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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOARD MINUTES 08-01-19 I CENTRALSAN CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 94553-4392 MINUTES* BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DAVID R.WILLIAMS President REGULAR BOARD MEETING MICHAEL R.MCGILL Board Room President Pro Tem Thursday, August 1, 2019 PAUL H.CAUSEY 1:30 p.m. JAMES A.NEJEDLY TAD J.PILECKI Open Session - Board Room (Video recorded) ROLL CALL A regular meeting of the Board of Directors was called to order by President Pro Tem Michael R. McGill at 1:30 p.m. Secretary Pro Tem Donna Anderson called roll: PRESENT. Members: Causey, Nejedly(left at 2:30 p.m.), Pilecki, McGill ABSENT.• Members: Williams PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Board, staff and audience joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. INTRODUCTIONS 1. New employee: • Cassandra Butler, Staff Engineer, Engineering and Technical Services Department, Capital Projects Division, effective July 11, 2019 BOARD ACTION: Welcomed Ms. Butler. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD No comments. REQUESTS TO CONSIDER MATTERS OUT OF ORDER These summary minutes are supplemented by a corresponding video recording available on the District's website at centralsan.org. Book 67— Page 122 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 123 None. AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS 2. Receive presentation on potential solar energy opportunities at Central San Program Manager for Resource Recovery Melody LaBella reviewed the first portion of the presentation included with the agenda material, and Mr. Russell Driver of ARC Alternatives (ARC) reviewed the second portion of the presentation. The presentation was followed by a lengthy discussion involving ARC's recommendation to consider pursuing their Scenario 2 for a Large Renewable Energy Bill Credit Transfer(RES-BCT) System that would benefit all the major pump stations as well as the treatment plant, as described on page 9 9 (slide 22) of the presentation. The primary area of focus for this option would be the Lagiss buffer property on Blum Road. It provides the clearest opportunity for a large solar array due to its location and size, could provide more capacity than is needed at this time, and could coexist with the cattle grazing that is currently on the property. The proposed solar array would be located on the north slope to avoid visual impact to residents. It was also noted that the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) process would be required, as would community outreach to neighboring properties. Mr. Driver discussed the various solar interconnection options with the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) power grid, which included the RES-BCT, a program that is only available to public agencies. Under RES-BCT, a public agency can install a solar system and export that solar power to the grid, generating dollar credits that can be used to offset the energy component of any electricity bills for up to 50 PG&E accounts owned by the same public agency, as long as they are in the same county. Mr. Driver also noted that, after reviewing the financial aspects of all three scenarios developed during ARC's analysis, Scenario 2 appears to be the best option. ARC's financial model projects a net benefit of over$4 million in 20 years, with a cumulative positive cash flow after six years. He added that the financial model assumed a conservative three percent utility escalation for grid electricity and a power purchase agreement (PPA) price of nine cents per kilowatt hour for solar power for 25 years. Member Causey opined that the concept of sustainability should be incorporated in any future energy plans. Director of Engineering and Technical Services Jean-Marc Petit said ARC was hired to look at potential options for solar energy at Central San and was not asked to analyze sustainability factors at this juncture. Member Causey said he would be interested in receiving information on this aspect when considering energy alternatives. Member Pilecki clarified that Central San would not be investing funds in a solar array system; instead, it would enter into a PPA with a selected vendor, the only obligation for Central San being to purchase output from the system. Mr. Driver explained that some of the up-front development costs (consultant costs and those related to CEQA) may be able to be bundled into the PPA if desired by the District. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 124 Referring to slide 29 of page 15 of the presentation, Ms. LaBella outlined the next steps if the Board wished to move forward with Scenario 2, the first being to conduct a complete financial analysis. Member Pilecki recanted part of the discussion on this item from the July 22, 2019, Real Estate, Environmental& Planning (RESP) Committee meeting, regarding the inability to rely on this potential new solar array to power the treatment plant in the event that PG&E's grid goes down (in response to fire risk or in the event of an earthquake). At the RESP meeting, Mr. Driver explained that in order to rely on the power from a solar array interconnected with PG&E's grid, when the grid goes down, a microgrid would need to be constructed at a significant additional expense. Member Pilecki added that he would like this option looked at as part of the analysis. Member Causey expressed great enthusiasm for pursuing the proposed option as soon as possible. Member Nejedly agreed. In response to a comment by President Pro Tem McGill, Engineering Assistant 111 Russ Leavitt addressed the Board regarding CEQA requirements and his opinion as to what would be involved for this type of project. Member Pilecki made a motion to direct staff to complete a detailed financial analysis for the proposed project for presentation to the RESP Committee. If it still makes financial sense, then staff could proceed with the remaining steps and, ultimately, make a recommendation to the full Board. Member Causey was supportive of conducting the analysis but preferred the motion not be limited based on whether the project makes financial sense because there may be non-economic benefits to a project of this nature that merit consideration. If the motion were amended to direct staff just to complete the detailed financial analysis and present it to the Board, he would second it. Member Pilecki approved modifying his motion in accordance with Member Causey's comments. Member Causey seconded the modified motion. A discussion took place during which it was pointed out that (1) Board Policy No. BP 027— Energy mandates that PPAs must result in positive cash flow within five years, (2) staff could incorporate a