New penalty fees will be added to address smaller violations

TEMPLETON — The Templeton Community Service District held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. for closed session and 7 p.m. for open session, with nothing to report on closed session.

Director Debra Logan made a motion to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Director Wayne Petersen, and the motion was passed 5-0.

The first item of business was the award of the engineering contract for the Evers Sports Park improvement. This was presented by Melissa Johnson, which explained how the design costs came in above the originally estimated 10 percent. In order to compare proposals, the costs were separated by construction costs, bids, and other items to compare accurately. After review, it was suggested that the MIG proposal be the one accepted.

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Discussion on the topic addresses the increased costs of construction in general and how those aspects could be responsible for the higher-than-expected bids. Director Geoff English moved approval of staff’s recommendations approving the contract to MIG, which was approved 5-0.

The next item was the update on the wastewater discharge source control and to consider directing staff to bring back an Ordinance modifying the District regulations and penalties for non-compliance.

Tina Mayer presented the topic, which addressed the current penalties, which all focused on major violations, and introduced a new penalty process in which minor violations could have systems of recourse.

Debra Logan recommended that the Board come back with the appropriate ordinance at a later date. The goal of the program is education and compliance, not to make money off penalties. Customers showing good faith efforts to be compliant within the time frame would not be penalized for being unable to achieve the results within the set time frame.

The General Manager, Jeff Briltz, gave his report, which touched on the fire and emergency management committee meeting coming up next Wednesday, which would focus on some of the efforts from the master plan.

Briltz talked about the IWMA and rumors of fraud and embezzlement, and the styrofoam ban that failed. The Board of supervisors voted to withdraw, which has not yet formally occurred. Ordinarily, Templeton would have little interaction with IWMA, and the withdrawal would not be significant, but TCSD is in the midst of trying to implement a significant franchise amendment, which makes the potential withdrawal ill-timed.

The Board is continuing the improvements to the Board room for acoustic improvement. The current plan is to return to the Board room in October unless the executive order is extended, allowing remote meetings to continue.

The tentative items for the next meeting are the Agreement for Surveying Services at Creekside Ranch Site and the Riparian Agency Agreement between TCSD and the English Family Trust. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 7, and links to the meeting can be found on the Board’s website at templetoncsd.org