HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District Board of Director has dismissed the district's longtime manager and is now working to secure an interim manager while the recruitment process moves forward.

The district provides sewer and water to the Hidden Valley Lake community's estimated 7,000 residents.

At a special meeting held March 20, the board went into closed session and emerged to announce that General Manager Mel Aust “will be dismissed for cause, effective immediately,” by a unanimous vote of the board, according to board documents.

Aust recently had overseen a nearly $2 million solar project for the district's water reclamation plant, as Lake County News has reported.

According to State Controller John Chiang's Web site tracking local government pay rates, Aust's salary in 2010 had been $184,424, making him one of the highest paid officials in the county at that time.

Finding Aust's successor has been the topic of several special board of directors' meetings since late March.

On March 24, the board discussed a possible succession plan, a discussion held over to the board's next special meeting on March 28, at which time board members also discussed hiring a temporary general manager.

Last Thursday, April 5, following a closed session, the board announced that it had agreed on a short list of candidates from among the resumes board members reviewed for the interim general manager position, according to district documents.