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Update: The Burdettes pay $174.08 per year, not per month, for road maintenance.

Private road upkeep draws public attention

Submitted for your approval: the Peterson Tract in June Lake, part of which includes a stretch of non-county roads that are maintained through a “Zone of Benefit.” Such zones aren’t unusual in Mono County, in fact, there are many of the small, locally-specific micro-agencies set up to administer property assessment revenue for snow removal and upkeep of neighborhood roads. What happens to a privately-held stretch of property when snow removal eats up most if not all of the fund and leaves little for repair and upkeep was the issue taken up by Mono County’s Board of Supervisors during its regular meeting Tuesday.

Unlike many ZOBs, which fall under County auspices, the Peterson Tract in west June Lake is private property. Still, as Public Works and Roads Director Jeff Walters explained to the Board, snow removal costs are usually responsible for the majority of the expenses associated with maintenance of these roads. “Little funding remains available for repair of the roads,” Walters said in the staff report. “As a result, most of the roads located in the Peterson Tract are in need of significant repair/reconstruction, which the Zone of Benefit is unable to provide due to insufficient funds.”

Walters said that during the past five years, snow removal costs have exceeded $27,000, particularly 2010-2011, when the bill came in at $35,000 due to the big snow year. “That’s meant a large hit to the fund every year,” he noted. “W have done some crack sealing in the past, but those are ‘band aids’ on necessary, significant roads. Crack sealing and patching, he said, is not a formal solution, meaning the road needs attention to drainage and surfacing, and in general need to be brought up to Caltrans specs.

Walters said an estimate of $60,000 for Silver Pines Drive is only a start, and won’t cover all of the roadwork. He said the ZOB’s current balance is $24,000, an amount that will be easily burned through should an average snow year actually happen this season. “There are a lot of things in the tract that are difficult to contend with … snow removal, amount of road needing attention; there arguably could be more money this summer for maintenance, if the weather doesn’t change much,” Walters added.

Funded by specially levied property assessments, the Peterson ZOB was created in 1992, prior to passage of Prop. 218. Boosting the assessment amount is where things start to get sticky, in that the homeowners in the area could be required to have a formal vote to levy an increase.

Passed in 1996, Prop. 218 was enacted to “protect taxpayers by limiting the methods by which local governments exact revenue from taxpayers without their consent,” requiring local governments take a vote of the affected property owners for any proposed new or increased assessment before it can be levied.

When the Peterson Tract ZOB was created, homeowners approved an assessment to cover costs, but the amount was mostly geared toward snow removal, not major repair and maintenance according to Garrett Higerd from Mono Public Works.

“It’s unusual in that this ZOB is set up to work on a private stretch of road,” County Counsel Marshall Rudolph observed. “There’s no legal problem, it can be set up as such; it’s just unusual.”

One option is for the County to take over the tract, and help cover the costs for environmental studies, drainage improvements and upgrades to Caltrans standards. Either way, the expenses present a conundrum for both parties. June Lake resident Ralph Obenberger said he doesn’t think the homeowners are quite up for paying the extra thousands of dollars each required to bring the roads up to snuff.

Dorothy Burdette, who resides in June Lake in the Peterson Tract, candidly told the Board her assessment is $174.08 a year. Higerd pointed out that there are different rates for property owners of as yet undeveloped lots.

“Seems like a pretty low rate, even for snow removal,” Hansen observed.

“People could pay two or three times that amount if they expect repairs to be done,” Hansen opined. “It seems screwed up, though, in that I don’t think anyone ever addressed any additional work much beyond snow removal.” Speaking as one homeowner, Burdette indicated she’d be amenable to pay more.

Stopping short of backing a County takeover of the tract, Supervisor Larry Johnston said he was “sympathetic” to the homeowners. “If they were County roads, they’d be done,” he said.

The entire Board backed allocating staff time to analyze the various scenarios including going through a full 218 process and an alternative that could mean getting consensus within the June Lake community to form a Home Owners Association, which would essentially augment the ZOB.

A joint County-Peterson Tract homeowner meeting is being planned for May.

… except he looks like Vince Vaughn

Bishop-based private investigator Nathan Morgenstein is in the Bishop Vons shopping with his wife last winter when his cellphone rings. It’s a Friday night. He declines to answer. The phone rings again. He looks at the number. San Diego area code. Hmm. Someone must really need him. He answers.

Someone did need him. An attorney from an insurance company representing a doctor who’d been involved in a malpractice suit. No denying the malpractice, acknowledged the attorney. The doctor had indeed botched a surgery.

