Board of Supervisors — 2017-05-02

Good evening and welcome to the May 2nd, 2017 hearing of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors here in the Santa Barbara Hearing Room. I would like to ask anybody wishing to speak on Resolution A-28 to submit speaker slips now. And Mr. Allen would you call the roll?

Mr. Lavinino. Mr. Williams. Here. Ms. Wolfe. Mr. Adam, Ms. Hartman.

And may I have a motion to approve the minutes of April 11th 2017 as well as the workshop minutes of April 17 19 and 21. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? And CEO Miyasato do you

have a report for us today? I do Supervisors, two quick announcements and then just a recognition of some of our staff so the first one is that the county is this is regarding SBA loans and a deadline that's coming up the county was included into separate federal assistance programs Stemming from the winter storms that we experienced in February, and business and non-profit organizations in the county that believe they were adversely impacted are encouraged to contact the SBA as soon as possible to check their eligibility status. There's several programs but there's an upcoming deadline of May 31st and more information is on our website and also on the SBA website at sba.gov backslash disaster.

Secondly, I just want to congratulate our Sheriff Bill Brown who was installed last week as the President of the State Sheriffs Association. He was sworn in by Governor Brown. He's been elected by his peers and he is the only president, I believe, of the Sheriff's Association who was also formerly a president of the California Police Chiefs' Association so congratulations to Sheriff Brown.

The third item is just acknowledge that this past Saturday the California chapter of the American Planning Association Central Coast section All its annual conference and our county planning and development department when three top awards of excellence. For the comprehensive plan large jurisdiction award for our Gaviota Coast plan for innovation in green community community planning award for our energy in action plan, and for the public outreach award for our Los Alamos pedestrian circulation and parking plan and I wanted the director Dr. Russell to come up and just say a few words about the awards.

Thank you very much I'll make this very brief. So we at P&D create great communities and although we're talking about long-range planning today every member of every division of my department has a role in making great communities happen So we receive more than our fair share of abuse along the way, but when getting awards like this makes it all worthwhile. So what I'd like to do is just very quickly call up the staff that is responsible for each of the projects that received the award and then we'll take a picture and that will be it. So for the Comprehensive Plan Large Jurisdiction Award which was the Gaviota Coast plan, I'd like to invite David Lackey and Julie Harris to come up For the innovation in green community planning award which is the energy and climate action plan I'd like to invite Mindy Fogg and Selina Evelsizer.

And for the public outreach award, which is the Los Alamos pedestrian circulation and parking plan, I'd like to invite Alan Bell and Julie Harris who's already here and Matt Daubertine from Public Works who played a very important role in this project All right thank you very much.

And while you're taking the picture I would just like to add that I served on the Planning Commission during each of those three and would just like to give a call out to the planning commissioners who also spent a great deal of time and effort working with the community and thank you so much. Turning to our administrative agenda we have five honorary resolutions today and four are to be presented. So may I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second?

All those in favor say aye. Aye. And any opposed so the motion passes. So turning to A28 Mr. Allen would you read that into the record please?

Chair Hartman and members of the board, item A-28 is a resolution sponsored by Supervisor Williams. This is a resolution of commendation honoring the life and contributions of Michael Tobes and I believe Ann and Carrie Tobes are here? And if you could come on up to the podium. Thank you. And I will go ahead and read the resolution into the record. Whereas Michael Tobes was born in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 1929 as the eldest child of Thelma and Louise Tobes and received his BSc in civil engineering from Princeton University graduating summa cum laude in 1951.

Whereas Michael moved to California when he was assigned to the Naval Air Missile Test Center in Point Mugu at the Naval Civil Engineer Corps and permanently relocated to California in 1955. And whereas he started the Luria-Tobes Company, a real estate construction and development company with Eli Luria in Los Angeles. Later formed his own Michael Tobes Construction & Development Company Inc. in 1970 and shifted activities to the Tobes Group in the mid 1990s which has developed more than 6,000 residential units emphasizing affordable and workforce priced housing.

