HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.a.5) (Handout)(P. a. 5)
(Randowc)
Board Meeting of October 20, 2011
Additional Written Announcements:
District Staff Update — Past and Present
e) Retired Board Member Parke L. Boneysteele's Health
Park Boneysteele Jr., former Board Member Park L. Boneysteele's son, informed
the District that his father is in a board and care facility in Lafayette. He is in very
poor health at this time.
f) Information Technology Administrator Mark Greenawalt to
Retire
Information Technology Administrator Mark Greenawalt has announced his
retirement effective January 20, 2012. He has been employed at the District in
this position for 13.5 years. We thank Mark for his service.
Compliance
g) Pretreatment Compliance Audit
The Source Control Program is periodically reviewed to determine its compliance
with the federal pretreatment program requirements. A contractor for the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board contacted staff to schedule a Pretreatment
Compliance Audit for the period of October 31 through November 1, 2011. A
Pretreatment Compliance Audit is a comprehensive review of the District's
pretreatment program including an interview with staff, file review, site visits of
selected permitted Industrial Users, and review of the District's Source Control
Ordinance. A report will be provided at a future Board meeting summarizing the
findings of this audit. Environmental Compliance Superintendent Tim Potter can
answer any specific questions you may have about the Source Control Program
or this audit process.
Additional Written Announcements
October 20, 2011
Page 2 of 3
General Updates
h) Contractor Classification Allowed Permits for Building
Sewer Work
It has been District policy for several decades to permit: "A" General Engineering,
C -34 Pipeline, C -36 Plumbing, and C -42 Sanitation System contractors to install
and /or repair building sewers within our service area. This practice is generally
consistent with a 1990 Contractors State License Board (CSLB) policy circular,
and the CSLB's current website's "Frequently Asked Questions" answer regarding
this issue. For a brief period after the 2010 Standard Specification was adopted,
we suspended issuing permits to C -36 Plumbing Contractors for building sewer
work in public rights -of -way; however we resumed issuing these permits on the
condition that the contractor obtain a local jurisdiction encroachment permit for
any public street work.
In June 2011, staff received a complaint from an "A" General Engineering
Contractor questioning the legality of the District's practice of issuing permits to C-
36 Plumbing Contractors for building sewers, particularly where there was work in
public streets, citing a written opinion he had received from a CSLB official. This
individual has indicated that he may contact individual CCCSD Board members if
this matter is not resolved. Since that time, staff has worked to resolve the
question with the CSLB, and on August 12, we asked for a "formal declaratory
decision" on the issue. To date, the CSLB has not notified us of its decision.
Until we receive a response, we are continuing to issue building sewer permits to
C -36 Plumbing Contractors.
i) Trees in District Easements within the Iron Horse Corridor
In the mid- 1980s, when the County purchased the former Southern Pacific
Railroad right -of -way between San Ramon and Concord to develop the Iron
Horse Corridor (IHC), the District obtained exclusive subsurface and non-
exclusive surface easements for existing and future interceptor sewers and
recycled water pipelines. On a number of recent occasions, property owner
groups have approached staff for permission to maintain existing trees or plant
new landscaping (including trees) within the District's easement areas. The
Board has recently received a communication from such a group.
Over the past few years, the County and District IHC coordinators have worked
together to ensure that existing trees are removed and new trees are not planted
in the easement areas. This approach is recommended so that timely access for
maintenance, repair and replacement of existing pipelines and construction of
new pipelines is not unreasonably constrained. In addition, if trees are allowed to
flourish in the area where we intend to construct the new A -line in approximately
ten years, there will likely be substantial public concern at that time of construction
when it is necessary to cut down what will then be fairly mature trees. Finally,
Additional Written Announcements
October 20, 2011
Page 3 of 3
when construction occurs, the District would also potentially have to comply with
local tree ordinances that do not allow cutting of trees of a certain diameter
without replacement, sometimes in greater than a 1:1 ratio. For all of these
reasons, staff recommends that we continue our practice of not permitting trees in
our IHC easements.