Placer County Water Agency Elects New Chairman

Auburn, Calif.- District 5 Director Joshua Alpine, of Colfax, was elected Monday (Dec. 9) by his fellow directors to serve as 2014 chairman of the Placer County Water Agency Board of Directors.

Alpine, a former mayor and longtime city councilman in Colfax, was elected by voters to the PCWA board a year ago.  He served as vice chairman in 2013.

District 2 Director Primo Santini, of Lincoln, was elected as 2014 vice chairman.  He is a former Mayor and councilman with the City of Lincoln and was appointed to the agency board this past June upon the retirement of Alex Ferreira.

Also serving on the five-member governing board are Division 1 Director and outgoing board chairman Gray Allen of Roseville, District 3 Director Mike Lee of Loomis, and District 4 Director Robert Dugan of Roseville.

PCWA is the primary water resource agency for Placer County, with a broad range of responsibilities including water resource planning and management, retail and wholesale supply of drinking water and irrigation water, and production of hydroelectric energy.

In other business, the PCWA board:

• heard a staff update on the 2014 increase in the Water Connection Charge (WCC), which is linked to the Engineering News Record construction cost index and adjusted each year.  Director of Technical Services Brent Smith said the Jan. 1 increase of 5.25 percent is the largest since 2008.  The charge for a typical residential water connection will increase from $16,444 to $17,307. 
• heard annual reports on the Customer Services and Technical Services departments.  Near the end of each year, PCWA staff reports on accomplishments of the past year and opportunities seen in the year ahead.
• congratulated civil engineer Tony Firenzi on his Dec. 2 promotion to Deputy Director of Technical Services.  Firenzi, promoted from a senior engineer position, has been with the water agency for 11 years.

PCWA board meetings are open to the public. Information on PCWA board meetings may be obtained through the Clerk to the Board at (530) 823-4850 or (800) 464-0030.