The Board votes to remove the County from the IWMA 

SAN LUIS OBISPO — The San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 10 at 9 a.m.

The meeting opened with 5-0 approval of the consent agenda, amended to reflect the addition of a letter to the fire safety council authorizing and designating the San Luis Obispo County community fire incorporated to serve as the primary applicant for the 2021 county coordinators grant.

Next, the Board recognized Joanie Ladley for her more than 30 years of service, starting as an Intermediate Typist Clerk in the Assessor’s Office and currently serving as Assessment Technician IV.

Following the presentation, the Board went to public comment. Helen Nolan, Deputy Clerk-Recorder, spoke on the upcoming recall election, which is 34 days away. Ballots will be mailed out Monday, Aug. 16, and anyone who doesn’t receive a ballot should call the County. The ballot will contain two questions; the first being should current Governor Gavin Newsom be recalled and the second; who should replace him if he is.

The recall will need a 50 percent vote to be approved, and the replacement will be chosen by a majority vote if the recall is approved. Nolan reiterated that people can choose to answer one or both questions, and if they choose no on recall, they may still vote on the replacement.

The majority of public comment were multiple requests regarding introducing a resolution for healthy children to allow children to not wear masks in school. Supervisor Debbie Arnold made a motion to add this item to the next available meeting, which would at the earliest be Sep. 28. Supervisors John Peschong and Chairperson Lynn Compton both said while they support the issues being raised they felt the venue was misplaced and should be put before the school board. The item is still set to appear in a future meeting.

The next item was the request to fund resources to implement the previously approved adaptive Framework for Regional Homeless Action Plan and Multiyear Efforts but authorizing a budget adjustment in the total amount of $1,539,3884 from the General Fund. The funds would be allocated as $1,125,244 to Social Services, $111,540 to Behavioral Health, $52,600 to Information Technology, and $250,000 to the Administrative Office. While the topic of homelessness and the direction to address it was debated in length, the Board did vote 5-0 to approve the staff recommendations in dispersing the funds.

The topic of moving the homeless camp to El Chorro Park was discussed, and Chairperson Compton spoke disapproval over moving the camp to a place that’s not appropriate, from its lack of services in the area, proximity to the college campus, and also in the reduction in space of a public park that belongs to the community. Supervisor John Peschong likewise spoke on the topic, and while in approval of the budget adjustment, stated that his “patience is wearing thin” and that the actions being taken were not making a dent, with California currently spending $60,000 per homeless person and yet the population keeps growing.

The final motion that was put forward from Supervisor Gibson included analyzing the possibility of going beyond 80 units now and bringing proposals back as soon as possible, encouraging parking efforts, with a target of 60-90 days to implement, and to utilize ARPA funding when necessary, which was seconded by Supervisor Arnold and approved with a 5-0 vote.

The next item was to receive and file a report by MSW Consultants regarding the analysis of the County’s proposed departure from the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA). Depending on asset negotiations, costs of withdrawing from the IWMA range from $1,585,400 to $2,084,000. These costs would be transferred solid waste ratepayers through a rate increase implemented by the end of the fiscal year. Additionally, future mandates or programs necessary to comply with waste programs are unknown, and the County would bear 100 percent of these costs versus sharing them with IWMA member agencies.

Supervisor Arnold moved staff’s recommendations to withdraw from the IWMA with Supervisor Peschong seconding. The motion was approved with a 3-2 vote with Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Dawn Ortiz-Legg in opposition.

Next, the Board heard from Scott Jalbert to receive and file an update on the current drought conditions. Currently, the County is in an extreme drought, known as a D3 category which will likely turn into a D4 (exceptional drought) later this year. Likewise, most of California has moved to a D4 within the last 16 days. Lopez at 33 percent, Santa Margarita at 61 percent, at Lake Nacimiento at 15 percent capacity, The recommendation is to continue the proclaimed local state of emergency. The agricultural offset ordinance is set to expire Jan. 1, 2022, when the Planting Ordinance would take place, taking a 25-acre foot exemption for tier 1 land, not subject to expiration. This motion was made by Supervisor Arnold, with a 4-0 vote, with supervisor Ortiz-Legg abstaining.

Item 48 was a hearing to consider a resolution directing the collection of annual sewer service charges on the fiscal year 2021-22 County property tax bills for the Los Osos Sewer Service Area. Chairperson Compton inquired if there are exceptions made to defer the fees in COVID situations considering job loss and other issues. Staffs recommendations were approved in a 5-0 vote.

Item 50 was a submittal of a request to authorize processing of a Specific Plan Amendment application by Monarch Dunes LLC to amend the Woodlands Specific Plan. The plan includes taking a public park and converting it to housing. Option A would be to let the project move forward with no specific guidance, and option B was to specifically direct staff to look into a replacement recreational benefit. Chairperson Compton made a motion to begin processing and to move forward, with the planning commission being the place where the public could come to find more information and hear the studies that will be done on the project. Supervisor Bruce Gibson made a statement asking to have a specific offset to replace the current park that would be used, and Chairperson Compton clarified that the motion to move forward included both options A and B. The motion passed 4-1.

Due to the length of the meeting, the last item on the agenda was postponed to the next meeting on Aug. 24, with public comment being heard to satisfy legal requirements.

Lastly, the Board went to closed session, with nothing to report on closed session. The next meeting of the Board is Aug. 24, and the agenda for the meeting will be made available on the district website prior to the meeting at slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Board-of-Supervisors/Board-Meetings,-Agendas-and-Minutes.aspx