SAN MIGUEL ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES
PO Box 425, San Miguel, CA California, 93451
www.sanmigueladvisorycouncil.org
MEETING TIME & DATE: 7:00 PM – MAY 26, 2010
LOCATION: COMMUNITY CENTER -
(13th Street, behind Library)
I. Flag Salute – Jean Hoffmann
II. Roll Call – Not taken
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS
GARY DAVIS – CHAIRMAN Present
– VICE-CHAIRMAN
SHARON BROWER – SECRETARY Present
TOM BANISH – TREASURER Present
DENIS DEGHER – PUBLIC RELATIONS Present
NOEL CARPENTER – HISTORIAN Present
MIKE SANDERS – CSD LIAISON Present
JEAN HOFFMANN – MEMBER Present
III. MINUTES APPROVAL – The minutes were reviewed. Jean Hoffmann motioned to approve with Noel Carpenter seconding. They were approved by all present.
IV. TREASURERS REPORT – Tom Banish reports that a check for $112.50 was written to Amanda Rice for the web site with a remaining balance of $951.69. Mr. Banish will check on the rate for the post office box and remit that amount.
V. COUNCIL REPORT
A. Chairman – Gary Davis. Mr. Davis reported on the Chairpersons Workshop put on by the County on April 30, 2010. It was held at the San Luis Obispo Library and hosted by the
County Planning Department. Mr. Davis attended along with Sharon Brower of the Council and Patricia McHarris, who is planning on running for a Council seat. He reported that the consensus was that the workshop was helpful and that one of the covered items – CEQA – was explained and questions re: what it was and does were answered. He said that it seemed like all of the Councils present really listened and participated in the workshop.
Mr. Davis added that John Nall, Environmental Planner was present and he wanted every-one to know how approachable Mr. Nall was, much like our Division 1 Supervisor, Frank Mecham. But…, he added you need to approach him and ask the questions. He will return calls and Gary said he went over all the topics he was concerned about. Mr. Mecham in-terjected that the first person to address concerns to would be Elizabeth Kavanaugh and then she could direct on to Mr. Nall if she wished to.
B. CSD Liaison – Mike Sanders reported that he had no report because the meeting wasn’t until tomorrow night May 27th. Sharon Brower added that she had information that the CSD was going to sponsor both the Christmas Parade and the Sagebrush Days Parade, saying this is good news because they have the necessary insurance. Mr. Sanders said that he had planned to go the Lions to see if they were willing to sponsor one or both but he is glad that the CSD stepped up because he did not think the Lions would be able to do it. Mrs. Brower stated it made good sense for the CSD to be the sponsors as the Volunteer Firemen contribute so much of their time and energies to the parades.
VI. PUBLIC REPORTS
CHP/Sheriff – Not present. SLO Police Captain Ian Parkinson present and spoke briefly about the upcoming election for Sheriff. (Capt. Parkinson is running) He also apologized for not having been back to the Council meeting for a few months saying that with the campaign he has been very busy.
CSD – Dale Hamblin – Not present
Supervisor’s Office – Both Frank Mecham and Vicki Shelby present. Mr. Mecham said he would be having office hours in Paso Robles tomorrow from 9-11AM and then would be in Heritage Ranch for office hours there. Mr. Mecham said that the Water Commission Man-agement will be having a meeting in October, at such time they will be turning on the valves and the water will flow. ( Nacimiento water ?) Mr. Mecham said that he, along with Matt Jensen (District One planner and Ombudsman), and Adam Hill met with members of the Business Community over a two day period to discuss economic issues. He states it was an “amazing discussion. They dealt with all manner of problems from the lower reim-bursement rate for Medical Doctors in this area and some of the Technical Business of-fered ideas that could be implemented to assist the doctors with their billing etc. He re-ports that the grading and conservation elements have been approved. The next Board of Supervisors meeting is on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 and that will be followed by a three day budget meeting. The county has a $406 million dollar budget with a $17 million dollar def-icit.
San Miguel Resource Connection – Laverne Buckman reported that tomorrow night, May 27th, Lillian Larsen School would be holding an Open House. The Healthy Hornets, the group of students who are in the Healthy Eating Active Living program (sponsored by the
Resource Connection) will have displays and free tastings for the public, to show what they have been learning. This program is designed to teach the children about healthy eating, growing produce and how to use it in daily eating. The Open House starts at 5:30 PM.
