Assignment of Proceeding
Susan P. Kennedy is the Assigned Commissioner and Myra J. Prestidge is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.
1. GVN requests authority to sell an office building and related land located in Turlock, California to purchasers for $2.8 million.
2. GVN will not realize a gain on the sale of the Turlock property to purchasers.
3. GVN wishes to relocate its offices from Turlock to Patterson because Patterson is within its service area and GVN serves an increasing number of customers in the Patterson area.
4. The relocation of GVN's headquarters to Patterson will make GVN's offices and staff more accessible to customers.
5. GVN's new offices in Patterson will include a customer service center and a drive-up window for payments.
6. Before agreeing to sell the Turlock property to purchasers for $2.8 million, the Turlock property had been on the market for approximately one year, and GVN had received only one, lower offer for the Turlock property.
7. In D.01-06-084, we imposed certain conditions on the acquisition and transfer of control of GVN, then known as Evans Telephone, to Countrywide and Evans Holdings.
8. The sale of the Turlock property and GVN's relocation of its offices to Patterson does not violate any of the conditions set forth in D.01-06-084.
9. The settlement agreement states that:
a. The sales price for the Turlock property is $2.8 million. The net book values of the land and building are $1,245,816 and $1,859,634, respectively. There is no gain on sale associated with this transaction.
b. For a period of two years after the date of this transaction, GVN shall cap at $3,100,000 the ratebase amount associated with the acquisition of land and an office building in Patterson to replace the land and office building located in Turlock for California ratemaking purposes. If GVN files a general rate case (GRC) application for test year 2007 or earlier, GVN shall assume no more than $3,100,000 in ratebase associated with the land and building acquired to replace the land and building located in Turlock. The $3,100,000 rate base cap shall be reduced by the associated accumulated depreciation adopted in GVN's last GRC (Resolution T-16720) for California ratemaking purposes.
c. For the purposes of regulatory accounting, GVN shall book any loss associated with this transaction below the line.
d. For the purposes of regulatory accounting, GVN shall cap moving expenses associated with the move from Turlock to Patterson at $100,000.
10. The proposed settlement agreement between GVN and ORA would protect GVN customers from unreasonable rate increases or adverse financial effects resulting from the move of GVN's offices to Patterson in upcoming years.
11. All active parties have agreed to settle this case, after extensive discussions and review of the record.
12. The Settlement Agreement is the product of extensive discussion between the parties.
13. GVN and ORA fairly reflect all affected interests in this proceeding. GVN represents the interests of shareholders. ORA represents the interests of GVN's customers.
14. Conducting further proceedings, and litigating the issues in this case, would unnecessarily consume valuable resources of the Commission and the parties.
15. The County of Stanislaus is the Lead Agency for the proposed project pursuant to CEQA.
16. The Commission is a Responsible Agency for the proposed project pursuant to CEQA.
17. The Stanislaus County Department of Planning and Community Development prepared and issued an Initial Study and Negative Declaration (ISND) pursuant to CEQA on June 8, 2005.
18. The ISND prepared by the County of Stanislaus reviewed the potential environmental impacts of the GVN project over the entire range of applicable environmental resources and concluded that the instant project could not have a significant effect on the environment.
19. The County referred the GVN project to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the State Department of Transportation (CalTrans) for formal comment and received none.
20. The County of Stanislaus' ISND for the GVN project concluded that there would be no significant impacts resulting from the acquisition of the land and facilities from GVN or the change in use for the property. No formal mitigation was required.
21. The County's ISND did identify a number of project elements that would have to be addressed by the buyer/developer as Conditions of Approval.
22. None of the Conditions of Approval developed by the County of Stanislaus apply to GVN, and the Commission has no authority to impose them on the buyer.
23. The Conditions of Approval developed by the County address the following CEQA resource areas: Aesthetics; Cultural; Hydrology and Water Quality; Public Services; and Utilities and Service Systems.
24. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Stanislaus voted unanimously on August 23, 2005, to approve the GVN project (Rezone Application #2005-06) and adopted Ordinance C.S. 933; adopted the Negative Declaration pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15074(b); and made a number of findings.
25. The ISND developed by the County of Stanislaus was prepared pursuant to CEQA and is adequate for this Commission's decision-making purposes.
26. The Commission has considered the Stanislaus County ISND in its decision making process in accordance with the CEQA Guidelines Section 5096(f).
1. GVN's sale of the Turlock property to the purchaser upon the terms described in the application and the settlement agreement between GVN and ORA is in the public interest and should be approved pursuant to Section 851.
2. The Settlement Agreement fully resolves and settles all disputed issues, among the parties concerning GVN's application in this proceeding.
3. The Settlement Agreement is reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with law, consistent with prior Commission decisions, and in the public interest.
4. The settlement agreement contains adequate information and is sufficiently clear for the Commission and the parties to understand its terms and for the parties to carry out the agreement.
5. The ISND developed by the County of Stanislaus was prepared pursuant to CEQA and is adequate for this Commission's decision-making purposes.
6. The Commission has considered the County of Stanislaus' ISND in its decision making process in accordance with the CEQA Guidelines Section 15096(f).
7. This decision should be effective today so that GVN may expeditiously sell the Turlock property and the settlement agreement can take effect immediately.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. The sale of the office building and related land located at 4918 Taylor Court, Turlock, California by Global Valley Networks (GVN ) to David A. Woods and Randall E. Woods, based on the terms stated in the application and the settlement agreement between GVN and the Commission Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) is hereby approved pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 851.
2. The June 20, 2005 motion of GVN and ORA for approval of the settlement agreement dated June 20, 2005 is granted, and the settlement agreement is approved without modification.
3. This proceeding is closed.
This order is effective today.
Dated _____________________, at San Francisco, California.
Prestidge Comment Dec Attachment A