But the victim had made very serious claims about the impact the surgical error had had on her life. She said she had to go to the bathroom with abnormal frequency. She also claimed that the surgery had left her physically unable to ski, which she said was one of her life’s passions.

She was asking for millions in damages.

The attorney, however, had reason to believe that perhaps the victim’s claims were overblown. To wit, the attorney had reason to believe the woman had planned a ski trip for that weekend. However, the private investigator who had been retained for surveillance had lost track of the woman’s vehicle in Victorville.

Was Morganstein available to try and spot the vehicle as it passed through Bishop and continue the surveillance from there?

Sure, he says.

He estimates the drive from Victorville to Bishop will take about four hours. As the time approaches, he heads down to wait near the Jack in the Box on the southern edge of town.

The vehicle, very difficult to miss because it sports a rather large Chargers decal, arrives in Bishop in a brisk 3 h. 45 min. Physically impossible, of course, if someone had to pull over for even a single bathroom break.

Morgenstein tails the family to Vons, where they shop before getting back on the road. He then tails them to their condo in Mammoth.

He gets a room for the night and then is up at the crack of dawn to go back to the condo and wait.

He eventually follows them to Canyon Lodge and takes photographs of the woman boarding the lift in her ski gear.

Sheet: Did you follow her on the hill?

Morgenstein: I don’t ski. But my brother does. So I called him, and he followed her around the mountain the next day and took pictures and kept detailed notes. Got paid $50/hour for it, too.

Sheet: Wow.

Morgenstein: When I called the attorney to ask how much [evidence] they wanted me to get, the attorney said, ‘Think of it as your money. What would you do to protect millions of dollars of your own money? So I went all out.

There’s probably not one of us who at some point in his/her life hasn’t thought it would be cool to be a private eye. But for Morgenstein, who grew up in Hawaii, it wasn’t a lifelong dream. In fact, he was drawn into it by a television advertisement for a P.I. school.

Why? ‘Cause he was home and bored and not working.

Why? Because Morgenstein, a chef by trade as well as by heart (he cooked in Bishop for 12 years, his last stop being the Firehouse Grill), had injured himself on the job, slicing a flexor tendon in his thumb. Over three years, he had five surgeries. He still can’t straighten his thumb.

As part of workman’s comp, he was offered some money for retraining in a different field.

“At the time, my vision of what an investigator actually did was pretty stereotypical. I just imagined an overweight pervert hiding in the bushes snapping pictures of someone having an affair. I didn’t realize the breadth of what the job can entail.”

Sheet: But you’ll hide in the bushes if need be?

Morgenstein: Sure, if someone wants to pay me to hide in the bushes, I’ll hide in the bushes. But stakeouts aren’t cheap. My surveillance rate is $75/hour.

Sheet: What does your job primarily entail?

Morgenstein: 70% of my time is spent interviewing witnesses for criminal cases. The rest is largely spent on the phone, meeting with attorneys and appearing in court. Over the years, I have worked closely with attorneys in trial on murder cases, three strike cases, domestic violence and virtually any type of criminal case you can think of. I am currently working my fourth homicide case.

All of my work is defense work. Giving people the opportunity to provide a good defense and get a fair shake … I find it very rewarding.

It took Morgenstein several years to get certified because the state requires 6,000 hours of work experience before one is even allowed to take the P.I. exam. This is why so many investigators are former cops, as their time on the job counts towards these hours. Morgenstein literally apprenticed under Kevin O’Grady (who lives in Gardnerville) for five years before he could bank enough hours to take (and pass) the exam last year.

“I came from nothing,” said Morgenstein. “We [his family] lived on the beach for over a year when I was growing up. I learned to cook because my folks were never around. I come from the street, which is incredibly useful. I know when people are lying and I know when they’re on dope … I love what I do. Not many people can say that.”

Morgenstein has been married for 16 years to wife Jenna. They have three children together and four children total.

Wolf’s Magnumstein P.I. quiz

Sheet reporter Colin Wolf had his own list of questions for Mr. Morgenstein based upon his love of that ‘80s icon, Magnum P.I.

1.Magnum PI hates being called a “Private Eye” or a “Private Detective.” He prefers to be called a Private Investigator. What should your clients call you?

I prefer Criminal Defense Investigator, which is specific to the work I typically do, but in general, I agree with Magnum.

2. Magnum PI had arguably the best mustache of all time. How important is a top deck cookie duster in your profession?

I think the cookie duster is too closely associated with cops. It’s a retired cop look. I’m not a fan of the cookie duster, though it fit Magnum quite well.

