The following posts are excerpts about the WW Community Services District (CSD) initiative from the WWPOA newsletter going back to April 2016.
Although the WW CSD Committee had started work a year or two prior to 2016, the CSD did not really become
a blip on our radar until the WWPOA began to attend meetings and write articles.
This first post is from the April 2016 newsletter and is primarily about the MAC. The MAC is the way WW does business with the county in lieu of a CSD. Also included are notes from the MAC meeting to give folks a feel for what the MAC does. If the CSD is voted in, CSA 56 and its associated MAC are scheduled for dissolution.
Since the CSD only covers the core powers of Parks and Rec, Solid Waste, Street Lights and Sewer Engineering powers,
it is undefined what/how Wrightwood will deal with areas the MAC covers assuming the MAC is dissolved.
Will the MAC still persist? Will the CSD be expected to take over the advisory roles the MAC used to perform in addition to its official powers.
Nobody seems to know.
From the WWPOA 4/2016 Newsletter...................
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What is the MAC? abstracted from Wikipedia
A municipal advisory council in the United States is an organization composed of elected or
appointed members whose purpose is to advise a city or county government about the activities and
problems of the area represented. In California state government, the councils serve unincorporated
communities as links to county boards of supervisors under authorization of a 1971 legislative statute.
Such a council is an advisory body of local citizens elected by the community or appointed by
the board of supervisors with the purpose of representing the community to the board. Although a
municipal advisory council is a governing body, it has no fiscal authority or administrative organization.
Because it lacks authority to implement its position directly, it seeks to accomplish its goals
through county government.
These councils face two ways: toward the county, offering the views of the community; and toward
the community, supplying information about county proposals and a place where individuals can air
opinions on community problems and perhaps receive help. The councils hold public meetings, survey
community opinion and speak for the community to the board of supervisors. The most common
subject of activity is land-use planning. The county often uses the group as a planning advisory
council to draft or revise the community's portion of the county general plan.
The following 3 paragraphs on Wrightwood Municipal Advisory Council History is
from "Municipal Advisory Councils" by Jack Fuller, prepared for the State of California 1977
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WRIGHTWOOD MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COUNCIL SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY 1977.
P. O. Box 1015, Wrightwood, CA 92397
CONTACT: James Weeks, Chairperson (714/249-XXXX)
POPULATION: 1,283 (1975 census)
ETHNIC COMPOSITION: unavailable
MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: unavailable
MAC MEMBERSHIP: Eight members appointed (NOTE: final permanent membership will be seven)
MAC BUDGET: -0, MAC STAFF: -0
MAC MEETINGS: Third Monday, 7:30 p.m. at the Wrightwood Community Center, Wrightwood.
2
COMMUNITY PROFILE Wrightwood, a mountain resort community about thirty miles northwest
of San Bernardino, has no industry and little commercial development. Those interviewed estimated
that 60% of the homes were "second" homes and that of the full-time residents, 70% worked elsewhere.
There is a CSA, and the Board of Supervisors governs the fire protection district: both are coterminous
with the MAC. When the MAC was formed, the advisory boards for both of these special districts were
consolidated to form the Council. An operating budget for the MAC comes from the funds of these
two districts.
WW MAC HISTORY The Wrightwood MAC was established in February 1976. Supervisor James
Mayfield initiated the formation to improve communications between the County and communities in
his rural district. Originally, consolidation of the two advisory boards made a ten member Council,
but this number will be reduced to seven by attrition. It is believed that a 7 member board is a more
workable size. The MAC is involved in development of a general plan and in planning for the installation of sewers, animal control, and roads.
Community interest is high, and those interviewed
reported as many as 150 people at some meetings. The MAC has established a good rapport with the
Supervisor and the County.
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Fast forward from 1977 to 2016 and to this freshman WWPOA board member and recent MAC
attendee, things still seem to be about the same as they were about 40 years ago (with one Notable
Exception to be introduced below*). The MAC meetings are still the 3rd Monday of every month
and we still have 7 MAC board members, but the meetings start at 7PM instead of 7:30.
