The memo states the District's position and the recommendation that the District Manager made to the Board. The letterhead is Nossaman's because that is the name of the legal firm our District Counsel works for. Our District Counsel has been involved in most of the many meetings that have occurred between District staff and County and State representatives and the Moore family. (Nossaman is not a "third party" as at least one person on NextDoor assumed.)

I've attached the Feb. 16 Board meeting agenda packet, because it contains that memo, as well as a letter from Supervisor McPherson to the Board regarding this decision, in which I think it is fair to say he shares his frustration at the lack of progress, while appreciating why the District made the decision it did. A recording of the meeting will eventually be put up on the CTV website http://communitytv.org/watch/government-demand/ if you want to listen to the discussion by the Board of this decision.

The Board was unanimous in regretting that things had come to this, and, in particular, that the Department of Water Resources has not identified sources of funding that would move along a consolidation. But we also confirmed the decision we made in November, when we instructed staff to investigate consolidation with BBWC, that we would agree to consolidation only under circumstances in which current SLVWD ratepayers didn't end up bearing part of the cost of a consolidation.

We are very sympathetic to the customers of BBWC, but we cannot continue to have staff and legal counsel spending a lot of time (and therefore money) on a process that isn't productive, especially when we have so much work to do to recover from our own damage from the CZU Fire (and now the atmospheric river events).

This decision (and memo) is not so much directed at BBWC and the Moore family as it is to make our position clear to the State and County. As a District we want to help our Valley neighbors who suffered in the fire. We are moving ahead with consolidations with Bracken Brae and Forest Springs, small water mutuals that got their water from BBWC and were heavily damaged by the CZU Fire. The Bracken Brae neighborhood association was successful in obtaining a FEMA grant for more than $1M toward creating the infrastructure that will allow them to be connected to SLVWD, and the District has received assurances from the State DWR for an even larger grant toward the construction costs. Residents of Bracken Brae and Forest Springs will also shoulder some of the costs by paying individually for the connections to their own properties.

In two previous consolidations, when Felton and Lompico joined SLVWD, the residents paid the costs of the consolidation by imposing on themselves an assessment (which gets paid with their County tax bills) that lasts for 30 and 10 years, respectively. What makes BBWC different is that we all recognize that the estimated cost of $40M to rebuild parts of the system destroyed in the fire and for the upgrades necessary to bring the system into compliance with state standards is far too much for the customers of BBWC to bear alone. It will take considerable State (and/or County) help.

The fact that BBWC is a private, for-profit water company makes things more complex. As such, they do not qualify for FEMA funding for fire damage. Their water rates are controlled by the PUC, and going through the process to change them is time-consuming and bureaucratic.

The fact that BBWC is a for-profit company limits the ways in which the State can aid them or us if we take over the day-to-day running of the system while a consolidation process was underway. Given that the State is the most likely source for funding, it seems like individuals and an organized group of BBWC customers should make their situation known to CA Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin and Senator John Laird. And while you are at it, Congressman Jimmy Panetta.