3. Magnum PI played quarterback at the Naval Academy, and was a huge Detroit Tigers fan. Are PI’s inherently into sports?

Yes. I’m an energetic person and I like multi-tasking and I think those qualities you’ll find in athletes and investigators. My team? I’m a diehard Buffalo Bills fan.

4. Magnum PI’s home was protected by two Doberman Pinschers Zeus and Apollo. Do you have any pets?

I have a pug and a chihuahua. Neither of them are armed.

5. Magnum PI drove a Ferrari 308 GTS, is it important for a PI to have a awesome car?

I definitely follow in Magnum’s shoes on this one. I own a bright orange Camaro. But no, it’s not important for an investigator to have an awesome car.

6. Magnum PI drank the fictional beer Coops. What kind of beer do you drink after a hard day’s work?

Arrogant Bastard Ale.

“Package for Mayor McCarroll … package for Mayor McCarroll …” (Photo courtesy Kellogg’s)

Here’s the crucial difference between the public and private sector.
When someone at The Sheet has a grievance with management, I listen attentively, tell them I can’t afford whatever they’re looking for, and then, if they persist, threaten them with coverage of a Town Council meeting.
In the public sector, when you file a grievance, your boss listens attentively and then offers to pay for your commute to work.
Let me explain.
In July, 2007, Mammoth’s Town Council, in its negotiations with various employee unions, committed to some form of transportation assistance for its staff.
According to a Staff report by Human Resources Manager Michael Grossblatt, The Town thought ESTA (Eastern Sierra Transit Authority)would provide this assistance, but ESTA, due to budget constraints, could not, so the Town agreed to unilaterally fund a 6-month carpool program beginning in March 2008 and expiring in October 2008.
Due to budget issues (exacerbated to some degree by an inability or unwillingness of Council and Town Manager Rob Clark to make necessary staff cuts), Council ditched the carpool program in November 2008. The employee associations promptly filed a grievance.
After spending $2,500 on legal counsel, the Town, with the help of ESTA, ultimately reached a compromise settlement with the unions.
ESTA developed a vanpool program, and in January, purchased three 14-passenger vans with state transit monies.
The Town then agreed to underwrite half the cost of the program for 2009-2010. Cost = $18,000.
It is a program that is open to all employees/employers within the Mammoth Lakes area, but that opportunity, to my knowledge, has not been advertised. The few business owners I spoke with hadn’t heard a lick about the program.
In fact, Mike Hamdorf (Servicemaster) said he specifically bought a vehicle last year so that three of his employees could share it for the Bishop commute.
Perhaps he could have saved himself a vehicle purchase if he’d received a heads-up from the friendly local folks who collect taxes from him.
Rick Gorges of Black Gold Asphalt was similarly unaware of the program, but tremendously interested, as seven of his ten employees live in Bishop.
Greg Jennison’s response. Never heard of it.
Currently, the vanpool program only has two vans in service. One van is being operated from Bridgeport to Coleville according to Grossblatt. The other operates from Bishop to Mammoth. The Bishop-Mammoth van is currently about half-full, estimates Grossblatt, who said interest in the service, at least thus far, has been diluted by more manageable gasoline prices.
How is the program being paid for? It’s being paid for, like so many other Town programs at the moment: by borrowing from the future.
As Grossblatt’s report stated: “Staff has proposed that the money to underwrite the vanpooling program can be generated by reducing the depreciation recovery rate of the six trolleys from 100% to 80%. A modification of the replacement rate is possible because of the historic success in the award of grants that partially fund transit rolling stock replacement.”
Look, I’ve got no philosophical problem with a vanpool program, but it appears we’ve spent about $100,000 this year to accomodate seven commuters, and we can say, well, a lot of that is state money, but when is state money not OUR money, and why can’t local taxeaters organize their own damn carpools?
That said, as long as us taxpayers are footing the bill, we may as well put a few riders in the van. Better us taking the seats than the local taxeaters who are already laden with perks and benefits of all descriptions. John Vereuck, a member of the Town’s Citizen Budget Committee, estimated that the Town, spends an additional 58% of a typical worker’s salary on that worker’s benefits package. Meaning, the Town spends $158,000/year on an employee with a $100,000 salary.

Clearing out the backlog …

Onto other matters. I’ve been so busy the past few weeks that I finally got a chance to catch my breath Wednesday and pore through some old notebooks and figure out if there’s anything I’ve neglected to pass on.
My notes of a July 14 conversation with Mayor Neil McCarroll were illuinating. The day before the last Council meeting, McCarroll said he would like to see Town Manager Rob Clark lay off another five people, and, he added, “John Eastman and I intend to give [Town Manager} Rob Clark two weeks to do it.”
Unfortunately, Mayor McWaffle was more than willing to “leggo that eggo” come meeting time, ultimately settling for another $200,000 in staff cuts to be completed by January 1, 2010.
How did he come up with the number 5? According to McCarroll, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area slashed its payroll 17% this winter. If the town reduced staff by an additional five employees, that would bring its staff levels down a similar 17% from a year ago.

