County Service Areas Update
In July of 2016, the County Service Areas (CSAs) program was transferred to the County Administrator’s Office to provide additional oversight and resources. An administrative support team was formed to maintain the systems and services already in place, improve customer service and assess the short- and long-term needs of each CSA and the overall program. The original team, which included a management analyst, two fiscal staff and an administrative assistant, did a yeoman’s job of meeting these objectives, especially on the customer service front. In December 2016, the program transitioned to the Manager of Operations & Strategy with continued support from fiscal staff.
Attached is an Action Plan which highlights some of work completed to date and issues yet to be addressed. A top priority for all CSAs has been ensuring that fees and charges were assessed consistently with Proposition 218 procedural requirements and appropriately collected and appropriated. The most complex CSAs have been reviewed, and as needed, corrective action taken. Additionally, there has been increased transparency in the fiscal status of each CSA with historical and quarterly reports created and posted online, along with other reports and resources for residents. Next steps to ensure the Strategic Plan principle of “Operational Excellence” will be developing standard operating procedures and consistent policies.
While evaluating the status and needs of each CSA, a consistent theme has been “what agency would be the best equipped to provide services”. As of this report, there are eight CSAs and two special benefit assessment districts under the oversight of the County Administrator’s Office. In July, the Madison-Esparto Regional County Service Area will dissolve and the services currently provided will officially be absorbed by the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District and the Esparto Community Service District.
As recommended in the recent LAFCo Municipal Service Reviews (MSR), consideration is being given to whether the Dunnigan CSA, which only provides street lighting, should also be consolidated with another agency. In the case of both the Dunnigan and Willowbank (no services currently provided) CSAs, there may also be a better and more flexible mechanism for these communities to meet their service objectives while still maintaining a vehicle to formally communicate with their County representatives.
For those Benefit Assessment Districts and CSAs in which street lighting is provided, the Community Services Department is developing a plan for the Public Works Division to maintain that service. Likewise, the oversight of the Rolling Acres Assessment District, which provides for private road maintenance, should also be considered for transfer to Public Works.
The Snowball CSA in Knights Landing provides for levee repair, operations, control and maintenance. Natural Resources Manager Elisa Sabatini has taken on responsibility for this CSA and will soon be presenting her maintenance plan for the levee until a larger regional flood risk reduction effort can be executed and the CSA responsibilities likely absorbed by an adjacent reclamation district.
This leaves three of the remaining CSAs (El Macero, North Davis Meadows and Wild Wings) that require the lion’s share of CSA staff time. In El Macero, at the moment, the majority of staff time is spent on billing each property for City of Davis water and sewer services. Staff time has also been spent on fiscal reporting and settling litigation. The El Macero CSA has embarked on recent landscaping projects, taken on operation of the former City well for non-potable uses, and is pursuing options for future road improvements.
The North Davis Meadows CSA is in the midst of designing the Water Consolidation Project, connecting to City of Davis water for their potable water needs while maintaining connection of their non-potable water uses on their wells, currently maintained by the City of Davis. Once the project is complete, another operator will need to be identified for non-potable water delivery. In the meantime, using general fund, Ponticello Enterprises has been contracted with for project management services to ensure timely completion of the water project and a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan to finance the project.
In 2016, North Davis Meadows CSA’s water fee was increased to repay an SRF loan over 20 years for the project’s planning costs. As SRF planning loans must be repaid in 5 years, the Prop 218 will need to be redone to correct that discrepancy. With the assistance of Ponticello, staff are now pursuing a combined SRF planning/construction loan which can be repaid over 30 years. In August, staff will return to the Board to begin the process of repealing the 2016 Prop 218 water fee increase and initiating a new fee increase to repay the full project loan. In the meantime, on June 27, staff will be requesting a County loan to cover planning costs (up to $430,000) being incurred at this time.
The North Davis Meadows CSA also provides sewer services. As the CSA connected to the City of Davis system after build out, a grinder pump system was required. Since 2011-12, their sewer operating fund has been running a deficit which has now grown to over $92,000. As CSAs are not permitted to borrow from the County treasury for this length of time, on June 27, staff will also be officially requesting a County loan to close this gap. In the meantime, the system has been assessed and staff is working closely with the grinder pump provider and residents to improve the health of the system which should reduce operating costs. Once the water project is complete and sewer services are direct billed by the City, the fees once paid for City services will be utilized to repay the County loan. Once both loans are repaid and residents are direct billed for both potable water and sewer services, both fees will be re-evaluated and likely another Prop 218 conducted to adjust these fees.
Last, North Davis Meadows CSA also provides vegetation management and storm drainage services. Staff are in the process of contracting with the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District to provide these services and address both short-term needs and on-going maintenance.
The Wild Wings CSA provides water and sewer services and operates a golf course. The Wild Wings CSA contracts out operations for the only County-run waste water treatment plant, as well as a sizable water delivery system. Likewise, the County contracts out operations of the golf course which includes a storm drainage system.
The water and waste water systems are large and complex and appear to have been neglected for quite some time. While the water system is sufficiently sized for the community, only one of the wells is currently in operation due to water quality concerns. This leaves the community at risk for sustained safe drinking water and fire suppression. The waste water system, however, may not be sufficiently sized for the community, also a concern for public health and the environment.
With the Board’s Strategic Plan goals of “Thriving Residents”, “Safe Communities”, and a “Sustainable Environment”, the CSA has contracted with the original designer of the water system to investigate deficiencies and issues with the water system; work which is currently in progress. Concerns over the status of both systems and the day-to-day operations has been growing and thus, again utilizing general fund, the County has contracted with Ponticello to further assess each system and oversee the operations in the short-term. Ponticello will also be updating the Engineer’s Fee Report which will support a long-term Capital Improvement Plan and any necessary fee adjustments.
An additional issue with the water system is the length of time it takes the operators and fiscal staff to read water meters and bill residents (approximately a week). The water meters are often flooded, likely due to overwatering, and the majority of the sending units that allow for the water meters to be automatically recorded are broken. Newer sending units have been installed and are being tested. Regrettably, the meters were not read last year so historical data to encourage water conservation is not available. Additionally, due to challenges with operating the waste water treatment plant this year, the meters, while read more often, have not been consistently read.
Studies will also need to be completed at some point for the golf course to ensure adequate reserves and an appropriate Capital Improvement Plan, and to support any necessary fee adjustments. In the meantime, the CSA is in the process of contracting with the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District to provide short- and long-term vegetation management and storm drainage services.
Looking ahead, recognizing that the County is likely not well positioned in terms of expertise to provide all CSA services, the County Administrator’s Office has been in discussion with the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District to consider expanding their portfolio and taking on provision of those CSA services that have a nexus with their existing program. More information about these discussions will be forthcoming as recommendations evolve. |