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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 12-17-19 Page 2 of 8 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, December 17, 2019 www.centralsan.org 8:30 a.m. Executive Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California Committee: Chair David Williams Member Mike McGill Guests: W. Daniel Clinton, Principal Counsel of Hanson Bridget LLP (left after Item 3.a.) Staff. Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Katie Young, Secretary of the District Kenton L. Alm, District Counsel (left after item 4.c.) Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration (left after item 4.a.) Jean-Marc Petit, Director of Engineering and Technical Services (/eft after item 4.a.) Edgar Lopez, Capital Projects Division Manager (left after item 4.a.) Teji O'Malley, Human Resources Manager Erica Brooks Peters, Senior Internal Auditor Shari Deutsch, Risk Management Administrator Anthony Holt, Contracts Specialist (left after item 4.a.) 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. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 208 of 232 Page 3 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 2 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to approve a one-year extension of the existing contract with District labor and employment related counsel Hanson Bridgett LLP and principal counsel W. Daniel Clinton, Esq. through December 31, 2020 COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. At this point in the meeting, the Chair skipped over Item 3.b. so it could be heard after item 4.b. b. Review draft Position Paper to approve proposed 2020 Internal Audit Work Plan Ms. Brooks Peters reviewed the presentation included with the agenda materials. Mr. Bailey announced that Ms. Brooks Peters will be leaving in March because she is moving out of state and thanked her for her dedicated effort during her time at Central San. In the meantime, staff is working to find her replacement. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. C. 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 Ms. Young introduced the item, stating that staff recommends moving forward with all the proposed changes to BP 037, but wishes to postpone the discussion on potential changes to the authority delegated under Section 11: Contracts for Good and Services until early next year. Mr. Bailey said he wants to be sure the authority delegated in Section 11 represents the desires of the Board. Staff has done the research requested by the Committee but would like more time to discuss the impact on existing procurement processes if limitations on staff authority were to be implemented. Regarding Section 3. Emergency Operations Plan, Chair Williams inquired about the role of the General Manager in emergencies. As the section is currently written, it would appear the General Manager must be the Director of Emergency Services directing staff in the command center. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 209 of 232 Page 4 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 3 Ms. Deutsch said the General Manager is the medium through which the Board grants authority to the agency to respond in an emergency. The General Manager is the first appointee; if he is unavailable, that responsibility falls to the Deputy General Manager, department director, or manager. As far as the emergency operations system goes, the General Manager and all department directors and managers have been trained to serve in the capacity of Director of Emergency Services. So, whoever is first physically present at the command center will be the person in charge, but that can change moment to moment depending on who arrives. Therefore, while the delegation technically is to the General Manager, he may appoint any designee to serve in that capacity, which generally will be the person who is most knowledgeable about the emergency event. Mr. Alm added that the language in the resolution and policy was drafted based on the Government Code, and there is a provision in the District Code that allows the General Manager to appoint designees to act in his absence regarding anything over which he has authority. Chair Williams commented that if the District were to have an emergency tomorrow, as a Board Member, he would like to have communication from Mr. Bailey directly but, in his view, the person in charge of the Emergency Operations command center should not be the General Manager. Mr. Bailey suggested a change in wording to Section 3. Instead of saying, "The General Manager is designated as the Director of Emergency Services,"it could state: "The General Manager is delegated the authority to appoint a Director of Emergency Services." The Committee Members concurred with this suggestion. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval, with the proposed change to Section 3 of the BP 037 and Item 2 of the underlying proposed resolution. 4. Other Items a. Receive informal assessment on utilization of the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (UPCCAA) since its implementation at Central San in September 2018 Mr. Lopez reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material, noting that staff has been operating under the UPCCAA for about a year, with good results. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 210 of 232 Page 5 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 4 Member McGill inquired about prioritization for local contractors. Mr. Lopez said a lot of contractors have avoided applying for public works projects on the belief that the process is cumbersome. For that reason, staff has been reaching out to known local contractors to inform them that the new process is simpler. So, while there is no formal local preference policy, staff has been encouraging more local contractors to apply. Mr. Alm stated that before implementing the UPCCAA at Central San, the threshold for informal bidding was $15,000. The new threshold is $60,000, which helps attract smaller, more local contractors. In response to a question from Chair Williams as to efficiencies and cost savings, Mr. Lopez said no engineering time is saved under the new process and efficiency is difficult to quantify, but advertisement costs are lower, the process has been streamlined, and the clients are happier. It has also yielded better pricing than on change orders. Mr. Alm added that he was noticing more and more emergency projects that fit within the $200,000 informal bidding threshold. Upon reflection, it became clear to him that these projects were primarily due to an aging treatment plant and equipment. Mr. Leiber noted that before implementing the UPCCAA, any project above $15,000 had to be put out forbid. The new process, with its higher threshold for informal bidding, is much more efficient. