Idyllwild Water District (IWD) held its monthly board of directors meeting Wednesday, Aug. 16.

Ratepayer David Hunt presented a letter outlining complaints. He claimed that the water bill for an unoccupied house had gone up by $50 with the new rates that went into effect last month. He did not provide any evidence to back up the claim and left immediately after reading the letter.

Before leaving, Hunt also complained about Chief Financial Officer Hosny Shouman and General Manager Leo Havener working part-time but drawing full salaries.

Havener, speaking to the Crier this week, explained that because of a lack of office space, he and Shouman are allowed to work from home some days; “It’s complicated; he and I are what are called ‘exempt employees,’ which means he deals with things I am not allowed to listen in on, and vice versa.” Until the office space repairs are finished, this situation will continue. Havener added; “Truth be told, we are working more hours at home than we would be at the office.”

Among other complaints was the cost of an election for the empty seat on the board. The letter described “a year of 2-2 tied votes” as the directors could not decide between two apparently qualified candidates. Supervisor V. Manuel Perez also declined to make this decision for rate payers and so a vote is scheduled for March 2024. At least recently, all decisions by the board are being made unanimously, albeit after much, sometimes contentious, wrangling.

Havener’s operations report showed water production up slightly from last year, but near average. It also included 130,000 gallons for mainline leaks. Havener noted two important leaks, one on North Circle and one on Tollgate. The latter, ironically, was caused when Riverside County Department of Transportation workers, excavating the new drainage line for the surface water that has plagued the neighborhood since 2021, struck a line. The leak was reported quickly; Director Steve Kunkle was across the street at the time.

Director Peter Szabadi asked if IWD had to pay for the repair. Havener answered that yes, public agencies do not charge other public agencies, but this is a two-way street and the county helps IWD when needed.

Director Steve Olson did his usual drilling down on pumping data for the wells. Each month Havener provides a report of well production data. For each well in service, it lists production as both cubic feet and acre feet, whether the well is full-time or part-time, and a gallon per minute (gpm) figure. Olson noted that the gpm figure is an average arrived at by dividing the total production by the number of minutes in a month. He would like to know how much the wells are really capable of producing, and Havener has in the past agreed that the system is capable of producing more than it presently does.

Breaking down each well’s production by number of minutes in service is not a task Havener welcomed. Olson implied that if a well is producing halftime now, it could produce twice as much if left on 24 hours a day; but wells do take time to recharge.

President Charles Schelly noted that it has often been stated at board meetings that the numbers do not reflect a dynamic situation exactly. When Kunkle noted that “we used to have” those numbers, Havener took a brief walk to compose himself. Schelly opined that the averages give a pretty good idea what is going on. Havener noted that a great deal of data is recorded through the Supervisory Control Automatic Data Acquisition System.

Havener’s report noted a spike last year in expenditures when Edison gave the district one bill for electricity for the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for the entire year. That and the influx of water into waste lines due to heavy precipitation were the two most unusual items on the annual report.

The July 2023 financial report showed water revenue of $181,399 and expenses of $127,278; a net income of $54,121. Sewer revenue was $70,765 and expenses $42,583, a net income of $28,212.

Olson and Kunkle provided an update on the repair of the lower office building. EZ Mold did a test after the remediation by Servpro, and detected one more area that requires removal. Servpro will have to return, and after it has done its work, EZ Mold will be called to test again.

They are getting ready to ask contractors for bids on the repair. Plastic has been wrapped around the damaged area to isolate the areas for testing; testing should be done inside the building, inside the walls and outside in the environment. With holes in the wall, this was hard to do. Schelly said the new wall should have cinder blocks for the lower 3 to 4 feet to keep water out. A member of the public asked if asbestos had been found, as this was an initial concern. Schelly replied that no asbestos had been found.

A number of projects came up for votes on the agenda: In replacing pipeline along Jameson Drive, El-Co, the same company laying pipe for Fern Valley Water District, has bid $363,000 for the next 800 feet of pipe. The project is being done year by year, section by section. Havener added that the funding for this is not in the Capital Improvement Plan.