triple-bottom-line component as part of the financial analysis, and(3) any costs associated with this project will be categorized as operations and maintenance as opposed to capital. District Counsel Kent Alm cautioned that the item was agendized for the Board to provide input to staff, the motion on the table was silent as to providing authority to cover costs associated with performing the financial analysis. Member Pilecki said any costs related to conducting a detailed financial analysis were well within General Manager authority. Therefore, he modified his earlier motion as indicated below, with concurrence by Member Causey. BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member Pilecki and seconded by Member Causey to direct staff to complete a detailed financial analysis with respect to the solar array option described as Scenario 2 for presentation to both the REEP Committee and the Board, provided that any costs associated CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 125 with the analysis be within General Manager authority limits. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board Members present. [3-0-2; President Williams and Member Nejedly absent.] CONSENT CALENDAR 3. Approve expenditures dated August 1, 2019 4. Set September 5, 2019 as the date for Board consideration of Fiscal Year 2019-20 Appropriations Limit 5. Adopt Resolution Nos. 2019-042 through 2019-050 recognizing 2019 Service Award recipients BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member Pilecki and seconded by Member Causey to adopt the Consent Calendar as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board Members present. [3-0-2; President Williams and Member Nejedly absent.] OTHER BOARD ACTION ITEMS 6. Consider authorizing the General Manager to: 1) execute two professional consulting services agreements, each with a three-year term, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $675,000 to provide Right-of-Way on-call services; 2) execute one professional consulting services agreement with a one-year term in an amount not to exceed $250,000 to provide on-call services for the Permit Counter; and 3) temporarily increase the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff by two additional FTEs General Manager Roger S. Bailey said an updated presentation was distributed to the Board shortly before the meeting to address questions posed by Member Causey prior to the meeting. Member Causey said he would prefer the matter be postponed to the next meeting when the full Board is expected to be present to allow time to review the additional information. Mr. Petit said the issue is time sensitive because the consulting agreements that have been in place to provide support services for Right-of-Way(ROM and the Permit Counter expired July 31, 2019. Having said that, Mr. Bailey said staff could postpone the item to the next meeting if that was the desire of the Board. Member Pilecki proposed that staff proceed with the presentation, after which a decision may be made whether to postpone the matter. President Pro Tem McGill concurred, after which Planning and Development Services Manager Danea Gemmell reviewed the updated presentation. After explaining the various alternatives, she said staff was recommending: 1. For ROW support: Hiring two consultants to provide on-call services for three years; and CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes-Book 67-Page 126 2. For Permit Count support: a. Temporarily adding two FTEs (for approximately two years) due to an upcoming leave of absence and staff retirements, and b. Hiring a consultant to provide on-call services for one year to allow for recruitment of the two FTEs and to cover gaps in staffing due to the leave of absence and anticipated retirements. Ms. Gemmell said that while the rate of activity at the Permit Counter has been relatively steady over the last four years, the workload is expected to increase substantially over the next six months due to changes to the Uniform Building Code starting January 1, 2020, which will require solar as part of all new single-family residences and remodels. The Permit Counter is open nine hours per day with no break for lunch and is currently being staffed by three FTEs and one consultant from 4Leaf, Inc. Regarding the proposed ROW consulting agreements, Member Causey asked how much has been spent during the past year on ROW consulting services. Ms. Gemmell said the magnitude of annual expense has been the same as that proposed for the new three-year agreements, which are recommended for the purposes of comprehensiveness and efficiency. In response to a question from Member Pilecki, Ms. Gemmell said it takes a full year or longer to train someone to full proficiency at the Permit Counter. Member Pilecki also pointed out that mainline review is not performed by Permit Counter staff. President Pro Tem McGill pointed out two things: (1) temporary employees hired by the District have no expectation of being hired on as staff,- and(2) the Board has delegated the authority to the General Manager to appoint up to five "transitional positions"at any given time to backfill positions vacated due to extended leaves of absence or as necessary to address succession planning, all of which are being utilized at the present time, leaving none available for this purpose. Ms. Gemmell reviewed the Cost Alternative Analysis slide of her updated presentation, during which Member Pilecki noted that if the Board were to authorize the staff recommendation, it would cost at most an additional$103,000 over the three-year period. This would be the worst-case scenario and would only occur if none of the anticipated retirements occurred. Member Causey asked what happens if those expected to retire choose not to do so during the next two years. Member Pilecki said staff retirements may be affected starting in 2021 by changes in the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs). Mr. Petit stated that as soon as the two new FTEs are hired, the one-year contract with 4Leaf, Inc. would be cancelled. President Pro Tem McGill said that when family leave occurs, the employee is not available to perform the work, but the work still needs to be done, such as will occur soon with one of the Permit Counter employees. When a temporary employee or retiree is brought in to help with the workload, there is an added cost to the District no matter what. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARYDISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 127 Regarding the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that is currently being implemented, Member Causey asked if plan review at the Permit Counter will be simplified with electronic plans versus paper plans. Ms. Gemmell said staff has begun working with electronic plans from the City of Walnut Creek related to the Walnut Creek Transit Village but widespread use of electronic plans as part of the ERP process has not yet been determined. Member Causey asked how the staff-recommended action would affect performance metrics for the Permit Counter, to which Mr. Bailey said this proposal is workload driven and not related to customer survey results. Member Causey said a metric that measures the average amount of time a customer spends at the Permit Counter would be meaningful in his opinion. Mr. Petit referenced the Permit Counter Activity Report included with the presentation, adding that if this proposal is not approved, there may be periods of time when the Permit Counter will have to be closed. Bottom line, President Pro Tem McGill said that staff recommends staffing the Permit Counter with the current level of four persons and the question is how best to accomplish that. Member Pilecki said that given the involved process of training Permit Counter personnel, he was convinced that staffs proposal was reasonable and he saw no reason to postpone the vote to the next meeting. President Pro Tem McGill said he appreciated staff having developed all the alternatives for the Board to consider. Reiterating Member Pilecki's earlier comment, he said that implementing staff's recommendation would, at most, result in an additional cost of $34,000 per year, but he noted it could easily be less than that. Member Pilecki moved staff's recommendation, and President Pro Tem McGill seconded. District Counsel Kent Alm asked if the motion also included the agreements for ROW support services. Member Pilecki said yes, and asked Member Causey if he had any concerns about the proposed ROW agreements. Member Causey said he had more concerns about the proposed approach for the Permit Counter support services and believed the full Board should be present for the discussion, particularly since new information was presented just prior to the meeting. It would be his preference to postpone any decision to the next meeting. President Pro Tem McGill asked Member Pilecki to clarify his motion. BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member Pilecki and seconded by President Pro Tem McGill to: • Authorize the General Manager to execute professional consulting services agreements with the following firms to provide on-call services for the Planning and Development Services Division: 0 4Leaf, Inc. with a cost ceiling of$250,000 with a one-year term for Permit Counter services; o Associated Right of Way Services, Inc. with a cost ceiling of $450,000 with a three-year term for Right-of-Way services; and CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARYDISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 128 o Kathleen West Rodriguez with a cost ceiling of$225,000 with a three- year term for Right-of-Way services. • Authorize the General Manager to temporarily add two FTEs to provide Permit Counter support, increasing the total number of FTEs from 291 to 293 to provide the services in-house rather than hiring consultants, with the understanding that this temporary increase in the total number of FTEs would be reduced back to the approved amount of 291 FTEs upon staff retirements expected in Fiscal Year 2019-20 or Fiscal Year 2020-21. Motion passed by the following vote: AYES: Members: Pilecki, McGill NOES: Members: Causey ABSENT: Members: Nejedly, Williams REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 7. General Manager—Announcements a. Announcements —August 1, 2019 1) Permit Counter to be temporarily relocated starting August 26, 2019 2) Staff to attend 92"d Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago, Illinois from September 21-25, 2019 3) Employee Appreciation Summer Picnic scheduled for August 14, 2019 4) Central San recognized with Utility of the Future Today distinction 5) Staff to present at the Tri-State Conference from August 6-8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada No further announcements were made during the meeting. BOARD ACTION: Received the announcements. 8. Counsel for the District - No report. 9. Secretary of the District Ms. Anderson announced the following upcoming Committee meetings: • Administration — Tuesday, August 6 at 8:30 a.m. • Engineering & Operations— Tuesday, August 13 at 2:00 p.m. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 9, 2099 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 929 Ms. Anderson also reminded the Board Members that the Annual Employee Appreciation Picnic will be held Wednesday, August 14 at 91:30 a.m. BOARD ACTION: Received the announcements. 10. Board Members — Committee Minutes a. July 22, 2019 — Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee — Chair Pilecki and Member McGill b. July 23, 2019 — Finance Committee — Chair Causey and Member Nejedly BOARD ACTION: Received the Committee minutes. 11. Board Members - Reports and Announcements Board Member reports on recent meetings or conferences for which they received the stipend or for which the District paid their expenses. a. Member Causey - No report. Member Causey reported in some detail about a recent meeting he had attended of the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) Collections Committee. Member Pilecki commented that many of the issues raised were of interest to Central San, to which Member Causey said the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) is very much involved. He also noted that Collection System Operations Division Manager Paul Seitz has been following the collection system issues very closely. A written copy of his report was incorporated as a handout as part of the agenda backup material. Member McGill President Pro Tem McGill provided a written report covering his announcements and other meetings. Member Nejedl - No report. Member Pilecki - No report. BOARD ACTION: Received the reports and announcements. 12. Board Members - Re uests for Sti end/Reimbursement or Conference Attendance Authorization to receive a stipend for meeting attendance or expense reimbursement not specifically addressed in the current Board Compensation Resolution, or authorization for conference attendance not previously approved by the Board. No requests. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT August 1, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes—Book 67-Page 130 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS None. REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 4:09 p.m. / Michael R. McGill, P.E. President Pro Tem of the Board of Directors Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: Avw.cM ,a2r��� ,Donn;� M. Anderson Secretary Pro Tem of the District Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California