPTING THE REPORT ON FILE WITH THE CLERK OF THE DISTRICT AND DIRECTING THE CLERK TO FILE THE REPORT WITH THE AUDITOR. Director Ooten seconded. Motion carried 4 -0. • is 11 �r r Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting August 6, 2006 Page 5 Public Hearing - Consideration of Annual Liquid Waste Charges to be Collected with the General Taxes Mr. Burns gave a brief overview outlining the process for consideration of annual liquid waste charges. Mr. Burns explained the substantive requirements of Proposition 218 will be met. Mr. Burns read the requirements of Proposition 218: 1. Revenues derived from the fee or charge must not exceed the funds required to provide the property related service. 2. Revenue from the fee or charge must not be used for any purpose other than that for which the fee or charge is imposed. 3. The amount of a fee or charge imposed upon any parcel or person as an incident of property ownership must not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel. 4. The fee or charge must not be imposed for service unless the service is actually used by, or immediately available to, the owner of the property in question. Fees or charges based on potential of future use of a service are not permitted. Standby charges must be classified as assessments and must not be imposed without compliance with the proportionality requirement for assessments. 5. No fee or charge can be imposed for general governmental services such as police, fire, ambulance, or libraries, where the service is available to the public in substantially the same manner as it is to property owners." Presentation of Report Mr. Fauth presented a report on the liquid waste disposal charges for 2007 -08 showing his review of the proposed rate per category, the rates being the total of the base charge plus the fats, oils and grease (FOG) control program recovery fee as shown below: Single family residence per year Multi- family residence per year Commercial w/o food service per year Commercial w /cold food service per year Commercial w /hot food service per year Industrial per year Other per year $56.47 + $2.77 $43.49 + $2.77 $32.85/1000 sf + $2.77 $32.85/1000 sf + $72.00 $32.85/1000 sf + $180.00 $96.77/1000 sf + $2.77 $29.11 /1000 sf + $2.77 Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting August 6, 2006 Page 6 `A'�9P- OBAi�\ The proposed charges are an increase over the previous fiscal year. The rate increase is necessary due to increases in maintenance and operational costs of the sewer system and to provide additional funding for capital replacement reserves and capital replacement projects. Additional funds are also necessary to operate and maintain the sewer system in conformance with the State Water Resources Control Board's Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR). Additional funds are needed for sewer lateral assistance programs. Mr. Fauth outlined how the charges for liquid waste disposal meet the substantive requirements of Proposition 218 as follows: 1. Revenues derived from the annual sewer fee charges do not exceed the funds required to provide the sewer service. The base sewer charges are calculated by adding together the costs of all the components of providing the service and then apportioning the required funds to each of the properties connected to the system. The components of providing the service include the yearly capital replacement projects, the maintenance and operation costs of maintaining the system and administration costs. A variable level charge was added to each of the property categories to recover a portion of the costs of the comprehensive fats, oils and grease control program that is required under the WDR. These charges are also shown in the Engineer's Report. • 2. Revenues from the charge are not used for any purpose other than for which the fee or charge is imposed. No funds collected from the charges are used for expansion or augmentation to the sewer system, only the purposes as designated in the applicable statutes. Similarly, no funds derived from the charges are used for solid waste collection, recycling or administration thereof. 3. The amount of a fee or charge imposed upon any parcel or person as an incident of property ownership does not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel. Each parcel connected to the system falls into a property category type, which has a related estimated maximum sewer flow. The maximum estimated sewer flow is based on actual flow metering tests along with flow rates calculated and established by sewer engineers and adopted by other sewer agencies. These calculations were well documented in Resolution No. 94 -542 which was adopted by the Board in 1994. The total estimated maximum sewer flows and acres of property developed are used to determine the funding contribution from each property category type. Each individual parcel, based on the actual number of residential units or commercial /industrial /other square footage, is assigned its proportional share of the required funds of each property category type. In addition to the base sewer charges, a variable level charge was added to recover a portion of the costs of the new grease control program. The variable rate considers the respective burdens placed on the • system by the different users. Therefore, each property contributes its proportional share. Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting w August 6, 2006 Page 7 4. The fee or charge is not imposed for service unless the service is actually used by, or immediately available to, the owner of the property in question. Properties are only charged if they are physically connected to the sewer system. Vacant land or properties with storage or other buildings not receiving sewer service are not charged. 5. No fee or charge is imposed for general governmental services such as police, fire, ambulance, or libraries, but is only imposed for sewer services. The District provides only trash collection and sewer service and all fees collected as sewer charges are used only for related expenses." Vice President Schafer verified from Joan Revak, Clerk of the District, that all required notices were duly published. Ms. Revak reported the District received 1 protest to date from a total of 24,981 parcels notified. Ms. Revak reported the protest was received from Elsie N. Pauly, 1318 Belfast Avenue, Costa Mesa stating her protest to the proposed increase of the Sanitary District's sewer collection rates charged on her property, Parcel No. 141 -039- 03. • Ms. Revak also presented a letter from Orange County Coastkeeper, an environmental organization focused on water quality whose mission is to preserve and protect the marine habitats and watersheds of Orange County through education, advocacy, restoration and enforcement. The letter, dated August 6, 2007, stated "The aging infrastructure throughout Orange County is in need of repair and in many cases replacement. Sewage collection systems are particularly in serious need of repair and retrofitting due to their age and loss of capacity over the years. It is essential that collection systems be upgraded as the result of a sewage spill can have such devastating environmental impacts and costs. As the Board considers raising sewage rates to fund capital projects and infrastructure which will result in SSO reductions, Orange County Coastkeeper would like to voice our support for the rate increase. The result of this action will benefit the District and provide improved service to the District's residents. Coastkeeper appreciates the leadership of the Board in addressing this problem of aging infrastructure and improving service to rate payers. Best regards, Garry Brown, Executive Director". Open Public Hearing Vice President Schafer opened the public hearing, requesting each speaker to limit their comments to three minutes and advising participants that, by law, only a written protest will count. • Close Public Hearing Vice President Schafer closed the public hearing. • n LJ Determination Regarding Protests Costa Mesa Sanitary District Minutes of Board of Directors Special Meeting August 6, 2006 Page 8 Vice President Schafer directed Ms. Revak, Clerk of the District, to tally the number of protests. Ms. Revak reported one written protest was presented by Lisa Reedy of 2747 San Carlos Lane, Costa Mesa. Ms. Revak, noting that by law only written protests may be counted, determined there were two protests filed from a total of 24,981 parcels. Vice President Schafer determined the protest failed. Adopt Resolution No. 2007 -738 Confirming and Adopting the Report and Directing the Clerk to File with the County Auditor Director Ooten motioned to adopt Resolution No. 2007 -738, A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT OF ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, DETERMINING THAT A MAJORITY PROTEST DID NOT OCCUR WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPOSED USER FEE FOR LIQUID WASTE DISPOSAL AND ADOPTING THE REPORT ON FILE WITH THE CLERK OF THE DISTRICT AND DIRECTING THE CLERK TO FILE THE REPORT WITH THE AUDITOR. Director Ferryman seconded. Motion carried 5 -0. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Vice President Schafer expressed her appreciation to District Staff for their diligent efforts in the rate setting process. ADJOURNMENT At 6:28 p.m., Vice President Schafer adjourned the meeting. S-46retary