minutes

South Bay Irrigation District

October 20, 2003

The Board of Directors of South Bay Irrigation District held a regular meeting on Monday, October 20, 2003, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. President Pocklington called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Doud, Pocklington, Reynolds, Welsh, and Wright

Directors Absent: None

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Mark Rogers, Legal Counsel De Sousa, Treasurer Avery, and Board Secretary Marisa Farpón-Friedman.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Director Doud conducted the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (Government Code Section (54954.3)
There was no comment from the public.

PRESIDENT'S PRESENTATION
There was no presentation.

ACTION AGENDA

1. AUDIT REPORT BY HUTCHINSON AND BLOODGOOD

Mr. Gene Konrad of Hutchinson and Bloodgood referred to the Financial Report ending June 30, 2003 that had been distributed to members of the Board and staff. He also referred to his letter with information relating to the Audit, which auditors are required to provide in accordance with their professional standards. This letters covers information on accounting policies and estimates, audit adjustments, disagreements with Management, consultation with other independent accountants, issues discussed prior to retention of independent auditors, and difficulties encountered in performing the audit. Mr. Konrad confirmed that there have been no disagreements or difficulties encountered during the performance of the audit.

Mr. Konrad noted that the current assets of the District on June 30, 2003 were $1,032,574 and that the investment income had dropped significantly. The total revenue was $20,239 compared to $39,201 last year. The operating expenses were $54,557, a little higher than last year. The directors' fees were almost $2,000 lower than last year, but there was an extra expense of over $3,000 as a result of fiscal year 2002-2003 being an election year.

Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Board accept and file the Audit Report as presented by Hutchinson and Bloodgood. The motion carried.

Director Wright commented that he would rather have seen the District cut the per diem to zero. He knows the expenses were cut down and the economy situation is such that we are not making much on the investments owned by the District. Nevertheless, he would have felt better as a public servant if we had no deficit and shown fiscal responsibility.

2. ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN OR REORDERED TO THE AGENDA
(Government Code Section 54956.5)

There were none.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Board approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 15, 2003. The motion carried.

4. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Reynolds, that warrant numbers 10041 through 10052 be approved. The motion carried.

5. APPROVAL OF DIRECTORS' ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS & FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

There were none.

6. REPORT OF TREASURER

Ms. Avery said that she had invested $166,200 in a three-year Fannie Mae at 2.24 percent and $100,000 with Union Bank at an interest rate of 2.6 percent.

7. REPORT OF LAFCO SPECIAL DISTRICTS REGULAR MEMBER

Director Pocklington referred to the Municipal Service Review report that he had provided to Board members. He said he had not been able to find a common denominator among all the agencies. He mentioned that Helix had total revenues of $46,000,000, Otay had $36,000,000, Padre Dam $38,000,000 and Sweetwater Authority $39,000,000, but he noted that two of those agencies had sewer service. As far as population, Helix has the most with $54,000 accounts; Otay has $37,000, and Sweetwater Authority has $33,755. He asked the members of the Board to read through the report and let him know if they have any recommendations about a common denominator that he could bring to the attention of LAFCO.

Director Welsh brought up questions regarding LAFCO's authority to make any changes. Legal Counsel de Sousa commented that the Municipal Service Reviews were required by the legislature in 2001. The result of the Municipal Service Review is basically to provide a source of information that can be used to update sphere of influences and also for future changes of organization. They are going to be a wealth of information that might be used either by LAFCO to initiate potential modifications or by other public agencies or members of the public. If one of the public agencies realizes that there is something that looks askew, it could use the information contained in the Municipal Service Review to trigger a future modification.

8. REPORT OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY REPRESENTATIVE

President Pocklington said that he would be reviewing the material for Thursday's Board meeting at the Sweetwater Authority Board meeting on Wednesday. He read the schedule of Committee meetings for Thursday. He commented that he has not had the opportunity to see Maureen Stapleton, and he thinks she might be leaving for a vacation soon, which she is due after all that she has been through for the last five years.

9. DIRECTORS' COMMENTS

Director Doud said he appreciated the handouts from Director Wright on MTBE and noted that AWWA had a good message. He said he had read a column in the Wall Street Journal about a Senator in Washington who has a bill on the floor eliminating any of the oil industries from being sued for MTBE contamination. He added that we have to stay on top of it.

Director Wright said he had attended the presentation from the Port at Bob's on the Bay, and that he got on the podium and talked about seawater desalination. His sense is that the Port plan is not out because we are going to need power from some place, whether it is to run a desalination plant or not. The presentation was surprisingly well attended, with maybe 80 or 90 people. He referred to the handouts he had provided talking about the Tampa Plant and also about MTBE.

10. CLOSED SESSION

There was no need for a closed session.

11. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, President Pocklington adjourned the meeting at 4:00 p.m., to the hour of 3:30 p.m., on November 17, 2003.