Benham is new president of Golden Hills CSD board
David Benham was elected president of the Board of Directors of Golden Hills Community Services District during a regular board meeting on Jan. 18.
Benham takes over for John Buckley, who said he did not want to continue as president. Joe Wood was reelected as vice president.
Benham was first appointed to fill a board vacancy, then elected to a fouryear term in November 2020.
Other action at the meeting included review and approval of a revised budget for the current year, an update to the district handbook, and acceptance of a bid for surplus property.
The board also discussed the nature park master plan approved last October.
General Manager Chris
Carlson said the district broke ground recently on construction of a pipeline that will carry non-potable water from the Poor Well to Tom Sawyer Lake.
Nearly all of the water used by Golden Hills CSD comes from the adjudicated Tehachapi Basin. But one well owned by the district — known as the Poor Well — is in an area designated as a “salvage area” in the adjudication judgment. The district is allowed to “pump such quantities of water as it is able to obtain” from that area, in addition to its pumping rights in the Tehachapi Basin.
The district has used water from the Poor Well to help address issues with Tom Sawyer Lake in the past, and the permanent plumbing of the well to keep the lake filled is expected to solve both the odor and expense problems.
Solving problems with the lake — to restore it as an asset to the nature park and surrounding community — was identified as essential in the master plan for the park approved by the board last year.
If plumbing water from the Poor Well is successful, it will also free up district funds to begin the development of the park.
The board plans community outreach in the coming months to determine its next steps.