SLO County Sheriff and California Highway Patrol discussed disturbances and car accidents

TEMPLETON — Templeton Community Services District held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 6:15 p.m. for closed session and 7 p.m. for open session

The meeting began with President Debra Logan making a change to the order of the items, moving the Fire and Emergency master plan to the last item on the agenda.

Next, the board heard the San Luis County Sheriff Commander Michael Manuele’s presentation regarding disturbances in the Templeton area. There were 469 calls for the Templeton area, with 238 reports. Two calls for service regarding assault and battery, two disturbances, and three burglaries, and ten theft calls. There were a total of 236 calls regarding fireworks in the County, 38 in Templeton in July.

Director Pamela Jardini inquired with the Commander regarding flying flags off the overpass which is allowed in cities but prohibited in unincorporated areas. The Commander was not familiar with the particular code but would look into it. Director Debra Logan added that the concern from constituents is largely for the safety, as those standing with the flags are not on a curb but standing in a bike lane.

The next presentation was the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Stewart. There were 62 crashes area-wide, with 9 of those occurring in Templeton on the freeway and 15 on the surface streets in Templeton. There have been 1060 enforcement contacts, with 68 occurring near Templeton on the freeway and 20 occurring on Templeton surface streets. The enforcement count has almost doubled since 2019, while 100+ violations have been decreasing.

The consent agenda was approved without discussion with a 4-1 vote with Director Geoff English, not present.

The next item was divesting Cemetery powers to the Local Agency Formation Committee (LAFCO). In 2006, the District applied to activate its Cemetery Power to assist the Templeton Cemetery District in managing the Cemetery. LAFCO approved the activation of the power, and the District, through an agreement with the Templeton Cemetery District, provided accounting and bookkeeping services as well as assisted customers of the Cemetery. In 2012, the Cemetery no longer needed assistance from TCSD, and since that time, TCSD has not been involved in any way with the affairs of the Cemetery.

General Manager Jeff Briltz said he views this more as a house cleaning item, but there was still discussion regarding the fee associated with processing the application to make the motion final.

The motion had support, but the District was not interested in incurring the expense, so it was deemed that Briltz would return to LAFCO to express the interest in LAFCO absorbing the cost.

Next, Fire Chief Peterson began the Fire Department Master Plan. As Templeton Fire & Emergency Services is near its first year of 24/ staffing, they realize that the current Fire Station and Apparatus deficiencies need to be addressed. AP Triton has conducted a study of the current and future apparatus needs and provided recommendations on how best to proceed. Some items require board action, while others do not. One suggested item is an expansion of the Fire Station.

Staff recommendations were to accept the report and go out for a bid for a space planner/Architect for the preliminary design and determine costs of the Fire Station expansion.

The items in the plan were all deemed necessary, but due to financial concerns, the plan was set forth to use the assessment plan and direct staff and fire committee to respond to the constraints and recommendations for funding sources, and prioritize the recommendations, with the final master plan still pending.

A motion was made to accept the findings of the Templeton Fire and Emergency Services assessment plan prepared by AP Triton and direct staff to issue a request for qualifications for a preliminary design for fire station expansion. The goal to move towards a master plan is still in the future.

The motion passed 5-0.

Next, the General Manager’s report commented on the water units that had been accepted, with the remaining five units pending formal agreement for acceptance. The remaining five units have until Aug. 12 to secure the agreement.

The next meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m., and the agenda will be available on the district’s website.

The tentative items are: