The Pine Cove Water District board’s Wednesday, Jan. 12 meeting was quick, even with a closed session at the end.
Very little was on the agenda of Interim General Manager (GM) Jeremy Potter’s first meeting following GM Jerry Holldber’s retirement at the end of December.
Potter reported that water usage was down almost 200,000 gallons in December from the prior month. The December usage was more than 2.5 million gallons.
He said, “Tanks are up, production’s down. Looking good.”
Office Manager Becky Smith reported under financials that PCWD should be getting $50,000 in property taxes and standby fees from Riverside County soon.
Some of the projects PCWD has planned are waiting for other agencies to act, such as the Dutch Flats firefighting containers provided for helicopters to be able to dip water. Those are still waiting for Riverside County Fire to move ahead.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan for which PCWD applied is frustrating both Potter and Smith. Smith complained to the board, “Every time we feel like we’re two steps forward they come back with something else and we feel like we’re three steps back.” Holldber, who originally set up the USDA loan application and now is a PCWD consultant, was to help them the following day.
Smith also reported and the board approved two public hearings at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, on rates and the loan.
After closed session, Director Vicki Jackubac reported out that the directors approved adjusting Potter’s salary because they accidentally based his new salary on his net instead of gross earnings. His new salary gives him 8% or $6,754.43 more a year for a total of $91,181 annually. This does not include on call and standby.
