By Joel Hastings
The Madera Irrigation District held its regular Board meeting on September 21, 2021, called to order at 1 p.m. by Chairman Jim Erickson with four directors present. The agenda was approved and public comment was invited but none was forthcoming on the agenda for the closed session. One potential conflict was noted for an item of ongoing litigation for Fresno River rights. Two items of anticipated legal action and five items of existing cases were listed in the agenda. The Board moved into closed session at 1:02 p.m.
As scheduled, the Board moved to open session at 2 p.m. Following the call to order and the Pledge, a moment of silence was held for Director Rick Cosyns who had passed away suddenly on Sept. 7 at the age of 64. There was nothing to report from the closed session, no potential conflicts of interest in the open session and no public comment.
SGMA
Moving into a session as the Board of the Madera ID GSA, Assistant Manager Dina Nolan reviewed the purchase of property slated as a recharge basin. Escrow has closed on this parcel making it the third purchase. Projects were scheduled to be completed by 2030 so the GSA is well ahead of schedule. She reviewed the three parcels purchased, noted work existing recharge basins including 412 acres of pasture. A recharge projects with the municipal golf course and outreach to other GSAs has been accomplished. A new software package is available for MID customers to help growers manage their water usage. There have been projects to assist with domestic well programs, also. She concluded saying that all this work represents “real, tangible projects.”
MID
Moving back as the ID board, the group approved the consent agenda which included minutes of three previous Board meetings held July 28, August 3 and August 23. The warrant list payments totaling $1,981,118.36 were included along with financial reports for July and August. The final consent item was the approval of a list of surplus equipment to be sold. Unanimous approval was given for all items.
Next came the report for the Finance Department delivered by Controller Jennifer Furstenburg. She said approximately 26,000 acre-feet of water was delivered in June and July 2021 for total water sales of approximately $8.9 million. She continued saying the third and final payment for 2021 was received from the County of Madera for Assessments and Standby Charges on August 19th in the amount of $273,574.74. This payment was for receipts the County has collected on MID’s behalf through July 6, 2020.
The assessments for 2022 and the standby charges for 2021 have been sent to the County for inclusion in the County’s property tax bills. The total assessments and standby charges are $7,867,978.96.
The semi-annual bond payments due September 1 have been made with the funds transferred to Wells Fargo on August 16. The 401a audit has been completed and audited financial statements are included in the board packet. All other accounting and payroll functions were carried out as usual.
Tanesha Welch gave her Human Resources Department report in the areas of employee evaluations and informational meetings, company and employee insurances and recruitment for two positions, one on the maintenance crew and for two temporary office assistants. In house training was accomplished including forklift safety for the maintenance staff.
The engineering, operations and maintenance report was delivered by Charles Contreras, department manager. He hit the highlights of his written report, which as usual provided impressive detail with photos. The amount of work accomplished including routine maintenance, seasonal chores and capital improvements always seems to please the Directors.
Moving to a scheduled presentation at 2:15 p.m., the Board heard the audit report on the company’s 401a and older 401k retirement plans presented by Kip Hudson, CPA, of Hudson Henderson Co. in Fresno. He said the value of the plans increased by $463,000 after administrative costs and payouts to participants. He confirmed that all internal
controls are properly in place and said there were no items of concern. It was a clean audit.
Director Carl Janzen asked about the tax status in the conversion from the 401k to 401a programs and Hudson explained that the plan administrator deals with IRS approvals for this routine change.
GM Report
In his General Manager’s report, Tommy Greci first thanked the staff and directors for their participation in the MID booth at the Madera Fair. Next, he said bids are being solicited for lease of 1069 acres of grazing land near Lake Madera. The bidding deadline is October 1st 
at 4 p.m. Staff is working on accreditation for the highest level of “district of distinction” recognition. He said the annual ACWA conference will be held in person on October 8 at Harris Ranch.
In routine items of new business, the Board approved new investment platforms proposed by the John Hancock firm for the funds in the 401a and 401k plans. An updated annual agreement was approved with PG & E for Soquel water. Also given the OK were adjustments in the Sunlife employee life insurance plan as presented by Assistant Manager Nolan.
As previously announced, the public had been invited to submit a new name for the 10,000 acres MID property formerly known as the Madera Ranch. Ten entries had been received and while the Board members expressed their appreciation, they tabled a decision until next time.
COVID Vaccination Mandate
Perhaps the most important decision at this meeting, certainly the most difficult, was the approval of a policy that all MID employees and Board be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by November 16, 2021, unless an exemption from vaccination is obtained based upon a qualifying religious or medical exemption. Employees who qualify for an exemption will be required to test weekly for a negative result and must wear a face covering while
working within or at any MID facility. MID reserves the right to revoke an exemption at any time for any reason including, but not limited to, undue burden or hardship on the District. Employees who do not provide proof of vaccination or have an approved reasonable accommodation by November 16, 2021, will be terminated immediately.
Discussion centered on the need to provide a safe work environment for all. In addition, the number of hours that had been lost to staff who were ill or quarantined has been significant, with COVID infections continuing to be at a high level in the community.
The motion to approve this policy was made by Director Carl Janzen and seconded by Dave Loquaci. Approval was unanimous.
One final housekeeping item was approved, the continuing use of remote meetings in light of the governor’s state of emergency declaration remaining in place. It was noted that if technology problems prevented participation by the public, no decisions could be voted on. Director Janzen asked about public participation by those who are vaccinated but until the emergency status changes, the meetings will not be in person.
As is regularly done, the open meeting concludes with comments from each director. Director Brian Davis said what everyone was thinking, “Our hearts go out to Rick Cosyns’ family on their loss.” He continued saying Rick tried to make our area a better place and that he worked hard to bring everyone together.
Director Janzen recalled meeting Rick for the first time. He had known the family but then met Rick when working with him on several projects.
Director Loquaci reminded the group that the funeral service is tomorrow (September 22) at 11 a.m. Everyone in the ag community is saddened.
Chair Erickson concurred, thanked the group and then returned the Board to closed session at 3:10 p.m. The Board came out with no reportable action and adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
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Madera Irrigation District – 12152 Road 28 ¼ Madera, CA 93637 559/673-3514
Staff: General Manager -Thomas Greci, Assistant GM – Dina Nolan
Board: Jim Erickson, Chair; Rick Cosyns, Vice-Chair, Brian Davis, Carl Janzen and Dave Loquaci
HISTORY: From www.madera-id.org The Madera Irrigation District (MID or District) encompasses an area of approximately 139,665 acres. MID operates a primarily gravity irrigation distribution system with approximately 300 miles of open flow canal systems as well as 150 miles of large diameter pipelines.
The District has a Central Valley Project (CVP) repayment contract with United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) providing up to 85,000 acre feet (AF) of Class 1 and 186,000 AF of Class 2 water per year from the Friant Division (Millerton Lake). The CVP water is released from Millerton Lake through the Friant Dam, and then conveyed through the Madera Canal for delivery into the District’s service area. The District also entered into a CVP repayment contract with the USBR for the yield from the Hidden Unit (Hensley Lake). Under the Hidden Unit contract, the average annual supply available to the District is approximately 24,000 AF per year.
DWR SGMA # 5-022.06
