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MINUTES
January 27, 1999
Regular Meeting
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Jim Duzick, President. The Pledge of Allegiance followed. Jim Duzick, George Dyer, Dave McCord, Darrell Readmond, and Mike Terito were present. Doc Ellis arrived at 8:45 p.m. Diane Terito was absent for a majority of the meeting due to other commitments. She arrived at 9:10 p.m.
AGENDA: An agenda was presented by Jim. The Secretary’s Report, and the Treasurer’s Report were deleted from the agenda. Dave moved to accept the agenda as revised. VOTE: Aye – 5; No - 0; Abstain - 0.
COUNCIL MEMBER’S REPORTS:
JIM DUZICK:
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
WATER STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE (WSC) (Lillian Smith, Chair): Ken Schmidt is currently working on two reports – 1998 year end and the 1st quarter report for 1999. The California Regional Water Quality Control Board (CRWQCB) appears to be in disarray right now with the change in government in Sacramento. Members of the CRWQCB are political appointees. Appointments have not been made yet, and so the January 1999 meeting was canceled. Another round of tests is planned for February. Ken has stated that he doesn’t want to draw any broad conclusions from just one round of tests. Nothing new was learned from the earlier testing, other than that there are pockets of nitrates. The question is what we do regarding these pockets. There is not a widespread high density of nitrates in the area. As soon as the Schmidt report is received, Lillian will provide a copy to the Council.
George questioned whether Schmidt had spoken to people involved in the Riverside Study, some of whom were laid off. Lillian responded that Ken had spoken with some of them. Unfortunately, the Riverside group would never reveal the identity of the homeowners who participated in that Study, so that the WSC could never identify them for further testing. We are testing some of the same wells, but not all of them. The WSC’s goal is to test wells over a long period of time, identify the pockets of high nitrate levels, and then see what can be done to help correct those spots. Nitrate levels are high in the downtown commercial area, and at Vasquez Rocks (where no one lives except the Ranger)…why? We know that some areas sit on volcanic soil, and volcanic soil is known to be high in nitrates.
George questioned whether the State was concerned with any other potential contaminants in our acquifer other than nitrates. Lillian stated that there is arsenic in some wells, but that is not of concern to the CRWQCB. They are, however, concerned with coliform bacteria and they test public wells for this.
Lillian reported that she had spoken with Brian Schweickert of the CRWQCB Staff following the last Council meeting regarding the pending grant application. She told him that the Council wished to get its incorporation status clarified before going through the application process. The WSC is still concerned about what responsibilities come with accepting Federal or State money.
Lillian stated that the WSC may need to do another fundraiser in the near future, as funds are being eaten up with the increased number of reports required from Ken Schmidt. The committee is paying John Cromwell for time he has to take off work in order to direct the well testing effort, as well.
COMMUNITY STANDARDS DISTRICT (CSD) – (Donna Saufley, Chair): Lillian reported for Donna. Things are moving ahead. The committee has already drafted proposed language regarding some items. They are gearing the CSD away from certain requirements contained in the Acton CSD which have proved to be unworkable or deleterious to that community. The proposed items to be incorporated into the Agua Dulce CSD so far focus on commercial development and subdivision issues.
Acton included a "Director’s Review" of various items a homeowner might propose to do on his property. This allows the County to collect an additional $495.00, over and above any County fees, to check whether this activity complies with the Acton CSD. A "Director’s Review" is not handled locally, but is a review by a civil servant who is an employee of the Planning Commission. The voters in Acton didn’t understand the ramifications of this language in their CSD, and only 400 to 500 people turned out to vote. The Agua Dulce CSD committee is in agreement that the individual homeowner should be left alone. The intent is to retain one house per 2 ½ acres. We are not trying to require a designer community, but to safeguard what we have. In another few meetings, the committee should have a draft which can be presented to the Council and provided to the community as a basis of discussion.
This committee meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, 7:30 p.m.
BYLAWS COMMITTEE (BC) – (Dave McCord, Chair): The committee did not have a enough people attending to hold the meeting which was scheduled at Dave’s house. Dave will reschedule and advise the Council at the next meeting.
TRAFFIC AND SAFETY – (Corrie Tomzcak, Chair): Jim will call Corrie with a request to attend the next Council meeting.
