SLVWD Board Meeting Summary
March 6, 2025
Prepared by Mark Dolson for FSLVW
NOTE: Provided purely as a public service — NOT the official SLVWD Meeting Minutes.
Highlights:
Appeal of the Dismissal/Termination of the Director of Operations
Election for Regular and Alternate Member on Santa Cruz LAFCO
Utility Billing Policy
Bracken Brae and Forest Springs Labor Compliance Contract
Redwood Park SCADA Contract
Verizon Wireless Cell Tower Lease Agreement
Next Board meeting will be at 6:30 PM on March 20, 2025
Preliminaries
Director Largay was absent; the other four directors attended in person.
No reportable actions were taken during the preceding Closed Session; the Closed Session was reconvened at the conclusion of the Open Session.
There were no changes to the agenda.
There were no public comments on non-agendized topics.
Unfinished Business
None.
New Business
Appeal of the Dismissal/Termination of the Director of Operations
Legal Counsel Christina Pritchard explained that this agenda item concerned a confidential personnel matter which would no longer be confidential as a consequence of it being brought before the Board. However, she said it would take a few days for this information to be published because certain references need to redacted.
Interim General Manager John Kunkel summarized the charges and evidence that led the District to dismiss its long-time Director of Operations, James Furtado.
On April 17, 2024 the District hired someone to investigate certain allegations, namely that some of the District's Operations Personnel were drinking while on District property and in uniform, and Mr. Furtado was aware of this. Upon investigation, Mr. Furtado failed on several instances to answer questions posed by the investigator. Nothing in Mr. Furtado’s responses led Interim General Manager John Kunkel to change his recommendation.
Video of an October 8, 2024 party on District property shows Mr. Furtado drinking on District property and driving away. Nothing in Mr. Furtado’s responses led Interim General Manager John Kunkel to change his recommendation.
On June 19, 2024 Mr. Furtado refused to attend Staff meetings. Following written direction and admonishment from then-Interim General Manager Brian Frus, he again failed to attend. Current Interim General Manager John Kunkel deemed this unresponsive.
September 18, 2024 Mr. Furtado prepared services for a contractor and then subsequently failed to prepare a directed Staff report. Interim General Manager John Kunkel found this to be unresponsive.
On several occasions, in August thru October, Mr. Furtado failed to respond to requests to take pictures of tanks.
On January 13-15, 2025 both Engineering and Finance managers were unable to reach Mr. Furtado by phone, text, or email.
On January 6-10, Interim General Manager John Kunkel requested a Capital Improvements project list from all departments by January 31. Mr. Furtado failed to meet the deadline with no explanation.
On January 29, 2025, Mr. Furtado failed to respond to three requests made by Environmental Programs Manager Chris Klier for information for APTIM.
On January 31, 2025 an email from Mr. Furtado said he hadn't time to provide a requested review but would have it by Monday. He did not provide this until Wednesday.
Interim General Manager John Kunkel said he had lost confidence in Mr. Furtado as Director of Operations. He said Mr. Furtado had exposed the District to potential liability by allowing alcohol consumption, and he had been unresponsive in many instances. John Kunkel said he therefore stood by his recommendation that Mr. Furtado be separated from service.
President Smolley said the Board would like to hear Mr. Furtado’s responses to the findings of alcohol use, lack of follow through, insubordination, and dereliction of duty.
James Furtado spoke to the Board as a member of the public. He said the video did not show him get into a vehicle and operate it. He said he came in on April 17th after the first leak was fixed by his on-call staff, who were not operating equipment or vehicles. He said he didn’t let anyone do anything District-related. He worked diligently for three days, day and night. It was just him and his maintenance supervisor on Saturday to resolve the whole thing. He said the District had never had issues in Operations, that he had never had a complaint, and that he had never been placed on a Performance Improvement Plan. He said he hadn’t had a performance evaluation in over five years. He said the complaint that he didn’t take some pictures seemed pretty petty. His position was that not one of the stated charges was grounds for firing. He said nobody had tried to work with him. He described the charges as defamation of character, and he said he didn’t need to present any witnesses because he doesn’t lie.
There was no other public comment.
The directors agreed that they had nothing to add. They appreciated the information that was provided to them, and they found this to be sufficient.
President Smolley moved that the Board find that, following consideration of the evidence relied upon by the Interim District Manager and any additional evidence presented at the appeal hearing, a preponderance of the evidence supports the determination of the Interim General Manager to dismiss James Furtado as the Director of Operations of the District and, therefore, uphold the dismissal. Director Hill seconded this.
The motion passed 4-0.
