Fallbrook area MSR updates deferred to March 7

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The draft updated municipal service review for Fallbrook’s special districts was discussed by San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission during the Feb. 7 LAFCO meeting, but LAFCO opted to defer action until the March LAFCO meeting.

Separate 8-0 votes continued both the municipal service review updates and the sphere of influence updates for the Fallbrook Public Utility District, the Rainbow Municipal Water District, the North County Fire Protection District, and County Service Area No. 81 to the March 7 meeting while keeping public testimony open which will allow comment March 7.

Although the proposal for FPUD and Rainbow to detach from the San Diego County Water Authority is a separate matter from the municipal service review, the consultant report which is scheduled to be discussed at the Feb. 17 Advisory Committee on the Fallbrook/Rainbow Detachment meeting has information on FPUD and Rainbow service needs and abilities so comments from the committee meeting or based on the report might be incorporated into the MSR.

The MSR added one recommendation for future consideration from the draft report released for public review Dec. 6, and that recommendation is to consider a boundary adjustment between San Diego County and Riverside County to bring the Riverside County portion of DeLuz into San Diego County so the delay in adopting the MSR will also allow Riverside County input on the boundary changes and on the recommendation to expand the NCFPD sphere of influence into Riverside County.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jim Desmond, one of the two county supervisors on the LAFCO board, said of deferring a decision until March 7.

“I think it’s a reasonable act of the commission,” said LAFCO executive officer Keene Simonds.

A municipal service review evaluates services and anticipated needs. A sphere of influence study determines the boundaries best served by a particular agency. Municipal service review and sphere of influence updates are prerequisites to a jurisdictional change other than annexation of land within the sphere of influence, and LAFCO also periodically conducts municipal service review and sphere of influence updates for all cities and special districts. LAFCO is responsible for jurisdictional changes including consolidations, detachments, annexations, and city incorporations. The LAFCO board can also grant an expansion of latent powers to a special district.

The conclusions and recommendations in the municipal service review discussed Feb. 7 differed little from the draft document released for public review Dec. 6. The 14 recommendations in the draft document were that LAFCO should coordinate with the County of San Diego and with the San Diego Association of Governments to develop buildout estimates specific to each specific agency and incorporate the information into a future municipal service review which would include assessing potential impacts from the recent state legislation allowing for accessory dwelling units.

Also, to reconcile the loss of avocado acreage during the five-year report period (approximately 20% of total acreage at the beginning of the period) with LAFCO’s policies to promote and enhance agricultural resources and incorporate that into LAFCO’s current two-year planning grant to assess agricultural trends in San Diego County, and to coordinate with the County of San Diego to identify permitted groundwater wells and septic systems within the FPUD and Rainbow service areas and incorporate that information into a future MSR.

More recommendations are to address FPUD’s recycled water service activities as part of a future policy update regarding agency functions, to work with the fire district to develop performance measurements for hazardous materials response and vegetation management while incorporating that analysis into a future MSR, to obtain additional information on the number of mutual water companies in the Fallbrook area, and to revisit NCFPD fire protection and emergency medical service activities and costs as part of an update to a countywide fire service study.

Also, that NCFPD should consolidate its two existing taxing authority zones into one, that opportunities for additional consolidations in the Fallbrook region are possible although the report did not suggest any proposals, that all of the agencies should enhance accountability to their constituents by permanent livestreaming of meetings and posting videos on-line, that LAFCO should prepare a future information report to advise on current statutory thresholds and associated incorporation opportunities.

Furthermore, that the updated MSR be considered when FPUD’s application to activate various latent powers is reviewed by LAFCO staff and heard by the LAFCO board and that expansion of such latent powers may warrant converting FPUD into a community services district, that there are no current needs for FPUD or Rainbow to provide services beyond their jurisdictional boundaries (which would allow for an updated sphere of influence with no boundary changes), and that the NCFPD sphere of influence might be expanded into Riverside County where response by NCFPD would be more feasible than response by a Riverside County agency.

The additional recommendation is that a boundary adjustment between San Diego County and Riverside County appears geographically merited to expand San Diego County further into the DeLuz area to reflect existing accessibility and first responder activities. San Diego County LAFCO recommended coordination with Riverside County LAFCO to assess the political merits of a boundary change and interest by affected landowners and residents before proceeding as appropriate.

“What we’d like to do is explore it a little further with our partners in Riverside,” Simonds said.

“I’d like to hear back from Riverside County,” Desmond said.

That would also include the NCFPD sphere of influence expansion. “We would work with our partners in Riverside to assess the situation from their perspectives,” Simonds said.

“Spheres and boundaries for special districts can go into one or more counties,” Simonds said. “Special districts can be multi-jurisdictional.”

The 45-day public comment period on the draft MSR ended Jan. 31. On Feb. 4 LAFCO received a letter from San Diego County Water Authority general manager Sandra Kerl requesting that LAFCO table adoption of the MSR until March.

LAFCO selected Michael Hanemann as the detachment committee consultant to review water supply reliability, water rate impacts, and potential departure payments for each agency involved. Hanemann did not submit his report to LAFCO until Dec. 31, and it was not delivered to the impacted agencies until Jan. 14. The detachment advisory committee scheduled for January 2022 was postponed until Feb. 17.

Claire Collins is the SDCWA legal counsel for the proposed FPUD and Rainbow reorganization. She told the LAFCO board that information pertaining to the detachment proposal could be concurrent with the MSR update. “We think that the MSR should be delayed accordingly,” she said.

“I believe it would be appropriate for the ad hoc committee to review it in conjunction with the Hanemann Report,” Collins said. “The comments can be incorporated and brought back.”

FPUD general manager Jack Bebee noted that the CWA submitted the postponement request the Friday prior to the Monday LAFCO meeting rather than during the public comment period. “I have a little bit of a concern about the Water Authority’s approach,” Bebee said.

Bebee was supportive of the MSR reviewed by LAFCO at the Feb. meeting. “It’s a very well-written document,” he said. “I fully support the document.”

FPUD also has an application to LAFCO to expand latent powers for a potential community benefit district to take over community beautification and maintenance items. Voter approval would be required to create a community benefit district which would also include an assessment, although a LAFCO board action to expand FPUD's latent powers would only require a public vote if sufficient protest signatures were gathered and submitted to LAFCO so an expansion of FPUD's latent powers to form a community benefit district will only happen if public support at the ballot box is expected.

County Service Area No. 81 covers parks in Fallbrook, DeLuz, and Rainbow. The county’s target is at least five acres of park land per 1,000 residents. Fallbrook currently has 0.26 acres of park land per 1,000 residents, and Desmond would like to bring the Fallbrook figure closer to the county target.

“I’m going to try to push for that,” Desmond said. “Perhaps FPUD could help with that effort.”

Desmond also noted that the Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project was the result of FPUD partnering with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “It’s a great example I think of local governments working together,” Desmond said.

The MSR element addressing the need for Fallbrook to address avocado production loss either through transitioning to other uses for that land or through less expensive water costs was also noted by Desmond. “I think it’s critical,” he said.

LAFCO will not initially produce a revised MSR based on the ad hoc committee comments. “We will have a supplement,” Simonds said.

That would be incorporated into a revised MSR after the LAFCO board’s adoption. “Staff would be responsible for reconciling that in a published report,” Simonds said.