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the presentation. The following item was skipped over and heard after item 4.c. b. Receive information on Strategic Risk Inventory Mr. Leiber reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material and responded to questions from the Committee. Member McGill asked how the issue of an aging treatment plant is factored into the risk inventory process. Ms. Deutsch said operational risks, such as those due to an aging plant, are mapped in terms of severity and frequency. Member McGill understood that the risk inventory has been used to develop next year's audit plan but asked if it is also being used to prioritize the allocation of resources in next year's budget. Mr. Leiber said that to the extent possible, the risk inventory will be used to inform the budget process and other important planning processes such as strategic planning. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 211 of 232 Page 6 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 5 Ms. Deutsch added that the gray bars in the chart on Attachment 1 in the agenda material represent how prepared the District is for each risk. For some of the 27 identified risk areas, the District is very well prepared; where that is not the case, work typically remains to be addressed, and the current status may reflect relative priorities. In all instances, the risk areas have been linked to the Strategic Plan. Those involving operational risk are being monitored, controlled, and evaluated at quarterly meetings of the new Risk Committee. This will enable continuous conversation and feedback on the risk areas, leading to more informed decisions. Mr. Leiber added that to the extent risk owners (managers/directors) have been identified for each of the risk areas, best practice is that the assignments will become part of their annual performance plans. Member McGill brought up Chair Williams'long-held view that it is prudent to operate equipment as long as possible, but not to the point of failure. Member McGill asked Chair Williams if the risk inventory captures the essence of that concept. Chair Williams said the risk inventory graph is very important in his opinion. He asked if the length of the gray bars on the chart will shorten if the identified means of mitigating the risk (addressing its root cause, reducing the severity or probability of the risk, or preparing for a risk event) are performed to the extent possible. He was told that was generally true. Chair Williams said that concept is at the pinnacle of the pyramid from a Board Member's perspective, and the Strategic Plan is a tool that feeds into how the gray bars can be adjusted downward. Member McGill said he appreciates how the risk areas link with the dashboard for the Strategic Plan, but also noted that they need to align with the Comprehensive Wastewater Master Plan (CWMP). Ms. Deutsch said this presentation was meant as an introduction to the risk inventory process. The Risk Committee will meet quarterly and staff intends to discuss this topic periodically with the Administration Committee and annually with the full Board. Member McGill suggested that the Committee updates should simply be a thumbnail or verbal update. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the information and provided input to staff. Upon completion of the above item, Chair Williams reverted to Item 3.b. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 212 of 232 Page 7 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 6 C. Receive presentation from 2019 California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) Conference regarding emails Mr. Alm spoke to the main idea of the presentation, which is that caution should be exercised when using emails for Central San business so as not to put the District at risk for a Public Records Act (PRA) request that could prove problematic. This caution extends to text messages as well because, while text messages are not saved on the District's server, they can be requested under the PRA. Chair Williams asked if, in Mr. Alm's opinion, this information should be provided to the full Board. Mr. Alm said yes, but perhaps in an abbreviated format. Also, if there is interest, training can be provided on a routine basis for Board Members and staff as a reminder about the rules applicable to the PRA. Member McGill said he thinks this is very important because it is easy to become too casual about information stated in emails and/or text messages that could become consequential from a business and legal perspective. Ms. Young acknowledged that her group facilitates training on the PRA biennially for staff and Board Members. She said the training material could be augmented to further emphasize the concerns raised during this discussion. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the presentation and recommended incorporating the principles into biennial trainings. Upon completion of this discussion, Chair Williams reverted to Item 4.b. 5. Announcements a. Mr. Bailey said he will be out of the office all next week. 6. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items 1) Member McGill noted that when the wildfire broke out near the Collection System Operations (CSO) Building in Walnut Creek last September, some staff had difficulty utilizing their District identification (ID) card to access the emergency operation center in the CSO Building. He asked Ms. Deutsch if anything needs to be January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 213 of 232 Page 8 of 8 Special Administration Committee Minutes December 17, 2019 Page 7 done to ensure 100% success with the ID cards. Ms. Deutsch will follow up as necessary. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list and provided input to staff. 7. Future Scheduled Meetings 2020 meeting dates to be determined 8. Adjournment — at:10:30 a.m. January 16, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 214 of 232