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Big projects dominated the Garberville Sanitary District (GSD) board meeting on August 23rd. As the district faces the implementation of drought contingency plans as flows in the South Fork of the Eel River drop, the board agreed to a will-serve letter for a short-term housing hostelry proposed by the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District (SHCHD) and is moving forward with the board and state approved plan for providing potable water to the Southern Humboldt Community Park (SHCP) against opposition. Additionally, the board approved a transfer of reserve funds to move forward with the tank replacement project.
SHCHD is in the planning stages for a short-term hostelry on Sprowl Creek Road across from the new hospital site. The 3,168 square foot hostelry will include 12 rooms with 5 1/2 shared bathrooms and a small, shared kitchen. There will also be a 484 square foot 1-bedroom apartment for the on-call doctor. The existing 840 square foot structure already at the site will be used for offices spaces but will not require any additional remodeling.
Kent Scown, SHCHD Chief Operations Officer, said that the hostelry will be utilized by traveling staff with no more than a 48 hour stay. He predicted the kitchen would be primarily used for reheating items versus full meal prep by the travelling staff.
Scown also noted that the hostelry would free up local housing the SHCHD is renting to house its temporary staff.
For the project to move forward at the county level, the GSD would need to sign-off a will-serve agreement. The plans are subject to change as the project progresses through the design phase, at which point the GSD could alter their will-serve agreement.
The area of the proposed hostelry is served by a sewage pumping station located on Sunnybank Lane that has created problems for the district in the past, accruing thousands of dollars in over-time fees due to the pump needing to be manually operated by the GSD staff. Part of the will-serve agreement the GSD approved last month for the new hospital is for the SHCHD to pay for the infrastructure upgrades to the sewage system along Sprowl Creek Road to handle the sewage volume the new hospital is expected to create.
GSD Consultant, Jennie Short addressed the limitations of the Sunnybank Lane pump stating that “We think we can do an additional 1600 units at [Sunnybank Lane] without a problem.” The 1600 units Short referred to is the volume of water consumed and sewage created by the hostelry. One unit equates to 748 gallons.
The board did not voice any objections or concerns and the will-serve agreement passed unanimously.
Another project in development for the GSD is the agreement to provide potable water to the Southern Humboldt Community Park. The park is outside the district’s place of use boundaries but had previously had connection to the district. The choice was made to stop water service due to leaking pipes on the park’s property.
The GSD has agreed to provide potable water intended for water fountains for park patrons and water service to the residences on site. The project has been approved by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and is moving forward. However, Short summarized a letter sent to the district by former resident Ed Voice that he is filing a reconsideration regarding the matter with the SWRCB.
Short stated that she felt confident moving forward even with Voice filing a reconsideration, unless the board decided to halt the project to await the results of the reconsideration filing.
No action was taken, the project to provide potable water to SHCP will proceed.
The new service projects come just as the district prepares for the implementation of the district’s Drought Contingency Plan which will come into effect when the South Fork of the Eel River reaches 10 cubic feet per second (cfs) for three consecutive days. GSD General Manager, Ralph Emerson reported that the most recent reading showed the levels at 18.5 cfs, though noted the river levels were dropping fast.
The GSD had significant news to report in a dramatic fashion about the district’s tank replacement project. The project is to replace aging and leaking water storage tanks with new, larger tanks that will provide more water storage for the district while reducing water losses. The district was granted funds for the initial studies and design for the project with more grant funding once the project passed the design phase. Short stated that grant project should fund the project but was seeking other grant funding as well.
Jennie Short reported the tank replacement project progress to the board and asked for the district to approve the release of $100K in reserve funds to supplement the project while awaiting reimbursement of funds through the grant process that can take six to nine months. The other option would be to put the tank replacement project on hold until the grant funds were reimbursed.
Though hesitant to dip into the reserve funds, the board voted unanimously in favor of the release of funds.
