Camp Meeker
Recreation and Park District
Regular Meeting Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Remember when I said that there was always something to talk about at Camp Meeker Rec and Park meetings? Well, this meeting was no exception. The meeting began with two comments from the public, who were out in force. The board chair, Jeffry Fawcett, walked through the door and did a double take, remarking, “Full house tonight!” He was the second one to make that same comment. There were four people present not representing the district and one of them had business at the meeting.


Public Comments
That one was Jerry Garner, who is trying to get a water meter hooked up to his property at 160 Redwood (we’ll hear more about him later). He mentioned that one of the pictures in Anderson Hall proved that the Old Mill was not a mill at all; Jeffry suggested he attend the Local History Project meeting and let them know about the picture. Then Fire Chief Fred spoke up, asking if there was going to be a phone installed in Anderson Hall. Board member Cathie Anderson (yes, a relation) reported that the phone was already installed and was only waiting for the phone company to come turn it on. It can only make local calls, though, so don’t get too excited. The main reason for having it is for emergencies; cell reception is pretty poor down there.

Tower Bridge to Close
Jeffry jumped an agenda item to allow Rich, the engineer from Brelje & Race, to get his report out of the way so that he could go home. Rich delivered the completed contract for the Tower Bridge water main repair and asked that it be signed. In the ensuing discussion, it came out that Tower Road Bridge will have to be closed for a couple of days in the near future. The contractor, Piazza Construcion, will build special supports under the bridge to carry the water line. The work will be done sometime in the coming month; water flow will be disrupted during the week of work, but there will be no interruption of fire flow.
Russian River Utility, which operates the water system, reported that there was nothing to report. And then Hal reported some things. 1,738,000 gallons of water were pumped through the system in June, with 544,000 of that going to Occidental. Camp Meeker residents averaged 113 gallons per day, while Occidental, with its extensive commercial usage, went through an average of 220 gallons per day. And then Rich, who hadn’t left quite as quickly as anticipated, reminded Hal from RRU of something. Hal then produced a letter from the Sonoma County Water Agency asking for a map of the district so that they could continue to provide water service in the case of a shortfall. Seemed kind of important, but Hal didn’t seem concerned. Rich said he would take care of it.
There was also nothing to report on the next two items. Jeffry reported a lot on the first one, Camp Meeker Commons, anyway and I started to sense a theme. He is going to meet with Lisa from the Gold Ridge Resources Conservation District and discuss grant options. He did note that there was precious little money available, and what was out there focused more on multifaceted projects. Read: more bang for the buck. He also pointed out that they will have to address septic/wastewater issues regarding public access and that there will have to be a scoping process. He will know more next month and report back. As to the website, he was “not on the case” and will get it together for next month.

Budget Shortfall Needs to be Addressed
And then the excitement really started. The board is considering a rate hike to stay in the black. Projections for 2010 put the water district in the hole by $39,068. This was due to “the event,” according to Jeffry, a cryptic reference to a burst pipe in Monte Rio that added $60,000 to the operating expenses. I will have to get back to you with more details on “the event;” Cheryl Doran-Girard, who provides accounting services to the district, was very closed mouthed on the topic when I approached her after the meeting.
But there is an underlying problem that is bankrupting the district even without catastrophic line failures. The residents of Camp Meeker are simply conserving water far too well, thus lowering the amount of water the district sells, resulting in lower revenue. Unfortunately, the expenses are not amenable to the same kind of economy; they stay pretty much the same, barring unforeseen "events." When revenue declines and expenses remain constant, there is a definite budget gap.
One solution is to raise everyone’s bill by $10/month. With 93 hookups, that would bring in an additional $11,160 every year. Another option is to spend an additional $30,000 or so (according to Hal) creating infrastructure for commercial sales to water haulers, who do a brisk business between Joy Road and Forestville during the dry months (according to Fire Chief Fred). Jeffry is of a mind not to rush and to let the public have as much input into the decision as possible. “I would much rather present alternatives and get a sense of what is on people’s minds rather than present one proposal to be voted up or down;” he said. But first there is a going to be a lot of back and forth between himself and the lawyer, Malcolm, to clarify the needs of a notice and get example notices for reference.
Board member Seth Murchison voiced concern over the message sent by raising rates. “People have done an excellent job conserving water and if we raise rates we penalize them. That doesn’t seem right,” he said. Gary Helfrich, former board chair, had joined us a little while before. He pointed out that if water use continues to drop, the district could actually“lose water rights,” a prospect that caused general alarm.

New Meter for 160 Redwood?
Meanwhile, there was poor Jerry Garner, trying to get water turned on at his house. He did point out at one time that making him a customer would help alleviate some of the financial worries being discussed. No one seemed moved by this argument. In fact, the board did not seem very moved by Jerry at all. Gary suggested the same solution the district used when he was in office: give the poor guy a willing to serve letter and let him duke it out with the county. Once the county gave the thumbs up, the water could start to flow. Jeffry wanted to discuss things with Malcolm first, but Seth seemed willing and even eager to sign the letter and let Jerry get on with business. The item was tabled until next month.
It would seem that there would be straightforward procedures for this kind of situation but the waters were muddied by an old letter from Barbara Higgins stating that “the cabin is dangling in the air and has been tagged by the fire department as of March 8, 1995.” Barbara asked that the water service for the property at 160 Redwood be turned off. So no one seems to know if the service was disconnected, turned off, rendered unusable, or what. Knowing why it was off is necessary so it can be turned on under the right legal category. Whew. Public service is exhausting.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
Then we discovered that even though finances might be tight, there is still enough money in the kitty to spring for an ice cream social. And mailings for the local history project, run by Cathie Anderson. They both got $300 allocated to them. As Seth said, “Brilliant. Everyone likes ice cream.” The date for the social is not yet set, but a flier will be mailed out along with a quasi-newsletter. The directors were unanimous in their support, with one, Michael Ming, absent. (The remaining board member, Secretary Lynn Watson, was very quiet but voted in favor.)

Directors' Reports
Cathie reported on the condition of Anderson Hall, which recently received a mini-makeover. The kitchen is painted, the floor has been sanded and matched and, as noted above, the phone has been installed. She said that the old wire still needed to be removed and that she had received a report from a concerned neighbor that it was very messy under the deck. Cathie said she has arranged for it to be cleaned out.
Seth reported that the supper club being held on Sunday, July 25, was going to involve the roasting of an entire pig. I spoke with Seth after the meeting about these supper clubs. He has been holding them for several months, inviting a local chef to create a full menu and charging the public $10 a plate to come eat it. Beverages are not provided. The number of interested people swelled to 150 last month, so he considers it a success. He also reported on a projector model he would like the district to purchase for public use, like maybe a community movie night and finished by suggesting that the district sponsor a community rummage sale early in the fall. There was some hesitation about costs and leftover rubbish, but general interest.
Neither Lynn nor Jeffry had any reports to make and so they called it an evening by signing all the financial papers that will allow them to close the books on the previous fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2010. And now we can close the books on this meeting, as well.

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