Election for Regular and Alternate Member on Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO)
Interim General Manager John Kunkel introduced this agenda item. He said that five candidates were running for new terms on Santa Cruz LAFCO:
Jim Anderson (Felton Fire Protection District);
Ed Banks (Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District; Incumbent);
Lani Faulkner (Central Fire District);
Alina Layng (San Lorenzo Valley Water District); and
Tony Nunez (Pajaro Valley Health Care District)
Director Fultz added that the Board needed to vote for one regular and one alternate. All five candidates were running for an alternate seat, whereas only Jim Anderson, Lani Faulkner, and Tony Nunez were running for a regular seat.
Director Layng said she had only applied to be an alternate, and only because she wanted to learn more and become better informed. She said her schedule was already full, and she liked Jim Anderson. She said she would support Lani Faulkner, rather than herself, as an alternate.
Director Hill said Jim Anderson looked very qualified, has served for a long time, and would be a good choice for the regular seat. He said he didn’t know how to choose between the others.
Director Fultz said the Board’s previous vote was for Jim Anderson and Ed Banks. He thought they were doing a really good job, and he thought the District should continue to support them. He said the State and LAFCO are intent on consolidating as many special districts as possible, and he thought Jim and Ed were better able to communicate the District’s interests.
President Smolley said he had listened to Lani Faulkner's statement at the previous Board meeting, and he appreciated her time and passion. He was also mindful of the perspectives of Directors Hill and Fultz. He said he didn’t have a strong feeling about this.
There was no public comment.
Director Layng reiterated her support for Lani Faulkner as the alternate. She said she didn’t know anything about Ed Banks, but she would like to have more diversity.
Director Fultz moved to authorize the Board President to vote for Jim Anderson and Ed Banks. The motion was seconded.
The motion passed 3-0, with Director Layng abstaining.
Utility Billing Policy
Finance Consultant Heather Ippoliti introduced this agenda item. On July 18, 2024, the Board directed delinquent water charges to be submitted to Santa Cruz County for collection on the property tax roll. The Board further requested that the Utility Billing Policy be brought to the Budget and Finance Committee to specifically review the process for handling delinquent accounts and the collection process.
On October 23, 2024, this item was presented to the Budget and Finance Committee for follow-up discussion. Members of the committee requested staff return to the committee, with recommendations for two possible changes:
Decreasing the time between when a listing of delinquent customers is determined, currently December 31, and when the resulting listing is brought to the Board to consider placing the amount on the property tax roll.
Revising the delinquent criteria. Currently accounts with a balance greater than $500 are sent delinquent notices and brought to the Board to consider placing the amount on the property tax roll. The Committee asked that Staff recommend an “or” criteria, for example a balance greater than $500, and/or delinquent for more than six consecutive months.
Staff complied by recommending that accounts be brought to the Board when they have a delinquent status as of March 31st, and by expanding the criteria to include not only a delinquent balance exceeding $500 but also a delinquent status of more than six consecutive months (with either one of these deemed sufficient).
Director Hill said the Budget and Finance Committee unanimously agreed that this made sense.
Director Fultz said the original plan was to try the new policy and see what tweaks should be made. His concern was with the relatively low percentage of revenue recapture. He asked how the revised policy would impact this. Heather said the changes would just speed things up.
President Smolley echoed Director Fultz’s concern, and they suggested that it would be helpful to be able to review the relevant numbers in a year.
Director Layng supported the recommended policy revisions.
There was no public comment.
President Smolley moved that the Board adopt the resolution approving the revised billing policy. Director Layng seconded.
The motion passed 4-0.
Bracken Brae and Forest Springs Labor Comp PO
Engineering Manager Garrett Roffe introduced this agenda item. On December 5, 2024, the Board awarded the construction contract for intertie pipelines with Bracken Brae and Forest Springs to Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $3,253,580. This exceeded the remaining DWR grant funding, and District staff estimated the District would contribute $1.4 million of reserves for the remaining cost of the construction contract, District staff time, construction phase support by the Engineer of Record, Sandis; a labor compliance consultant; a special inspection consultant; and potential change orders. At the time, District staff estimated the cost of the labor compliance consultant of $50,000.
Garrett said the District has a history of working with 360PSM for labor compliance assistance. This is a specialty skill to assist the District with complex certified payroll forms that are required to be in compliance with Dept. of Industrial Relations re: prevailing wage laws. The District needs to get a labor compliance consultant on the project as soon as possible, and the 360PSM contract was for $43,436.
Director Layng said this contract seemed necessary and appropriate.
Director Fultz asked why the contract hadn’t gone out for bid. Garrett said the direct negotiation was consistent with past practice. Director Fultz said, going forward, he would like to see this go out for bid.
