10-01-10 BPU RPT 12 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A I `. N E 4 E N M Y I I f E rte. RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum 111-18t. i ( U T I L I T I E 5 BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: October 1, 2010 ITEM NO. 12 SUBJECT: DISSOLUTION OF PROPERTY COMMITTEE ISSUE: Consideration of the Board of Public Utilities' previous decision to dissolve the Property Committee temporarily established in 2005. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities reaffirm its previous decision to discontinue the Property Committee and address real property matters at the Finance/Marketing Committee. BACKGROUND: The Board of Public Utilities established the Property Committee (the "Committee") in 2005 pursuant to Sections 7.A and 7.0 of its Standing Rules. 7A. The RPU Board has established the following three standing committees: Finance/Marketing, Electric and Water. Appointments to the committees shall be made annually, in a manner prescribed by the RPU Board, concurrent with the election of officers at the first meeting in March, except for the Finance/Marketing Committee, which shall be composed of the Board Chair, and the chairs of the remaining three committees. 7.0 The RPU Board or the Board Chair may appoint an ad hoc committee as needed. Each ad hoc committee shall consist of an appointed Chairperson and at least two other RPU Board members. Ad hoc committees serve a limited or single purpose, are not perpetual, and are dissolved once their specific task is completed. The Committee was originally established to address the increasing number of property-related matters resulting from the Inland Empire's booming economy and the very active local real estate market. In addition, the Committee provided guidance on the real property aspects of a critical groundwater supply issue in the City of San Bernardino. As these issues increased, on June 2, 2006, the Board revised its standing rules to make the Property Committee a standing committee. As the Inland Empire's economy slowed, public requests related to Utility properties dwindled and the number of important property decisions declined significantly. For example,the Committee met on three occasions in 2009, with no meeting lasting more than 45 minutes. To date in 2010, matters needing the Committee's attention have only warranted one meeting (one hour duration). With respect to the critical groundwater issue in the City of San Bernardino, the water agencies involved in the longstanding dispute over groundwater operations have reached agreement, negating the need for extraordinary coordination of real property and groundwater efforts.