From the School Board meeting last week come two tidbits. One was the revelation that the Town is hoping to include Mammoth Unified School District (MUSD) as a revenue-grubbing partner in the hopes of extending the Utility Users Tax (UUT).
The UUT was established some years ago to finance various parks and recreation improvements. The tax is scheduled to sunset in 2011.
Of course, no self-respecting taxeater will watch a revenue stream dry up without a fight, but recognizing its own unpopularity, Mammoth’s Town Staff has proposed adding MUSD as a “partner” and splitting proceeds. After all, splitting $800,000 is a helluva lot better than zero.

The other interesting part was Tina Schrager’s demand that Mammoth Mountain step to the plate and pay its fair share of property taxes.
Mono County is still in the process of reassessing MMSA (based upon its 2005 sale to Starwood Capital).
MMSA CFO Mark Clausen said he’s received a letter from the County which states the value at which it intends to assess MMSA, yet no formal bill has actually been delivered.
The County and MMSA, said Clausen, are a staggering $100 milion apart in their valuation estimates.
At the risk of oversimplification, the major difference between the two parties lies in methodology.
MMSA thinks the County should value its assets on a piece-by-piece basis. What are the assets individually worth? What is each building worth? What is each lift worth?
MMSA maintains that intangibles which make the business more valuable, such as consumer loyalty or brand recognition, should not be factored in.
Instead, MMSA said the County is using the 2005 sale price of $365 million as a starting point (though the resort was bought at the absolute peak of the real estate market) and that the County, in part, has arrived at its figure based upon using a multiplier of revenue.
The assessment is undoubtedly headed for appeal.

Understanding "public art"

Chadmar Developer Chuck Lande had a few reactions to our coverage of his successful appeal of a public art fee last week. Lande, in his own gentle way, suggested that The Sheet did not truly understand the nature and intent of the Public Arts Ordinance.
Upon further reflection, I think Lande would be correct in that analysis.
I assumed that the ordinance reflected its title, and that the primary goal of the ordinance is to facilitate the acquisition and maintenance of public artwork - you know, like bronze statues of Greek Gods and Goddesses eating grapes.
The ordinance, as it turns out, provides for a variety of ways for a developer to meet his/her public art obligation.
As Lande said this week, “A lot of the development around here is building and pavement. My goal is and has always been to create something that looks as though it’s been there forever.” Something, obviously, that blends in with its natural surroundings.
The water feature built by Lande is not a glorified drainage ditch and that’s not the purpose it’s meant to serve (as confirmed by site plans). So I stand a little chastened for taking the easy joke out.

One World ... let's eat!

Finally, I am delighted to report that One World Eats is now open, and despite owner Andrea Barseghian’s downplay of her own cuisine (“It’s not the exact taste I would want. Yet anyway. It’s hard to find a mediterranean cook”) the food is great.
When I came by, Barseghian was obviously worn out, which may have made her a little more frank than she normally might be, but ... let me put it this way. She’s funny and open and speaks her mind and the Town nearly tore her apart with the bureaucratic wrangling required to open the joint.
“They really pushed us too hard. For what? For turning a dumpster into a nice place?”
“I’ve done construction in L.A. I never had a problem [there] like I had here.”
Initially, she said she and her family would come here skiing and would never make a reservation in time. “I bought the place so I wouldn’t have to make a reservation,” she said with a smile. “I know. It sounds ridiculous.”
She and husband Hacob Mkrtchian bought the property when it was in foreclosure with the idea of fixing up and ultimately selling the restaurant while keeping the two cabins on the property for personal use.
The restaurant she inherited had rats running everywhere and grease 2” thick. It was a project.
Relations with the Town got so bad at one point that she was told thatoif she wrote one more letter, the Town would charge $74/hour to read it.
She was especially frustrated by the Town’s problem with her use of travertine rock.
If it was good enough for ancient Rome, she reasoned, it should be good enough for Mammoth.
“I asked them ‘Why are you interfering with my artistic freedom?’” she said.
Fortunately, the Town has been good enough to stay out of the kitchen, as we all know the Town’s incapable of fixing cereal without spilling the milk or going over budget. Sheet food rating: 4 stars.