February Minutes

933rd MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE ALAMEDA COUNTY MOSQUITO ABATEMENT DISTRICT
February 13, 2008

President James Kohnen called the Special Board meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.

Trustees Centeno, Flashman and Garcia arrived during the meeting. Trustees Hughes and Spinola were absent from the meeting. All of the ACMAD employees except Neil Campbell were also present.

President Kohnen introduced John Bliss from SCI. Mr. Bliss gave a short presentation on the benefit assessment process and then introduced Arcelia Herrara, a staff member from SCI, who went went over the Benefit Assessment Ballot Process and ballot information guide. Laquel Wright, also on the SCI staff, went over the property owner inquiry and management process after the ballots are mailed on March 14th. She discussed the general approach and messages and told us to expect 200-300 calls in the first week after the ballots are mailed. John Bliss gave a history of propositions 13 and 218 that have shaped the methods used for benefit assessments. John and Laquel handed out information and led discussion on media outreach, outreach to large property owners, stakeholder outreach to city and county officials and other special districts. Lastly, management of opposition against the benefit assessment balloting was discussed.

President Kohnen adjourned the special meeting at 4:45 p.m.

President Kohnen called the regularly scheduled Board meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

Trustees Hughes and Spinola were absent from the meeting.

President Kohnen presented past president Dennis Bray with a plaque in honor and appreciation of his serving as President of the Board in 2007.
The minutes of the 932nd meeting held January 9, 2008 were reviewed and approved (Flashman/Doggett – unanimous).

John Bliss from SCI presented the preliminary Engineer’s Report for the ACMAD mosquito and disease control assessment.

The Board unanimously approved Resolution 933-1, initiating proceedings, providing intention to levy assessments, preliminarily approving engineer’s report, and providing for notice of hearing and the mailing of assessment ballots for the ACMAD mosquito and disease control assessment (Golden/Washburn – unanimous).

Resolution 933-2, Adoption of Proposition 218 Assessment Ballot Proceedings Procedures., was approved by the Board (Golden/Washburn – unanimous).

The Long Range Planning Committee update was given by Denny McLeod. The committee will meet soon to go over the media, stakeholder, public and heavy hitter outreach.

The Board reviewed the warrants dated January 15, 2008 numbering 033308 through 036308 amounting to $66,080.93 and warrants dated January 31, 2008 numbering 036408 through 039308 amounting to $80,449.94. There was some discussion on the travel expenses for the MVCAC annual conference due to the high number of trustees that attended. The Transportation and Travel category is still under budget but may go over slightly by the end of the year. The District is expecting a credit for unused airline tickets.

The Board authorized the manager to sell vehicle #15, 1991 Ford Aerostar Van (McLeod/Washburn- Unanimous).

Marisel Brown, Program Administrator for the Public Health Institute in Oakland, was introduced to the Board by Stuart Flashman. Ms. Brown is interested in serving as the City of Oakland representative on the Board, taking over Trustee Flashman’s position. Marisel has an extensive public health background that would fit well with the work of the District.

The manager presented the Monthly Operational Report for January. The District received a total of 18 requests for service during the month. There were 3 mosquito-biting reports. The ten-year average for adult mosquito service requests in January is 5.4. 11 requests for mosquitofish were received and 4 requests for inspections of potential mosquito sources. Cold and wet weather in January kept calls to a minimum. The rainfall did provide enough water to flood many sources and start a cycle of inspection and treatment on sources with mosquito larvae.

The Board received updates from the District Manager on several other outside agencies:

The District Manager presented the Board with the Biennial Report covering the years 2006 and 2007.

President Bray passed the gavel to newly elected President James Kohnen who thanked President Bray for his service to the District during the past year.

President Kohnen asked for reports on conferences attended in the last month. Reports on the MVCAC annual conference were given by Trustees Kohnen, Garcia, McLeod, Golden and Quinn as well as the District Manager and Entomologist. The trustees liked the presentations at the trustee session and the field trip to the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector control offices in Indio. The presentations by Ralph Heim, Legislative Advocate for the MVCAC and Gordon Patterson, a historian at the Florida Institute of Technology, were also mentioned as being particularly interesting.

The President asked if there were any items to add to agenda for the next Board meeting in March, hearing none,
the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________
John D. Hughes, Secretary

Approved as written and/or corrected

at the 935th meeting of the Board of

__________________________
James Kohnen, President
BOARD OF TRUSTEES