Whereas he formed the Bank of Montecito, now known as Montecito Bank and Trust in 1975 becoming its sole shareholder in 1983. He grew the bank to hold more than $1.3 billion in assets with 10 branches on the Central Coast and developed the bank as a leader in local corporate philanthropy giving more than 1.3 million annually to area non-profits through the Community Dividends Program, anniversary grants and nonprofit sponsorships.

Whereas, he moved to Santa Maria in 1957 and then to Santa Barbara in 1960 and became a philanthropic leader in Santa Barbara County with the formation of the Hobbs Foundation in 1980 starting with just a $500 donation to now donating more than $900,000 annually to more than 300 organizations. Now therefore it be hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors mourns the passing of Michael Tobes on April 13, 2017 and commends him for his years of dedicated service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County and honors his legacy of philanthropy and compassion he leaves behind. Passed and adopted today.

I just wanted to give my personal condolences and there are many reasons that people in this community love and will celebrate the memory of Mr. Tobes but for me it has been the one that's most controversial It has been that he was dedicated to the provision of workforce housing, of housing that's affordable for working people in Santa Barbara and that is difficult to do but at a time when I would just like to thank you his family for supporting that and-

My dad was pretty famous for saying there are two things people don't like, density and sprawl.

Mr. Allen do we have some speaker slips on this item?

I have a slip from Janet Gariffas. Janet you want to come up?

Thank you very much and good morning. My name is Janet Garufas, I'm the Chairman and CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust and it was my privilege to work with Michael Tobes for the last 13 years. Those of us who have had that privilege have all had this really extraordinary experience as we worked for Michael during the time of his lifetime. We all strove to make sure that we never let him down. We always made him proud and that's what drove our companies and people talked about that at the water cooler.

Since Michael's passing, an extraordinary thing has happened. That legacy continues and now it's even a bigger challenge because now we have to hold each other accountable for meeting his expectations and being certain That we are always up to the task. So Mike made it possible for Montecito Bank and Trust to go on for a very long time doing the good things that we've been doing in this community, serving all customers and extending the corporate philanthropy vision. And we're so proud to be able to carry on that legacy. And I thank you for honoring him in this way today very much.

Okay turning then to A29 Mr. Allen.

Chair Hartman, members of the board. Item 829 is sponsored by Chair Hartman. This is a resolution proclaiming the month of May 2017 as Water Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County and Tom Fairam is here to accept the resolution with some friends and I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Whereas water is California's most precious resource and our quality of life and economic well-being depend on the efficient and prudent management of water resources Whereas on January 17, 2014 the Governor of California proclaimed a state of emergency and on May 9, 2016 signed Executive Order B-3716 making water conservation a California way of life, bolstering California's drought resistance and preparedness in establishing long term water conservation measures.

And whereas, recognizing persistent yet less severe drought conditions throughout California. On February 8th 2017 the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an Emergency Water Conservation Regulation to amend and extend the 2016 regulation maintaining basic water conservation measures. Whereas Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors declared a drought emergency in January 2014 with continued proclamations monthly since that time.

And whereas despite receiving above average rainfall this past winter, continued diligence of our water supplies remains a priority following the driest five years on record in Santa Barbara County. And whereas while February's rainfall triggered much needed inflow into Kachuma Reservoir, the increase in storage does not alleviate our water supply concerns and should not be considered route ending.

And whereas the Santa Barbara County through the Public Works Department is working cooperatively to conserve and protect our valuable water resources with water purveyors throughout the county, and facilitate a securing of additional long-term supplies. And whereas the cooperative effort was established decades ago because the efficient use for local water resources is always a priority not just in times of drought.

Now therefore it be hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors, the County of Santa Barbara and the State of California proclaims May 2017 as Water Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County. And urges all residents to learn more about their precious water resources and the importance of wise water use and to join in supporting local water agencies and organizations in their effort to be water-wise in Santa Barbara County. Passed and adopted today.

Madam Chair, members of the board. Thank you so much. I think it's important we recognize May as Water Awareness Month. I believe as much as we appreciate the rainfall we got this winter, we are still in a drought. One dry year does not make a drought one wet year does not end a drought And so therefore conservation is important as ever. And to that end, our conservation staff Tyrone Lafay and Kalani Durham who work hard on conservation the displays down in our lobby are hopefully everybody will be able to visit that and remind us all that conservation is a way of life here in California.

