HomeMy WebLinkAboutADMINISTRATION MINUTES 09-28-17Il Central Contra Costa Sanitary District REGULAR MEETING OF THE CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MINUTES Thursday, September 28, 2017 8:30 a.m. Executive Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California (;nmmittPP- Chair Mike McGill Member David Williams BOARD OF DIRECTORS: PAUL H. CA USEY President JAMES A. NEJEDL Y President Pro Tem MICHAEL R. MCGILL TAD J. PILECKI DAVID R. WILLIAMS PHONE: (925) 228-9500 FAX.- (925) 676-7211 www.centralsan.org Outside speakers: Dominic DeBellis, Customer Service Supervisor -Contra Costa Water District (left after Item 3. a.) Staff. Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Elaine R. Boehme, Secretary of the District Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Shari Deutsch, Risk Management Administrator Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair McGill called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. Public Comments None. 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to consider whether to recommend Board endorsement of the sewer lateral insurance program being offered by Administration Committee Minutes September 28, 2017 Page 2 Contra Costa Water District (CCWD), and allow use of Central San's name and logo on marketing materials —Guest speaker: Mr. DeBellis of CCWD Mr. Bailey noted that there is a built-in incentive for the insurer, HomeServe, to keep CCWD customers happy so they can continue delivering the program to a large customer base. He said it is staff's recommendation that the Board endorse the program. Mr. DeBellis explained how the program works at CCWD and responded to questions from the Committee Members. He said CCWD's fee is 10 of the premium cost, just enough to cover costs. Participation in the program is voluntary. Since 2011, 15,000 of CCWD's 54,000 single family customers have enrolled in the coverage for water lines. More recently, CCWD began offering coverage for sewer laterals because (1) customers are more likely to be affected by problems with their sewer laterals than their water lines; and (2) in talking with customers, CCWD staff has learned that many customers do not realize the difference between the two types of pipes, believing their sewer line was covered when in fact only their water line was covered. He provided two handouts, a presentation to the CCWD Board in 2011, and a more recent presentation to the City of Concord inviting their participation in the program, both of which are attached. Mr. DeBellis said HomeServe was selected after a request for proposal (RFP) process. He said CCWD's customer satisfaction rating is 98.9 and they expect the same from HomeServe. Claims are averaging 150 per year for the water service and 100% of the claims have been honored. Those that were not were because the issue was not with their water line, or a claim was made within the initial 30 -day required waiting period for pre-existing conditions. He said that no more growth on the water side of the program is expected at CCWD — it has held steady at approximately 25% over the years, which is in line with original predictions. Mr. DeBellis stated that marketing material is mailed to customers three times a year by HomeServe, at their expense, to customers who have not signed up for coverage letting them know that their pipes are their responsibility and that coverage is available. Chair McGill said that he generally likes the idea of such a program, particularly the fact that it provides messaging to customers on a regular basis that the pipes that connect their home to the water and/or sewer service are their responsibility. On the other hand, he was concerned that since CCWD's service area overlaps only a portion of Central San's service area, those Central San customers not served by CCWD would Administration Committee Minutes September 28, 2017 Page 3 not receive regular messaging about sewer lateral responsibility, nor would they have an opportunity to take advantage of sewer lateral coverage. He wondered if there may be issues associated with not treating all customers similarly. Mr. Bailey said he has reached out to Alex Coate, General Manager of East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), on this topic but does not believe a definitive response will be forthcoming anytime soon. Mr. Bailey also noted that while coverage is available on an individual basis directly through HomeService, the leverage afforded by having CCWD as the intermediary would be lost. Chair McGill said that he would like a more definitive summary of how the program would operate, including how it would tie in with CC WD's program and how the first mailing would go, etc. He also wanted staff to address any potential downside from a public relations perspective related to a program being offered to a portion of Central San's customer base. Member Williams suggested that the program be offered on a pilot basis. If it is well received, then opportunities for providing a similar program to remaining Central San customers could be investigated. COMMITTEE ACTION: Requested that staff come back at a future meeting with additional information on the following topics: (1) how the program would operate, including information about regular mailings; (2) potential ramifications of providing a program to a portion of Central San customers; and (3) offering it as a pilot program. 4. Other Items a. Receive status report on disaster cost recovery Ms. Deutsch reviewed the material included with the agenda packet, noting that of the $618,000 total cost spent on disasters from last Winter's storms, roughly $580,000 may be recoverable, although some portion may be disallowed during close-out. All the appropriate paperwork has been submitted. However, with three recent devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, FEMA has been overwhelmed. She is hopeful that reimbursement checks will be forthcoming by the end of this fiscal year. Administration Committee Minutes September 28, 2017 Page 4 The Committee Members thanked Shari for her diligent efforts in coordinating submission of the detailed cost recovery applications. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the report. 5. Announcements a. Chair McGill announced that he had just returned from the California Special Districts Association (CSDA) Annual Conference in Monterey, where the topic of one of the workshops was the need for cost of service studies. b. Chair McGill also announced that the Contra Costa Chapter of the CSDA has won Chapter of the Year for the second time, based in part on excellent attendance at meetings (which are held at Central San's Martinez campus) and the friendly atmosphere created by staff. 6. Future Scheduled Meetings a. Monday, October 16, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. 7. Suggestions for future agenda items None. 8. Adjournment — at 4:35 p.m.