The Board of Idyllwild Water District elected new officers. Charles Schelly will remain as President and newly elected member Jessica Preifer will become Vice President. There is still a vacancy on the board, and applications will be accepted until February 14. Schelly reported after the meeting that two applications had been received.
Public comments focused on the proposal by David Butterfield and Shane Stewart to purchase part of IWD’s land next to the Idyllwild Brewpub. Several members of the public raised questions about Butterfield’s creek path project. and Schelly asked whether that wasn’t outside the scope of IWD’s authority, being on land that Butterfield already owns. David Hunt pointed out that surveyor Lee Arnson’s map shows the corner marker for the part of the parcel that IWD would retain, even if they sell the land, as within the creek itself. Franz Huber repeated his contention that when he sold the land to IWD, he was assured the land would never be resold or built on.
Hunt spoke of the possible impact on IWD’s well, which the district would retain on a smaller parcel. He pointed out that Pine Cove Water limits access to the land around its wells.
General Manager Bill Rojas’ operations report showed water loss at 10%. Schelly commended the GM on the quality of his record-keeping, saying that reports from the previous GM seemed to “carry numbers over from one month to the next.”
In response to a question from a ratepayer about water conservation levels, Rojas said that next month, when Idyllwild Arts Academy students have returned to the campus, the District will move to level 2 unless there is substantial precipitation. IAA is the District’s largest customer. Foster Lake, which has a maximum depth of 18 feet, is at 6 feet.
Rojas’ report listed among December’s accomplishments the rehab of the last of the Cla-Val pressure regulating valves, and the repair of three hydrants. All of IWD’s hydrants are now operational, he said. The crew also replaced the generator that serves the main office and replaced the booster pumps at the South Ridge facility, which provides better water pressure for customers and fire hydrants on this spur of the system.
Rojas said that all of IWD’s infrastructure continued to function under generator power during the recent power outages and thanked his team for working “around the clock.”
The GM discussed applications for loans and grants for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. One from CRWA, the firm that is doing the engineering, was completed and submitted to the state. In December Rojas sent the necessary information to Dudek, the firm reviewing the project, for their application. Olson asked for a current estimate for the cost of the project, and Rojas said $10-12 million, adding that the grants were requesting this amount or as close as possible.
The board discussed moving the time and date for meetings from Wednesday at 6 p.m. to Monday at 9:00 a.m. Schelly explained that this was in deference to the schedule of the CFO and GM, who begin their days at 7 A.M., and Office Administrator and Board Secretary Tyla Wheeler, who is paid overtime for the meetings. Stephanie Yost pointed out the weak attendance at Fern Valley Water and Idyllwild Fire Protection District meetings, which are during normal business hours. Prefer said that the change would be a conflict with her work schedule. Without support from any board member, the idea was tabled.
The board went into a closed session, with the agenda listing “Conference with real property negotiator” and “price and terms.” Later, President Schelly communicated that there was no update on the Butterfield offer. He also said the board had appointed Davis and Olson to a committee to seek properties within the district for possible purchase, to “diversify our investments and use for employee housing if necessary.”
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
