Water board meets

 

The June 19 meeting of the Santa Ynez Water Conservation District, Improvement District No. 1, attracted more interest than usual when two words were inserted into the agenda: “Casino Expansion.” Although the words are taken out of context and have nothing to do with the expansion of the Chumash Casino or gaming, their appearance in the agenda attracted the attention of those in the community wary of efforts to broaden the base of the casino’s gambling operations.

 

With outside temperatures in Santa Ynez approaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the district’s board gathered for a special meeting with items on the agenda having to deal with “Casino/Consolidation and Expansion” and another item dealing with a current bill before the state legislature introduced by Assembly Member Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara with some boilerplate wording of “eminent domain.” These two matters caught the attention of Steve Pappas, the candidate who faces Doreen Farr for the 3rd District supervisors seat, and POLO activist and local veterinarian Dr. Doug Herthel. Both attended the meeting of the water group at its Sagunto Street offices.

 

The board president, Harlan Burchardi, re-ordered the agenda for the meeting to allow the items that drew the greatest public attention to be heard earlier in the session.

The board first discussed the agenda item dealing with “District reorganization – Assembly Bill 2686,” an update on the bill’s status.

The board reviewed the history of ID No. 1 through the inception of the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District in 1960. The “parent” district is ceding control of ID No. 1, allowing the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to become the “parent” agency.

“This change allows certain streamlining of the governmental processes that the water agency is subject to, according to its proponents. It will also change the name of the district to the “Santa Ynez Valley Water District.”

 

One additional change is the new ability the bill will confer on the district to re-inject water into the groundwater supply in order to “bank” water from storm runoff or downstream releases from Bradbury Dam.

All other obligations, powers, and procedures that were in effect for ID No. 1 will carry over to the Santa Ynez Valley Water District upon passage of the assembly bill.

During the public comment period, Burchardi directly asked Pappas if he had any questions regarding the item to which Pappas responded that he was just looking to educate himself on the issues with which the water board was dealing.

 

The board then took up the agenda item entitled “Santa Ynez Indian Reservation, Casino/Consolidation and Expansion.” District General Manager Chris Dahlstrom provided a detailed explanation of the water lines that serve the reservation area and the “reaches” that have been completed.

Much of the discussion involved the return of a surety bond of $228,000 the tribe had posted for work that had been completed.

The board voted to return the bond to the tribe.

 

Additional discussion had to do with the “expansion” of water supply pipes from 8” pipes to 12” pipes to allow for “fire flow velocity” to be sufficient for worst case scenario fires at the casino.

The board considered and approved an extension of the timeline for a one year period on another phase of the water line construction on the reservation property.

The extension was the fourth time that the project details had been amended and board members required that all questions and acquisitions of easements be included in the new amendment to the project.