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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 10-22-19 Page 2 of 7 ol&)i Cwil ENTRAL SAN CONTRACENTRAL • IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9AS53-A392 SPECIAL 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, October 22, 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 Kenton L. Alm, District Counsel (left after Item 4.b.) Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Stephanie King, Purchasing and Materials Manager Edgar Lopez, Capital Projects Division Manager (left after Item 4.a.) Kevin Mizuno, Finance Manager Todd Smithey, Finance Administrator (left after Item 3.d.) Michael Cunningham, Assistant Engineer (arrived after Item 3.d.; left after Item 4.b.) Christina Gee, Management Analyst Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 8:37 a.m. 2. Public Comments None. November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 374 of 414 Page 3 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes October 22, 2019 Page 2 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to adopt proposed revisions to Board Policy No. BP 017 — Fiscal Reserves Mr. Leiber stated that the most significant proposed change is the addition of language to allow for establishment of a rate stabilization fund, as recommended by the Finance Committee on September 24, 2019, and the full Board on October 17, 2019. Mr. Mizuno summarized several other changes to provide clarity and to be more consistent with the Government Finance Officers Association's (GFOA) recommended guidelines. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. b. Review draft Position Paper to adopt proposed revisions to Board Policy No. BP 035 — Purchasing Chair Williams pointed out that Footnote 2 on the newly proposed Exhibit A indicates that a single individual (Project Manager) is authorized to select a consultant up to $100,000. He asked what, if any, parameters are in place to guide that individual. Ms. Sasaki said the solicitation process typically includes a team of individuals who make a recommendation to the appropriate manager. Member McGill said he was comfortable as long as part of the District's internal controls include administrative procedures that require appropriate oversight of these decisions. Chair Williams suggested augmenting the footnote wording to clarify Central San's practice for informal solicitations. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval after clarifying Footnote 2 on Exhibit A. C. Review draft Position Paper to adopt proposed revisions to Board Policy No. BP 036 — Informal Bidding Mr. Lopez said that from all indications, implementing informal bidding under the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (UPCCAA) appears to be working well. More contracts than originally envisioned are falling within the parameters of the UPCCAA thresholds and quite a few local contractors who have never worked for the District have expressed November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 375 of 414 Page 4 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes October 22, 2019 Page 3 interest. Overall, pricing has been favorable, and the process is working well. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. d. Review draft Position Paper to adopt proposed revisions to Board Policy No. BP 037 — Delegation of Authority to General Manager, and consider adopting three proposed resolutions delegating authority for (1) emergency actions, (2) Central San's Emergency Operations Plan, and (3) claims settlement Mr. Alm called attention to Section 11 of BP 037 regarding contracts for goods and services, pointing out that the General Manager delegation of authority permits contract and spending so long as the Operations and Maintenance Budget is not exceeded. He raised the issue for discussion as to whether consideration should be given to establishing a ceiling on staff authority for entering into contracts without Board approval. It is his belief a best practice is to set a dollar limit above which these contracts will, at a minimum, be reported to the Board via periodic informational announcement. Alternatively, he said the Board could set a limit above which Board approval would be required for these types of contracts. Either way, he recommended the Committee address this issue so there will be a clear-cut delegation of authority in this regard. Mr. Alm added that the current practice of having essentially no authorization limit, other than the budget, for entering into contracts for landscaping services, uniforms, and the purchase of chemicals, etc., has been the same for many years, even before he joined Central San. Member McGill said he was not proposing that the types of contracts and purchases under discussion should come to the Board for approval but said there ought to be a process or ceiling. Ms. King agreed, stating that some other agencies with which she is familiar have ceilings in place. On the other hand, she said one of the criteria for the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement (AEP) Award earned by Central San over the last several years is that an agency has enacted a procurement code, directive or policy to allow for the solicitation and award of all competitively bid contracts for goods and non- professional services without limits for items that have been approved in the adopted budget. This would lead one to believe that the current practice at the District is not unusual. Chair Williams inquired as to whether this is a common practice in other agencies. Ms. King said she would investigate and report back. November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 376 of 414 Page 5 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes October 22, 2019 Page 4 Mr. Alm said, at the very least, the Board could require that staff provide regular reports to the Board on any contracts over a certain dollar limit. COMMITTEE ACTION: Requested that staff investigate the practices of other agencies regarding purchases of goods and services and report back to the Committee. 4. Other Items a. Receive Optimizations Program Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018-19 Ms. Gee reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. In response to a question from Member McGill, Ms. Gee said each manager is requested to come up with at least one optimization for their division every year. She also noted that the Optimizations Committee formed when the optimizations program was established no longer meets because the managers meet quarterly to review and track progress on all ongoing optimizations. Member McGill said a structured program, such as this, is an overarching and efficiency effectiveness review, which should be applauded. Chair Williams said having a structured program lends credibility; he would categorize the program as a best practice that leads to continuous improvement. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the report. b. Review Benchmarking Study comparing Central San's performance since July 1 , 2015 to sister agencies in California and agencies nationwide Mr. Bailey introduced the item, noting that he decided to participate in the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) nationwide benchmarking study on the belief that it is important to develop an annual report that helps to figure out where Central San stands in relation to its past, other California agencies, and those nationwide. While the data is somewhat confusing due to varying interpretations of the survey questions, the process is important and hopefully will lead to more meaningful data as time goes by, including identifying possible trends. Ms. Gee and Mr. Cunningham reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 377 of 414 Page 6 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes October 22, 2019 Page 5 Member McGill said that between this and the optimizations program, he is satisfied that staff is taking this overarching look to answer the question, "Are we doing the best that we can?" Chair Williams acknowledged that while the data certainly has some weaknesses, it gives somewhat of an indication of where Central San stands relative to other agencies. It has been a good effort and asked if it was something staff wishes to continue. Mr. Bailey said he would like to continue with the annual AWWA study for the foreseeable future. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the study. C. Verbal update on potential changes to payroll processes resulting from implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software Ms. O'Malley said Central San employees are currently paid on a monthly basis, which is uncommon. The best functionality under the new ERP software is to convert to an 80-hour pay period, with paychecks generated every two weeks. This would avoid having to customize the software for the current payroll process, which is preferred since future software updates will work more efficiently with fewer customizations. She said staff is excited about the new ERP because of the built-in internal controls. The software will automatically update when legal and tax changes become effective; such updates have been done manually up to this point. She acknowledged that changing to an 80-hour pay period is subject to the meet-and-confer process with the bargaining groups, and she has begun meeting with them. As can be expected with most proposed changes, there has been some resistance. Mr. Bailey stated that a survey was conducted several years ago about switching to a bi-weekly pay period and the results were negative. Some employees interpreted it as Board driven, and they also said their bills were set up for monthly payment. Member McGill said he strongly supports the idea of minimizing customizations. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update. 5. Announcements — None. November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 378 of 414 Page 7 of 7 Administration Committee Minutes October 22, 2019 Page 6 6. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list. 7. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. 8. Adjournment — at 10:39 a.m. November 7, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 379 of 414