PUBLIC COMMENT – Linda Mora said that people coming in to dining establishment have been asking why the early AM bus, coming from San Luis Obispo can’t pick up riders in Paso Robles to bring them to San Miguel. Vicki Shelby, Frank Mecham’s Legislative As-sistant will follow up on this.
Lieutenant Colonel George Leone from Camp Roberts reports that the fire on the range at the Camp yesterday has been contained. The smoke from that fire was seen over all of North County, blowing south into Paso Robles with the wind. He reports that they will be doing some controlled burns in an attempt to lessen the danger during troop exercises. Commander, Colonel Barbara Nuismer also informed the Council that they are making every attempt at the Camp to eradicate the Yellow Star Thistle. They scraped their fire breaks prior to the bloom of the plants and they are using herbicides wherever feasible. Bob Lille of the County Ag Department is working on the Thistle problem, which is quickly spreading and taking over in the North County. It has gone from being a pest to a real problem.
CSD Report – Dale Hamblin. Mr. Hamblin has arrived and asked to give report. The CSD will be holding their monthly meetings on the fourth Thursday of the month from now on. At tomorrow night’s meeting they will begin the first review of the fiscal budget for 2010-2011. Dependent on this a decision must be made on whether to proceed with the second tank. This tank carries a $2.5 million price tag. There will be more discussion to consider putting all services on the annual tax role. The reason behind this is to ensure that the CSD receives payment when landholders move or just neglect to pay their contractual bill. The CSD currently does not have the ability to collect arrears if the party moves. The Board will also be looking at a new format for their regular agenda. Mr. Hamblin reports that LAFCO wants to have an additional election to fill an alternate position. After the elec-tion of two months ago the person elected to the alternate position became a regular member when someone resigned. There is a question of whether this election can be combined with the general election.
VII COUNTY PLANNING REPORT – Elizabeth Kavanaugh is present but there are no new projects up for review. Gary Davis reported he received supplemental draft notice on the Carrizo Plains Solar project. Ms. Kavanaugh reports that the Board of Supervisors would be looking at the Resource Capacity study. The meeting can be seen on Channel 21 – web stream. Other information; San Miguel – determines to infill. The Estrella River Project okayed for an EIR by the Planning Dept. Gary Davis said he had received a letter from Jamie Kirk, agent for the Estrella River project stating that the Planning Commission is letting them go forward with the EIR and she wanted to know if the San Miguel Advisory Council wanted to review the project prior to the EIR. Mr. Davis let her know that the Council would prefer to see it once the county is finished with their requirements.
Ryan Chapman, Planning Engineer does traffic engineering for the county and is here this evening to speak to a request from the San Miguel Volunteer Fire Dept. to convert the three al-
ley ways in San Miguel to one way. Mr. Chapman states that Chief Roland Snow is concerned and wishes the change because fire trucks have come face to face when reporting to an emergency call. Commander Nuismer excused herself and made a phone call to the Camp Roberts Fire Station. She returned to give the Council the Base Fire Dept’s experience. (They respond to calls in San Miguel also) She stated that her Chief said that because of the same problems they park their “rigs” on the street and walk in. After discussion back and forth it became apparent that the Council did not feel comfortable voting on this issue without input from the people who live on the alleyways. Mr. Chapman is to devise a questionnaire to go out to the addresses that front on the alleyways. Ms. Brower made the suggestion that they should be both in English and in Spanish as there is a strong Spanish population in the area.
Mr. Davis opened the floor to nominations for four regular seats and two alternate seats on the Council. The election will be held on June 23rd.
Patricia McHarris was nominated by Andrea Hobbs
Jean Hoffmann was nominated by Fred Thacker
Gary Davis was nominated by Sharon Brower
Denis Degher was nominated by Gary Davis
Tom Banish was nominated by Denis Degher
There were no other nominations. Colleen Enk, Linda Mora, Karl Von Dollen, Laverne Buckman and Fred Thacker were all nominated but decline. It was announced that the by-laws state that write-ins will be accepted as long as the League of Women Voters is able to verify that they are registered voters and reside within the sphere of influence of San Miguel.
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X. OLD BUSINESS – May 13th – Public workshop on land use and transportation. No one from the Council attended to give a report.
IX. NEW BUSINESS – Due to the elections the June 23rd meeting will begin at 6:00PM
The Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM
The next meeting will be held on June 23rd at 6:00 PM

Minutes approved without correction