BRECA Steering Committee Meeting Minutes 12-20-16

BUTTERFIELD-RIVIERA EAST COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

DATE: December 20, 2016
PLACE:  Rancho Cordova Library, 9845 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, California
MEETING TYPE:  BRECA Steering Committee Meeting

STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT

• Lori Christensen
• Kelly Cohen
• Bonnie Domeny
• Rene Hamlin
• Lynda Hammitt
• Gay Jones
• Jim Morgan

 STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT

• Jay Domeny
• Andrea White

1. Call to Order by Chair Rene Hamlin
2. Minutes of November 22, 2016
   Lynda Hammitt requested two changes to the draft minutes for November 22, 2016, which were accepted.  Lynda Hammitt made a motion to adopt the amended draft minutes.  Gay Jones seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

3. Reports
   1. Finance
      There was no treasurer’s report.
   2. CORPAC
      Carmen Mitchell reported that there was no meeting of the Cordova Community Planning and Advisory Council (CORPAC) meeting this month.  There was discussion about the electronic sign being constructed for the Capital Christian Center.  Specifically, there was concern about the closeness of the sign to the freeway, and that it was different from what had been presented to CORPAC.
   3. Outreach Committee
      Lynda Hammitt stated that the Outreach Committee is to meet in January.

4. Old Business
   1. California American Water
      Gay Jones thanked the people who turned out to testify at the December 7, 2016 California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) hearing on the proposed general rate increases from California American Water (Cal Am).  She commented that there are two issues: the rate increase, and rate consolidation of the Sacramento district with other areas.  She stated that she wants to work with a BRECA member who wants BRECA to become a “party” to the proceedings.  Jim Morgan commented that at the CPUC hearing there were only 5 people who testified in the afternoon session.  He also stated that Joe O’Connor had told him that only 4 people testified in the evening session.

      Lynda Hammitt stated that she had spoken to the CPUC Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) personnel at the meeting and that the ORA would likely recommend lower rate increases.  The ORA personnel also stated that Cal Am would likely end up with lower rate increases than they had requested.

      Gay Jones commented that there is a way to get on to the CPUC mailing list for the Cal Am general rate increase, and that she would send this around later.  Kelly Cohen stated that we should put a sample letter on the BRECA web site, with contact information.

      There was discussion about the rationale for the Cal Am requested rate increase, which is that Cal Am has been losing money due to reduced water use.  It is not clear whether they have actually lost money or had reduced profits.  The rationale for the requested rate increase is for reduced water use and increased testing requirements going forward.

      Gay Jones commented that there are a couple of statewide issues that are tied into the rate consolidation proposal.  One is that mapping of disadvantaged unincorporated communities is incomplete, and the other is that evaluation of groundwater basins is incomplete.  There are statewide regulations for groundwater that are coming into effect.  The proposed rate consolidation should wait until the statewide issues are resolved.

      Rene Hamlin stated that there are three actions for BRECA going forward: becoming a “party” to the proceedings, putting together a tool kit for the web site, and sending a BRECA letter to the CPUC.

   2. By-Laws
      Ken Crawford stated that we should go forward with the existing draft document.  Jim Morgan stated that he has some concerns with the existing draft that the Steering Committee needs to consider before going forward, and that he had e-mailed out a document with those concerns.  Gay Jones stated that Jim had made some good comments, but that they could be taken care of procedurally.  Lynda Hammitt stated that the comments did not rise to the level of the By-Laws.  Rene Hamlin suggested that we could create a Policies and Procedures document to address the concerns.  Jim Morgan pointed out that the second of the concerns in his document had previously been raised and accepted by the Steering Committee, concerning drawing lots for a tie for the 9th position in a Steering Committee election, but had been left out of the existing draft By-Laws document.

      Lynda Hammitt made a motion to accept the draft By-Laws document as currently written, with a change to incorporate drawing lots if there is a tie for the 9th Steering Committee position.  The motion failed with 3 votes in favor and 4 opposed.