The 2016 MAC appears to follow a standard agenda:
1. Call to Order
2. Flag Salute
3. Roll Call of Board Members
4. Public Comment - Under this item, any member of the public wishing to directly address the
Board on any item of interest that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board, but
not listed on the agenda, may do so at this time. However, the Board is prohibited by law
from taking any action on any item not appearing on the agenda unless the action is otherwise
authorized by the Brown Act. Any member of the public wishing to directly address the Board
on any item listed on the agenda may do so when the item is being considered by the Board.
Speakers are requested to be brief in their remarks. The Chair may limit each speaker to a
comment period of five (5) minutes .
5. Agency Reports - This section is where the various public service entities such as the SBC/LAC
Sheriffs & Fire Department, Caltrans, County Services, Utilities, etc. report on signficant events
of interest to Wrightwood and where these entities receive input from the MAC about issues of
concern to Wrightwood.
6. Unfinished/Continued/New Business
7. Correspondence
Having attended enough of the recent MAC meetings to finally have that "Aha!" moment, our
key priority at the WWPOA is to replace the WWPOA representation at the MAC meeting lost with
the retirement of Carol Goss. Redefining and, if possible, improving the way WWPOA represents
its membership at the MAC is one of our most pressing initiatives over the coming months.
*The Notable Exception: the formation of a Wrightwood CSD in 2016
Last year, the County Supervisor appointed an exploratory committee to investigate the possibility of WW forming its own
County Services District, aka a CSD. The exploratory committee published
a Wrightwood Community Services District Feasibility Study on September 1, 2015 and presented it
to the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) for review. A copy
of this report is available at
http://wrightwoodcsd.org.
LAFCO is reviewing this application and needed all input by March 25. After that date the
committee will publish the findings on its website and schedule a public meeting to review the
findings. Approval of the CSD is by public ballot during the November elections. At that point 5
CSD board members will be elected. Applications for the position need to be made by mid-May.
The WWPOA has not had the opportunity to thoroughly review this document, but a quick
perusal of the study indicates that there could be positive benefits for WWPOA members and WW
residents. We will publish more in future newsletters as the details become available.
The following is
Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) 03/21/2016 Meeting Report
Board Members present were: Bob Comperini, Stephanie Carroll, Natalie Lopiccolo; absent were:
Paul Bauer, Chuck Carroll, Bonnie Ross
Public Comments: John Lenau: WW had a contract with SBCounty and a contractor to plant
200 trees in Sheep Creek wash; looks like 99% have not come up. SBC should come back to replant
them. Roy Montry: will check into possibility of replanting/replacement.
Agency Reports:
S.B. County Fire: Battalion Chief Bircheld has been reassigned.
S.B. County Sheri, Sgt. Jeff Toll: February calls: Oak Hills 158, Phelan 73, Pinon Hills 221,
Baldy Mesa 108, El Mirage 40, Wrightwood 118. We had an incident at 138 at Phelan Road, rocks
being thrown at vehicles; have four in custody, charges led. Burglaries in Wrightwood, two in
custody, 1 outstanding.
L.A. County Sheriff, Deputy Andrew Cronin: had 6 - 7 vehicle burglaries during snow days on
Highway 2 past Mountain High West. A description of a suspect vehicle: Black Ford F-150. There
have been no more burglaries since snow disappeared. Search and Rescue during snow, hikers falling
on icy paths down slopes, suggested warning signs would be good idea. Had search and rescue
training for 3 days at Mountain High North.
Victorville CHP, Lieutenant Jay Loftin: Fatal collision on 138, driver trying to pass over double
yellow line, spun into oncoming traffic. CHP needs more coverage to cite drivers who pass on double
yellow. Also at Lone Pine and 138 had a hazmat call: diesel fuel on 138. CHP will attend CalTrans
138 update on Wednesday, March 23, at 6:30 pm, at the Community Building.
