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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.a. Approve minutes of regular Board meeting held 03-04-21 Page 1 of 12 Item 1.a. CENTRALSAN SANITARYjdf A- hom CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA , . March 18, 2021 TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FROM: KATIE YOUNG, SECRETARY OF THE DISTRICT SUBJECT: MARCH 4, 2021 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES Attached are the draft minutes of the above Board meeting. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft Minutes of 03-04-21 Regular Board meeting March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 6 of 340 Page 2 of 12 CENTRAL SAN CENTRAL •NTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 • MINUTES* BOARD OF DIRECTORS: TAD J.PILECKI President REGULAR BOARD MEETING DAVID R. WILLIAMS Board Room President Pro Tem Thursday, March 4, 2021 BARBARA D.HOCKETT 1.30m. MARIAH N LAURITZEN �' MICHAEL R.MCGILL DRAFT Open Session — Board Room (Video recorded) NOTICE In accordance with the Governor's Executive Order N-29-20, which suspended certain requirements of the Brown Act due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all Board Members participated in this meeting via teleconference. Members of the public were provided options to participate in the meeting as provided on the agenda. ROLL CALL A regular meeting of the Board of Directors was called to order by President Pilecki at 1:30 p.m. Secretary of the District Katie Young called roll: PRESENT(via videoconference): Members: Hockett, Lauritzen, McGill, Williams, Pilecki ABSENT: Members: None PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Ms. Young recited the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD No comments. REQUESTS TO CONSIDER MATTERS OUT OF ORDER None. These summary minutes are supplemented by a corresponding video recording available on the District's website at centralsan.org. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 7 of 340 Page 3 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 2 CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Approve the following: a. February 18, 2021 Board meeting minutes 2. Review and recommend approval of obligations paid January 15 through February 9, 2021 3. Receive Quarterly Financial Review for Quarter Ended December 31 , 2020 4. Adopt revised Resolution No. 2021-013 establishing a new two-year pilot Septic-to- Sewer (S2S) Financing Program retroactively to the start date of March 1 , 2021 , which incorporates verbal changes and direction given at the February 18, 2021 Board meeting at which the pilot Program was authorized Member McGill requested that Item 2 be pulled for discussion. BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member Hockett and seconded by Member McGill to adopt Consent Calendar Items 1, 3 and 4 as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. Regarding Item 2, Member McGill stated that before the expenditures are presented to the Board for approval, the Finance Committee reviews them and typically recommends Board approval. He noted that some of the reports have a one-day shift in them so the totals at the bottom are not the same. In the case of Procurement-Card expenditures, the totals do not tie because all the individual charge statements are not necessarily processed during the period covered by the expenditures. While he would not label it a material problem because there are reasonable explanations, he asked District Counsel Kent Alm what a Board Member's fiduciary responsibility or duty of care was with regard to the review of expenditures because he was not comfortable recommending approval in the absence of direction from counsel. Mr. Alm mentioned that staff is preparing a memorandum to be reviewed with the Finance Committee at its next meeting containing existing written guidance found in the District Code and the Finance Committee Charter. He said the issue was not one of fiduciary duty because that would relate to a conflict of interest or deceit, neither of which was the issue. More appropriately, it was an issue of standard of duty or care for Board Members. In short, he said it appeared that the duty of care for Board Members was to ask the types of questions that Finance Committee Members have been asking all along. It was not expected that Board Members possess the skills of an auditor, nor that they have accounting or business backgrounds. The duty of care was basically to try to ensure there are competent people carrying out the policies and procedures of the District in a relatively rigorous manner. The fact that the Committee has been asking such questions was indicative of meeting the duty of care. As to the specific questions posed by Member McGill, Mr. Alm said they would be addressed in the memorandum to be presented to the Finance Committee. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 8 of 340 Page 4 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 3 BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member McGill and seconded by Member Hockett to adopt Consent Calendar Item 2 as recommended. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. OTHER BOARD ACTION ITEMS 5. Award a construction contract in the amount of $4,427,900 to Ranger Pipelines, Inc., the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for the South Orinda Sewer Renovations, Phase 8, District Project 8461; and find that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Capital Projects Division Manager Edgar Lopez reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material, after which he responded to several questions from Member McGill about the project, including the decision to use the pilot boring technique because of the difficult terrain, the low number of bidders due to the complexity of the work and limited access, permitting issues, and the 10% contingency. President Pilecki said he was very familiar with the area, stating that it is probably among the most problematic sites in terms of difficulty of access from a constructability and serviceability perspective. For these reasons he was very comfortable moving forward with the staff recommendation. BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member McGill and seconded by Member Lauritzen to find that the South Orinda Sewer Renovations, Phase 8, District Project 8461, is exempt from CEQA; award a construction contract in the amount of $4,427,900 to Ranger Pipelines, Inc., the lowest responsive and responsible bidder; and authorize the General Manager to execute the contract documents subject to submittal requirements. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. 6. Receive update and provide direction to remedy a sewer lateral disconnection at 2367 and 2369 Pacheco Boulevard in Martinez Mr. Lopez reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material, stating that staff was seeking Board guidance for a permanent solution for this issue. He and Mr. Alm responded to several questions from Member McGill as to the history of Central San having assumed responsibility for the sewer mains many years ago from the City of Martinez and whether the mains and connections met Central San standards at the time the responsibility was transferred. President Pilecki noted that two affected homeowners were present for the meeting and had expressed a desire to comment publicly: Mr. Michael Todd (owner of 2369 Pacheco Boulevard) said he had no knowledge that a problem ever existed. He thanked staff for working with the homeowners to resolve the issue and said he would appreciate the Board considering Alternative 1A March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 9 of 340 Page 5 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 4 for the public sewer main and Alternative 2B for the private sewer lateral because he has paid sewer service charges for 20 years on the property. Ms. Ivy Reite (owner of 2367 Pacheco Boulevard) submitted written comments prior to the meeting which were read into the record by Ms. Young. Ms. Reite encouraged the Board to consider the option of having the public sewer main work performed at no cost to herself and her adjoining neighbor at 2369 Pacheco Boulevard. She said she was willing to facilitate installation of her private sewer lateral to join the public main. After thanking Mr. Todd and Ms. Reite for their comments, President Pilecki suggested the Board approach the public sewer main extension separately from the private side sewer issue. BOARD ACTION (on public sewer main extension): Motion was made by Member Hockett and seconded by Member McGill to approve Alternative 1A as outlined in the agenda materials regarding the public sewer main extension (Central San will design, construct, and finance the public sewer main extension) to address the public portion of the sewer lateral disconnection at 2367 and 2369 Pacheco Boulevard in Martinez. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. Regarding the private side sewers, Member Hockett moved Alternative 3B as outlined in the agenda materials, in which Central San would reimburse the homeowners for all costs of their private side sewers. The motion failed for lack of second. In response to a question from Member Lauritzen, Mr. Lopez explained that when the District moves a sewer main further from a property, it customarily bears the cost of extending and reconnecting the main to the private side sewers. However, the District does not trace it all the way back to the property and onto private property. When a sewer main is moved closer to the property but still within the public right-of- way or easement, the District simply reconnects the private side sewer. For clarification purposes, President Pilecki asked if Central San's policy was to install private side sewers up to the edge of pavement when a new sewer main is installed. Mr. Lopez said it depends on what is being done with the sewer main. If the sewer main involves changes to alignment or depth, the approach is dictated by District Code for reconnecting side sewers. Thus, there are times when laterals are installed up to the edge of pavement, and times when they are not. Member McGill said that if he understood the response to Member Lauritzen's question, the alternative moved by Member Hockett (Alternative 3B, in which the District would reimburse the homeowners for all costs related to installing their private side sewers) was not typical for Central San. Nonetheless, against that backdrop, and given how long the sewers for the affected properties have been in place, he was prepared to support Alternative 3B if Member Hockett were to remake her motion. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 10 of 340 Page 6 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes-Page 5 Member Hockett moved Alternative 3B again, and Member McGill seconded. Member Williams noted that under Alternative 3B, Central San would pay for and construct the private side sewers and under Alternative 2B the property owners would pay for them with financing available from Central San. Given that this was a public issue, and Central San was not involved in the construction of the public sewer main or private side sewers involved with this issue, and the affected property owners have been paying sewer service charges for many years, he was more comfortable offering to finance a portion of the cost as opposed to absolving the property owners from paying any portion of the costs of their private side sewers. Member Hockett said the reason Alternative 3B was reasonable in her view was that