The Ukiah Valley Water Authority Executive Committee convened for a special meeting on July 9, 2024, to discuss significant advancements in local water infrastructure and services. Highlights included securing grant funding for new infrastructure planning, moving forward with a tax-sharing agreement to facilitate consolidation, and confirming that the unified water service will commence on January 1, 2025. Additionally, the meeting addressed the extensive water usage required to combat a fire at the recycling center.
Sean White, Water Director for Ukiah, reported on the grant application submitted to SAFER, a program of the California Department of Water Resources designed to provide safe drinking water for Californians. UVWA has hired water engineering consulting firm Carollo to apply for the funds from SAFER to be used for the consolidation of infrastructure of the UVWA agencies. The contract with Carollo was approved at the most recent Ukiah City Council meeting. Carollo recommended that the UVWA apply for a planning grant to get to 10% design for the engineering study. Carollo recommends that the UVWA apply for the construction grant when the planning is underway, so as not to have a delay in awarding the funds for construction. The City will be on the hook for Carollo’s services if the construction grant is not awarded. Carollo indicated that based on previous experience, once SAFER funds a plan, they usually fund the construction grant as well. It should take about six months to get to the end of the planning stage.
Attorney Phil Williams spoke about the Master Tax Sharing Agreement between Mendocino County and the cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, and Willits (the four incorporated cities within the county). A tax-sharing agreement governs how much of the tax revenue generated by property that is annexed into a city will be shared with the county. Prior to annexation, the county kept all of the tax revenue. Improvements done by a city after annexation may cause tax revenue to increase, and how much of that revenue must be shared with the county is something to be negotiated when preparing a tax-sharing agreement. The final agreement was approved by Ukiah staff, and by the County Board of Supervisors, and the City Councils of Ukiah and Willits. Fort Bragg and Point Arena have not yet signed. The Mendocino County Local Agency Formation Commission requires that annexations have a tax-sharing agreement in place before being approved. More information about LAFCOs is available at the CALAFCO website, which has this summary:
. . .LAFCOs review proposals for the formation of new local governmental agencies and for changes in the organization of existing agencies. There are 58 LAFCOs working with nearly 3,500 governmental agencies (400+ cities, and 3,000+ special districts). Agency boundaries are often unrelated to one another and sometimes overlap at random, often leading to higher service costs to the taxpayer and general confusion regarding service area boundaries. LAFCO decisions form the basis of sustainable regional planning and strive to balance the competing needs in California for efficient services, affordable housing, economic opportunity, and conservation of natural resources
Director Douglas Crane commented that the new Mendocino County tax sharing agreement is more favorable to the county than is Sonoma County’s tax sharing agreement.
Jared Walker, General Manager of Willow County Water District (which manages Redwood Valley, Calpella, Millview, Hopland, River Estates County Water Districts), reported that Ukiah is now allowed to provide water to the Millview County Water District. This will give Millview a secure source of water to send to Redwood Valley County Water District.
White reported that the consolidated service will start on January 1, 2025. Ukiah’s Finance Department has retained a consultant for the new billing system. They are also reviewing salary and benefit information for employees of Willow who transition to the City of Ukiah. Walker wants to make sure the Willow employees will not lose any benefits or salary in the consolidation. Beginning next week, the employees of Willow and Ukiah will receive cross training, and will tour each other‘s facilities. Walker said they are eager to learn the new systems.
Redwood Valley will operate its seasonal water treatment plant through early October. That allows time for the Ukiah employees to learn how it operates, and the Willow employees will learn about Ukiah’s treatment plant.
Williams reported that the JPA documentation was filed with the Secretary of State in May, and is awaiting approval.
White spoke about the four-day long fire at the recycling center south of the Ukiah Transfer Station. Staff of Ukiah and Willow cooperated to provide water to the firefighters. The water cannons on top of the fire trucks use 1,000 gallons per minute. Three million gallons were used to fight the fire, which came during the hottest weather of the year, when demand for potable and recycled water was already very high. The water managers were concerned about the huge amount of water being pumped, hoping the wells would perform. Walker and White both commended the spirit of cooperation and diligence on the part of the water district employees. It takes more than firefighters on a fire this big. The water district employees who provide water to the firefighters, while ensuring that people have tap water and ag water during a dangerous heat wave, are critical to public safety.
The next meeting date will be August 6 at 5:00 pm.