OPEN FORUM:
TRAFFIC AND SAFETY: George has spoken with both the Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Department regarding speeders in Agua Dulce. He is interested in seeing increased patrols by law enforcement. Art Brewer stated that he thought that he and Howard Kaplan were still on this committee. Doug Sweeney is the contact for the Highway Patrol, Newhall Station, according to Art. Tickets are being written for speeding on Agua Dulce Canyon Road, Davenport and Escondido. George suggested that the Council contact Public Works.
OLD BUSINESS:
PROPOSITION "A": More work has been done toward planning the improvements to be made with these funds than the community is aware. The County, according to Jim, has already done an engineering report prior to Prop "A", published on June 2, 1994. The Board of Supervisors voted on a Final Adopted Resolution to put on the ballot on June 18, 1996. These documents suggest, according to Jim, that there is not as much room for community input on the way these funds are used as we were led to believe by Jim Park at the last Council meeting. These documents will be provided to Darrell as chair of the Parks & Trails Committee. According to Prop "A" as passed by the voters, the $1.2 million is earmarked for infrastructure and an interpretive center within Vasquez Rocks Natural Area.
According to Jim, there is more latitude with the $895,000 Prop "A" Fund. There is a specific County procedure for deciding how the money will be spent, and what improvements will be made. According to Jim, the documents show that the $1.2 million is to be spent on improvements within Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, and the $895,000 for land acquisition either contiguous to the park or within the community (but not for development). Jim Park indicated at the last Council meeting that there may be some room to include development within the $895,000, according to Jim.
Darrell stated that he has been gathering information since the last Council meeting and will call a meeting of the Parks & Trails Committee soon. In addition to Council members, Art stated he would like to participate in this committee. Art stated that the asking price on Paradise Park is $900,000; and the Sweetwater parcel (23 acres) is $854,000.; Hacienda Vasquez is 13 acres. According to Art, the nature center and an interpretive center are one in the same.
Darrell asked the Council’s permission to address a variety of questions to the Department of Parks & Recreation in writing. It was agreed by consensus that Darrell should proceed with this effort. He requested that anyone with questions forward them to him.
COUNCIL RECORDS AND INCORPORATION: The Council is proceeding to reconstruct it’s records for the period prior to 1997. Various sources exist, and have been contacted. Once reconstituted, they need to be safeguarded. It was the consensus that a duplicate set should be kept in a locked cabinet, with the keys in the possession of two Council members. Dave moved that the Council purchase a locking file cabinet, which will contain one set of records for the Council, and that a second set be kept at a place to be determined. Discussion followed. Ray Brown, Art Brewer, Dave, and Jim each offered to provide a file cabinet. The motion was amended to state that the Council obtain a file cabinet, which will contain one set of records for the Council, and that a second set be kept at a place to be determined. Jim proposed that the Council Minutes, the incorporation papers, correspondence, and copies of major reports should be duplicated with a copy placed in the file cabinet as an historical archive. (Diane arrived during this discussion.) It would be the responsibility of the Secretary and the President to insure that these records are kept up to date. contemporaneously. VOTE: Aye – 6; No – 0; Abstain – 1 (Mike).
The Council is an active corporation. The appropriate reports were filed in 1995 and ’96. Incorporation took place in 1994. The State is sending the Council the papers to file for 1997 and ’98, which will bring us up to date. We are a viable corporation.
COMMITTEE TYPES AND PURPOSES: Jim proposed that the Council move ahead with establishing the type for each committee – Action, Investigative, etc. – and the projects the Council would like to assign to each this year. A discussion was held regarding the authority of committees to send correspondence. In addition, Diane pointed out that any correspondence sent by any committee should be presented to the Council, with a copy for the Council’s records. She suggested that the Council look at defining the type, purpose and focus for those committees without clearly stated parameters. Diane suggested that this discussion be tabled until the next meeting, so that a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order could be made available to the Council to guide the discussion. A discussion followed regarding whether letters from committees should be reviewed by the entire Council before they are sent. Jim stated that the topic of committee types and purposes will be on the top of the agenda for the next meeting.
TRAFFIC & SAFETY: Doc moved that George Dyer be authorized to contact the County Public Works Department regarding the curve on Agua Dulce Canyon Road. VOTE: Aye – 7; No – 0; Abstain – 0.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
Committee Types & Purposes
Parks & Trails
Community Survey
Traffic & Safety
Praddy Property
ADJOURNED: 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Terito
Secretary
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