By Mary-Justine Lanyon
When Catherine Cerri, who has served as the general manager of the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District (LACSD) for the past several years, announced her upcoming retirement, the district went into action, seeking a new GM.
They found that person in an old friend – Ryan Gross, who had been the LACSD district engineer, served briefly as interim GM and also served on the board of directors. Most recently, Gross has been the GM of the Running Springs Water District.
Gross and Cerri sat side by side at the Dec. 9 meeting of the board. They will work together during a transition period.
Outgoing LACSD General Manager Catherine Cerri with Ryan Gross, the incoming GM.
That is not the only change at the helm of the district. At the December meeting each year, the president and vice president of the board are elected. For a number of years, John Wurm has served as president. At the Dec. 9 meeting, Wurm nominated current vice president Steve Boydston as president. Director Michelle Ambrozic then nominated Wurm as vice president. Both were elected unanimously.
LACSD initiated a quarterly employee recognition award at the Dec. 9 meeting. Tanner Rider, a member of the Field Operations team, received this first award.
“It is a joy to have him in the district,” Cerri said. “He has a smile on his face even when faced with a difficult situation. We get more positive comments from customers about him.”
“Tanner is our guy out there,” added Nathan Porter, the Field Operations manager. “He’s very knowledgeable.”
Rider – who is an Army veteran who served in Korea and Iraq – was asked by Wurm to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the meeting.
CONSENT CALENDAR
A revised salary schedule for managers, supervisors and confidential employees drew some debate over the salary range listed for the general manager.
For a GM hired on or after Dec. 1, 2025, the annual salary ranges from $292,380.96 to $391,790.48. According to the memo accompanying the salary chart, the schedule is in accordance with the CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System).
Cerri noted that “we are required to document a salary range. This doesn’t change anyone’s salary.”
Ratepayer Ana Rojas begged to differ. “It’s misleading to say there are no changes to actual salaries. This change will cost ratepayers approximately $1.5 million over the next decade. It seems like not enough consideration was given to this. It seems like it was created for one person – the GM you are hiring.”
Attorney Joseph Byrne said LACSD is required by CalPERS to have a salary range. “We have never previously had a salary range but we were advised to do so. The GM’s actual salary is in their contract.”
Tanner Rider was awarded the inaugural employee recognition by Nathan Porter (left), the Field Operations manager, and GM Catherine Cerri.
INFORMATION ITEMS
Field Operations: Nathan Porter reported that “everything is running as it should. We are doing good with leak detection – the third quarter is the highest time for water leaks.” They have conducted 15 sewer repairs and continue cleaning the system. They had no major issues over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Finance: Finance Manager John O’Brien reported that operating revenue is up 9 percent compared to last year and expenses were flat. During July, August and September, the customer service department answered or placed a total of 5,614 phone calls. “The district prides itself on personally answering each phone call,” he said.
Operations: Manager Matt Brooks reported that November consumption was down 11.2 percent, with the first 11 months of 2025 down 6 percent when compared to 2024. Lake draw was down significantly over last year: 620.33 acre-feet vs 745.33 a-f. LACSD drew just 43 percent of its allotment this year. Well production is up and delivery of recycled water is down. Despite heavy demand on the wastewater system over Thanksgiving weekend, there were no after-hour calls. “This is a testament to the hard work of the crew all year,” Brooks said.
PFAS: Brooks said required samples taken on Nov. 19 “didn’t show anything new – there were no surprises.” Staff has been talking with N2W Engineering about the design plans, which he hopes to have completed soon. Then they will work with the state to implement them.
Urban Water Use Efficiency Objectives: Cerri noted that every year the district is required to calculate their water use for four categories: residential indoor water use, residential irrigation, commercial irrigation, water loss. In 2024 the objective was 55 gallons per person per day; that was lower to 47 in 2025 and will be reduced to 42 in 2030. The difficulty for LACSD is that most residential meters are used for both indoor use and outdoor irrigation. Another complication is determining the number of users. While it is estimated there are 7,038 full-time residents in Arrowhead Woods, this does not account for part-time residents and short-term rentals who also use water but are not counted in the census.
ACTION ITEMS
Engineering Manager Scott Schroder presented a contract for a slip-lining project intended to improve the district’s aging wastewater infrastructure, manage inflow and infiltration (I&I) and comply with the cease-and-desist order through the State Water Quality Control Board.
The project would include inspecting and cleaning 5,533 linear feet of concrete sewer pipe, rehabilitating 12 manholes and removing and replacing sagging or broken sewer pipe as needed.
Slip-lining these aging pipes, Porter noted, is the most efficient way to prevent these pipes from failing. To replace all the pipe would cost 10 times as much, he said.
This contract is not for a specific area but would be in place to treat areas as they are identified.
“We don’t want to have to go through this process every time,” Gross said. “There are lots of miles of pipe that need to be slip-lined.”
The bid received from Insituform was for $1,656,784 but Schroder asked the board to approve an amount not to exceed $2,500,000. The contract was approved unanimously by the four directors present.
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