Also interesting to note that while Kachuma did rise this year, it's just at a level to where not much later did we first declare a state of emergency here several years ago. We have Mr. Lewin in the audience and you're continuing that drought proclamation today so where we're at today was not that much different than just before we first declared a drought emergency. I also want to mention just a couple of things that we're going to be doing in future. We'll be coming back to your board to talk about stormwater capture and other elements that we can try to make our community more drought resistant will be coming back to your board hopefully in June with our partners For stormwater capture plan that we could present to the state. Also doing some water rate workshop in July with our water purveyor partners and last but not least, we just completed our high school video contest and you can see all those videos at our WaterWise website and which high school won this year?

Kate's School was the winner. Carpinteria won last year, Kate's School this year so I urge you to go see those at the high school video contest is a great program and it's amazing what those kids do in terms of their video contests. So again thank you very much WaterWiseSB.org and Conservation Away A Life. Thank you very much.

It is a great display downstairs so don't miss it when you leave the building today. Would you read A30 into the record Mr. Allen?

Chair Hartman, members of the board, item A30 also sponsored by Chair Hartman is a resolution of commendation honoring Jody Leipner as the Public Works Department May 2017 appointed of the month for Santa Barbara County of Jody Hamana and other luminaries

Go

ahead and read the resolution into the record. Whereas Jody Leipner, a senior engineering environmental planner has been highly responsible and extremely accountable as a project manager for the preparation of CEQA documents in coordination with regulatory agencies. And whereas Jody has consistently demonstrated her abilities as an experienced planner with her knowledge of CEQUA requirements in the regulatory process including work on the Tejidos Resource Recovery Project, the Barone Ranch Revegetation and Restoration Project, and Laguna County Sanitation District Wastewater Plant Upgrade.

Whereas Jodi's diverse projects have given her the opportunities to experience a great technical and professional development in the areas of biological studies and monitoring, as well as taking on very challenging CEQA analysis. Jodi takes pride and great satisfaction in the work she is doing for the residents of Santa Barbara County. And whereas Jody utilizes good open communication, is a dependable team player and provides mutual respect to all that she works with.

She's loyal and committed to her work and willing to go above and beyond at all times. Jody continues to demonstrate the department values of loyalty and commitment, pride and satisfaction of work, competency in innovation, responsibility and accountability, mutual respect, open communication, professional development and teamwork as she contributes the ongoing improvement of the Public Works Department.

Amora S. Jody is strongly committed to her family and their daughter who's an athlete of the family, participating in softball, soccer, volleyball at both high school and club level. Spends endless hours in LA traffic attending sporting events which allows her time to ponder on how to serve the County of Santa Barbara better. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors recognizes Jody Leitner as our Santa Barbara County Employee of the Month for May 2017.

Madam Chair and Board Members, thank you very much for honoring Jody Leitner today as the May County Employee of the Month. And as you heard, Jody is just a wonderful person and a great team member in Public Works. She's responsible for all the environmental documentation Permitting work for Resource Recovery and Waste Management. She's extremely comprehensive, a very hard worker, kind of sets the standard every day for our junior employees. No stone goes unturned with Jodi and every detail is examined and vetted so she's great communicator and a wonderful advocate for the environment And today her crown jewel is the Brown Ranch Restoration Project. So there's going to be a lot more to come from Jody and thank you so much and great work, Jody.

We're all very proud of you in public works.

Well I'm usually not shy for words, but I'm not usually good in these kind of positions. But I just wanted to thank you very much for this honor and I also wanted to acknowledge all the people that I work with at Resource Recovery and Waste Management. Really each one of them is as dedicated if not more than I am and deserve this as much as I do. And so I really appreciate the environment that I work in and the teamwork that they offer. And I want to acknowledge all of them also. Thank you very much.

And turning to item 831 Mr. Allen.

Chair Hartman, members of the board Item 831 is sponsored by Supervisor Labagnino this a resolution proclaiming May 6 2017 as National Nurses Day in the week of May 6 through May 12 2017 is National Nurses Week in Santa Barbara County and Paige Batson is Paige here? Paige come on down Yvette Calhoun Ed Tran Right thank you and I'll go ahead and read the resolution into the record when we're all here.

