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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-056~~~ -~ R # ~ ~: ~ ' 1g ~ ~~`~: r s::;.`;F r t N t~ a a •~~~ ~ ~.~G r , +. ~ ~~ r ,~" c ~i'SC~tUflOn ~10. 01-056 RESOLUTION OF THE BUTTE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AMENDING AND SUPERCEDING THE RESOLUTION ORDERING THE DISSOLUTION OF THE LIME SADDLE COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION OF THE VOTERS (RESOLUTION NUMBER 99-141) WHEREAS, a proposal for the dissolution of the Lime Saddle Community Services District (the '`District"} located in the County of Butte (`County") was heretofore initiated by a petition of landowner registered voters, and the Executive Officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo} issued a Certificate of Sufficiency for said dissolution petition on September 22, 199$, all pursuant to Title 5, Division 3, commencing with Section 56000, of the Government Code; and WHEREAS, LAFCo held a public hearing that was continued from time to time, and heard, discussed and considered all oral and written testimony related to the proposal, including, but not limited to, the report and recommendation of the Executive Officer, the environmental determination, spheres of influence, and applicable general plans, and considered the factors determined by the Commission to be relevant to this proposal, including, but not limited to, factors specified in Government Cade Section 56841; and WHF,REAS, LAFCo found the dissolution to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act {"CEQA"') and filed a Notice of Exemption; and WHEREAS, LAFCo adopted Resolution 29 1998/1999, attached hereto as Exhibit A, approving the dissolution of the District, and forwarded a copy thereof to the Board of Supervisors of the County as the Conducting Authority for the dissolution proceeding; and WHEREAS, LAFCo authorized the Board of Supervisors to order dissolution of the District without an election; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors conducted a properly noticed public hearing on September 14, 1999, in compliance with California Government Code Section 57002, and received and considered all oral and written testimony related to the proposal, including, but not limited to, the LAFCo administrative record, the reports and recommendations of the LAFCo F_,xecutive Officer and the County Counsel, the environmental determination, spheres of influence, and applicable general plans; and NOVV, THEREFORE, the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte DOES HEREBY RESOLVE, DETERMINE AND ORDER as follows: "this action is taken by the Board of Supervisors as the conducting authority pursuant to the Cortese/Knox Local Government Reorganization Act of 1985, and in particular the provisions thereof commencing with Section 57000 of the Government Code. 2. "I'he change of organization being acted upon by this Resolution is the dissolution of` a district, namely, the Lime Saddle Community Service District, 3. The Board of Supervisors. as a Responsible Agency, has independently reviewed and considered the environmental findings adopted by LAFCo, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15050(b), and the Board agrees that the dissolution is Categorically Exempt from envirorunental review per CEQA Guidelines 15320, which states that a Class 20 categorical exemption consists of changes of organization or reorganization of local governmental agencies where the changes da not change the geographical area in which previously existing powers were exercised. 4. The Board of Supervisors received written protests from land owners and registered voters ofthe District. The value of the valid written protests filed and not withdrawn is as follows: 35.9% of the registered voters. and .32% of the landowners ovv~ning 1.2E~% of the assessed value of land. 5. The Board of Supervisors orders the dissolution of the District, the territory of which is described in Exhibit "B" attached hereto and depicted on a map attached hereto as Exhibit "C", subject to confirmation by the registered voters within the District. 6. The dissolution of the District will not affect any other govermnental jurisdiction's ability to provide water service or any other public service within the area. 7. The dissolution shall be subject to all the terms and conditions set forth in LAFCo Resolution 29 1998/99. which Resolution is attached hereto as Exhibit ~. 