County Supervisors Hold on Murphy’s Appointment to BBARWA Board

The fifth seat on the Big Bear Area Regional Wastewater Board has not yet been filled, though San Bernardino County Supervisors had considered the appointment of Fawnskin resident Todd Murphy at their meeting yesterday. Though Third District Supervisor Neil Derry was in favor of appointing Murphy, who was the only applicant for the BBARWA post from County Service Area 53B (or Fawnskin), a decision will be held until County Supervisors convene on February 10. Given Murphy’s elected position as a director for the Big Bear Municipal Water District, Division 1, county counsel is today reviewing any potential conflicts of interest in appointing him to represent Fawnskin in this second capacity. Given the hold on Murphy’s BBARWA appointment, Derry’s Chief of Staff Jim Erwin tells KBHR, “We were just ensuring that there wouldn’t be any conflict. We just want to be sure that Mr. Murphy wouldn’t be put in a position that would conflict with his role on the MWD Board.” The other four members of the Governing Board for BBARWA, which services the entire Valley, are John Day and Rick Ollila on behalf of the Big Bear City CSD and Liz Harris and Rick Herrick on behalf of the City Council of Big Bear Lake. Per BBARWA’s General Manager Steve Schindler, “Once Mr. Murphy is appointed, we will be sure to quickly bring him up to speed on what we do and how we do it, to make the most efficient use of his time as a BBARWA Board member.” The next meeting of the BBARWA Board will be on February 13 at 2:30pm, when they meet for a budget workshop; the regular monthly meeting will be held on February 25 at 5pm.