Minutes
Special Meeting of the Board of Directors for Chandler Heights Citrus Irrigation District
26620 S. Mandarin, Queen Creek , AZ
December 4, 2008
A public meeting of the Chandler Heights Citrus Irrigation District was convened on December 4, 2008 at 26620 S Mandarin Dr . The meeting was called to order at 2:00pm with George Surbeck, Pat O’Malley, and Patricia Fulks in attendance. Gene Rose, consulting engineer was in attendance. The Field Operations Manager, Alfonso Garcia joined the meeting while in progress. From the public were Dan Kleinman and Robert Lopez. The following matters were discussed, considered and decided at the meeting:
Irrigation Rates
Robert Lopez said that CHCID’s high irrigation rates are making it very difficult for commercial growers to show a profit. Dan Kleinman agreed with him. He asked if it would be possible to schedule large blocks of CAP water for commercial use and whether that would lower the cost and result in less wear and tear on existing wells. Robert and Dan also said that scheduling is a problem, but not a huge problem. Commercial has to fit into whatever holes are left in the schedule after residential irrigation is scheduled.
Pat O’Malley said that all water is currently lumped together so there is no cost advantage to CAP water over well water, but that the question may have merit and need to be investigated.
Pat Fulks believes it should be possible to improve the scheduling, and George Surbeck agreed to meet with Cruz and Vance to see if anything could be done.
Frost Water
Pat Fulks suggested the Board update and reaffirm the frost water policy. Robert Lopez and Dan Kleinman spoke in favor of this also. This policy hasn’t been officially used in several years, but still remains important. There was a general consensus from the Board that it was the right thing to do, and a draft resolution will be written for the December 9 th Board meeting.
In general terms the frost water policy postpones any already scheduled irrigation when there is a hard freeze warning and splits the available water between all commercial groves that want it for an all night irrigation session to try and protect fruit and trees from weather damage.
The issue was tabled and a draft proposal will be written for the next meeting.
Domestic and Irrigation Rates
George Surbeck proposed a 5% increase in both domestic and irrigation rates. Pat O’Malley indicated he was in agreement with the idea.
Pat Fulks felt the proposal was premature because the Board has not received clear enough financial reports for her to be comfortable with voting for an increase just yet. She also asked whether the District had looked at cost reductions first and questioned whether CHCID has too many employees, or may be using them in an inefficient way.
The issue was tabled until the next meeting to re-examine the financial reports and give Alfonso time to write a report on field staffing levels.
Raises and Bonuses
The Board debated whether to have either raises or bonuses, but not both, and how much money to put in the pool for these purposes. The Board reached a consensus to provide raises that average 2% and to have a bonus pool of $2000.
The amount of raise an individual employee will receive will be based entirely on performance from the recent employee reviews. The amount of bonus an individual employee will receive will be based about two thirds on performance and one third on seniority.
The Board reached agreement on exact raises and bonuses for each employee, but chose to table finalizing this issue until the next meeting so Board members have an opportunity to take a second look at the final numbers.
Backhoe Money
The District received a check for over $14,000 from the sale of our old backhoe at auction. George Surbeck made a motion that all of the money be put into capital reserves until after well 6 has been opened up and we can estimate the cost to refurbish that well. Pat O’Malley seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Voter Registration
The Board was disappointed that so many voters managed to fill out the voter registration form incorrectly this fall. About one third of those who registered had to be contacted to come in and complete their forms properly. A new version of the form will be prepared for discussion and possible adoption at the next meeting.
Well 6
Well 6 is producing much less water than in the past, and may also have an erratic flow rate. George Surbeck asked if the other Board members were satisfied with the request for bid documents that have been prepared to select a vendor to refurbish well 6. All the Board members were satisfied with the documents and they will be sent out to several vendors right away. The Board hopes that work on well 6 can start in December.
Tank 2
Gene Rose reports that coating touch up work on Tank 2 by Joseph Painting under warranty is now complete. The coating is now curing and will be available for Alfonso’s crew to start disinfection on December 10 th.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:15pm .
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George Surbeck
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Patricia Fulks
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Pat O’Malley
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Jollieen Williams (Recording Secretary)