Whereas Santa Barbara County Public Health Department acknowledges the National Nurse Week celebration theme of 2017 as nursing, a balance of mind body and spirit. And whereas in concert with nurse week celebrations registered nurses and public health nurses are recognized and appreciated for leading the charge in promoting health and wellness in our community.

And whereas nurses play a critical role in improving patient health outcomes, increasing access to healthcare and reducing healthcare costs through the provision of primary prevention efforts that include education and linkages to appropriate and quality access to care for residents in Santa Barbara County. Whereas nursing is the protection promotion and optimization of health prevention of illness and injury and advocacy in the care of individuals families communities and populations.

And whereas nurses are collectively responding to emerging communicable disease events and outbreaks by assuring timely public health interventions in quality and accessible healthcare throughout the continuum of care from community to clinic settings. Now, therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors does proclaim the 6th of May 2017 as National Nurses Day in the week of May 6 through May 12 as National Nurses Week in recognition of the contributions of all nurses working in health care and community settings in the County of Santa Barbara. Passing it up

So on behalf of the Public Health Department Nursing Leadership Committee I'd like to say thank you to the Board of Supervisors for the platform action. In recognition of National Nurses Day and National Nurse Week, the Nurse Leadership Committee would like to take the opportunity to join the Board of Supervisors in acknowledging the dedication passion and commitment of our public health department nurses who work in our healthcare centers and in the community health division.

Our nurses strive to achieve balance of mind, body and spirit in their everyday work serving our community. The scope of work our nurses do every day goes beyond seeing and treating them at the healthcare centers. For example they help patients understand the importance of prevention and obtaining treatment despite the uncertainties of the Affordable Care Act.

They also work passionately to manage and prepare for emerging diseases such as Zika. And most recently, they are working to better understand and address the health impacts related to that recent legalization of cannabis. Nurses play a pivotal role in addressing the ever-changing landscape of healthcare today. The approach our nurses take to address the demanding challenges and uncertainty of healthcare is to adopt a pioneering and resourceful attitude. This pioneering and resourceful attitude has enabled our patients to successfully manage and overcome complex barriers leading to a healthier community.

On behalf of Paige Batson, the Director of Public Health Nursing, Yvette Calhoun, Director of Nursing for Healthcare Centers and myself as Director of Maternal Child and Adolescent Health we are honored to join you in saying thank you and recognizing our nurses dedication to the nursing practice and the community during Nurses Week. Thank you

Now turning to the balance of our administrative agenda does any supervisor have an item that they would like to pull? Item A1 through A26.

A16 and A18 please.

And are there any public speaker slips with additional items Mr. Allen?

Chair Hartman, just one before we go on to the balance of the administrative agenda I did have a speaker slip from Rodney Baker that did want to speak on A28. Is Rodney here still? Okay I can see he's okay he's gone all right we'll move on then. I have speaker slips from the public on item A16 and A18.

Okay would you read A18 into the record please

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I have speaker slips from Carolee Krieger to be followed by Harvey Sevald and then Marcia Kellogg.

Okay and just Supervisor Williams you pulled this item first did you want to say something now or wait until after public comment?

Well, I'll just put my concerns out there. I had two sets of concerns one would be I just wanted to make a comment on the financial just asking how much. The rate payers- particularly the ones that are in my district but all county rate payors would face. For capital projects with this acquisition of additional water date additional state water. The answers that I received were The first concern that I had was. Exposure to rip to rate increases from the state however even in the calculation of what that would be per acre feet it was not did not bring That of whether the water was being acquired as was represented at first as drought buffer or whether it's being acquired in order to sell other water for other purposes. And not that financial stability is nefarious but I think that should just be acknowledged What the reason it is, and what I had as a particular concern was that if one of these agencies was going to sell that water to make a project that otherwise would be undevelopable in Goleta or Gaviota Coast or somewhere else.

I thought that it would be foolish for us to approve a contract that would frustrate the county's land use policies by giving water to an entity that would otherwise have a project that is undevelopable in an area we don't view as ideal for development. So, that was my concern. I did meet with Carpinteria Valley Water District and CCWA. The intended use for the Santa Maria portion is for Nipomo to fulfill the agreement with Nipomo.