8. The dissolution shall also be subject to the following specific measures, which are consistent with LAFCo's action and which are hereby adopted to create an appropriate mechanism for finding and implementing a solution to the water problem in the Lime Saddle Area, and to assure a continuation of the effort to solve the water supply needs of the Lime Saddle Community, with trust monies. a. The Department of V~rater and Resource Conservation shall assume lead public agency status, in conjunction with the County Administrative Office in grant application(s) and related studies/proposals pertinent to meeting the water supply needs of ratepayers currently served by the Del Oro Water Company ("Del Oro") and its subsidiaries, including both those within the District and those within Del Oro's Upper Ridge service areas, and shall consult with the Paradise Irrigation District, as appropriate. b. The County Counsel's Office is directed to contact the State of California Department of Water Resources and effect any procedural changes necessary for the County to replace the District as the agency secondarily responsible for payment of the Davis- Cirunskv Loan. c. Upon approval of the Board of Supervisors, the monies held in the trust fiend established by Resolution 98-161 shall be made available to fund specific studies pertaining to the Lime Saddle area, and appropriate activities of the Department of Water and Resource Conservation and other County Departments. d. The County Auditor/Controller is directed to place future AB 8 allocations that would except for this dissolution go to the District into the trust fund established pursuant to Resolution 98-161 to be used for improvement of the water supply to serve the existing users within the District and the Spring Valley School. 9. The reasons for ordering this dissolution include, but are not limited to. those set forth in the following findings, which are hereby adopted: a. The only allowed service provided by the District was the supply of domestic water to residents within the District ("Evaluation of the Lime Saddle Community Services District," August 1998, a report prepared by Brahman and Associates {"Brahman report"), Pages 9-11, LAFCo administrative record ("LAFCo record")). b. The District sold all of its water delivery assets and obligations to the Del Oro and, therefore, has no service area or services to provide that would be of substantial benefit to the residents of the District (Brahman report, Pages 9-11, and "Evaluation of the Lime Saddle Community Services District," November 1998, a supplemental report prepared by Brahman {"Brahman supplemental report"). Page ~, LAFCo record). c. The District has no full-time or permanent employees and has undertaken very few activities, until recently, as reflected in the build up of district reserves (Brahman report, Page 20, LAFCo record). d. The District's only source of revenue is its residual AB8 apportionment of property tax replacement revenue. approximately $38,000 per year, and interest on unspent monies (Brahman report, Pages 18-19, LAFCo record). e. The District no longer ow71s a portion of the water allocation purchased from County, as the water allocation was conveyed to the Del Oro {LAFCo September 28, 1998 Request for Proposals for the Evaluation of the Lime Saddle Community Services District, Brahman report, Pages 9-11, and Brahman supplemental report, Page 4, LAFCo record). J f. 'hhe District has no water conveyance system or water processing facilities. All such facilities are now owned by the Del Oro and the residents directly pay Del Oro for water service (Braitman report, Page 10; Braitman supplemental report, Page 4, LAFCo record). g. The California Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") approved the District's sale of its facilities to the Del Oro and established a service area for Del Oro with boundaries the same as or substantially the same as the boundaries of the District (Braitman report, Page 10, and Braitman supplemental report. Page 4, LAFCo record). h. While the District may remain secondarily liable for the Davis-Grunsky Loan, the contingent obligation is transferrable and can be assumed by the County. "hhat secondary liability is not a sufficiently significant function to justify continuance of the existence of the District, especially since such liability can be transferred to the County (Braitman report, Pages 9-I1, LAFCo record). The Board recognizes the efforts of the District to develop a function through its interest in sponsoring the proposed Lime Saddle/Pentz Water Main Inertie Project ("the Interne Project"). However, the Board finds that this interest does not provide a substantial benefit to the residents of the Lime Saddle community sufficient to justify the continued existence of the District, and may be an impediment to a proper solution to water supply needs, for the following reasons: The need for additional water and water delivery systems is a regional problem of the entire Paradise Ridge area, not just Lime Saddle. In fact, evidence provided with respect to funding of the project clearly indicates that the cost of the Interne Project can only be justified and shared equitably if the cost is spread to residents outside of the Lime Saddle area (Braitman supplemental report, Pages 4-_5, LAFCo record). Because of the regional nature of the problem, an agency of wider jurisdiction such as the County or County Water Agency is the more appropriate entity to be sponsoring such a project if~it cannot be solved by the private water company, which provides service to the area. 2. The ability and scope of the District to properly carry out the Interne Project, given its limited resources, is problematic. j. The continuation of the District as a separate agency requires substantial public expenditure just to keep it going, yet District revenues are limited and insufficient to support the District if it is actively undertaking the proposed Interne Project Since the Interne Project can be evaluated and implemented by other existing public agencies. there does not appear to be justification for burdening the public with the continued expense of this limited benefit District. 