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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOARD MINUTES 01-21-10MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE DISTRICT BOARD OF THE ' CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT HELD ON JANUARY 21, 2010 The Board of Directors of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District convened in a regular meeting at their regular place of business, 5019 Imhoff Place, Martinez, County of Contra Costa, State of California, at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, 2010. President McGill called the meeting to order and requested that the Secretary call roll. 1. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Members: Hockett, Lucey, Menesini, Nejedly, McGill ABSENT: Members: None a. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Board and staff joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR ' It was moved by Member Nejedly and seconded by Member Hockett to adopt the Consent Calendar as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board. a. Approve expenditures dated January 21, 2010. Reviewed by Budget and ~; ;, Finance Committee. ~; ~ - b. Approve minutes of December 17, 2009 Board meeting. '~ ' 4. CALL FOR REQUESTS TO CONSIDER ITEMS OUT OF ORDER - ~_~ " ~. General Manager James Kelly requested that Item 7.a. be taken immediately after-b.a: 5. OPERATIONS a. ACCEPT THE 2009 NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM REPORT General Manager James Kelly stated that the District's 2009 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Annual Report has been prepared and is ready for ' submission to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. Book 59 -Page 172 Board Minutes of January 21, 2010 Plant Operations Division Manager Randy Grieb presented highlights from the report, stating that in 2009 the total flow treated was 14.1 billion gallons. The average daily flow was 38.6 million gallons, with a peak hourly flow of 135 million gallons per day. The Treatment Plant completed over 15,000 analytical tests and approximately 11,000 hours of laboratory work. The District achieved 100 percent compliance with NPDES permit requirements for the twelfth consecutive year. Mr. Grieb stated that, as a result of some high organic toxicity results, staff began accelerated chronic toxicity testing in August. A toxicity identification evaluation was conducted; it determined that the toxicity was caused by effluent ammonia. After approval by the Regional Water Quality Control Board staff, ammonia is now being removed prior to toxicity testing. Ammonia is not considered a toxicant of concern in the chronic toxicity test. Recent chronic toxicity tests are well within the NPDES Permit requirements. Mr. Grieb provided an update on peak flows during the recent bout of wet weather. It was moved by Member Menesini and seconded by Member Hockett to accept the 2009 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Report. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board. 6. BUDGET AND FINANCE a. FINANCIAL PLANNING AND POLICY WORKSHOP General Manager James Kelly presented an overview of the workshop. He confirmed the District goals and Board strategic issues. Budget policy issues include how to address current liabilities, consideration of a rate increase for 2010-11, and modification of spending/programs. Mr. Kelly presented detailed background financial information. He stated that athree- year labor agreement was settled in June, 2009, which adopted a new tier, Tier 3, for new employees. Other changes over the year include opening the Household Hazardous Waste Facility on Mondays, establishment of a Pharmaceutical Drop-Off Program, and deferral of collection of connection fees. He described recent awards received and projects completed. Threats to be addressed in the future include bad economy, future regulations and larger unfunded liabilities for retirement. Opportunities include a positive bidding climate and hiring climate, green efforts, and a review of possible efficiencies. He stated that the District is in a strong financial position, with cash reserves of $49 million as of June 30, 2009. The District does have some significant liabilities: bond debt; GASB 45; and UAAL. Operations and Maintenance expenditures are projected to be $1.7 million under budget, while revenues are also expected to come in under Book 59 -Page 173 Board Minutes of January 21, 2010 budget. There is a projected reserve draw of $9.9 million, vs. $14.6 million in the budget for FY 2009-10. The District remains focused on the Board's strategic issues, which are recycled water, cultural diversity, industry leader, outreach, responsible rates, and benefits. The District continues to meet its mission and goals. Mr. Kelly presented information on the rate-setting approach used since 2000, model assumptions, the history of Central San's sewer service charge rates, and funds available. He stated that items that impact rates include revenue, expenses, liabilities, regulatory compliance, past years' rates, and reserves. He described the District revenue stream and expenses and the history of capital expenditures. Future regulatory/compliance initiatives include furnace air emissions, mercury removal, greenhouse gas reduction, nutrient removal, emerging contaminants and water recycling. Future regulatory compliance is largely unfunded. He presented historical information on reserves. With regard to proposed rates and alternatives, he stated that forecasts show that needed projects can be funded and the current level of service maintained with future uniform rate increases: either $16 per year beginning with this year, or $20 per year beginning next year. He showed charts demonstrating the various rate scenarios, and also the ranking of the District's sewer service charge compared with other Bay Area agencies. He concluded his presentation, stating that staff recommends confirming the District goals and Board strategic issues; obtaining full cost recovery for all fees, charges and services; confirming how liabilities are currently addressed; and setting a sewer service charge rate increase of $16 per year for 2010-11. If the rate increase is not approved, he recommended directing staff to look at how spending and programs may be modified, and to recognize that larger rate increases will be required in the future. Member Hockett commented on information received at the recent CASA conference regarding retirement, and asked staff to look at the possibility of moving from CCCERA to CalPers retirement system. Member Lucey noted that a review was conducted last year, and asked the Director of Administration to provide the memo to the Board. President McGill asked that a cover memo be attached indicating what has changed since the memo was written. Member Menesini commended staff on the presentation and noted that there is a lot of information to digest. Book 59 -Page 174 Board Minutes of January 21, 2010 President McGill asked staff to look at the option of having a zero rate increase in 2010, a $20 or more rate increase in 2011, and a zero rate increase in 2012. He also asked staff to look into paying down the UAL. Member Lucey stated that he is not willing to look at a zero rate increase in 2012 as it is too far ahead. Member Hockett commented on the struggling economy and the effect it is having on ratepayers. She felt that, if a rate increase were to be considered, a $16 rate increase for the next two years would be the most palatable. Mr. Kelly thanked the Board for their input and comments. 