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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.a.4) Written Announcements7 Board Meeting of May 19, 2011 Written Announcements: Staff Conference Attendance a) Senior Right of Way Agent Rick Hernandez's Attendance at the International Right of Way Association's Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 12 -15, 2011 Senior Right of Way Agent Rick Hernandez will be attending International Right of Way Association's (IRWA) Annual International Education Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 12 — 15, 2011. Some of the right of way courses that are of interest to the District include: Asset Management, Current Environmental Issues in Real Estate, and Eminent Domain Challenges. This is a nationwide seminar and is not offered in California this year. Not only will attending the courses be beneficial to the District, it will also provide Mr. Hernandez the opportunity to earn necessary continuing education credits for his recertification as a Senior Member of IRWA (SR/WA), which is the most prestigious professional designation granted to their members. The cost of the conference is $475, which includes course materials. Travel, hotel, meals and other expense are estimated to be $1,725. All of these expenses will be covered under the Environmental Services Division training and conferences budget for fiscal year 2010 -2011. District Events b) San Ramon Mobile Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on May 7, 2011 On Saturday, May 7, 2011 the District conducted a mobile household hazardous waste collection event in San Ramon. A total of 700 appointments were scheduled of which 644 people participated. Of the participants, 580 residents were from San Ramon, 53 from Danville, 9 from unincorporated areas (Alamo, Diablo, etc.) and 2 from Moraga and Walnut Creek. Approximately 63,000 pounds of waste was collected. The costs of this year's mobile event will be managed under the same guidelines as past events. San Ramon is responsible for the incremental cost difference of the event and the permanent facility. Last year, the total cost of the event was about $41,000 of which San Ramon's portion was $5,300. Written Announcements May 19, 2011 Page 2 of 4 Project Related Updates c) New Process for Capital Project Closeouts Each year, as the fiscal year comes to a close, District staff review the status of capital projects and prepares close out position papers for those that have been completed. These position papers are for information only, as no Board action is required to close out a project. In order to streamline the process and not add unnecessary items to Board agendas, staff is proposing a new process where an end of fiscal year memo is prepared for the Capital Projects Committee and distributed to the entire Board which provides information on projects that have been completed during the previous fiscal year. A Capital Projects Committee meeting will then be scheduled to review the financial summaries of the larger projects and answer any questions the Committee may have on the projects being closed out. If desired, a General Managers Report can be included in a subsequent Board meeting to review any closed out projects for which the full Board has an interest. If this approach sounds satisfactory, staff will not put capital project close out position papers on the Board agenda but will instead prepare the suggested memo when end of year financial information is available and schedule a Capital Projects Committee meeting in late July to review the closed out projects. d) Lafayette Sewer Renovation Project (Phase 7) Public Workshop on May 5, 2011 The District hosted a public workshop on Thursday, May 5, 2011 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Lafayette Community Center. There were 17 resident attendees and a representative from the City of Lafayette. Topics discussed were expected construction impacts, paving, property restoration, and lateral replacements. e) South Orinda Sewer Renovation Project (Phase 5) Public Workshop on May 12, 2011 The District hosted a public workshop on Thursday, May 12 from 7 to 8 p.m. at Parkmead Elementary School in Walnut Creek. There were 11 attendees. Topics discussed were construction methods, expected impacts, restoration, and lateral reconnections /replacement. Written Announcements May 19, 2011 Page 3 of 4 General Updates f) Bureau of Reclamation Title 16 Grants Awarded to Delta Diablo and Dublin San Ramon Two Bay Area wastewater districts, Delta Diablo and Dublin San Ramon, received Bureau of Reclamation Feasibility Study Grants for individual recycled water projects. These are different from the Title 16 funding through the legislative authorization /appropriation process that we are pursuing to construct the Concord Landscape Project. The Bureau also administers a grants program called the WaterSMART program. This program awards grants to new projects through a competitive process that can provide 50% of the Feasibility Study costs up to a $150,000 max. Our Concord Landscape Project already has a completed and approved Feasibility Study, and this grant program was not available at the time we did our study. If it had been available, the possible benefit would have been $35,000 which is 50% of the cost of our completed Feasibility Study. The process to compete for and administer the grant would have been costly, perhaps equaling the possible grant proceeds. g) Update on CCCSD Moraga Pumping Station Show Cause Letter and Follow up The Board was previously advised that on March 25, 2011, the District received a notification of Potential Filing of an Administrative Enforcement Order from the Contra Costa Heath Services Hazardous Materials Programs. The letter requested CCCSD to show cause, within two weeks, why we should not be subject to an enforcement order and associated fines for an improper discharge of hazardous wastes. Tim Potter, Environmental Compliance Superintendent, did a very effective job of coordinating the District's investigation and response. In researching the matter it was learned that pumping station staff had discharged approximately 700 gallons of an antifreeze /water mixture into the wet well at the Moraga Pumping Station on November 27, 2006 (previously reported to have occurred in 2005). This discharge was done with the knowledge and permission of treatment plant staff who determined the discharge to be benign with no potential for plant upset or pass- through to the environment. The information that the discharge had been authorized by District staff was conveyed to the County in a letter dated April 7, 2011. The County responded on April 14, 2011 with a follow up letter requesting additional information on hazardous waste handling at ten District pumping stations, including Moraga Pump Station. This information was gathered and a response prepared. The response maintained that the District has the authority under the Clean Water Act to allow wastes, potentially categorized as hazardous, to be discharged into our sewer system if we determine that they will not cause upset to our process nor will they pass through our process to the environment. Written Announcements May 19, 2011 Page 4 of 4 District staff Tim Potter, Environmental Compliance Superintendent, and Ann Farrell, Director of Engineering, met with County staff on May 11, 2011 to discuss the matter and our response. The issue of jurisdictional authority was reviewed to reach a common understanding. County hazardous waste program staff were concerned that no formal hazardous waste determination had been done to provide documentation that the antifreeze /water mixture discharged did not contain constituents that could be hazardous and not compatible with the District's operations. Without documentation to review, County staff felt they could not determine that the District made an appropriate assessment. After some discussion it was agreed that in order to settle this case, the District will conduct and record hazardous waste determinations for future discharges to the District's system of wastes that are traditionally considered hazardous wastes. District permits to businesses will identify authorized discharges so that County inspectors can determine if potentially hazardous wastes are approved for discharge to the District's sanitary sewer. The District will communicate this adjustment to its operating procedures in a letter to the County. A positive outcome of the meeting was that County hazardous waste program staff will be meeting with District source control staff to improve the understanding of how our programs overlap and explore how our efforts can be better coordinated in the future.