Indian Valley Community Services District addresses COVID
The December Indian Valley Community Services District meeting was long, somber, and void of the festive holiday fare of past December meetings. Instead the bulk of the meeting concentrated on COVID protocols for both employees and directors in the weeks to come.
The directors have been meeting weekly in the absence of a general manager, divvying up various duties, and will meet online in zoom meetings for the next three weeks. Indeed, only directors Mina Admire, Bob Orange and Lee Anne Schramel were in attendance on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The meeting that evening was sparsely attended with only six people present including the directors and everyone six feet a part and masked.
Schramel led the discussion of new safety protocols. The district office is now closed to the public; customers can pay bills by mailing them in or placing payment in the mail slot. The office is also reachable via phone.
There was considerable discussion of moving the two employees inside the office further apart, with the board clerk/office manager Jeff Titcomb using the desk in the general manager’s area in the back of the office to create more distance between him and the other employee. Titcomb continually pushed back on this idea stating he believed they’d been exposed to each other already. The science on coronavirus suggests that every time you come in contact with someone it can be different given what that person’s exposure was since the last point of contact. Schramel, seconded by other directors present, also considered the two employees signing a waiver of liability if they do not wish to separate themselves further within the office.
Next tackled were field employees. All vehicles in the district will carry hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks, and all employees will be expected to use them.
Fire Chief Tony Balbiani was on hand to deliver his report that focused on how COVID protocols will be handled by the fire department. He cited that they’ve already been on a call to a house with COVID positive residents and that they are trying to minimize exposure in those situations by meeting with people in front of their homes if possible and not going inside.
All volunteer firefighting trainings will now be handled virtually or over conference calls for the time being. Balbiani stated that the Graeagle district had put together a comprehensive plan that the department is using as a model. The directors adopted the COVID guidelines developed by Graeagle as a guide to be adapted “to meet the IVCSD circumstances.”
Other items on the agenda included progress on the Cheney Street Project from last month; meter is in and sewer will be placed in spring and the purchase of computer and communications equipment for the fire chief. Directors also discussed the need for more up-to-date bids on a couple of projects, (park sidewalk repairs and waterline), which have old bids on them.
A formal written complaint received by the district, (and Plumas News) by a resident stating over use of the easement on his property and lack of maintenance of said easement by the district for its use. The board did not discuss the complaint at the meeting.
Director Schramel, who has been the director charged with recruitment of a new general manager, reported back that there are three applicants for the position and that interviews will be scheduled as soon as possible.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2021 at 6 p.m. at the Greenville Town Hall, 120 Bidwell Street, Greenville.
