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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 10-20-20 Page 2 of 7 Ae&i CENTRAL SAN CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9,4553-A392 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MICHAEL R.MCGILL CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA President SANITARY DISTRICT TAD JPILECKI President Pro Tem ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE PAULH CAUSEY JAMES A.NEJEDLY DAVID R, WILLIAMS MINUTES PHONE: (925)228-9500 FAX. (925)372-0192 Tuesday, October 20, 2020 www.centralvan.org 8:30 a.m. Executive Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California (All attendees participated via videoconference) Committee: Chair David Williams Member Mike McGill Staff. Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Katie Young, Secretary of the District Kenton L. Alm, District Counsel Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Jean-Marc Petit, Director of Engineering and Technical Services John Huie, Information Technology Manager (left after Item 5.a.) Teji O'Malley, Human Resources and Organizational Development Manager Christina Gee, Management Analyst Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District 1. Public Notice Regarding COVID-19 This meeting was held in accordance with the Brown Act as in effect under the State Emergency Services Act, the Governor's Emergency Declaration related to COVID-19, and the Governor's Executive Order N-29-20 issued on March 17, 2020 that allowed Board Members, District staff, and the public to participate in and conduct the meeting by teleconference, videoconference, or both. The agenda included instructions for options in which the public could participate in the meeting. November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 134 of 150 Page 3 of 7 Special Administration Committee Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 2 2. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 8:31 a.m. 3. Public Comments — None. 4. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to approve a two-year extension of the existing contract with the District's labor and employment related counsel Hanson Bridgett LLP and Principal Counsel W. Daniel Clinton Esq., through December 31, 2022 Ms. O'Malley acknowledged that at the last meeting, the Committee recommended a six-month extension of the contract with Hanson Bridgett to (1) bridge the gap between the end of 2020 and Mr. Clinton's anticipated retirement effective March 31, 2021; and (2) allow time for staff to conduct an RFQ (request for qualifications) process. Since that meeting, staff requested to bring the item back to the Committee to recommend a two-year extension (through December 21, 2022) so Hanson Bridgett can be available when labor negotiations commence in the third quarter of 2021. She said Hanson Bridgett has agreed to the extension with no change in rates for 2021. If a rate adjustment is requested for 2022, she said she would bring it back to the Committee for review. Member McGill said he was very willing to support the recommendation to postpone the RFQ and extend the contract through the upcoming labor negotiations, noting that if negotiations drag beyond the end of 2022, the contract may need to be extended even further. Chair Williams asked if Mr. Clinton would be available to consult for the District during the labor negotiation process. Ms. O'Malley said it was unlikely; however, he has availed himself to Jennifer Martinez, the Hanson Bridgett partner he has chosen to succeed him on Central San labor matters, if needed for consult/guidance. In addition, Ms. O'Malley said Hanson Bridgett has always been meticulous with its recordkeeping and Ms. Martinez will have access to all file materials. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval of a two-year contract extension with Hanson Bridgett LLP, through December 31, 2022. November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 135 of 150 Page 4 of 7 Special Administration Committee Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 3 5. Agenda Items a. Review update on 2015 Information Technology (IT) Master Plan and preview of plan for developing a new IT Master Plan This item was heard immediately following Item 5.b. Mr. Huie reviewed the highlights of his presentation. He recapped the recommendations of the 2015 IT Master Plan and achievements made since it was adopted. He also previewed the recommendations for a new IT master plan currently under development. He said the 2015 Master Plan was a good start, but it was relatively lightweight in terms of providing a detailed plan of action. Staff wants the new IT master plan to go deeper. A great deal of time and effort has been spent focusing on the best way to move forward with a new IT master plan, including prioritizing improvements, incorporating more needs of the Engineering Department, recognizing and apportioning resources, and assuring that staff has the right skill sets to move the District to the next level. Mr. Huie responded to the following questions from Chair Williams: 1) How secure is the cloud? Mr. Huie said he feels comfortable putting certain things in the cloud. For example, email servers. Microsoft has data centers all over the world, and those servers can replicate the District's emails. The benefit is redundancy as well as reliability from the standpoint that if a server were to be destroyed, another server could take over, so the ability to send and receive emails would be unaffected. The answer is not so straightforward when it comes to hackers, but he said the cloud servers are at least as secure as if the emails were on the District's local servers. The District would have a more challenging time protecting to the level that Microsoft can because they have multiple security levels. However, no one is ever entirely impervious to being hacked, as has been shown by the intrusions which have taken place at prominent organizations. 