The Pine Cove Water District (PCWD) Board of Directors met Wednesday, Dec. 13 and accepted the resignation of director Diane Luther, who is moving. Public notice of the vacancy will be posted and a new interim director will be appointed; Luther’s term ends Dec. 24, 2024, and the new director will stand for election in fall.

The board also elected officers for the new year, with the lineup remaining unchanged: Robert Hewitt as president, Lou Padula as vice president, and Vicki Jacubac as both secretary and treasurer.

General Manager Jeremy Potter told the board that Smart Earth Technologies (SET), the company the district purchased its new “smart” meters from, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The new technology the district bought last year consists of three main parts: meters that monitor usage much more closely than the old ones, store information about usage, and transmit that information to the office; valves that can be remotely operated; and software that allows PCWD, and individual users, to access the information gathered and operate the valves from the office or any other location through the internet.

The meters themselves are produced locally by Zenner, an international company with a factory in Banning. The valves are made in Germany, but the electronics are domestically produced and supported. SET’s contribution is writing and supporting the software that makes all this work remotely.

Potter explained that several companies already are vying to take over SET’s contract. Nick and Robert Gallegos, the men who pitched the system to PCWD and who have been on hand to help with the switch to the new system, will probably still be in business, although with a new company. Legal counsel will be virtually attending hearings and meetings related to the bankruptcy. Among the important questions will be how much of the $10,000 the district has spent on software and a contract for support will be lost and how much may be credited toward a new contract. All the hardware has been received.

Meter replacement continues, with the third of seven “books,” or routes, complete. The third book includes several wireless dead zones, and the crews have been encountering and solving problems, learning to optimize antennas and direct the cone-shaped transmission patterns. Sometimes boxes have to be drilled so that antennas can be outside the boxes, either on top of the lid or on a metal stake. “They are getting comms [communications] out,” said Potter. There may be the need for a signal booster, likely using power available at well #9, but Potter wants to get all the meters in place and evaluate overall performance first.

Potter asked the public for forbearance as the replacements continue. Each valve has to be replumbed, and this may mean a new box in a slightly different location. Homeowners used to finding their valve box under a pile of leaves may find themselves hunting in vain. Anyone in this situation should contact PCWD. “We will be happy to come and explain,” he said.

The property formerly known is Pine Cove Park is in escrow. PCWD has asked for the shortest possible closing, and expects to complete this within the week. Padula noted that $140,000 for 19 acres is less that $7,400 per acre. Potter has been already regrading some of the area around the district’s three wells there to slow runoff and allow more water to percolate into the aquifer.

Many questions are still to be resolved: How will the existing cinder block building, formerly a restroom, be used? What kind of signage and fencing is appropriate to limit the district’s liability? What about a perimeter “nature trail?”

Directors expressed satisfaction that Comtrex, the Temecula communications relaying company that rents space from the district, has caught up on its rent.

Potter asked the board to consider purchasing a metal storage container, presently at Rocky Point, for $3,000. He would like to use it at Dutch Flats to store a power mower and accessories for the skid-steer: mower, masticator, claws for the dirt-sifting bucket. The district has a trailer to allow it to move the unit. This will go on next month’s agenda.

The board will meet next Wednesday, Jan. 10.