The other project on the agenda, the Strawberry Creek Diversion, will take over a year before it is ready to go, and so some of the 500,000 budgeted for it will be spent on the Jameson pipeline. As to timeline, he said that depends on the contractor’s availability, but Schelly said “as soon as possible.” The board approved the project.

The board also voted to approve purchasing a new Toyota Tacoma truck. The price is a $46,816, but Shouman said the insurance company has sent a check for $30,990.63 for the truck recently totaled. There was a brief discussion of electric vehicles, with Havener averring that they charge and perform poorly in freezing weather, and cost upward of $100,000. Schelly expressed his hope that the new truck will be operated by the district’s best driver, one with an immaculate driving record, and that he would like it to last a good long time. This year district employees had three crashes.

Another item considered and approved by the board was Shouman’s proposal to offer $2,400 retention bonuses for employees who stay on the job at least a year. Turnover has vexed the district and this is an attempt to reward loyalty. The question of pension plans came up: Shouman explained that Cal Public Employee’s Retirement System (CalPERS) is very expensive and the district has a pension plan that employees and IWD pay into, with payout also being dependent on the earnings of the fund, which have been, in recent years, flat.

He added that prospective employees have turned down job offers because of the district’s nonparticipation in CalPERS. Schelly noted that turnover has been a problem for IWD for at least a decade. After some tailoring of language, “calendar year” was replaced with a period running Dec. 1 to Nov. 30. This gives a festive, holiday theme to the bonuses but means that some employees may work 23 months before getting a bonus, while others will be rewarded after exactly a year.

The program will be retroactive; employees on the job more than a year will receive a bonus this December.

The next item was an authorization to begin moving surplus funds into the California Cooperative Liquid Assets Security System (Cal CLASS), up to a limit of $500,000. Schelly noted that a small amount had been invested there and the fund had done well.

Shouman said that presently, the Local Agency Investment Fund has $3 million. The initial investment in Cal CLASS was $25,000, and the board agreed to add $75,000 now and authorize future investments up to $500,000.

The board also voted to approve an agreement with Terra Nova Planning and Research Inc. for the proposed Strawberry Creek Diversion and Pipeline Relocation Project,near Fern Valley Road. The $84,605 agreement is to include “a CEQA-conforming Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, exhibits and associated notices, technical reports and regulatory permit applications.” The project is projected to have a footprint of less than 500 square feet, and to be constructed next to the existing diversion in the creek.

There will be two new “reaches” of 8- or 12-inch underground pipeline to take the raw water to treatment. One will be about 245 feet, through a “relatively undisturbed wooded” area west of Tahquitz Road and within a district easement. The second “reach” will go about 300 feet, running south of Fern Valley Road within that road’s right of way. Existing pipelines, where above ground, will be removed; where buried it will be abandoned after capping or filling with cement. Before any of that work can begin, many reports will be filed with state and federal offices. IWD has already paid $18,000 to get the study started.

Vice President Peter Szabadi also briefed the board on the conversation he and Havener had with the project engineer for the new WWTP, Nathan Thomas of California Rural Water Association. The present contract is for the firm to complete 30% of the engineering. At that point, IWD will be eligible to apply for grants to fund the plant. Thomas said half of that preliminary engineering is done, and that the 30% point will take about four more months. They will need to have access to the property, which can only happen once the purchase has been completed, which should be soon.

The balance of the engineering is expected to take a year and cost $300,000 to $400,000. Their obligation also includes initial CEQA applications, which are required for grant applications. The company also will help with the grant process, including identifying sources and providing a grant writer. Legal counsel also has been asked which funding sources they should pursue. Kunkle noted, “We have four months to figure out where we will look for grants.”

Kunkle also asked Havener for more information on the recent sewer pipe video inspection and cleaning with Houston and Harris. Havener said the information has been recorded. He will review it and share it at the next meeting, along with an assessment of what still needs to be cleaned or repaired.

The public session ended and the meeting continued in closed session as the board considered negotiations on the purchase of two land parcels, one for the WWTP. The next meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20.