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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

El Dorado County Grand Jury • 2009-2010

El Dorado County Zones of Benefit

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Findings 9 findings

F1 Page 5
Many of the ZOB members stated that since the oversight responsibility changeover from General Services to DOT in 2006, there has been erosion in member service levels, as well as administrative fee increases, which some feel are excessive.
F2 Page 5
The last ZOB procedures document, titled: “Policy and Procedure Guidelines for Creation and Administration of Zones of Benefit within a County Service Area” was produced June 2, 1987, and it appears that no updates or new distributions have been made since that time. Also, new administrative procedures by DOT have not been well communicated to ZOB’s, and much confusion has ensued.
F3 Page 5
Accounting for expenses has been sporadic and lacks sufficient detail.
F4 Page 5
The annual meeting for ZOB’s, when scheduled, is overly focused on “ethics training” and does not adequately address ZOB operational issues. A training program for new ZOB coordinators does not exist.
F5 Page 5
DOT does not provide much engineering expertise to assist ZOB’s. In the event road engineering information is required, the information is very slow in being provided.
F6 Page 5
When ZOB homeowners volunteer to perform basic landscaping or road maintenance they find the process cumbersome relative to requirements, forms, and steps needed to purchase materials. In addition, a $1,000,000 insurance rider is required by the County for any landscape work performed by property owners 20
F7 Page 6
The contract process for any roadwork takes too long and the DOT non-bid minimum threshold is too high. Since DOT does all of the administrative work for a contract, many of the smaller details of the contracted work get lost, resulting in work that has to be adjusted and done again. The cost of these errors is incurred by the ZOB. In some cases, work is being delayed due to the lack of expertise by one of the hired contractors. DOT does not allow for “splitting of contracts”, although there are often cases where two different contractors with different skills and expertise could handle a project more cost-effectively to the ZOB. Presently, prime contractors have to award subcontracts after bidding takes place.
F8 Page 6
An emergency or quick turnaround process is not in place to fix problems. The ZOB has to wait its turn for approval, and in the meantime, a problem that could have been resolved quickly may get worse, and costs often go up accordingly.
F9 Page 6
Many of the ZOB’s are unhappy with the cost and structure of the ZOB process but do not see a viable way to exit from that road maintenance entity. Although they could vote to remove themselves from the ZOB, a readily available path to pursue an alternative entity is not in place. This is an important issue, as it remains one of the biggest frustrations of several ZOB’s.

Recommendations 5