Rancho Murieta Community Services District counsel Patrick Enright presents proposed increases in water and sewer connection fees for new development at the Oct. 21 board meeting. The board unanimously approved the increases.

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - The Rancho Murieta Community Services District Board approved higher connection fees for new development, agreed to seek preliminary legal guidance on expanding Lake Clementia's water uses and heard at its Oct. 21 meeting that a surplus of treated wastewater has been reduced.

The board also addressed two contentious issues — misleading social media posts about district matters and the board's longstanding practice of not responding to written correspondence from the public. Both topics are covered in separate stories in this issue.

Connection Fees Increase

The board voted unanimously to increase water and sewer connection fees for new development and establish a new fee for fire flow availability letters. The changes take effect Dec. 20 and will not affect existing customers unless they request a new connection or related service.

District counsel Patrick Enright said the fees, last updated in 2017, no longer cover the district's costs due to increased labor, materials, and inspection requirements.

The water meter installation fee will increase from $522 to $926, while water connection and sewer lateral inspection fees will each rise from $165 to $547. A new $613 fee will cover the cost of fire flow availability letters, which the district currently provides without charge.

The combined fees for a typical new home will be about $2,600, including the fire flow letter.

Enright said the increases are intended to ensure that new development pays the actual cost of connection services rather than having those costs subsidized by existing ratepayers. State law prohibits the district from charging more than the cost of providing the services. The fees will be reviewed annually.

Former CSD director and current board candidate Steve Booth urges the board, on Oct. 21, to move forward with exploring changes to Lake Clementia's permits that would allow it to be used for drinking water.

Lake Clementia

The board agreed to seek preliminary legal guidance on using Lake Clementia as a drinking-water source while preserving recreational activities, including swimming.

Director Randy Jenco brought the issue to the board following an Oct. 7 Improvements Committee discussion. He said the district needed legal advice to determine what permit changes and possible state legislation would be required to allow both uses.

Director Bill Gere supported moving forward but emphasized the need to define the scope and cost of the legal work before committing to a more extensive study.

Director Linda Butler opposed assigning additional work to the district's water attorney, saying the attorney should concentrate on ongoing litigation. She also favored waiting until the district had more clearly defined its objectives and hired an operations director.

Gere disagreed, arguing that preliminary legal guidance would help the district identify its options without committing to a comprehensive study.

Board President John Merchant suggested the district explore another approach before going to the state water board: using Clementia water for golf course irrigation while directing treated recycled wastewater into Lake Calero for potential future drinking-water use. He suggested that permitting Clementia for irrigation might be less complicated than converting it directly to a drinking-water reservoir.

Former CSD director and current board candidate Steve Booth, speaking during public comment, noted the unusual agreement among people who often disagree on district issues.

“It's not frequent that I find myself in agreement with Mr. Jenco, Mr. Shewchuk and Mr. Martell, but this is one of those issues,” Booth said.

He urged the board to ask the water attorney to explore all potential uses of Clementia, including the costs and time required, rather than continue delaying a decision.

“I think that this is one of those topics where analysis has become paralysis,” Booth said. “My God, when are we going to be ready to pose that question? I think now is the time.”

New General Manager Marti Brown said the district's water attorney was already scheduled to address the board in December. She offered to ask the attorney to include Clementia's potential uses, regulatory requirements and possible next steps in that presentation.

The board agreed by consensus to pursue that approach without authorizing a separate legal study.

Excess Wastewater

The district has largely eliminated its excess treated wastewater, reducing storage to approximately 50 million gallons, just 15 million gallons above normal levels.

At the July board meeting, interim Operations Director Travis Bohannon warned of an overabundance of treated wastewater following a two-month shutdown of the wastewater treatment plant for upgrades. The district faced the challenge of disposing of the excess before the rainy season, when the demand for irrigation water ends.

Bohannon reported Oct. 21 that the district had substantially reduced the surplus by supplying as much recycled water as possible to Rancho Murieta Country Club's golf courses and Van Vleck Ranch.

“My staff did a fantastic job keeping things going,” Bohannon said. “Van Vleck got a lot of water, which he was happy about. Art got his water, and so we were able to make up that overabundance from last year.”

General Manager, Marti Brown participates in her first board meeting Oct. 21, two days after starting her new job.

Other Business

The board voted to terminate the emergency declaration for repairs to the Murieta Equestrian Center culvert. Enright said the repairs were complete. Equestrian representative Jeff Pearson praised the finished project, saying it looked good, and the work appeared to have been done properly.

The district expects to have its financial records for the overdue 2024-25 audit ready for the auditors in December, according to Finance Director Cecilia Min. However, she cautioned that the auditors might not be able to begin their work immediately.

Board Secretary Amelia Wilder reported that the district is adding an AT&T cellular backup system that will automatically take over when its primary internet service fails. A previous outage disrupted office operations and the gate security system for about 2½ days.

Wilder also said the district is upgrading its boardroom audiovisual equipment, including installing a camera that will automatically focus on speakers. The goal is to make recordings of board meetings available online. Installation is expected to take two months.

The board nominated Brown to serve on the board of the Golden State Risk Management Authority, which provides insurance coverage to the district. Brown said she previously served five years on the risk management board when she was the city manager in Willows. Her eligibility to serve remains subject to confirmation under the authority's rules.