Director Hill agreed and asked how many other potential vendors might be out there. Garrett said the District used a different consultant (based out of San Diego) on the Probation Tank project. 360PSM is based in Salinas.
President Smolley said there must be similar firms in the San Jose area. Also, he didn’t think the District needed someone within a specific geographical radius. He hoped the District originally found 360PSM via a competitive process, and he hoped it would use one in the future.
There was no public comment.
President Smolley moved to approve the contract with 360 PSM. Director Hill seconded.
The motion passed 4-0.
Redwood Park Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Contract
Engineering Manager Garrett Roffe introduced this agenda item. He explained that new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) equipment is needed as part of the DWR Tank Replacement Project to protect and increase water supply storage. The District was awarded a $4.5 million grant and required to provide a cost-share of $1.5 million to twelve tanks with six new ones. The Redwood Park Tank site includes a new pump station for pushing water from the new site to the existing Spring Tank site.
As part of this project, Staff proposes to upgrade the communications infrastructure to meet current equipment standards. The older equipment operated off phone lines, necessitating Staff site visits when these aren’t working. The updated equipment avoids this dependency via ethernet. Also, the older parts are obsolete.
Emerson Power and Water Solutions can supply the necessary SCADA equipment at a cost not to exceed $200,000. There will be insufficient funds in the FY 2024-25 Capital Budget to cover this. Staff is proposing to increase the budget by $200,000 using bond proceeds if available or unrestricted reserves.
Director Fultz said the District was getting reamed for its dependence on this proprietary system. He asked if there were any more customer-friendly SCADA solutions, but Garrett said he wasn’t familiar with any. Director Fultz suggested that the Engineering Committee might want to pursue grant funding for an open system so that the District was no longer held hostage to this one supplier.
Director Hill agreed that the District should investigate an open source solution. Interim General Manager John Kunkel comment that SCADA holds an unfortunate monopoly and that everyone uses it so far as he knows.
President Smolley asked when the new system was needed. Garrett said the project would go out to bid in September after design is complete. Construction might get underway in the spring of 2026, completing by December, 2026. However, he said, if the District delays, Emerson will simply offer a new contract with a higher price. President Smolley said he didn’t think the Board should be trying to manage acquisition of the contractor or equipment, but he thought the question should be asked and perhaps answered by consultants in the low-voltage arena. He asked if anyone could recommend such consultants and whether it would be reasonable to pause the decision, given that the actual system won’t be needed for 20 months. John said it might be reasonable, but it would cost something to do this. Garrett added that the District had already past the date in the contract, and there are additional tank sites in the 2025 budget. He said the District Electrician asked him to take this to the Board, but he himself didn’t know what other districts were doing, and he could investigate further.
There was no public comment.
No motion was made.
Verizon Wireless Cell Tower Lease Agreement
Engineering Manager Garrett Roffe introduced this agenda item. In August 2023, the Board approved the concept of a lease agreement with Verizon Wireless to install a Wireless Communications Facility at the District’s Lyon Water Treatment Facility. Staff reviewed the location of the 20’x45’ (900 sq. ft.) lease proposed by Verizon Wireless and had no objection.
The lease has an initial term of five years plus four automatic renewal options for a total of twenty-five years. The annual rent was proposed at $17,000.00) payable in equal monthly installments commencing at the start of construction, with a 10% increase per term (every five years). Local Public Safety is very supportive of installing another wireless communications facility in the San Lorenzo Valley/Boulder Creek Area as service is so unreliable. However, wireless communications facilities can be controversial in populated neighborhoods as these towers have electronic equipment and antennas that receive and transmit cell phone signals using radiofrequency (RF) waves. As part of the permitting process, public outreach will be required. The Lyon Water Treatment Plant area is sparsely populated. The proposed tower looks like a tree.
The Directors were unclear as to why Verizon was only offering $17,000 as opposed to the $25,000 being paid at another location. In addition, they all expressed concern over potential access issues. The existing road has a slope failure (which occurred in 2017), and the District is proposing to build a new road at some point in the future (because this is expected to cost less than the $15,000 estimated to repair the current road). The proposed Verizon contract has an access requirement which the District currently meets, but the Directors worried that a future failure (possibly associated with heavy equipment required for the Verizon construction) could cause the District to fall out of compliance.
There was no public comment.
President Smolley tabled this agenda item.
Consent Agenda
There was one item on the Consent Agenda:
a. Board Minutes from 2.20.25
The Minutes were deemed to be adopted by unanimous vote.
There was no public comment.
District Reports
There were two reports:
a. Monthly Finance Status Report (January 2025)
b. Committee Meeting Reports
There was a brief exchange about a Caltrans request that the District place a trench plate over a pothole.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM, and the Board returned to Closed Session.