      Jim Morgan raised his first concern, that the duties and powers of the Steering Committee are not adequately described, and suggested language for this concern.  Ken Crawford stated that the language could be put in a Policies and Procedures document, and that some of the language is already in the By-Laws.  Lori Christensen stated that we need to keep the content, and make sure it goes into another document.  Jim Morgan stated that he could accept putting the language in a Policies and Procedures document.  Gay Jones made a motion that the first concern in Jim Morgan’s document be put into a Policies and Procedures document.  Bonnie Domeny seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

      Gay Jones made a motion that the second of Jim Morgan’s concerns, drawing lots for a tie for the 9th position in a Steering Committee election, be incorporated into the draft By-Laws.  Kelly Cohen seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

      Jim Morgan raised the third of his concerns, which that there has been no audit of BRECA finances since 2011, which was for calendar years 2008 and 2009.  He stated that this is because the existing By-Laws require 3 BRECA members who are not members of the Steering Committee to perform the audit.  In practice, we have not been able to find 3 qualified members who are willing to do the work and are not on the Steering Committee for some time.  We need to relax the requirements if we are to have audits going forward.  Jim suggested that the number of people be reduced from 3 to 2, and allow them to be on the Steering Committee.  Carmen Mitchell commented that being on the Steering Committee would be a conflict of interest for audit committee members.  Ken Crawford suggested that the number of members be changed to “up to 3.”  Gay Jones made a motion that the draft By-Laws be changed to state “up to 3” members for the audit committee.  Kelly Cohen seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

      Jim Morgan raised the fourth of this concerns, which had three elements, regarding the proposed membership secretary.  The first element was that the membership secretary text is part of sub-article 5.01(d), which is the treasurer.  Ken Crawford agreed to break out membership secretary into 5.01(e).  The second element was that appointment of the membership secretary should be consolidated with selection of the other Steering Committee officers at the beginning of Article 5.  During the discussion of this element, it was stated that the membership secretary might be someone who is not a Steering Committee member, and so should not be consolidated with selection of the Steering Committee officers.  Jim Morgan commented that if that was the case, membership secretary should be broken out into a separate article.  The third element was that the membership secretary as described in the draft By-Laws combines 2 different functions: recruiting new members and renewing existing memberships.  These are different skill sets, and it could be beneficial to have them filled by different people.  For example, there is an existing Outreach Committee, headed by Lynda Hammitt, working on recruiting new members, while the membership renewals are handled by Jim Morgan.  Ken Crawford commented that he belongs to another organization where both functions are performed by one person.  Kelly Cohen commented that the two functions are similar, and should be performed by one person.  After some further discussion, Lori Christensen made a motion to take the membership secretary out of the draft By-Laws, and put it into a Policies and Procedures document.  Gay Jones seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

      At this point it was agreed to continue the discussion at the January BRECA meeting.

5. New Business
   1. From the Floor
      Stan Mofjeld stated that the Cordova Recreation and Park District (CRPD) has new money from an assessment that was recently approved.  He stated that the walkway in Riviera East Park needs to be fixed.  Rick Sloan (a CRPD Board member) commented that it would cost a lot of money to replace the walkway, and that the CRPD is now doing a prioritization of needs.  If we want to do it right, the asphalt should be removed and replaced with concrete.  Lynda Hammitt asked what are the alternatives.  Rick stated that there is a tripping hazard where the path meets the sidewalk, and that it could be filled in to make a gradual transition.  Lynda Hammitt made a motion to write a letter to CRPD.  Gay Jones seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

      Jim Morgan stated that the Newsletter was about ready to go, and asked if there was a desire to send it out for review.  He added that the review would need to be done quickly if the Newsletter was to get out this year.  It was agreed that there was a desire for review, and that the current draft was to be sent out to the Steering Committee electronically.

6. Meeting adjourned.

The next meeting will be a Steering Committee Meeting on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, at the Rancho Cordova Library.