the situation was a surprise to the affected property owners and was due to another property owner's actions. She said it did not seem fair to charge them for the remedy. President Pilecki said one must recognize that Central San does not own private side sewers; they are the sole responsibility of the property owners. Payment of sewer service charges has nothing to do with paying for repair or replacement of private side sewers. The Board will soon be considering whether to offer a financing program that would help property owners pay for their private side sewers. If the Board takes the position to pay for the private side sewers in this matter, it would not be in keeping with the program under consideration. He said that whenever similar situations have arisen in the past, the property owners have paid for their private side sewers. Deviating from this practice may lead to challenges in the future. He said he would be comfortable with Alternative 2B requiring property owners to pay for their private side sewers to the connection point. Member Hockett said she viewed the circumstances of this issue as very different from other circumstances mentioned, such that the District considered it an emergency situation. President Pilecki said that, typically, if a property owner had caused a problem with their private side sewer, Central San would not be involved. In this case, the District stepped in to prevent environmental damage by installing bypass pumping. There have been other similar situations in the past where property owners had no knowledge of a problem. In all those cases, they paid for the associated costs. The Board voted on the second motion made by Member Hockett and seconded by Member McGill to approve Alternative 3B as outlined in the agenda materials in which Central San would reimburse the property owners for all costs of the private side sewers. Motion failed by the following roll call vote: AYES: Members: Hockett, McGill NOES: Members: Lauritzen, Williams, Pilecki ABSTAIN: Members: None March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 11 of 340 Page 7 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 6 BOARD ACTION (on private side sewers): Motion was made by Member McGill and seconded by Member Lauritzen for Central San to (1) extend the side sewer from the newly constructed public sewer main to the edge of the right-of-way or the pavement, whichever is closest to the property owners' connection point, with the property owners bearing the cost from that point to their respective private side sewers; and (2) offer financing to the property owners to construct their permanent private side sewers, to address the private portion of the sewer lateral disconnection at 2367 and 2369 Pacheco Boulevard in Martinez. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. President Pilecki thanked the homeowners for their comments, stating that Central San looked forward to working with them on a permanent resolution. COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE 7. Receive update on Central San's response regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic BOARD ACTION: Received the update. LEGISLATIVE MATTERS 8. Receive update on pending legislative matters and provide direction on priority legislation Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Emily Barnett reviewed Items 12-16 on the Priority Legislative Tracking Sheet distributed prior to the meeting. A discussion took place regarding Senate Bill (SB) 594 regarding issues surrounding the potential delay in the release of census data and the effect of that delay on local redistricting. Ms. Barnett noted that, in its current form, Senator Glazer's bill would not provide relief to Central San. The District is governed by a California code not covered by SB 594 that requires it to go through redistricting by November 1, 2021. Therefore, legislative amendments will need to be made to SB 594 to provide relief to Central San because the 2020 Census data has been delayed by six months. Ms. Barnett said Assembly Bill (AB) 339 would amend the Brown Act by placing new requirements on public agencies for their public meeting agendas, meeting materials, and meeting accessibility. Among other things, it would require public agencies to (1) translate all meeting material into languages for any ethic groups comprising 5% or more of the population governed by the agency who are non- English speakers, and (2) employ a sufficient amount of qualified bilingual persons to provide translation during meetings for such groups. Ms. Lauritzen asked if there are groups of non-English speakers exceeding 5% of Central San's service area. Ms. Barnett said that information cannot be determined March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 12 of 340 Page 8 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 7 until the 2020 Census data becomes available. It will require extensive research and will involve another level of costs. If there were ethnic groups exceeding the 5% limit, Member Hockett asked how it would be determined if they needed interpreters. Ms. Barnett said that was one of the complexities within the bill. Member McGill recalled Ms. Barnett mentioning that AB 339 would apply to the District as a whole, but not to the specific divisions created as part of the redistricting process. Ms. Barnett said that was correct. SB 443 regarding redistricting includes information about how the various ethnic populations are distributed among divisions, which would be problematic for Central San's demographic. In conclusion, she said both bills are well intentioned, but when they are practically weighed out, could have high concerns. BOARD ACTION: Motion was made by Member McGill and seconded by Member Williams to take the following staff-recommended positions on the following items as indicated on the Priority Legislative Tracking Sheet dated March 3, 2021: Item 12 (SB 323) - Support Item 13 (SB 339) — Oppose Item 14 (House of Representatives (H.R.) 1352) — Support Item 15 (SB 443) —Watch Item 16 (SB 594) — Support if Amended Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 9. General Manager— Reports a. Receive the 2020 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Annual Report Plant Operations Division Manager Alan Weer reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. BOARD ACTION: Received the report. b. Receive Collection System Operations 2020 Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Annual Report Collection System Operations Division Manager Paul Seitz reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. BOARD ACTION: Received the report. