The Capistrano Insider

The 241 Toll Road Extension Has a Name: The Tesoro Extension

Geez, if we're going to get the traffic, shouldn't be at least get the name? The Capistrano Connection even has a nice ring ...

From the Transportation Corridor Agencies ...

Using feedback from Board Members and the community, The Toll Roads staff has worked the past few months performing technical analysis to determine the location of the southern terminus of the 241 extension project – now called the State Route 241 Tesoro Extension.

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency’s (F/ETCA) Board of Directors voted to continue the engineering, environmental, traffic and financial analysis of the extension that will end temporarily at the future Cow Camp Road near San Juan Capistrano.  At a later date -- when the adjacent local transportation system is complete in the unincorporated area north of Ortega Highway and east of Antonio Parkway -- a permanent SR 241 interchange will be built at future “G Street.” The extension will be 4.8 miles long.

Cow Camp Road is planned to run parallel to Ortega Highway to the north of San Juan Creek and will be the area’s major east-west arterial roadway with two to three lanes in each direction. It is projected to carry more than 30,000 trips per day in 2035.  Ortega Highway will become a secondary road with one lane in each direction through the area and is estimated to carry 6,000 trips a day in 2035.

The SR 241 Tesoro Extension analysis is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2012 and construction could begin shortly thereafter. The construction cost is estimated at $200 million. The F/ETCA Board also approved a contract with Barclays Capital Inc. for development of a finance plan. Barclays has a long financial history with TCA and was instrumental in helping the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (SJHTCA) achieve successful debt restructuring in May 2011.

Capistrano Hires Risk Manager Away from Irvine

From the city:

New Human Resources Manager named

Tom Bokosky has been selected as San Juan Capistrano's new Human Resources Manager. He comes to the city with a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors. He begins his new post on Jan. 25.

Tom has worked as a Risk Management Administrator for the city of Irvine since May 2001. In his role with Irvine, a city of more than 219,000, he prepared and managed human resources and risk management budgets and determined the appropriate type and amount of property and casualty insurance protection required along with negotiating policy terms, conditions, and premiums with insurance companies. Among many other duties, Tom investigated liability and workers' compensation claims, negotiated employee benefits and implemented the city's first Injury & Illness Prevention Program. He serves as board member and Underwriting Committee Chairman for the California Insurance Pool Authority, a public agency insurance pool.

Before Irvine, Tom worked in the private sector as the Director of Risk Management for Remedy/Temp; a Workers Compensation Specialist for Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.; and as the Corporate Safety Director for College Health Enterprises. He has a bachelor's in Organizational Leadership, a Masters of Labor Relations from the California Public Employers Labor Relations Association and is a Certified Professional in Human Resources and a Certified Self-Insured Administrator (State of California).
Tom also served his country as a United States Navy Reserve Intelligence Specialist from 1986 to 1992.


Tom said he is excited about his new position.

"I look forward to working with a great team of professionals to transform beautiful and historic San Juan Capistrano's culture into a more service-oriented culture and to help make this unique city a better place to live and work," he said. "I am excited to use my experience in both the public and private sector to ensure our employees have the tools and support they need to increase customer service while saving the city money to better serve the community."

City Manager Karen Brust said Tom is a welcome addition to the San Juan Capistrano team.

"In addition to Mr. Bokosky's 21 years of risk management and human resources experience, he has the organizational development background to assist me in instilling an attitude of service-oriented performance to achieve a culture in the city focused on our customers," she said.

Tom will begin with a starting salary of $112,896 plus benefits. Similar to the city manager, he will contribute 100 percent of the employee's share of the retirement benefit with the Orange County Employees' Retirement System.

Careful What You Read -- and What You Believe -- About Water

The Common Sense folks continue to rant about the water rates and San Juan Capistrano's groundwater recovery plant.

Take what they say with a grain of salty water from the sea, at least.

First off, the city does not lose the rights to the groundwater recovery plant. Everybody at every meeting I've sat through, from those at our own City Hall to those at the San Juan Basin Authority, say the contracts clearly call out for the city controlling the plant for generations.

There's also no evidence the GWRP was built for Rancho Mission Viejo, other than the suspicions of a cadre of folks who seem to think the Ranch is some sort of bogeyman and want to blame the Moiso family for everything from traffic to water rates.

Next, water rates are high. Everywhere. Has our Utilities Department run as efficently as it could have? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see what the $55,000 audit finds.

But what frustrates me about the leaflets left on some of the homes in Capistrano is the complete lack of (accurate context). Water rates are high in Capistrano, but no more so than in our surrounding cities, despite what you might have read in the leaflet.

The reason? Water users in neighboring cities pay a monthly water bill, just like we in Capistrano do. But, unlike us, customers of South Coast Water District (Dana Point) and Moulton-Niguel Water District (Laguna Niguel) pay an additional usage fee on their property tax. That's not for bond repayments, that's just part of the water bill added onto the property taxes.

San Clemente in June raised its water rates 12.7 percent. In a survey of nine South County water agencies, the average water bill was $99 a month. Capistrano's was $102. We're more expensive than San Clemente, cheaper than South Coast.

Water's expensive, and getting more expensive everywhere. All of that said, the Los Angeles Times today has a pretty good piece about (more) anticipated cost increases from the Metropolitian Water District (MWD) which pretty much provides water in Southern California to anyone who doesn't have their own supply.

Here's a couple of paragraphs:

Agency officials predict that the double whammy will boost the aqueduct's energy costs, which amounted to nearly $49 million last year, by 80% over the next decade.

...

The MWD imports 40% to 60% of the Southland's water supply. Rising energy costs are one of the reasons the district has increased its wholesale rates to Southern California water agencies 75% in the last six years and will continue to raise them, executives say.

You can see the entire story here.

Bottom line: On top of uncertainities in the water supply -- smelt in the Delta, Colorado River water going elsewhere -- MWD has been buying electricity at cut-rate prices (unlike the city of SJC) and will have to start paying more.

Capistrano's GWRP operations have certainly been spotty over the past few years, but officials have been saying it's working now. They've got a handle, they say, on the technical challenges.

But one challenge not met by the city that we must face: Resisiting the urge to judge a long-term investment against today's standard. It's difficult to accept in this "make me happy now" world, but the real value of the GWRP may not be known for decades, if not generations.

Download GWRP Lease agreement 2002

Capistrano Historic Preservation Manager Leaving

Teri Delcamp, San Juan Capistrano's Historic Preservation Manager, has given notice. She's taking another job elsewhere.

I have a call in for details.

Delcamp's position was one that was looked at for possible outsourcing, however, and no public decision was reached. The timing of her departure has some concerned with historic preservation in town concerned, as the city ramps up the discussions of the downtown master plan -- which has some impacts on cutural resources.

Stay tuned.

Ah, Another Case of Code Enforcement Run Amok?

Remember when San Juan Capistrano impounded a truck off a man's driveway because it didn't run? The City Council (including except the Conservative Reeve) upheld that decision ... Now, the city's in the midst of working with Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, who were cited for holding Bible studies in their homes.

Chuck Fromm, by the way, attended Coffee Chat on Friday and complimented City Manager Karen Brust, so it seems as a settlement may be in the offing.

Brust, in her City Manager's Update, noted 204 new code enforcement cases were opened in September, way up from the 113 opened in August. No word on what type of violations the list includes.

But here's one from Diamond Bar, a Los Angeles County town just north of Brea. A man got arrested because his classic Mercedes had a flat tire in his driveway. Here's the story.