[Photo by Jericho via Wikimedia Commons]Late in the meeting Short asked to jump back to the topic of the tank replacement project announcing that during the board meeting she had received email notification from the Department of Water Resources that the district had been approved for $4.5 million in funding through the Small Community Drought Relief Program for the tank replacement project.
[Photo by Jericho via Wikimedia Commons]
The funds will cover the remaining cost for the project without needing to apply for the additional grant funds that paid for the initial design phase of the project. Short estimated the funds from the SCDRP would be available promptly, though still advised the board to release the $100K in reserve funds to keep the project moving ahead until the district received the $4.5 million from the SCDRP.
Short said the funding would cover the project in its entirety including any real-estate costs associated with the project.
The board expressed their gratitude and elation over the confirmed funding, authorizing Short to move forward with the formality of accepting the grant funds.
-After months of consideration and discussion around a Joint-Use Agreement for other agencies to rent GSD equipment, Emerson recommended the board scrap the agreement altogether stating that neighboring districts had always helped one another, often without charge, in times of emergency.
Board member, Julie Lyons stated, “I thought we were clear on this at the last meeting,” referring to the agreement the board and staff had decided upon, but had not drawn up, previously.
The board aligned with Emerson’s recommendation and scrapped the Joint-Use Agreement.
-The board readdressed the district’s policy on charging customers a base rate when the district has discontinued water service to the customers meter. In particular, this would mainly apply to GSD customers with an agriculture meter. During drought, ag meters will be shut off as ag watering is not approved in the Drought Contingency Plan.
At the last meeting, the board discussed the importance of base rates to cover operational costs regardless of water usage, however, they had decided if the shutoff was due to the GSD, customers would not pay their base rates. The district has less than ten ag meters. The board had agreed that the base rate loss for those customers would be minimal.
Upon readdressing the topic, board member, Dan Thomas brought up a reduced base rate if the shut-off was longer than a month to protect the district’s base rate income. “We’re all invested in this system,” he said.
Board member, Rio Anderson said he was good with a reduced base rate if customers were shut off by the district.
The issue will be brought up at the next board meeting.
-Emerson reported to the board that the registration process for running for the board had closed with three applicants for the three seats that will be available at the end of the term. Due to no opposition, the three applicants will assume their board seats at the beginning of the new term.
Board Chair, Doug Bryan and Julie Lyon will see their current term come to a close at the end of the year, but both have applied and will resume their board duties unopposed. A third applicant will assume the vacant board seat bringing the board to a full five-person board.
The next GSD board meeting is scheduled for September 27th at 5 p.m. at 919 Redwood Dr., Garberville. (The south end of Ray’s Market parking lot.)
This article is written by Lisa Music, a local freelance journalist. To reach Lisa about tips, questions or comments, email her at [email protected]
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I wonder how much of that $4.5M will get skimmed by the oh so corrupt GSD board.
Its not just that, its how many more years will it be, before they do replace these leaking water storage tanks and what about the leaking water lines that are also leaking? GSD has known since 2004 they have had major leaks, which they only started to fix in 2015. From 2011 thru 2021, GSD has lost and leaked 169,980,000 million gallons of water before it ever gets to the customers water meter.
https://www.garbervillesd.org/files/0fcdc8f66/2021+Water+Source+Capacity+Report_ToBoard+2022+0524.pdf
I wonder if anyone will be housed.
The strange thing about GSD approving the SHCHD new housing plans, the will serve letter does not state the amount of water it is expected to use, only wastewater. Does GSD have the water to serve this new 2 story 12 unit hotel and single apartment it wants to build, on top of the new hospital? And what about parking for this new hotel? It seems once again, no one at GSD or the SHCHD cares about the health of the South Fork Eel River or how much water is left over for anyone down stream or the threatened and endangered aquatic species that call it home. After all, this is Southern Humboldt, cannot allow saving the environment get in the way of capitalism and private economic development. Thank god GSD and the SHCHD are both Public Agencies and would not allow that to happen, right?