I don't know ultimately what the result of that water will be. Carpinteria says they don't have yet a buyer. And so my suggestion has been that we put in the agreement that it would come back to the board to sign off on buyer of water. Because I can think of a half dozen places that water could end up, that would be really bad for planning in the county because it could be sold to a development project on the Gaviota Coast or Even closer to home that we would not normally approve.

Thank you Ms. Krieger.

Yes thank you very much my name is Carolee Krieger and I'm here representing the California Water Impact Network and we, I have at CWIN has been looking into this reacquisition for some time and we believe there's several issues that are Very relevant. The first I'd like to bring up is the lead agency issue, we believe that the Central Coast Water Authority is the wrong lead agency and I base this on my long time experience with the Monterey amendment litigation that started in 1995 and the third district court of appeal ruled on the lead agency issue on those very broad sweeping amendments to the state water project and what they basically said in very simple language is that the Central Coast Water Authority is not a State Water Project contractor.

And in looking over their empowering documents, the CCWA empowering documents it's very clear they were formulated to build and maintain the local section of the aqueduct, the state water project which when it was once built in 1997 Runs from Vandenberg Air Force Base at Tank 5 to Lake Kachuma and for the Polonio Pass Treatment Plant. That's all CCWA is legally empowered to do, and in 1991 when the county, at the time the Board of Supervisors sitting as a Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Executed the transfer of financial responsibility agreement. It's clear in that agreement that they could not actually transfer the financial responsibility to CCWA because CCWA does not have the authority to levy taxes and DWR cannot Contract with anyone who does not have the authority to levy taxes thereby protecting the buyers of the revenue bonds.

So it's our contention that on that major issue you should rethink who the lead agency ought to be in this case. And we also think that there are other issues that deal with the actual construction of the state water project that are relevant here and my colleague, Arvie Schvold will address some of those. Thank you very much.

Arvie Schvold followed by Mark Sciatello.

Good morning. My name is our visual. Excuse me I'm here representing the wind. One of the issues a substantive issue is and- our studies is that. The Negotiated with the water supply retention agreement, and those things are still in force today. And if you were to add up all the face value of the water supply retention agreement of those entities that voted to participate in a state water project they would total around 35,000 acre feet about 10,000 acre feet less than the size of the project that was built That leaves about 10,000 acre feet uncovered by water supply retention agreement which ostensibly means the county is liable for any charges that might be made and not covered by the entities.

The same thing would prevail with the additional 12,200 odd acre feet. Who would cover that? Is there a water supply retention agreement incorporated in the terms that you are asked to approve today and the answer is no of course. Our position is, is that before any additional entitlement is sought That the county should renegotiate all the water supply retention agreements to reflect at least the facts on the ground.

So that the county is not liable, at least for those charges that are embraced by the Water Supply Retention Agreement. In fact there's about 10,000 acre feet out here that needs to be covered by water supply retention agreement among some of these entities and our studies have shown that basically Santa Maria is the beneficiary of those extra 10,008 feet. Once you've done that then you can contemplate Thank you Mr. President.

I would reiterate DASA's concerns. It was made explicit to us by the Carpinteria that they intend to sell their expensive entitlement and replace it with this cheaper entitlement that they hope to get, and they want to sell it, and the only buyers really would be on the South Coast. So that should be part of the proposed project which, of course, cannot Taken away just by saying it's not a project. Yeah

thank you and that is your time.

Marsh hello Mr. Chateau is our final public speaker on this.

Good morning Madam Chair members of the board I'm Mark Chateau. I'm here today on behalf of a few different groups that have been involved in this issue involved in this issue. The committees for land air water and species Gaviota Coast Conservancy and some of the Goleta groups that have been involved in state water transfer proposals for development over the last decade or so. And we would urge that you exercise the greatest care as you approach the issue of the State Water Project and the potential for this, the action that's before you.

Back in 1991 when we first considered the State Water Project there were concerns that the State Water Project was going to be unreliable, that the water was going to be too costly and it would be growth inducing. Our community here on the South Coast was built with Kachuma in mind, designed around the seven-year cycle of Kachuma and the El Nino meteorological pattern so that every seven years as we had our big rains we could refill the reservoir that would sustain our South Coast communities for seven years.

