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.