Water District Engineering Consultant Fees Increased by 67 Percent

A new engineer has been added to Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) through its consultant, Dudek & Associates, of Encinitas, increasing the annual fees to $300,000. That’s an increase of 67 percent, up from the previous not-to-exceed amount of $180,000.

The consultants take over the work previously done by the district engineer and his staff. When the district engineer, Tim Stanton, retired last year, the position was not filled. The civil engineer, Philip Dauben, was laid off earlier this month due to budgetary cuts and a reorganization within the district staff.

General Manager David Barnum told the governing board at its Jan. 24 meeting that the district will save between $100,000 and $200,000 “over the course of time” by using consultants instead of hiring staff to fill the vacant positions. He said the annual savings will be realized, “once we work through the training and other issues.”

The Dudek team consists of Michael Metts, principal engineer, and Ricardo Soto, a new engineer who expects to be fully accredited by the state in April. Soto takes over immediately; Metts has been on board since July 2011. Soto said he has worked with Dudek & Associates for the past seven years.

Approval for the agenda item to amend the professional services agreement with Dudek & Associates was originally placed on the agenda’s consent calendar. It was pulled at the request of Director Red Hager for discussion before the vote was taken. It was approved unanimously by the five directors.

In other business, the directors heard a report from the district’s former general manager, Ralph McIntosh, in regard to RMWD’s position on the County Water Authority (CWA) governing board.

General Manager Barnum was unanimously approved by the RMWD board to take over in the seat being vacated by McIntosh, who has served on the
CWA board for the past five years. He will continue for one more month, an arrangement that was made at the time of his retirement from RMWD in October 2011.

McIntosh outlined the duties required for serving on the CWA board. In addition to being a director, each person is assigned to work on two
subcommittees.

CWA is the regional wholesaler providing water to RMWD. McIntosh said most of the water districts in the county select their general managers to be their representative on the CWA board.

Barnum said while he is away from the district for CWA meetings, which he will take over on March 1, the recently hired chief financial manager, Richard Hennesch, will be responsible for running the district. However, Barnum said he will always be available by cell phone and emails when out of the office.

The board also approved redistricting changes for the five divisions that compose the district, with one director representing each division.

The 2010 Federal Census reported a population of 33,568 within the water district boundaries. By shifting some of the numbers from one division to another, each director will now represent approximately 6,700 residents.

The changes will be submitted to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, as required by law.

At the close of the board meeting, Director Joe Zenovic asked staff to include an updated report on the Santa Maria Sewer Service Area on the
next agenda.

“We need to look at what to do with our recycled water,” Zenovic said. “It’s a valuable resource we’re not getting the best benefit from. We need to look at alternative ways to generate some income from this recycled water.”

The board will meet again at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane.