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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.a. Approve minutes of January 23, 2014 Board meeting3.Q. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE DISTRICT BOARD OF THE CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT HELD ON JANUARY 23, 2014 The Board of Directors of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District convened in a special meeting in the Board Room, 5019 Imhoff Place, Martinez, County of Contra Costa, State of California, at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 23, 2014. President Williams called the meeting to order and requested that the Secretary call roll. 1. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Members: Causey, McGill, Nejedly, Pilecki, Williams ABSENT: Members: None a. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG The Board and staff joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. b. INTRODUCTIONS The Board welcomed new employee Daniel Frost, Associate Engineer in the Environmental Services Division. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Approve minutes December 19, 2013 Board meeting. b. Approve expenditures dated January 23, 2014. Reviewed by Finance Committee. C. Authorize the General Manager to amend an existing professional services agreement with Federal Advocates from $190,000 to $265,000 to continue advocacy efforts to obtain federal grant funding for the Refinery Recycled Water Project, District Project 7300. Reviewed by former Enterprise Committee. d. Approve attendance of Senior Engineer Randy Schmidt at the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) 2014 Winter Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from February 1 through February 5, 2014 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 Member Pilecki requested to consider Item 3.c. separately from the rest of the Consent Calendar. It was moved by Member McGill and seconded by Member Causey to adopt Consent Calendar Items 3.a., 3.b., and 3.d. as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board. Member Pilecki asked whether a project had been identified regarding Item 3.c., noting that at the recent California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) conference in Indian Wells, he learned that Senator Feinstein was particularly looking for Recycled Water projects. It was moved by Member Pilecki and seconded by Member McGill to adopt Consent Calendar Item 3.c. as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board. None. 4. CALL FOR REQUESTS TO CONSIDER ITEMS OUT OF ORDER 5. REPORTS ► :t ►,:►s _: 1) Update on retention of consultant Larry Bienati of Bienati Consultinq Group, Inc. to assist with the performance evaluation of General Manager Roger Bailey General Manager Roger Bailey reported that, at the January 9, 2014 Board meeting, the Board directed staff to place on a future Board meeting agenda consideration of hiring consultant Larry Bienati to conduct a sixth -month review of the General Manager Performance Plan and possibly hiring Dr. Bienati to work with the General Manager to draft the vision for the upcoming year and obtain input from the Board Members. He said discussions are underway with regard to the work scope for Dr. Bienati, who is in the process of touching base with the Board President and, eventually, each Board Member. Mr. Bailey said the scope of work should be finalized in next few weeks. 2) Updates on Nutrient Facility Plan and Site Characterization Final Report General Manager Roger Bailey said the District's 2012 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) requires the District to evaluate traditional and alternative nitrogen removal technologies in addition to evaluating District property where new nutrient removal facilities may be built. To comply with this permit requirement, the District has completed 2 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 numerous projects, some of which have been presented to the Board previously. He noted that the forthcoming presentation would recap the District's upcoming submission to the Regional Board by the February 28, 2014 deadline to comply with the Facility Plan & Site Characterization permit requirement. Assistant Engineer Samantha Engelage said the report to the Regional Board must evaluate short-term optimization options and treatment technologies for ammonia removal, both conventional and cutting edge, to meet a range of potential effluent limits in the future. It also requires that the District evaluate its properties and the suitability of that property for potential new facilities for ammonia treatment and removal. Ms. Engelage reviewed the site - specific nitrification rate test as part of the cyanide study, since cyanide has been shown to inhibit nitrification (also known as biological ammonia removal). After numerous tests, it was found that the maximum nitrification rate is close to what the District believed could be inhibited by its wet scrubber return stream, so it does not appear that the wet scrubber return stream is significantly inhibiting nitrification. The District's maximum nitrification rate is significantly lower than what is expected of a normal treatment plant. Ms. Engelage recommended verification of these results at a larger scale. She also described a cyanide remediation project, the objective of which was to evaluate cyanide treatment alternatives for application at the District in the case of significant inhibition. That study analyzed twelve different technologies that could potentially be used for cyanide removal. Two final approaches were compatible with the District's current process: 1) a biological treatment for the side stream wet scrubber return, and 2) a thermal destruction option to destroy the cyanide in the furnace prior to it reaching a water stream. The first approach is the most cost effective, with a capital cost of $385,000 and annual recurring Operations and Maintenance (O &M) costs of approximately $2,000. Ms. Engelage also reviewed the BioWin Model Configuration project, which involved developing a site - specific treatment plant process model for predicting various outcomes from modifying different portions of the existing treatment process, which the District could use in the near term to meet interim ammonia limits. She described several of those projects and their associated costs. Ms. Engelage also described a project for transitioning the plant to a long- term, full -scale conventional nutrient removal system. Depending on the level of treatment, the capital costs could range from $112 to $239 million, with annual O &M costs of $3 to $8 million, not including soil remediation costs. She presented a chart which illustrated that as the potential discharge limits get more and more strict, the cost for compliance increases dramatically. The focus has been on discharge limits the District could be facing in the next 10 to 20 years. 3 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 Ms. Engelage also described a "Visioning Plan" project evaluating cutting - edge technologies and how they might be used at the District to reduce the overall costs associated with nutrient removal. Out of 22 technologies evaluated, five have been identified for further consideration. It will be important for regulatory agencies to allow sufficient time to conduct these studies. Environmental Compliance Superintendent Tim Potter reviewed the findings of the Site Characterization Study, which was conducted to define the extent of the contamination of District property where future nutrient removal facilities could be located, and identify disposal options and estimated costs of excavated soil. He reminded the Board that the contaminated soil was deposited on the site back in the 1960s from the Shell Oil Refinery. The results of the study revealed that no soil samples exceeded the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous Waste levels. Approximately 13 percent of the volume excavated would be California Hazardous Waste. He also described two primary disposal options: 1) on -site consolidation into Basin A South (which is also contaminated), or 2) transportation to an off -site disposal facility. On -site relocation would essentially fill Basin A South and a cap would be placed over the relocated soils. If on -site relocation is pursued, it should be considered a final placement of the contaminated materials. Of the two options, on -site consolidation would cost roughly $8.2 million in capital costs. This option would also require approval of the Department of Toxic Substance Control. The capital costs to transport the contaminated soil to an off -site disposal facility would be approximately $34 million. Ms. Engelage briefly reviewed the idea of using recycled water projects to meet potential nutrient discharge limits in the future and, while doing so, recover some of the associated costs through increased revenues and /or possible grants. This option involves providing recycled water to the local refineries for cooling water, at a capital cost ranging from $31 to $85 million at quantities of 5 to 20 million gallons per day with nitrification /de- nitrification. In conclusion, Ms. Engelage said nutrient removal will involve quite a large capital investment for the District, ranging from $5 million for partial nutrient removal up to $239 million for complete removal. The next steps will be to integrate the results from these numerous projects into a Treatment Plant Master Plan and /or Plant of the Future exercise, verify assumptions with field studies and modeling predictions, and track and evaluate cutting -edge technologies, including the potential to collaborate on pilots. The Board Members thanked Ms. Engelage and Mr. Potter for their very informative presentation. 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 3) Announcements The following written announcements were included with the agenda packet: a) Recent Promotion — Douglas Little promoted to Plant Operations Superintendent effective January 8, 2014 b) Awards received by the Collection System Operations (CSO) Division at the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) San Francisco Bay Section Annual Awards Banquet c) New rodding truck received by the CSO Division d) Resolution of unclaimed homeowner and contractor deposits e) Environmental Services Division employees to attend the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Winter Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from February 2 -5, 2014 f) Recap of contracts signed by General Manager during fourth quarter 2013 b. COUNSEL FOR THE DISTRICT 1) Written Legal Update District Counsel Kent Alm stated that he provided a written legal update in the agenda packet. C. SECRETARY OF THE DISTRICT No report. d. BOARD MEMBERS 1) Board Member reports on recent meetings for which they received the stipend; and meetings or conferences for which the District paid their expenses; future meetings or conferences for which they will receive the stipend or for which the District will pay their expenses Member Causey Member Causey reported on the January 21, 2014 Finance Committee meeting and summarized the Action Summary. The Board received the report without comment. 5 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 Member Causey, who attended the recent California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) Mid -Year Conference, spoke on the status of citizen lawsuits regarding sewer service overflows and explained CASA's approach to dealing with this issue. Member Nejedly Member Nejedly reported on the January 13, 2014 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee meeting and summarized the Action Summary. The Board received the report without comment. Member Pilecki Member Pilecki reported on the January 15 -17, 2014 CASA Mid -Year Conference held in Indian Wells, California. Member Williams Member Williams also reported on the January 15 -17, 2014 CASA Mid -Year Conference held in Indian Wells, California. 2) Announcements Member McGill provided a written report covering Announcements and other meetings. 6. TREATMENT PLANT a. ACCEPT THE 2013 NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) ANNUAL REPORT General Manager Roger Baily stated that the District's 2013 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Annual Report was ready for submission to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. Plant Operations Division Manager Alan Weer presented a report to the Board highlighting the annual performance of the treatment plant. Mr. Weer presented a series of slides indicating that the plant treated 13.1 billion gallons of water in 2013, down from 13.7 billion gallons in 2012. The average daily flow was 35.9 million gallons versus 37.6 the previous year. In 2012, the peak hourly flow was at the level of 183 million gallons per day but due to dry weather conditions, the peak hourly flow in 2013 was 67 million gallons per day. In terms of ash disposal, 3,700 tons (wet weight) were disposed of for use as soil amendment, approximately the same amount as in 2012. C. None. None. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 Mr. Weer also provided information on concentrations of various materials/ compounds treated at the plant, noting the District is well within the limits allowed under the NPDES permit. He said the District's laboratory completed over 15,000 analyses in 2013, involving roughly 11,000 hours of labor. In 2013, the plant was 100 percent compliant with its NPDES permit for the 16th year in a row; as a result, the District will be receiving the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Platinum 16 Peak Performance Award. It was moved by Member Pilecki and seconded by Member Nejedly to accept the District's 2013 NPDES Annual Report. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board. 7. EMERGENCY SITUATIONS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION 8. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 9. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CLOSED SESSION District Counsel Kent Alm announced that a closed session was needed for Item 10.a. 10. CLOSED SESSION The Board recessed at 3:27 p.m. to reconvene in closed session in the Caucus Room regarding the following matter: a. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL — EXISTING LITIGATION PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9(A): • City of Brentwood et al. v. Robert Campbell, et al., Contra Costa County Superior Court Case No. N11 -1029. [Chevron Ad Valorem Tax Matter] 11. REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION With regard to the City of Brentwood, et al. v. Robert Campbell, et al. matter, the Board provided direction regarding the issue of proceeding or dropping the appeal. There was one contingency, and District Counsel Kent Alm reported that he will make another announcement once that contingency has occurred. 7 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT Board Minutes of January 23, 2014 With regard to the California River Watch matter that had been the subject of several previous closed sessions, District Counsel Kent Alm reported that, upon authorization from the Board, the matter was recently settled and the settlement agreement has been fully executed and is now a public record. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, President Williams adjourned the meeting at 4:10 p.m. David R. Williams President of the Board of Directors Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: Elaine R. Boehme, CIVIC Secretary of the District Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California 0