The article is a little confusing, when it states in the beginning of the 3rd paragraph:
“Kent Scown, SHCHD Chief Operations Officer”
Kent Scown is not listed as being on the SHCHD Board or Staff:
https://sohumhealth.org/about/governing-board/
However, Kent Scown COO is listed as being on the Administration of the Jerold Phelps Community Hospital, Southern Humboldt Community Clinic, Southern Humboldt Family Resource Center, and Garberville Pharmacy, which are all DBA for-profit businesses:
https://sohumhealth.org/about/administration/
So who is funding this new housing project for the new hospital, the SHCHD (Public Agency), Jerold Phelps Community Hospital Administration (For-profit DBA) or the Hospital Foundation (Non-profit 501c3)? Because they are all independent from one another?
Ed, according to the main page of https://sohumhealth.org/ Kent Scown is the COO of SHCHD.
Then why isn’t he listed on the SHCHD Governing Board web page?https://sohumhealth.org/about/governing-board/ You need to ask him who he is the COO of…
From you link, you can find him 2 ways…
1) Tap your link, tap the heart at the top of the page, and scroll down to find Lisa Music’s, Kent Shown “screenshot”…
2) tap your link, tap “contact” in the top right, scroll down, under “about”, on the lower left hand side, tap “administration”, there you will find “Kent Scown ,COO,” right under Matt Rees…
Guest, thank you for the info, but I already posted above where to find Kent Scown and he is not the COO of the SHCHD. He is the COO of SoHum Health: “SoHum Health is an umbrella organization for the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District (SHCHD) which operates Jerold Phelps Community Hospital, Southern Humboldt Community Clinic, Southern Humboldt Family Resource Center, and Garberville Pharmacy. We offer laboratory, radiology, mammography, physical therapy, 24-hour emergency room, inpatient care, skilled nursing, primary care, and home health services.” That quote can be found on the top and opening page of the https://sohumhealth.org/ website. Now, in an email with Matt Rees, he stated the Hospital, Clinic, Family Resource Center and Pharmacy are all DBA and all administrated by him as CEO and Kent Scown is the COO of that “umbrella organization”. SHCHD is a public agency, SoHum Health is not, they are for-profit. The community as a whole should start asking question, like where are all the donations going for the new hospital, all collected by the SoHum Health Foundation. For example, Dazey gave a donation of $200,000 to the SoHum Health Foundation in December 2021: https://kymkemp.com/2021/12/17/stephen-dazey-donates-200000-towards-his-1000000-pledge-for-a-new-hospital-in-garberville/ Only, that $200,000 does not show up on the Foundation quarterly Financial reports, why is that? And why is the SoHum Health Foundation transferring a lot of their donations/revenue to the Humboldt Area Foundation? https://www.imanageshare.com/pd/25gLukzgsC0 Ask yourself, who is running the SHCHD, I don’t think its the Governing Board…
Ed, the governing board page lists the board. Kent isn’t on the board. Kent is part of the administration. You can find him listed here: https://sohumhealth.org/about/administration/
Thank you Kym, I already posted it above 6 hours ago. https://kymkemp.com/2022/08/31/gsd-awarded-4-5-million-grant-funding-approves-will-serve-for-temporary-housing-and-more/#comment-1555335
SHCHD has a “Band” “Aid” for COO?
Lisa…. great job passing on a lot of good info in a concise manner. Glad to see the district getting pro active on housing visiting staff. Been a problem for a long time.
Why would the water usage allotment be so high for 13 housing units? 7,667 gallons of water pr month pr housing unit without full cooking facilities and no personal gardens. We are talking 12 private rooms and one apartment.
1 water unit = 748 gals. 1600 units\13 = 123 water units per housing unit or 92,004 gals. Pr year would be my guess. Still that is over 7,667 gallons pr month pr housing unit. Who uses 7,667 gallons of water pr month for personal use with no garden or even a full kitchen? Nobody!
So where might any extra water go? I’m very glad someone is building new housing, but WTH with the water allotment?
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