District vehicles a primary topic for FVWD

At the Oct. 17 meeting of the Fern Valley Water District Board of Directors, vehicles were the most frequent topic of discussion. Not only were there two items on the agenda addressing maintenance for vehicles and employee use of District vehicles, but the subject was discussed during the review of the September minutes and the budget review.

The first agenda item was a review of the use of extended service contracts to protect the vehicles. Director Mike LaFata raised several questions about their use and value during the September meeting. General Manager Victor Jimenez agreed to put the subject on the October agenda.

In his report to the Board, Jimenez described the situation and cost to repair a truck with only 28,000 miles of use. FVWD expended nearly $20,000. But Jimenez emphasized that if an extended service contract had been bought for this vehicle, the repairs would have been only $100.

“Staff recommends retaining the extended service contracts which equate to 4.4% of the covered vehicles cost to purchase, and with the cost of repairs these days, would protect the district from costly repairs should any of these vehicles suffer breakdowns,” his report concluded.

During the discussion, Board President Jon Brown asked about the records the district must keep if staff does any repair work. In response, Jimenez stressed that he keeps thorough records of work done on the trucks.

The Board approved the decision 5-0.

The second item was approval of policy for use of district vehicles. As the discussion began, Brown explained that he had requested the item to be put on the agenda.

Currently, the FVWD general manager has discretion on staff use of District vehicles. In case an emergency might occur, one employee is always on 24-hour call. This person is granted use of a District vehicle.

The policy extends the general manager’s authority to permit vehicle use to “emergency response field operators living within a 30-mile radius of the district . . .

This privilege is granted upon the field operator’s willingness to respond to after-hour

emergencies regardless of their stand-by status if reasonably possible. This privilege is dependent upon the availability of vehicles.”

Jimenez provided an analysis of the costs and benefits to the district and argued its approval would increase the maximum potential response to any district emergency.

“I thought Vic did a good job analyzing this. It’s an employee benefit which can be removed at the GM’s discretion,” Brown said urging its approval. “It allows them this benefit and staff will realize this benefit is part of the total compensation package. I think it make sense.”

This also was approved 5-0.

Expenses strongly exceeded revenue during the first quarter of the fiscal year, which began July 1. This is typical for two reasons. A significant portion of revenue is not received until December and May when the County sends parcel tax collections to special districts. Secondly, many capital projects, such as purchase of the new vehicles, occur early in the year. The difference is paid from reserves until more revenues are received.

During the first quarter, FVWD collected about $350,000, about 20% of its expected revenue. Expenses totaled $775,000, nearly half of which was for capital projects. The operating costs during the first quarter were about 20% of the expected total costs for the year.

The capital project expenses included the vehicle replacement purchases and the Tahquitz View pipeline project. The largest remaining capital project is the office expansion.

Both Board Vice President Kevin Scott and Brown assured that whole Board that the budget committee had reviewed all capital projects before recommending their funding in the budget. And then when the budget was approved these projects were discussed.

Prior to the discussion of the two vehicle policies, during the review of the minutes of the September meeting, LaFata felt his comments about the possibility of damage to the new vehicles from the adjustments, such as lifting them, and on the use of credit cards was not adequately reflected in the minutes.

Assistant General Manager Jessica Priefer is revising the minutes for approval at the November meeting.

“Things are going really well. The creeks and wells are doing good. The mountain is holding water for us and still producing,” Jimenez said during his General Manager’s Report. “The outfitting of the new vehicles is almost done. The dump truck is completed.”