Discovery Bay planning meeting looks back, ahead

fourth quarter, and a new fencing project on Ravenswood Drive was begun.

By Dawnmarie Fehr Correspondent

Discovery Bay doesn’t have enough security in place over town-owned buildings and other assets, according to town General Manager Dina Breitstein. She wants to change that.

“Another thing we will be focusing on next year, and in the future, is security,” Breitstein told the town’s Community Services District (CSD) Board during its annual planning meeting on March 16. “I think with the state things are in these days, it’s very, very important to manage that and have the best we can, as a small town, afford. That’s cameras, gates, locks, a lot of cyber security controls in place.”

In addition to security, Breitstein wants to increase asset management and inventory control.

“That’s something we don’t have in place,” she said. “I think for future planning, we really need that in place. It helps us look ahead, helps us budget, helps us plan financially, so I think those are projects we are really going to be focusing on.”

Management and security were just two of the topics discussed during the planning meeting, when town staff and the board came together on March 16 to review the district’s goals, accomplishments of 2022 and plans for 2023. Breitstein said the planning meeting helped keep everyone in the district on track.

“This is something we like to do every year,” she said at the beginning of the meeting. “We go through a review of our mission, goals and values, a review of the district in 2022, and a look ahead at 2023.”

Breitstein led the board through a slideshow listing all the district had done in each quarter of last year. First-quarter highlights included passing final inspections for the refurbished pool at the community center, repairs in the dog park, installation of new doors at the community center and a blood drive.

Community Center

The second quarter was also busy. Several of the community center’s tennis courts were resurfaced, security cameras were installed near the community center pool, and the pool opened for the first time since it closed for repairs in fall 2018. Events like outdoor movies also made a comeback.

Breitstein said community center projects and hiring of part-time summer staff were the focuses of last year’s second quarter.

“I think one of the fun projects was golf cart parking,” she said. “It was making an unusable space a usable space.”

She said the community center had some trouble last year augmenting its staff with part-time summer employees such as lifeguards, but was already gearing up this spring for summer 2023 with nine guards hired and a 10th in the process of being hired.

Finance

A major finance accomplishment in the second quarter of last year was the town gaining control of its finances from the county, noting the change saved both time and money.

“We are now our own treasurer and I think that is something to really applaud,” said Breitstein. “We had been trying to do that for years, it was not an easy task, and it’s been great. We are able to pay things earlier, we have real time financials and it’s been a great accomplishment.”

Third-quarter projects included con- tinued aquatics programming, movies in the park and the establishment of an ad hoc committee to explore options for a new district office building. The town also refinanced 2012 bonds, gaining $1 million in savings over the next 20 years.

The town had conducted banking services with BAC Community Bank. But when BAC announced the Discovery Bay Branch would close, other options were explored.

“We moved our funds from BAC,” said Breitstein. “Our money was not working for us, and now we have it in Five Star Bank and it is working for us, so that was a fabulous move that we all worked very hard on.”

The move was followed closely by the town diversifying its investment strategy, with money earned from investment funds flowing into the town’s general fund to cover new projects or repairs.

Clipper Drive

The Clipper Drive revitalization project – widening walking paths, creating natural seating areas, using decorative wall paneling, adding new dry scape landscaping, droughttolerant plants, and solar lighting, according to the town’s website – began in the fourth quarter, with Breitstein noting the ongoing project “looked fabulous” so far.

“We will continue that, and won’t quit til it’s done,” she added.

Ravenswood Drive fencing

Assistant General Manager Alan Cantando joined the town’s staff during the

“Looking ahead at 2023, this is exciting stuff,” said Breitstein. “We are looking to hire summer staff at the community center, the pool opening and extended aquatics programing, Cornell Park projects … Ravenswood fence repair, and once we are done with that we will move to the other fences along Newport Drive.”

Water use and supply

Discovery Bay operates its own water and wastewater services with the help of contract company Veolia, and during 2022 completed pipeline replacement projects, infrastructure upgrades, state-mandated projects and began work on a new well. Staff are also researching secondary water sources — potentially the Byron-Bethany water district — noting two sources are better than one.

At the end of the meeting, board members applauded the work of Breitstein and her staff, adding comments of their own.

“There is a lot going on, a lot of good, proactive looking forward, and important things,” said longtime director Kevin Graves. “I look at a lot of the things in here with a big smile because I look at it as the maturation of a district that was yearning to mature. We were kind of stuck with some things because we were problem-solving and got hit with a lot of things from the state. But now we can get ahead of that, get some of these big projects off our back and concentrate on security and some other things we might be behind on.”

After Breitstein’s presentation, the board reviewed the Brown Act, which governs how legislative bodies may operate. CSD Board President Ashley Porter expressed her appreciation of the “Brown Act Primer,” noting it is especially important for board members to remember their roles on social media.

“We are used to functioning as individuals, and I think it’s important to understand the scope of what that looks like,” she said. “Everyone’s intent is good, but I appreciate you being detailed and giving good examples of what that looks like.”

Fore more information on the Town of Discovery Bay, or to view the slide shows from the planning meeting, visit www.todb. ca.gov

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