The Friday Flyer • March 10, 2017

CANYON LAKE’S NEWSPAPER • MARCH 10, 2017
Fiesta Day Committee announces parade Grand Marshals Pg. A7
EVMWD to host annual "Splash into Spring" event Pg. A10
JWC invites residents to annual Charity Golf Tournament Pg. A11
POA reaches Lake Lease agreement with EVMWD
BY DONNA RITCHIE
EDITOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
The Board of Directors of the Can- yon Lake Property Owners (POA) met in regular session on Tuesday March 7.
The biggest stories out of Tuesday night’s meeting were the announce- ments of a Lake Lease agreement being reached between the POA and Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVM- WD), the appointment of a new POA general manager and assistant general manager, the vote to not raise dues and the approval of the $269,000 Pickleball Project.
One of the biggest announcements came from Mayor Dawn Haggerty who informed the Board that Fire Station 60 will reopen July 1. (See page A3.)
The POA’s Legal Counsel, How- ard Silldorf of Silldorf Law, LLP, an- nounced that the POA and EVMWD, through their counsels, have reached an agreement as to the terms of the Fifth Amendment to the Lake Lease.
“We are hoping that they will approve and sign the agreement. We are hopeful that Friday morning we have an execut- ed Lake Lease. says Howard, “We can not answer questions now but on Friday we will release more information on the Lake Lease agreement in the form of a joint statement by both EVMWD and the POA.”
EVMWD was expected to execute
the agreement Thursday night after The Friday Flyer had gone to press. Check fridayflyer.com for updates.
The actual litigation began in Febru- ary 18, 2015, when the POA filed a law- suit stating that the POA’s payment to EVMWD, under the “Lake Lease,” is an unconstitutional “tax” as defined in Ar- ticle 13C of the California Constitution.
The complaint noted that the uncon- stitutional tax has been imposed and collected by EVMWD since Article 13C was enacted in 2010 by a vote of California citizens to enact Proposition 26. Therefore, all lease payments col- lected since September 2010 qualify as an unconstitutional tax. The premise (explained in detail in the “Lake Lease” link at canyonlakepoa.com) is that, as a government entity, EVMWD is not en- titled to charge more than what is neces- sary to cover the reasonable cost of its governmental activity.
The POA compiled budget figures showing that the amount Canyon Lake pays to lease the surface rights of the lake far exceeds what EVMWD spends to operate the lake.
The Lake Lease website explains the POA’s position by stating, “Under California’s constitution, government entities such as EVMWD must prove that lease fees are not a tax and that the amount charged is ‘no more than nec- essary to cover the reasonable costs of the governmental activity.’ In this case
EVMWD’s actual costs range from about $20,000 to $185,000 per year, a drop in the bucket compared to the $1.44 million it charges Canyon Lake property owners.”
Why did the POA pursue this case to begin with? The POA contends, “Under the current lake lease, which expires at the end of 2022, the annual fee paid by each Canyon Lake property owner would climb from $303 per year to as much as $519 by 2022. EVMWD also wanted to delete its current promise to keep the lake water level at 1,372 feet and force the POA to defend and indem- nify EVMWD if a homeowner sues over water level drops.”
Given the inability of the POA and EVMWD to come to a long term agree- ment to extend the lease, the POA sought the ruling from the Court that tells both parties their respective rights and obli- gations at the end of the lease.
The current Lake Lease expires on December 31, 2022. For more infor- mation about the Lake Lease, visit the POA’s website at canyonlakepoa.com.
POA President Bruce Yarbrough an- nounced the appointment of Eric Kaza- koff as the POA’s new general manager, effective Tuesday March 7.
Eric was hired four months ago for the operations director position. Accord- ing to the POA, Eric has more than 35 years of experience in the construction and facility management and has spent
the majority of his career in senior busi- ness management roles.
“We are very excited that Eric has ac- cepted the general manager position,” says Bruce. “Eric has a dynamic back- ground and from day one we saw his exceptional leadership skills as he took control of the management of multiple projects.”
Bruce also announced that the POA has reorganized and created a new assis- tant general manager position. Executive Administrator and Clerk of the Board Lynn Jensen has been appointed to the position.
“The Board has been looking for some period of time about a restructure and the way the POA does business,” says Bruce. “We found that there were too many departments reporting to one specific individual and that no mat- ter how good that person was he or she could not keep up. So what we’ve done is we’ve taken the opportunity to reorga- nized and we now have a new position called the assistant general manager.”
Lynn will be responsible for oversee- ing four departments: Food and Bever- age, Member Services, Planning and Compliance and Activities.
A spokesperson for the POA says, Lynn began working in the Member Ser- vices department in 2001, and through-
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PHOTO BY DONNA RITCHIE