2) Is the District's core business network separate from the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) network that controls the plant? Mr. Huie said IT has built a "moat"around the SCADA network to keep it separate, but firewalls connect the two systems, so there is not a perfect "airgap"between them. That is not possible because the SCADA network must remain available to certain vendors/users. The Committee very much appreciated receiving the informative overview. Member McGill said he complimented Mr. Bailey several weeks ago about November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 136 of 150 Page 5 of 7 Special Administration Committee Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 4 the culture of continuous improvement at Central San, and he has found staff to be very enthusiastic about it. He said the work that Mr. Huie and his staff are doing reflects that. Chair Williams echoed those sentiments and thanked all staff(led by the IT staff). He also thanked Mr. Bailey for his leadership in recognizing the importance of being at the forefront of IT. From a policy perspective, he acknowledged that a five-year timeframe for updating the IT Master Plan was optimal in his view. Mr. Bailey said the new master plan would focus heavily on technological advances needed for the Engineering Department. He appreciated all that Mr. Huie and Mr. Petit have been doing to develop the new master plan with that focus in mind. The end goal is to figure out how to serve the public most effectively and efficiently. Once the new master plan is brought to the Board for consideration in the next 12 to 18 months, he said he would be fully supportive of its recommendations, including requests for funding to carry out the plan. Unlike the 20151T Master Plan, which was more Operations and Maintenance-centric due to the added staffing, the new master plan will be more technology-centric. In response to a question from Chair Williams, Mr. Huie estimated the cost of developing the 2015 IT Master Plan with consultant NexLevel was between $50,000 and $100,000. The new plan will be significantly more given the increased depth and scope. An RFP (request for proposals) will be released in the coming months. Member McGill acknowledged that it was important to spend the necessary funds to keep systems and staff up to date with the latest technology in a rapidly changing world. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update. b. Update on State of California's borrowing ability through shifting of property taxes revenues during budget crises This item was heard out of order immediately after Item 4.a. Mr. Alm reviewed the contents of his memorandum included with the agenda material, which indicated that the amendments to Article X111 of the State Constitution passed in 2004 prevent the Sate from reducing the share of ad valorem taxes provided to local governments. However, he acknowledged that there may be means by which County could shift revenue between local governmental entities in the future. November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 137 of 150 Page 6 of 7 Special Administration Committee Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 5 Because of the uncertainty surrounding this issue, Member McGill suggested asking Communication Services and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Emily Barnett to monitor pending legislation to see if anything new comes to light in this regard. Chair Williams stated his understanding that after the counties collect property taxes, the monies are forwarded to the State, which in turn distributes funds back to the counties. The counties in turn distribute ad valorem taxes to the various local government entities. So, the proceeds pass through two hands. Mr. Alm confirmed that was essentially correct. Chair Williams said that absent some electorate decision to do otherwise, his understanding was that the State would be prohibited from restricting the amount it sends to the counties. However, he asked if Contra Costa County could restrict ad valorem payouts to Central San if the County were short of funds. Mr. Alm said if that were to occur, the District could sue the County for breach of the tax sharing agreement it entered into with the County after Proposition 13 was passed in 1978. Mr. Bailey acknowledged that not much can be done unless there is an action to change the current allocations, in which event the District will respond accordingly. He agreed with Member McGill's suggestion to ask Ms. Barnett to monitor any pending legislation. Chair Williams concurred. Member McGill noted that the County "holds the cards"when it comes to the Teeter Plan, and it could choose not to include Central San because it is an enterprise district, which means it can raise rates to cover costs, unlike some other special districts. Mr. Alm said there have been several attempts in the past that have specifically targeted enterprise special districts. It was noted that this matter will be presented to the full Board for discussion. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended that Communication Services and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Emily Barnett monitor any pending legislation that could restrict the amount of ad valorem taxes Central San could receive due to the shifting of property taxes revenues during budget crises. 6. Announcements — None. 7. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 138 of 150 Page 7 of 7 Special Administration Committee Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 6 Member McGill inquired about the status of the parking lot items for campus security and Board Room improvements. Staff will provide updates to the Committee in the near future. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list and provided input to staff. 8. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. 9. Adjournment — at 10:01 a.m. November 5, 2020 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 139 of 150