Special Districts Needs Assessment

In unincorporated Mono County, local utility infrastructure (e.g., water and sewer systems) limitations are a significant potential barrier to housing production. The specific limitations and opportunities associated with local utility infrastructure in the county have been an unstudied factor in local housing production and was prioritized by the Mono County Board of Supervisors in the 2018 Housing Program matrix.

The County applied for California Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funds in 2020 for the “Special Districts Needs Assessment” project and received a $250,000 award on February 11, 2021. This project required two rounds of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) (released on May 7, 2021, and September 14, 2021) due to lack of consultant responses. The County received one response from Resource Concepts, Inc. (RCI) in January 2022. The Board approved the contract with the finalized scope of work on May 10, 2022 (Total Contract Budget $237,455 and contract period May 10, 2022, through June 30, 2024).

The grant expenditure deadline was June 16, 2024. The Mono County Board of Supervisors accepted the final grant deliverables and formally closed out the grant during a public hearing at their June 11, 2024 meeting. 

Please see below for a description of each of the three phases of this project, their associated milestones/ deliverables, and completion dates.

1. Phase 1 – Baseline Survey and Outreach 

• Summary: Phase 1 conducted extensive data gathering from Districts and provided information necessary to update the Municipal Service Review and Sphere of Influence Reports (Reports) for sixteen Special Districts in unincorporated Mono County.
• Deliverables: All data gathered from the Districts as well as summary documents containing the information needed to update each Report. Revisions to the Reports are not part of RCI’s scope of work; Mono County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) staff is conducting the updates using RCI’s summary documents.

2. Phase 2 - Potential Housing Development & Service Capacity Analysis for Key Housing Element Sites

• Summary: Phase 2 evaluated the capacity of community water and/or sewer districts, including an analysis of capacity to support housing development under existing zoning with a focus on housing opportunity sites identified in the Housing Element, and a needs assessment of infrastructure barriers and opportunities. The communities of Bridgeport, Crowley Lake, June Lake, and Lee Vining were included.
• Deliverables: Special Districts Needs Assessment Summary Reports for Bridgeport, Lee Vining, June Lake, Crowley Lake, and other identified opportunity sites. 

3. Phase 3 – Capacity Improvement Plan (CIP) for Special Districts

• Summary: Phase 3 included developing a Capacity Improvement Plan (CIP) with recommendations for Bridgeport, Crowley Lake, June Lake, and Lee Vining communities. The purpose was to identify potential projects that would increase capacity to support additional housing density.
• Deliverables: Capacity Improvement Plans identifying specific projects, costs, and the estimated increase in housing units that could be supported.