That whole design was broken when the State Water Project was brought into the area and we found ourselves with a substantially greater amount of development, but not a reliable water supply to be able to support that. We've seen with drought how difficult it can be. So as we look at the potential to integrate these additional Table A waters back into our water palette, we have grave concerns and again urge you to exercise caution. We support the comments of the last two speakers and would encourage the board to accomplish that reallocation before taking any steps moving forward. Secondly, we would support the proposal that the board exercise and reserve the authority to oversee any transfer of state water pursuant to this process or otherwise so that you don't experience the inconsistency between our water supply and our land use policies.

And so as we've had to struggle with in the past, with proposals by the Carpinteria Water District for wheel water into other areas including the Gaviota Coast. And then lastly we would question the allocation and the decision or assignment to CCWA, the lead agency responsibility under CEQA. Decision that Ms. Krieger just mentioned concerning the Monterey Agreement, only the State Department of Water Resources is properly the lead agency in the event and in the event that CCWA is not the appropriate lead agency, the EIR that follows could be invalidated. Given the direction on this case, we would be more comfortable if the county were to retain the lead agency status rather than assigning that to the APA which doesn't have any directly elected officials and lacks the transparency that your board does.

We thank you for your consideration of our comments.

Thank you. And are there any more public comments?

No further public comments.

Okay do, Mr. Farrum would you like to respond to any of that? And while you're coming up I don't see any other lights on by board members but I do have a question for Mr. Gazzone. I think it's a legal question can you explain or respond to what Mr. Shatillo and Ms. Krieger said about the appropriateness of CCWA as the lead agency and whether that presents any risks about the environmental review that they would do?

Chair Hartman and Supervisors, two common issues in CEQA are the timing of preparing an environmental document and then who's the lead agency. The who is the lead agency question is addressed within the regulations and does provide a workout There were a number of cases in the past where it would be defensible for C. C. W. A. to be the lead agency one of the cases that was discussed was back from two thousand in a statewide- action where the court did conclude that C.C.W.A. was not the appropriate lead agency but Johanna Hartley has done some updating on that in other cases for specific water In this case, as to risk within the proposed Lead Agency Agreement at numbered paragraph 8 there is an express indemnification provision whereby CCWA would indemnify both the state and the county for any litigation resulting from the agreement.

That doesn't mean don't worry about it but it means financially there is indemnification in place And I think it's important to have a discussion on that so I think that all of that sums up to be that the board. Ccwa in the state- have some discretion in this area- and there are reasons that make sense for ccwa to be the lead agency including their familiarity with that.

But if it's not the will of the board to go that direction it's a discussion we could have with the other parties- honest but- the department has recommended ccwa as

And Mr. Payne.

Well, and Madam Chair members of the board some of the expressed concerns that you brought up we have yet to even develop an indemnitary implementation agreement that I think we can incorporate some of those concerns so that the stated purpose for this water is for drought buffer and increased reliability. I believe that's what CEQA analysis will also address and not fueling other development concerns. So I think we can address those concerns including a provision And Supervisor Williams has a question for you.

Again, Mr. Fairham both Santa Maria and Carpinteria Valley Water District have acknowledged that the purpose is to have water so that they can sell the water another set of water to someone else now I don't have a problem with Santa Maria's I don'y know enough about what but they want to transfer it to Napomo but on I don''t know enough about Napomo issues to have a problem with that but I do know enough about Santa Barbara issues To have a problem with Carpinteria Valley Water District if they decide to sell it to a development in Goleta or Gaviota.

That would frustrate our land use policies and would not be very neighborly, so their stated purpose is drought buffer that doesn't seem to me Transparently true if they are acknowledging that they're going to sell another set of water in exchange for this water. And so I would number one not like to have something that is transparently false in our agreement and number two, I would just like it to come back to us for us to sign off on who the sale of the water is And I'll just, you know, I guess the question is we don't have to have everything worked out in the contract here today because this is just the first step.

That's my understanding Mr. Farrum if he could acknowledge or dispute that and then the other can what do you think the advantages are of CCWA being the lead agency versus say us being the lead agency?