4 k. T'he USDA Rural Development has made a determination that the Interne Project is commercially feasible without public financing. Although the District Qoard has argued that it is providing a service ofsubstantial benefit to its residents by planning and facilitating the Interne Project, it has not been able to obtain funding necessary to build the pipeline, and its request for funding has been denied. See letter of June 17. 1999, from LJ~nited States Department of Agriculture Rural Development manager Ronald Tackett, L~FCo record. 'fhe District's water service function has been transferred to a private company, which has been granted the exclusive water service area by the 1'UC. The I3oard of Supervisors does not believe it appropriate for orderly government to have a public agency with duplicative services overlay this same service area. m. 'The dissolution of the District will not affect any other governmental jurisdictions ability to provide water service or any other service within the area. 10. Based on the findings above, the Board orders the dissolution of the Lime Saddle Community Service District, subject to an election. as follows: a. A special election is hereby called upon the question of the dissolution of the District. b. The territory affected by said election is all the territory within the boundaries of the District, c. "The date of the election shall be March 7, 2000. d. The question to be submitted to the registered voters residing within the District shall be substantially as follows: "Shall the orde-r adopted on September 28, ] 999, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte ordering the dissolution of the Lime Saddle: Community Services District be confirmed. subject to the terms and conditions specified in the order?" Yes No e. Said election shall be consolidated with the statewide primary election to be held on March 7, 2000, and shall be held and conducted by the County Clerk pursuant to the procedures specified in Chapter 6 of Part 4 of Division 3 of Title 5 of the Government Code, commencing with Section 57125, and Part 3 of Division l0 of the Elections Code, commencing at Section 10400. The precincts and polling places shall be designated as specified in Elections Code Section 10410. £ To confirm the dissolution of the District, a majority of those voting in the election must vote "Yes" in favor of dissolution. S ~. For purposes of the conduct of the election, all references in the applicable statutes to the `'clerk" shall mean the Butte County Clerk, who is the County elections official. 1 1. Upon dissolution of the District, the following shall be done; a. All real and personal property of theDistrict shall be transferred to the County along with all insurance policies covering such property. and such insurance coverage shall continue until it is canceled in writing by the County. b. The Auditor's office is directed to pay front the proceeds of the District all remaining District obligations and costs of dissolution as follows: 1. All proper remaining outstanding expenses of the District. 2. All LAFCo fees and charges for all serf-=ices rendered in processing projects 98-33 and 98-33R as submitted to the Auditor by the Executive Officer, including legal counsel fees, and State of California fees. 3. The usual and necessary costs of the Auditor's Office incurred in monitoring funds transferred to the County from the District. c. The County General Services Department is directed to proceed with the sale of the property and building located at 5291 Pentz Road, Paradise. All monies derived from the sale of the property and building are to be placed in the trust fund established by Resolution 98-161. d. The regular County assessment roll will be used for the property in the affected territory. e. "The affected territory will not be taxed for general bonded indebtedness of the District. f. The County Department of Water and Resource Conservation shall secure and store all records of the District for a period of not less than two years. 12. The Board of Supervisors further adopts and incorporates by reference herein all of the findings and determinations made by the Butte LAFCo in Resolution 29 199$/99 in connection with this proposal; provided, however, that the Board makes no finding or determination regarding non-use of corporate powers of the District. 13. The Board of Supervisors hereby directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the LAFCo Executive Officer. 6 PASSED ANll ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Qutte, on this 12''' day of ,tune 2001 by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Beeler, Dolan, Houx, Yamaguchi and Chair Josiassen NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAINS: None BUR JOSIASSEN, Chair ATTEST JOHN S. BLACKLOCK, Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors lleputy , 7