Golden State Water, Jim Cowan: Water supply level 80 ft, last year 75 ft. Don't see much
recharging of water table so far this year. Project ready from Cardinal Road to Sunrise Church,
waiting for County work to go through Swarthout Creek. Governor Brown says we are still in water
restriction. Debbie at the office retired, not replaced yet. Bad news: PUC allows us to recover losses;
surcharge will be 44 cents per CCF starting March 1. Tests for chromium contamination in 2014
indicate no trace of chromium found. Question: How much recharging do we need to be comfortable?
Would like to see 20 feet rise in water level, but it doesn't seem likely to happen this year.
S.B. County Roads, Roy Montry: We are monitoring weather, don't have to chain up; will be in
maintenance mode. Will have lot of work in Phelan, Pinon Hills, Victorville, chip seal in Helendale.
Maintaining pot holes, signs, have replaced stop signs knocked down by plows. We have three new
pieces of snow equipment. Work is mostly on uphill streets and Lark, Apple, Evergreen. Question
about Heath Creek wash: (discussed in 83) had wall damage where it narrows, then over
ows, fear big boulders. Question about Lone Pine: would like to get some paving and some patching done
other end of Lone Pine. Trying to get permit for Green Waste Collection June 4 - 11 at the
County Yard.
County Supervisors Office, Susan Drake: We are reorganizing supervisor office, Rep. Ron Frame
sent to Big River and I got Wrightwood! My new title: Director of Constituent Issues. We have
followup with CalTrans Director regarding trac issues. Veterans Resource Fair will be June 2 at
the County Fair Grounds.
Community Plan: meeting in Wrightwood in August, can get update online.
Doing research on short-term rental issue. Natalie: bed tax? Chamber of Commerce discussed
possibility of transferring funds back to Wrightwood. Met with another office, another issue with
short-term rentals to be resolved, only for agencies in unincorporated areas. Not looking at rate,
but getting reimbursed. Many communities were using that to fund the chamber or to pay chamber
members.
Unfinished/Continued/ New Business
SGMNM, Shawn Troeger: Last meeting monument team broke into committees, we will be
working with forest services to gather information on forest service, will coordinate with MAC to set
date. Monument has no funding. Stephanie Carroll: We do see more vehicles on the road. John Aziz
re: Jackson Lake{Rock House was inspired because of monument.
Wrightwood Village Trail, John Lenau: Welcome to 16 members of Scout Troop 351, attending
to earn points toward merit badges. A proposed Eagle Scout is working on bar codes on the trail to
permit access to history, birds, trees, plant signs.
Neighborhood Watch, John Aziz: Next meeting will be May 4, basic self-defense training,
trying to arrange speaker. May 2 will be kicko for Wildre Awareness, 10:00 am at the
Fire Station. May 7, 10:00 - 3:00, Wildre and Disaster Awareness Day. Green Waste
Collection June 4 - 11 at the County Yard, daily hours: 10:00 - 2:00, except on June
8 and 9, hours: 12:00 - 6:00 pm. Hazardous Waste Collection to be in Wrightwood in
September (date TBD).
MAC Committees, Stephanie Carroll: presented the latest list of MAC committees/committee
members:
MAC Committee: Contact Person
Parks and Recreation: Stephanie Carroll, Natalie Lopiccolo,
Community Center/Old Museum: John Lenau
Roads and Trac: Paul Bauer, Bob Comperini, Chuck Carroll
Utilities: Chuck Carroll, Natalie Lopiccolo
Education/Schools: Stephanie Carroll, Natalie Lopiccolo
CERT: Bonnie Ross
Septic/Sewage Issues: Chuck Carroll, Jim Cowen, Lynn Crawford, Lora Steinmann, Herb Anderson
Neighborhood Watch: John Aziz, Bonnie Ross
Law Enforcement: Chuck Carroll, John Aziz
Fire and Medical Issues: Bob Comperini, Bonnie Ross
Wrightwood Community Services District, Stephanie: See the notes about WW CSD formation
in the section *The Notable Exception: the formation of a Wrightwood CSD in 2016 above.
MAC Committees, Stephanie Carroll: The next MAC meeting will be held on April 18,
at 7:00 pm, at the Community Building.
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