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 13 of 340 Page 9 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes -Page 8 C. Receive summary of 2020 energy usage Senior Engineer Clint Shima reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. BOARD ACTION: Received the summary. 10. General Manager— Announcements a. Announcements — March 4, 2021 1) Virtual Central San Academy on April 21 and 22, 2021 No further announcements were made during the meeting. BOARD ACTION: Received the announcements. 11. Counsel for the District a. Report out on any Board action taken during Closed Session at February 18, 2021 Board meeting District Counsel Kenton L. Alm announced that no reportable actions were taken at the February 18 closed session. BOARD ACTION: Received the report. 12. Secretary of the District Ms. Young announced the following upcoming meetings: Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee — Monday, March 8 at 9 a.m. Administration Committee — Tuesday, March 9 at 9 a.m. Special Board Meeting (Closed Session) — Thursday, March 11 at 2 p.m. Administration Committee — Tuesday, March 16 at 9:00 a.m. BOARD ACTION: Received the announcements. 13. Board Members — Committee Minutes a. February 22, 2021 — Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee — Chair McGill and Member Hockett b. February 23, 2021 — Finance Committee — Chair Pilecki and Member McGill BOARD ACTION: Received the Committee minutes. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 14 of 340 Page 10 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes-Page 9 14. 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 Hockett • February 25, 2021 - New Board Member introduction to Larry Bienati of Bienati Consulting Group, Inc., who will be facilitating annual performance evaluations of Executive Management Team (General Manager, District Counsel, and Secretary of the District) (virtual, stipend) Member Lauritzen • February 25, 2021 - New Board Member introduction to Mr. Bienati in preparation for upcoming performance evaluations of Executive Management Team (virtual, stipend) Member McGill Member McGill provided a written report covering his announcements and other meetings. Member Williams — None. President Pilecki • February 22, 2021 — Board Liaison event: Concord State of the city Address (virtual, no cost) President Pilecki reported that the City of Concord is restarting its master planning effort for the Concord Community Reuse Project later this year. • February 23, 2021 — Board Liaison event: Martinez State of the City Address (virtual, no cost) President Pilecki reported that the City of Martinez will be developing a new General Plan after nearly 50 years. Also, the City is allowing patio dining without charging permit fees or any other fees. BOARD ACTION: Received the reports and announcements. 15. Board Members - Requests for Stipend/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. EMERGENCY SITUATIONS Member Pilecki inquired as to the status of the emergency situation involving the El Toyonal Sewer Replacement Project, and execution of a contract change order to March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 15 of 340 Page 11 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes-Page 10 perform the work. Mr. Lopez said the change order had been executed and staff would be providing a more in-depth update at the next meeting. REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS None. ANNOUNCE CLOSED SESSION (pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.7) Mr. Alm announced that a closed session would be held for Items 16 and 17. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION The Board recessed at 3:32 p.m. to reconvene in closed session. Closed Session (Not video recorded) CLOSED SESSION 16. Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(a) — Threat to public services or facilities 17. Conference with labor negotiators pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6: District Negotiators: • Roger S. Bailey, General Manager • Kenton L. Alm, Esq., District Counsel • Teji O'Malley, Human Resources and Organizational Development Manager Employee Organizations: • Employees' Association, Public Employees Union, Local One • Management Support/Confidential Group (MS/CG) • Management Group RECESS TO OPEN SESSION The Board recessed at 5:04 to reconvene in open session. REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION None. March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 16 of 340 Page 12 of 12 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT March 4, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes-Page 11 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m. Tad J. Pilecki President of the Board of Directors Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: Katie Young Secretary of the District Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California March 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 17 of 340