The Rio Linda Elverta Water District is located at 730 L St., Rio Linda. The next regular board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. June 23 at the Rio Linda Elverta Chamber of Commerce at the 6730 Front St., Rio Linda. Courtesy photo

RIO LINDA, CA (MPG) – During the Rio Linda Elverta Water District’s monthly meeting on May 12 at 6730 Front St., one of the main topics of discussion was the water board’s oversight of banking authority. District board members had a back-and-forth quarrel over having more than one director with access to the water district’s banking account information and statements.

The meeting agenda also covered the topics of district expenditures and financial reporting, as well as urban water management planning.

During public comments at the start of the meeting, former water district director Mary Harris Garrison pointed out that the agenda she had printed from the water district’s website did not match the agenda provided at the meeting. After some discussion and reviewing of the agenda online, more copies were printed to ensure everyone had the correct meeting agenda and the issue was resolved.

One of the first agenda items was to discuss urban water management planning with contract district engineer Mike Vasquez, who provided his monthly report. Vazquez started his report by saying all current projects are moving forward as planned and are on schedule. This includes the Well 15 external project, which intends to add water treatment abilities for Rio Linda’s highest producing water well. 

Director Anthony L. Cline asked about funding limitations that might affect the completion time of the projects and the prioritization of areas with the most water traffic. Vazquez explained that there is a list of projects that are being focused on first, including water applications that are not functional as ones being top of the list. He added that he is planning to put together a firm budget from the contractor, Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group. 

“The biggest concern is that their (Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group) estimated cost to install the shooting system is $7 million, which is significantly higher than we had anticipated,” said Vasquez. “Part of what Provost has shared with us, as the reason for several of the costs, what they think that they’re going to be, because they’re just really high electrical costs for construction installation, as well as supply chain issues.”

Vasquez said he would meet with the consulting group the following day on May 13 to discuss some measures where the water district can save some money with the Well 15 external project.

The next agenda item, requested by director Maria Liverett, was to consider the authorization for all five Rio Linda Elverta Water Board members to have access to perform online banking for all district bank accounts. 

Liverett expressed concern about access being limited to one member, stating she had to wait five months to get statements from the bank for the district’s account and noticed a negative burn rate with the net cash flow for previous months. 

“We need access so we can pull down statements, I need to be able to pull an accurate burn rate. I confirmed that we received for January and February was $330,000. Our total operating expenses for January was $360,000. So, we have a negative burn rate of $30,000,” said Liverett.

General Manager Tim R. Shaw disputed Liverett’s item on the agenda stating that “banking terms for signatories is that only for a (single) signatory is authorized to withdraw, transfer and deposit.”

Liverett responded by saying that Shaw currently “is the only signer on six accounts which holds the majority of the money and that’s not right.” She also explained that if something were to happen to Shaw, it would be difficult to get access to the accounts.

“What you're describing right now is separation of duties, which is a very common thing and it’s not an on or off thing, it’s a spectrum,” said Shaw. “So, if you have a large organization like Sacramento Suburban (water district), they have additional positions including treasures, finance managers, and you can have the staff that exhibit a separation of duties role. Here, the grand jury recommended, the consultant we hired eight years ago recommended that we create a second position but we haven’t done that yet. We do the best we can do with limitations of staffing.”

Liverett said that she “cannot really perform” her duties of oversight, stating that’s the reason she was elected, with the “gatekeeping of the information I need to do my job.”

The Rio Linda Elverta Water District had its monthly meeting on May 12 at 6730 Front St., where one of the main topics of discussion was the water board’s oversight of banking authority. Photo by Idaly Valencia

Water board members, such as directors Vicky Young and Cline, agreed about having an additional signer for the accounts whereas Shaw and Jason Green said it should remain as is. 

“I’m opposed to it. I don’t see an issue with the finances and I think whatever somebody is looking for here, they’re not going to want,” said Green.

 “The policy is who should be signatories on these accounts, whether it is to remain the same or if we want, I mean all accounts and signatories should obviously have at least two signatures required," Young said.

She added that Liverett has a point, explaining that she should be able to get that information if she wants to look into the finances but it should not require everybody on the board to sign.

“It’s good governance, good practice and better transparency,” said Liverett regarding having more than one board member with that oversight authority of banking accounts.

The board ultimately voted in favor of having two signatures to perform actions on the district’s accounts such as transfer of funds, one being the main signatory (the general manager) and one other board member.

Liverett also proposed on the next item an Executive Committee Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to administer the authority of the executive committee. Discussion over such a procedure was moved to touch base again in next month’s meeting, as a presentation was requested by fellow directors and general counsel explaining the need for a standard operating procedure and any overlap with existing policies that already serve that purpose for the executive committee. 

“My motion is for Tim and Maria to bring any material they need, talking points to go over the standard operating procedures they want for the executive committee,” said Cline. “Furthermore, if there’s anything on there that is incompatible with our current operating procedures for the whole board, then maybe they can bring those agenda items.” 

The next water district board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 23. Meetings are open to the public to attend and are also recorded and uploaded online. For more information or a copy of the agenda for any earlier or upcoming meetings, visit rlecwd.com/board-meetings.