Acton Town Council Meeting Minutes, March 6, 2023, Approved

1. Call to Order, Flag Salute, & Roll Call – The meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm by President Jeremiah Owen.  Present at the meeting:  Tom Costan, Jeremiah Owen, Jacki Ayer, June Perkins, and Kelly Teno.
2. Community Comments – A resident, new to Acton, expressed his concern over the large amount of motorcycles, sand rails and ORV, riding in the Santa Clara River bed.  They are going too fast and making it impossible for anyone to walk, hike, or ride horses.  He has called in multiple complaints.  Deputy Martinez reported that they are working on a new grant for the off-road team, under the new Sheriff.  He expressed that they are looking for community input for approval of the grant.  As soon as it goes through and the new Sheriff signs it the off road team will be back.  If off roaders are on a private road they can not be cited.  If they are trespassing on someone’s property , or on a County maintained road they can be cited.  They can cite for dust and noise on private property, but the homeowner has to be the victim , not the sheriff and the homeowner has to go to court as the victim.
3. Announcements & Correspondence –
4. Sheriff’s Report – Deputy Martinez gave the stats for last month.  There were 335 calls for service. 1 part 1 crime, and 4 property crimes.
5. WWD37 – Department of Public Works/WWD37 gave a presentation which included how they are looking for a sustainable future, crisis – concerns.  The presentation also included the following – Drought Update, Water Supply, and Water Use.  The Drought Update included, that while our reservoirs have recovered Southern CA will still have challenges.  All of CA is out of extreme drought but groundwater supplies are still low.  In District 37, 1/3 of the water comes from groundwater and the rest from up North through AVEK.  Even though our groundwater usage has gone down we are still not a the saving percentage they want us to be.   CA is still restricting water usage to prepare for dry months.  District 37 infrastructure was described as aging infrastructure.  Our infrastructures life expectancy is anywhere from 40 to 80 years and ours is reaching middle age.  As the infrastructure gets older there will be more and more failures.  The maintenance required to keep up with the infrastructure is usually 10,000 hours per year and they could only provide around 4000 hours.  They spoke about the need for system modernizations, asset management and re-evaluating maintenance.  They also listed capital improvement projects for our area.  All this can be accessed at http://lacwaterworks.org.  Questions included Are there funds that are allocated for end of life maintenance for the infrastructure?  They replied that yes there are funds that are allocated but they don’t always cover the maintenance.  Are you having discussions with the High Speed rail and where they will get their water for construction?  Not since the last time we spoke.  He was asked about the RTG project and the several T’s that have gone in at intersections and what are they for?  He will follow up.  Where is the water coming from for the RTG project?  He thought the initial 68 homes that AVEK had guaranteed their water.   They would like to give updates next quarter.  He suggested that the Acton Basin be adjudicated.  We said it is a river and cannot be adjudicated.
6. Humidor/230 kV line and Angeleno project –  It has been decided that the Humidor project warrants a CUP.  This is good because the CUP process allows them to look at other areas to write the fire code for battery storage.  The NFPA writes code for the east coast battery storage, (which is better than ours) so it can now be looked at.  The ATC has asked CAISO for information on the Humidor and Angeleno project, but have had issues getting it.  ISO has agreed to provide us with information but we are concerned about whether we will get it.  Jacki Ayer made a motion if necessary to pursue a FERC process to address potential tariff violations by CAISO and SCE.  JunePerkins 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
7. FHSZ – Fire Hazard Severity Zone – Cal Fire has extended the maps comment time period to the end of April.  The Atc has sent out a letter about our concerns with the make and asking for the data they used to make the map.  we are concerned since much of the data shows that Acton should not be a High Severity area.  Until we get the data used to make the map we can’t really make comment.  We have not received response from our request or even acknowledgement that it has been received.  We are asking for help on this matter from our representatives.  Chuck Bostwick commented that Kathryn Barger has requested this information from them but has received no answer.  Maybe Senator Wilk can help.  This map is driving our high insurance rates.  We asked Senator Wilks Representative what we can do.  He will reach out to Cal Fire.  He also commented that we should write a letter to Senator Wilk Requesting an audit and for him to step in.  Jacki Ayer made a motion to write a letter to Senator Wilk, Assemblyman Lackey, and Supervisor Barger requesting assistance in securing the information we have requested from Cal Fire.  June Perkins 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.    Jacki Ayer made a motion to reach out to Pearblossom, Littlerock, Juniper Hills, and Llano to write a joint letter requesting information from Cal Fire about the maps.  June Perkins 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
8. Title 21 &22, Wildfire-  The hearing has been continued until June, which is good news.  We have sent our questions and are waiting on answers.  We need to request a map where these provisions will apply.  Jacki is concerned that the way the revisions are written that they will invite alot of pavement in our community which has the potential to harm our natural drainage.  We need clarification as to who is affected by the revisions.  They are doing a Neg Dec and no environmental process.
9. Deficiencies in SCE Notification Process for non-PSPS –  Some Acton residents experienced power outages during the late February snowstorm.  The SCE system that gives updates on power outages gave very bad to no information.  It kept saying that the power would be restored in 4 hours, then another 4….  This was Saturday and there was no power until Monday.  This information could lead to bad decisions, like whether or not to leave, get a generator or just get help.  SCE later said they couldn’t get there due to too much snow.  Why didn’t they just say that?  Tom Costan made a motion to write a letter to SCE that their notifications are inaccurate.  Jacki Ayer 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
10. SB 884 – Request for this to be continued
11. Minutes – Tom Costan made a motion all the minutes from 2019 – 2022 with the corrections made by Jacki.  Jacki Ayer 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
12. Councilmember Comments – June wanted everyone to be aware that the tax filing deadline has been extended until October.
13. Committee Reports- The following committees had reports – a. Education Committee – Tom will ask Tracy Costan if she will be willing to take over.  c. ARTC – We need to vote on whether we approve to have a rotating council take on President of the ARTC.  The discussion led to the conclusion that every 3 month rotation is maybe too short but 6 months might be too long.  So maybe every quarter change to a new council and the past council will finish their business of writing letters.  Jacki said they may have already made a decision since she missed the last meeting.  f. Finance, Ways and Means – Since Pam is out for awhile we need to get the checkbook and take that burden off her plate.  j.  Bylaws – Tom will make the changes to the Bylaws and post the draft online.  We will discuss them and read the changes at the next two meetings.
14. Unfinished/New Business -None
15. Items for Next Agenda – Draft Bylaws, Title 21 & 22, WDR for Action Camp.
16. Adjournment – 10:11 pm