And Mr. Gazzone wanted to chime in here

Chair Hartman and Supervisors, I think if we go back in time just a short amount and that would be to December of last year when the board and CCWA entered a non-binding term sheet that addressed preliminary terms. And that's a pretty standard practice in the last few years of CEQA case law Where the parties essentially are agreeing to negotiate in good faith but outline the general terms that are up for discussion. And that typically precedes CEQA review as Mr. Farrum indicated there is still a final agreement that would need to be executed and I think a lot of the detail work could occur in there, but the board in 2016 as well as CCWA did execute a preliminary A term sheet. In this area that's not to say that there's no more detail work to be done in the implementing agreement after CQA

Mr. Payram did you have a response to Supervisor Williams questions?

Madam Chair, Supervisor Williams I agree with what with what you said and and I would just tell you from my understanding of what I've heard from Carpentry Water District is they were also looking at Potentially disposing some of their water outside of the county, which is problematic because most of the costs of that water involve the coastal aqueduct of which unless it were maybe in San Luis Obispo County The buyer would incur costs unless Carpinteria just ate those costs. So I'll have to do some more work on that, but I understand your issue and I think it's well put.

CCWA has from the beginning clearly stated the purpose of this water and I think we need to make sure we follow through that is the intended purpose for the water.

But he also asked why they are the lead agency and Supervisor Lovanino has a question next but I just wanted to finish this first.

So Madam Chair, I would just note that CCWA did do the EIR for the first, the first EIR for the Coastal Branch Aqueduct in 1991-92. They were the lead agency then and successfully completed that EIR and then built the project. And it makes sense for them to be the lead agency for that as well.

Supervisor Levinita.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Well mine's more not a question but something that I've heard now a couple of times it's kind of troubling to me very troubling to me is that we're now starting to talk about water as a growth inducer and for the you know it also sustains life so for those people that went through this drought um you know I don't think they look at water as some sort of growth inducer where were going You know, we do have land use policies and it's not based on whether or not there is water. I mean, I would hate for us to start making public policy based on let's limit access to water so somebody can't build something or develop something.

That's not the way to do land use. Land uses everybody has a great access to water but we're not going to develop a certain area for other reasons. So you know I don't really have a care if CCWA is the lead agency or not. It doesn't matter to me, but I've started to hear this and it's bothering me a little bit.

Supervisor Williams and then Supervisor Adam.

This meeting is being recorded. Water has facilitated growth, or it has restricted growth. All I'm saying is if these agencies want it for a drought buffer, I'm good. But if these agencies want to sell it to a developer that we wouldn't normally approve their development then not good and we should be able to look at it another time I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I know for example that the Perpignan Valley Water District, their financial aim is to have stable enough finances to build a recycled water facility. I support that. That is my biggest goal in terms of water supply regionally is to facilitate that for them but I don't You know the second or third district's development policies.

That would not be good for me to get my recycled water facility at the expense of a development on the Gaviota Coaster.

Supervisor Adams?

Yeah well water has been weaponized against development in this county for decades. So if that's news to you Supervisor Lavanino I'm glad you finally noticed because you know this has been, water control has been Something that I've been involved in since the early 90s. And it was going on long before I got involved so this is the way it is and you know to ignore To ignore the revenue side of this thing in this way I think is ridiculous. I think that we should stop doing it, we should stop using water to control growth because you know we have the power on this board to stop growth if we want to on the Gaviota Coast or anywhere else in the unincorporated area. You know, we could just take responsibility for those votes and you know of course I would support development on the Gaviota Coast but there's probably not three votes up here for that so I think it is pretty safe at this point in time.

But I think that the people who are here now have got to have some security. And, you know, I have in the past advocated for a more balanced portfolio for the people who are here now particularly on the South Coast in terms of adding in a larger supply, larger component of DESAL. I don't know if state water is as reliable as I would like to see the source of water and the balance of sources that I think it would make a better portfolio for a community like South Coast where they do have some uncertainty in some of the supplies.

You know we didn't necessarily elect people that wanted to go that way and so I guess I don't care either. So you know we're just doing what we're doing here and we're just continuing the policies of the past and I guess that's okay.