The photo shows a hole in Granlees Dam at the top of the fish ladder that had been blocked by a chair and a hefty branch. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration asked CSD to clear the blockage so fish could get through. Courtesy photo

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Because of a light agenda, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District directors spent most of their time at their Jan. 17 board meeting taking in staff reports that varied from an updated audit report to a clogged sewer lift on Christmas Eve.

Other highlights from the staff reports included a projection for a rate increase next year, the disposition of a juvenile who injured others with a firework on July 4, a fish ladder fix, a new communication strategy,  and the allocation of overhead costs.

The only agenda item discussed in length had to do with a proposed trail in the Residences East subdivision. See the separate story in this issue.

Here are some highlights from the staff reports and other agenda items.

General Manager

• General Manager Mimi Morris reported the many problems with the 20/21 fiscal year financial records had been resolved and submitted to the auditor. She hopes the audit report will be ready for the February meeting. “It has taken almost 18 months to get the bookkeeping in order,” she said.

• The staff has begun preparing the district’s 2024/25 budget. “It is likely that staff will propose a 10 to 15% increase in rates to ensure all costs are covered for the coming year,” Morris said.

• Staff has been evaluating the past method used to assign overhead costs to water, sewer, drainage, solid waste and, in particular, to security. See a separate story in this issue about security overhead costs.

• Morris showed the board the Community Communication Tracker form that staff has been using since December to track questions brought up at meetings or as direct inquiries. She said district responses will be published on the CSD website for full transparency. Morris also has implemented a tracker for Public Records Act requests.

• The district is updating the reception area at the CSD Building to improve the workspace for employees and to make the counter ADA accessible.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the fish ladder at Granlee’s Dam was blocked so fish couldn’t get through. Operations Supervisor Travis Bohannon and three other employees worked for half a day to remove the debris that included a log and a chair. Morris said the federal agency was pleased.

 Finance

• Mark Matulich, director of finance and administration, reported that a financial report to date showed excess revenue of $1.17 million over expenditures, but he said it had to be taken with a grain of because it isn’t all discretionary money.

• Matulich was more certain about the management of costs that have led to an 8% decrease in expenditures than had been budgeted. “Savings like this are important to the success of the district and will help offset the current year’s budget deficit of $283,000,” Matulich said.

• He also reported on balancing reserves for the 20/21 fiscal year. The Improvements Committee approved his request to transfer money from reserves to eliminate a deficit in the water fund in 20/21.

Security

• Security Supervisor Kelly Benitez reported that 38 out of 93 patrol shifts weren’t covered in December. That’s because CSD has three patrol vacancies that aren’t being filled.

• A Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District captain advised him that the juvenile who injured others with a firework on July 4 has been referred to their fire youth program instead of to the district attorney.

• The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has advised that RMA will soon have a VIP (Volunteer in Partnership with the Sheriff) working in Rancho Murieta at the service center after a 2 1/2-year lapse. The new VIP is already a sheriff’s chaplain.

• Benitez already has been working with RMA, a sheriff’s POP officer, and probation in hopes of minimizing problems next summer such as underage teens gathering at the South and North Beaches.

• Benitez said he resolved a complaint about racial descriptions being used in the log. He said he will edit out references to sex and ethnicity unless it is needed for a suspect description.

• Benitez reported two incidents of note. One concerned a woman suffering from an overdose outside the AT&T building,  and the other was the theft of a leaf blower in Murieta Village.

• RMA has “gifted” CSD Security with a dashboard camera that will help officers document speed sign violations and encounters with residents.

Utilities

• Plant Supervisor Travis Bohannon and four other employees and a vendor responded to an emergency at the North Sewer Lift Station next to the fire station on Christmas Eve. The comminutor that chews up rags had failed and the second one was on its last legs. The rags included flushable wipes, tampons, and condoms that residents have flushed down their toilets. The vendor also sucked out two to three inches of grease from the dry well. Bohannon said a new comminutor had been delivered that day, and the purchase of a second one has been approved.

The photo shows a pile of rags pulled out of the North Sewer Lift Station next to the fire station on Christmas Eve. The five employees who responded to the emergency were praised at the Jan. 17 meeting Rancho Murieta Community Services District (CSD) Board. Courtesy photo

• A hit-and-run pickup driver hit an air flow valve cover in the Tractor Supply lot on Dec. 19, causing a 4,000-gallon water leak. Although the license plate and other information were furnished to CHP, Bohannon didn’t know the outcome.

• As of the meeting, Clementia Reservoir was 100% full, Chesbro, 75%, and Calero 77% because of diversions from the Cosumnes River.

• During annual lead and copper testing of the water, a sample at one home came in too high but a repeat test showed acceptable levels.

Other agenda items

• As part of the consent agenda, the board approved expenditures already okayed by the Improvements Committee - $26,884 for a new comminutor, an $8,500 contract to evaluate a system at the water treatment, and $12,376 in electrical work at the Chesbro Aeration Station.

• The board also approved a staff recommendation to change the custodian agency for a benefit fund for past employees to save more than $10,000 a year.

The board will hold its next regular meeting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 21.