A proposal being floated to purchase a building to relocate Santa Fe Irrigation District’s (SFID) Administration, Engineering and IT staffers from their current Linea del Cielo location to a building located within SFID’s boundaries first showed up on the September 11 Executive Committee agenda. If a new building were purchased, the Linea del Cielo site would be used as the Operations Center: trucks, heavy equipment, pipeline material, meters, maintenance shop, EV chargers and large piles of road materials to carry out pipeline repairs, etc. In this scenario, the 1923 historic building – currently housing administrative staff – would essentially be closed to the public and used for offices for the Manager of Distribution and his supervisors.
Staff stated the facilities assessment, originally done in 2006, was on the 2021 Master Plan, while noting Board members would not have been aware of this relocation proposal, as G.M. Lau used his discretionary authority to engage the architectural firm of MBN Group, Inc., to update the study. Of course, customers of SFID – you and me – who must pay for any relocation/rehabbing, also had no knowledge of this proposal until it appeared on the September 11 Executive Committee agenda.
Tens of Millions of Dollars
The 2006 assessment contemplated rehabbing the current site with an estimated cost of approximately $16.9 million – 2024 dollars escalating to $31.3 million. SFID has been debt-free for a handful of years since the loan for the Badger Water Treatment plant was retired and staff note taking on tens of millions of dollars of debt would be under discussion. Click on this hyperlink to view the MBN Group, Inc., updated assessment.
It is important for SFID customers to provide input at this special meeting, which starts at 10:30a.m., this Monday, October 7, at SFID’s offices, either through their attendance and public comment, or providing written comment before 7:30a.m., Monday morning, as a vote in closed session to authorize staff to engage a broker could occur on that day. Staff discussion at the September 11 committee meeting stated the real estate environment can quickly change, therefore SFID would need to be mindful of that time element.
Debt Payment Equity
My strongest concern: How might tens of millions of dollars of debt be apportioned? Having served as the Fairbanks/RSF Director on the SFID Board of Directors from 2014 – 2020, I quickly became concerned when I caught wind of this “new” building/rehab proposal. Will the Board decide every customer in SFID will be charged the exact same amount to repay tens of millions of dollars of debt? Or, will the Solana Beach majority Board decide customers with larger properties and larger water needs are responsible for repaying a higher percentage of debt than customers with smaller, city-sized lots? What do you think?
How to provide public comment on this proposal:
- Written comment must be submitted to SFID prior to 7:30a.m., Monday, October 7.
- Comments are limited to 300 words or a reading time of three minutes.
- Written comment may be turned over to SFID reception, or dropped in the SFID drop box.
- Written comment may be emailed to SFID Board Secretary at cmcdowell@sfidwater.org
- In-person public comment is limited to three minutes/person. Meeting at 5920 Linea del Cielo, RSF.
Learn about these proposals. Tell the SFID Board what you think. Speak up about debt payment equity. Protect your financial interests.
Marlene King is a Ranch resident, and served as a SFID Board Fairbanks/RSF Director from 2014 – 2020. If you have questions regarding this article, contact Marlene at: marleneliza@cox.net.