Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 06-04-19 Page 2 of 7 ol&)i Cwil ENTRAL SAN CONTRACENTRAL • IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9AS53-A392 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DAVID R, WILLIAMS CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA President SANITARY DISTRICT MICHAEL R.MCGILL President Pro Tem ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE PAUL CASEY JAMES A.NEJEDLY TAD J PHECKI MINUTES PHONE: (925)228-9500 FAX.- (925)372-0192 Tuesday, June 4, 2019 www.centralsan.org 8:30 a.m. Executive Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California Committee: Chair David Williams Member Mike McGill Staff. Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Katie Young, Secretary of the District Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Jean-Marc Petit, Director of Engineering and Technical Services Melody LaBella, Program Manager— Resource Recovery (left after Item 3.b.) Teji O'Malley, Human Resources Manager Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 8:31 a.m. 2. Public Comments None. June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 94 of 120 Page 3 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes June 4, 2019 Page 2 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Conduct biennial review of the following Board Policies: • BP 002 - Diversity Statement; • BP 018 - Sick Leave for Temporary Employees; and • BP 020 - Minute Style and Video Recording of Board Meetings COMMITTEE ACTION: Concurred with staff's recommendation that no changes are needed at this time. b. Review draft Position Paper to authorize the General Manager to submit a Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Grant Application for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Mr. Petit reminded the Committee that this matter was briefly introduced at the last meeting held May 14 and the Committee at that time suggested proceeding with the grant application. Ms. LaBella reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material, noting that the purpose of the discussion was two-fold: 1) to see if the Committee was interested in having staff submit a grant application in support of offering electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at Central San, and 2) to review some of the aspects that the Board will need to consider in making policy decisions should there be interest in installing them. As mentioned at the last meeting, there are two ways to provide the EV charging stations: 1) through a third-party service (meaning Central San would not own the equipment, a vendor would manage it for a monthly fee); or 2) the District would own and operate the equipment. Both options would involve a capital project of at least $100,000 to prepare the site (trench and install new electrical conduit and pour the concrete bases to support the EV charging stations). In comparing EVs to those with internal combustion engines, Ms. LaBella said EVs are slightly less environmentally friendly at the time of manufacture because of the battery, but as they are operated, they fairly rapidly overtake conventional vehicles in terms of positive environmental impact due to lower emissions and reduced hazardous chemical waste (because EVs do not need oil changes, antifreeze, transmission fluid, etc.). In terms of the grant, which could potentially cover half of the equipment costs, Ms. LaBella said the application deadline is June 30, and there is no downside to applying for the grant and deciding later not to go forward with the project. She noted that one condition of using grant monies for the project is that the public must have access to the charging stations for the first three years. June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 95 of 120 Page 4 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes June 4, 2019 Page 3 Other aspects discussed included cost components of the two options for providing the EV charging stations, designing the project for future expansion, equipment obsolescence, the economic viability of potentially replacing pool vehicles and other fleet trucks with EVs, lifecycle costs, potential credits toward greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, staff time to manage/administer the charging stations, and anticipated employee reaction to offering this service. Member McGill confirmed his recommendation for Board approval to submit a grant application. However, if and when staff brings the item to the Board for project approval, he would prefer that staff provide its recommended option and perhaps one other alternative, rather than asking the Board to consider every conceivable option. Chair Williams said he recognizes that providing EV charging stations feels like the right thing to do but questioned whether scientific facts support the concept. He referred to an article written several years ago by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which is a nonprofit organization founded in 1969 by scientists and students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology that seeks to use the power of science to make evidence- based decision making. The article concluded that EVs make sense in certain parts of the country based on the electrical grid and California is one of the states where EVs make more sense that hybrid vehicles. Even so, he continues to seek the rationale for installing EV charging stations and asked if they would fall under any payback policies. Ms. LaBella said no; it is the possibility of having a portion of the equipment costs defrayed by grant monies that has driven the timing of the proposal. Chair Williams said if the project were to proceed, he would advocate for making the charging stations available to the public and using a third-party vendor to address equipment obsolescence and administration issues. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval of submitting a grant application seeking funds toward providing EV charging stations. 4. Other Items a. Discuss staff proposal for support in fostering additional contributions for Central San's employee charitable giving program This item was taken out of order, immediately after Item 4.b. Ms. O'Malley briefly recapped the memorandum included with the agenda material, noting that this staff proposal was being offered to increase overall employee participation and total employee donations through the umbrella organization, Community Health Charities, that Central San uses June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 96 of 120 Page 5 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes June 4, 2019 Page 4 to administer the charitable giving program. The administrative fees paid to the umbrella organization average 12.5% of the donated amounts and appear to be a deterrent to giving. It is believed that more employees would participate if the umbrella organization administrative fees, which are on top of any fees charged directly by the individual charitable organizations, were not a factor. In response to a question from Member McGill as to how this program benefits Central San, Mr. Leiber said many companies offer these programs to enhance their image and prove their value to the community. Ms. O'Malley said Central San does it to give back to the community that it serves. She likened it to the summer student and internship programs. Member McGill said the summer student/internship program offers linkage to Central San's values because the students are often hired by the District or other public agencies after graduation. He said he would like to learn more about what the "linkage"would be for this proposal. Chair Williams inquired whether paying the administrative fees would amount to a gift of public funds. Ms. O'Malley responded that District Counsel has said it would not. Chair Williams said he was not prepared to support the proposal initially, but he did not realize the administrative fees were above and beyond those charged by the individual charitable organizations. He said there is the possibility of trying this as a pilot program, as staff has suggested, to see if it increases donation levels. Ms. O'Malley said she and Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Emily Barnett developed this proposal to incentivize the program to increase giving. She said she and Ms. Barnett would return to the Committee at a future meeting to provide stronger linkage to Central San's values as requested by Member McGill. Mr. Bailey said staff would also try to gather benchmarking data on other public agencies that may be picking up the cost for administrative fees charged by the umbrella organizations that administer their giving programs. COMMITTEE ACTION: Requested that staff gather additional information for discussion at a future meeting on how this proposal provides a linkage to Central San's goals and what other agencies are doing in this respect. b. Discuss continuing use of outside facilitator (BHI Consulting) for annual Board Self-Evaluation Workshops This item was taken out of order, immediately after Item 3.b. June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 97 of 120 Page 6 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes June 4, 2019 Page 5 Mr. Bailey said he was interested in the Committee's feedback on 1) whether the Board wishes to continue using an outside facilitator for annual Board Self-Evaluation Workshops, and 2) if so, whether there is interest in continuing to use the services of Brent Ives of BHI Consulting. Member McGill said the Board requested training on parliamentary procedures at the upcoming February 2020 workshop, which should be provided by a neutral party. He said Mr. Ives'continuity is valuable and he would support utilizing his services for at least the next workshop. However, he would prefer that specific issues to be addressed at the workshop be identified in advance. Mr. Bailey said he could develop a list by obtaining feedback from his one-on-one meetings with Board Members and conversations with management. Chair Williams agreed with Member McGill, adding that he supports going out for requests for proposal periodically for these types of services. He was comfortable engaging the services of Mr. Ives for one more year but with specific topics identified in advance. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended continuing to engage the services of BHI Consulting for one more annual Board Self- Evaluation Workshop with specific topics of discussion identified in advance. C. Receive list of future agenda items COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list. 5. Announcements a. Mr. Bailey announced that staff is bringing forth a proposal to replace the current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at the June 6, 2019 Board meeting. The proposal will include acquisition of the Permitting/ Community Development ERP module that was described to the Committee at the May 14 meeting. 6. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 98 of 120 Page 7 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes June 4, 2019 Page 6 7. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Given the recent employee workplace shooting in Virginia Beach, Member McGill suggested that security issues be looked at, including those related to the Board Room, and that active shooter training be provided. b. Follow-up discussion regarding Charitable Giving Program as mentioned in Item 4.a. 8. Adjournment— at 9:53 a.m. June 20, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 99 of 120