County of Inyo

Board of Supervisors

SPECIAL JOINT MEETING

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Inyo, State of California, met in special joint session with City of Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, at the hour of 1:30 p.m., on Thursday April 27 , 2006, in the Home Economics Building at the Tri County Fairgrounds, Sierra Street and Fair Drive in Bishop, with the following Supervisors present:   Chairperson Susan Cash presiding, Linda Arcularius, Ted Williams, Jim Bilyeu, and Richard Cervantes and the following Board of Water and Power Commissioners present, Chairperson Mary Nichols, presiding, H. David Nahai and Nikolas Patsaouras.   Commissioners Edith Ramirez and Forescee Hogan-Rowles were absent.   Supervisor Cervantes provided the Invocation, and Supervisor Williams led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Opening Remarks

The Chairpersons of the (a) Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Susan Cash and (b) the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, Commissioner Mary Nichols, offered opening remarks welcoming those in attendance.

Public Comment

The Chairperson announced the public comment period.   Inyo County Agricultural Commissioner, Mr. George Milovich, invited the Commissioners and the Board to view the photographs of the local ranches, which were being displayed at the back of the room.   Mr. Dick Noles, Bishop resident, thanked the Commissioners for visiting the Owens Valley and DWP for their stewardship of their lands by keeping them open to public access and recreation for millions of visitors each year.   Mr. Harry Williams, Bishop Resident, addressed the Commissioners to request that they protect local resources and environment.   Mr. Rick Pucci, Bishop City Administrator, addressed the Commissioners, to ask that the Commissioners favorably consider the sale of certain DWP lands in the City of Bishop to the City for municipal purposes.   Mr. Thaddeus Taylor, addressed the Commissioners to talk about 40-acres property owners water rights issues.  

P.W.-Bishop A/P Workshop

The Chairperson announced that Mr. Ron Chegwidden, Inyo County Public Works Director, was on his honeymoon and Mr. Kevin Carunchio, Deputy County Administrator, would be making the presentation on the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport.   Mr. Carunchio made the presentation on the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport which included (a) an overview of the Airport location; (b) an identification of airport uses; (c) a history of the site; (d) a brief synopsis the master plan for the airport; (e) short-term and long-range development plans; (f) concerns with the term of the lease and the need for a 50-year lease to qualify for FAA grant funds; (g) economical and aeronautical opportunities for the airport; and (h) the solutions to the issues in order to realize the full potential for the airport.   Ms. Patricia Rowbottom, Bishop resident, addressed the Commissioners to support the development and improvement of the airport.   Ms. Alice Lloyd, Chairperson, Northern Inyo Airport Advisory Committee, read a letter into the record supporting a longer lease for the airport.    Mr. Harry Williams supported the 50-year lease.

Water Dept./Long Term Water Agreement Workshop

Mr. Tom Brooks, Inyo County Water Director lead the discussion and made the presentation on an overview of the Long Term Water Agreement including the County’s perspective on pumping management, surface water management, mitigation projects, and the cooperative decision-making process.    The Board of Supervisors, Water and Power Commissioners and respective Staff discussed a variety of issues included in Mr. Brooks’ presentation including (a) the drought recovery policy; (b) pumping and surface water management in the Valley; (c) information sharing; (d) the roles of the Standing Committee and Technical Group and the dispute resolution process; (e) the need to convene the Standing Committee and Technical Group more regularly.   Mr. Wilfred Nabahe addressed the Commissioners to ask for environmental justice at the Owens Dry Lake, Mr. Daniel Pritchard of the Bristlecone Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, highlighted areas of a letter he had written to the Commissioners, expressing concerns with excessive groundwater pumping,   questioning the credibility of the DWP management team as well as the information produced by the MWH consulting firm and requesting that DWP invest in conservation.  

Ms. Teri Cawalti of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, highlighted specific areas of tribal groundwater decline on the Big Pine and Lone Pine reservations.   Mr. Mike Prather, Lone Pine Resident, addressed the Commissioners to request a change in local DWP management and to encourage the creation of subcommittees to provide for public participation in local water issues; Mr. Mark Bagley, local chapter of the Sierra Club, addressed the need to make the Long Term Water Agreement work.   The Board of Supervisors and the Commissioners discussed the need to (a) work cooperatively to address the concerns and issues of both organizations and (b) take the steps necessary to repair the current dysfunctional relationship which appears to exist as a result of divergent interests, underlying suspicion of motives and an aura of distrust which has developed between the County and the City.   The Board and the Commissioners discussed many of the items identified in Mr. Brooks’ presentation, with the Commissioners noting that their individual interests and experiences are in the protection of the environment, which was a primary reason for their appointments as Water and Power Commissioners by Mayor Villaraigosa.

Planning/LTWA Land Release Workshop

Mr. Ron Juliff, County Administrator, briefly reviewed the issues related to the Long Term Water Agreement 75-acre land release.   He conveyed to the Commissioners the importance the land releases have for the people of Inyo County.   Mr. John Halfen, Northern Inyo Hospital Administrator, supported the land releases and addressed the immediate and critical need for housing in the area.   He sited specific statistic regarding the aging population of the workforce at the hospital and expressed a very real concern for the impact that the lack of housing will have on the ability of organizations to recruit and retain employees in the future.   

Closing Remarks

The Board Members and Commissioners offered their closing remarks which included (a) optimism for working toward mutual goals in the spirit of cooperation; (b) revitalizing the Standing Committee, with direction to schedule a meeting within 60 days; (c) moving forward with extending the lease at the airports and the 75-acre land releases and (d) the need for an understanding that staff are not the policy makers they are only carrying out the direction of the policy makers which are the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Water and Power Commissioners.  

The Commissioners thank the Board of Supervisors and the people of the Eastern Sierra for their hospitality and the Board thanked the Board of Water and Power Commissioners for visiting the area.

Adjournment

The Chairperson adjourned the Special Joint Meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Water and Power Commissioners at 4:30 p.m.