7. REPORTS a. GENERAL MANAGER 1) Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association (CCCERA). Director of Administration Randy Musgraves provided updates on the January 11, 2010 CCCERA Board meeting and on the impact of de-pooling. He summarized the January 11 meeting, stated that the CCCERA Board indicated at that meeting that it did not see the need for a significant change to terminal pay calculations at this time. The CCCERA Board's legal counsel scheduled a closed session for January 27 to discuss the matter further. With regard to de-pooling, he stated that calculations indicate that the District's contribution would increase by approximately 3.9 per cent of salary cost, which is about a 10 per cent total increase. He recommended securing the services of John Bartel, Consultant, to conduct a detailed study. He will make that recommendation to the Budget and Finance Committee at an upcoming meeting. Board Members asked questions about the impact of de-pooling and Member Menesini suggested that a workshop be scheduled to review actuarial calculations. Member Hockett stated it would be helpful to know the structure of CCCERA, its role and function, and how its calculations are made. 2) General Manager James Kelly announced that staff is working with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District to allow training on the existing Collection System Operations (CSO) building in Walnut Creek. The fire training will involve firemen in complete fire fighting gear, breaking through closed doors and walls, and using charged hoses within the Book 59 -Page 175 Board Minutes of January 21, 2010 structure. Hazardous materials are currently being abated and once this has been completed, the building will be ready for training. Training will occur the last week in January. 3) General Manager James Kelly announced that the District received three achievement awards at the San Francisco Bay Section of the California Water Environment Association 60t" Annual Awards and Installation Banquet on Friday, January 8, 2010. Maintenance Supervisor Paul Louis received the Special Service Award in recognition of his long-term dedication and special service; the mercury pilot study received the Research Achievement Award which was spearheaded by Associate Engineer Craig Mizutani; and Senior Engineer Ba Than received the Supervisor of the Year Award. The Research Achievement and Supervisor of the Year Awards will be competed at the State level. These awards will be presented to the Board at a future meeting. 4) General Manager James Kelly announced that, on January 7, 2010, the District received a Public Records Act request from Thomas Peele, Bay Area News Group, asking for a list of all full and part-time employees by name, their base salaries for 2009, overtime, other payments that contribute to taxable gross pay, and total gross salary. This is the same information that he requested of public agencies last year, but at that time the District was not included in his request. If Mr. Peele proceeds as he did last year, the list will be made available through a link on the Contra Costa Times website. He also graded agencies on their response (see attached article). Staff has confirmed with legal counsel that all of the requested data is public record. The data is being assembled and will be provided to Mr. Peele within the ten-day period legally permitted for response to public records requests (no later than Friday, January 15). All employees will be informed that this information has been released to the press. 5) General Manager James Kelly announced that the District's GroupWise e- mail system was down from Tuesday morning, January 5 through Thursday afternoon, January 7, 2010. Since that time, the e-mail system has been functioning properly and all incoming Internet a-mails sent to the District during the downtime were processed and received. System improvement suggestions will be presented to the Board at a future meeting after the matter is brought to a future Budget and Finance Committee meeting. b. Board Members 1) Board Member reports on future meetings or conferences for which they will receive the stipend for which the District will pay their expenses; Book 59 -Page 176 Board Minutes of January 21, 2010 recent meetings for which they received the stipend; and meetings or conferences for which the District paid their expenses. Member Hockett Member Hockett reported that she was unable to attend the January 7, 2010 Contra Costa County Mayors' Conference. Member Nejedly Members Nejedly and Hockett reported on the January 19, 2010 Budget and Finance Committee meeting. Member Hockett noted that the Committee will be looking at all expenditures and support to outside agencies to see if they should remain unchanged or if they can be reduced or eliminated. President McGill President McGill provided a written report on his meeting attendance. 2) Announcements President McGill provided a written report covering Announcements. Member Menesini announced the upcoming Environmental Alliance meeting to be held on January 25, 2010. Member Lucey stated that he will be attending the CCSDA meeting on January 25 and voting on proposed changes to the LAFCO Special District Selection Committee procedures. He stated that he recommends voting No on the proposed changes. Board Members concurred with his recommendation. 8. EMERGENCY SITUATIONS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION None. 9. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Member Nejedly asked for information regarding how other sanitary districts fared during the recent storms. Book 59 -Page 177 Board Minufes of January 21, 2010 10. ADJOURNMENT , There being no further business to come before the Board, President McGill adjourned the meeting at 3:31 p.m. ~~ _ C~1~ ~ Michael R. McG~ ' President oft Board of Directors, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, County of Contra Costa, State of California ~' CCUNTF_RSIGNED: _ ,, , ^~ ~ O ~- L _ ...r r ~~ ^~ :. ~ ~ '- - ;- -. Elaine:R...Boehme f ,` _ ' : ~., Secretary~~ofi-fhe Central Contra Costa ,,, Ganiiary_District, County of Contra Costa, ,.,, . _ State of California L' 1 Book 59 -Page 178