The Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors selected its new officers for 2012 at the Dec. 6 regular meeting. Director Frank Clark will serve as board president, Steve Webb will serve as vice president, OID General Manager Steve Knell will serve as board secretary, and OID Chief Financial Officer Kathy Cook will serve as treasurer.
The board also unanimously approved a move to adopt the 2012 budget and organizational chart. The OID budget for 2012 is approximately $20 million.
Also in other business, the board unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing OID staff to proceed with the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process for annexation of the Trinitas partners to the district. Knell said he expects the environmental review to take a full year before it goes to the next step. If all goes according to plan, up to 8,000 acres of Trinitas land would be annexed to the OID in March 2013.
Director Webb commented that he’s pleased with the annexation of the agricultural land but pointed out that he doesn’t want the district to lose sight of other people in the district (fringe parcels) who want to annex. Director Clark commented that the annexation will be good for the local economy because it will bring jobs to the area in the form of employees, the purchasing of farm equipment, and installation of an approximately $8 million pipeline, as well as netting about $50 million to $60 million for the district.
There were some comments by Knell that the annexation will affect capacity on the South Main canal and noted that Trinitas is willing to go on groundwater during the months of July and August. He said that this will drive some policy issues in the district.
Local dairyman Jack Hoekstra went to the podium and told the board that he thinks it’s “great” that the board is trying to keep the water local and grow agriculture in the area. He added that his family has been OID customers for 40 years and have also paid for out-of-district water for several years and wants to be in line to annex more ground to OID.
In discussion items, director Clark reported on Tri-Dam that the budget there this year will be about $200,000 less than last year and no salary increases are budgeted. He also said that the best estimate is that OID will receive about $11 million from Tri-Dam this next year, but that OID has budgeted to receive $9 million. He also reported that the Tulloch generator has been installed and will start up in February 2012. Also, it’s estimated that the project will take another $2 million to complete.
Standing committees were also selected at the meeting and are as follows: Finance, Clark and Al Bairos. Water/Engineering, Jack Alpers and Herman Doornenbal. Personnel, Alpers and Bairos. Planning/Public Relations, Clark and Doornenbal. Tri-Dam Project/Authority, Clark and Webb. Domestic Water, Clark and Webb. San Joaquin County Advisory Board representative, Doornenbal. San Joaquin River Commission representative, Alpers.
The Jan. 3, 2012 meeting has been cancelled. The next regular meeting of the OID Board of Directors is at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at the OID boardroom, 1205 East F.
