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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 07-06-21 Page 2 of 13 Ae&i CENTRAL SAN CONTRACE L •STA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 IMHOFF BOARD OF DIRECTORS: REGULAR MEETING OF THE TA°LPILEcxI President CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA DAVID R. WILLIAMS SANITARY DISTRICT President Pro Tem ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE BARBARA°URIITZEN MICHAEL R.MCGILL MINUTES PHONE: (925)228-9500 TAX- (925)372-0192 Tuesday, July 6, 2021 www.centralsan.org 9:00 a.m. (All attendees participated via videoconference) Committee: Chair David Williams Member Tad Pilecki Staff.- Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Philip Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Steve McDonald, Director of Operations Emily Barnett, Communication Services and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Danea Gemmell, Planning and Development Services Division Manager John Huie, Information Technology Manager Stephanie King, Purchasing and Materials Manager Teji O'Malley, Human Resources and Organizational Development Manager Tim Potter, Environmental Compliance Program Administrator (left after Item 5.b.) Christina Gee, Management Analyst Amelia Berumen, Assistant to the Secretary of the District Lupe Saldana, Records Program Administrator 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. July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 133 of 148 (Amended) Page 3 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 2 2. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. 3. Public Comments — None. 4. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Conduct biennial review and approve revisions to Board Policy BP 039 - Internal Audit Function Ms. Berumen asked the Committee to consider a minor revision to the proposed changes to amend the last sentence ending of the second paragraph in section 1 (Authority) from "of this"to "of the forementioned objective"to provide clarity. Member Pilecki requested that the two bullets under section 3 (Responsibility) be revised to specify that the plans be presented to the General Manager for review before submitting the annual audit plan to the Board of Directors and the internal audit report to the Board Committee. Mr. Bailey explained that he reviews the plans before they are presented to the Board because he is involved in the process but agreed it is more apparent if stated in the policy. COMMITTEE ACTION: Reviewed the policy and recommended Board approval with the noted revisions. b. Review draft Position Paper to authorize the General Manager to execute a professional services agreement with SDI Presence, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $1,039,042 to develop a District-wide Information Technology (IT) Master Plan Mr. Huie stated that he had provided a lengthy presentation on this topic to the previous Board, and for the benefit of the current Board, he would provide again. Mr. Huie reviewed the detailed information provided in the draft Position Paper. He began with the background of the prior IT Master Plan (ITMP) and covered the details of the work to be accomplished through this professional services agreement. Mr. Huie emphasized that the ITMP will focus mainly on the treatment plant and assets compared to the 2015 plan, primarily focusing on administrative needs. He concluded his presentation by reviewing the details of the three optional task orders (Nos. 2, 3, and 4) and asked the Committee for comments. Member Pilecki said to bifurcate the work into two phases and make Phase One the ITMP (Task Order 1) because it will take seven months to complete and the other task orders will evolve based on the results of the July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 134 of 148 (Amended) Page 4 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 3 ITMP. His opinion is that the ITMP should be used to develop the costs of the other task orders. Member Pilecki, referring to the asset handover process (Task Order 2), shared his experience that the asset handover process is very complex. He gave construction documents as an example of a first hurdle, explaining that setting requirements on how a contractor provides the documents becomes problematic because the larger contractors may meet the requirements, but smaller contractors may not. Member Pilecki pointed out a revision needed in the second paragraph on page 2 of the draft Position Paper, to change "strategic plan"to 'IT Master Plan." Member Pilecki asked Mr. Huie to explain the difference between "interoperate"and "integrate"as used in the first paragraph under the "Approach"subheading on page 2 of the draft Position Paper. Mr. Huie explained that both mean connected, that integration means that data can flow in real-time between the connected systems, whereas interoperability doesn't necessarily mean in real-time. Member Pilecki said he preferred more information be added to the fourth paragraph under the "Approach"subheading on page 2 of the Position Paper concerning evaluating the proposals. He would like to know how many proposals were received, from whom, etc., and the inclusion of a sentence explaining why Brown & Caldwell is working on the ITMP. Member Pilecki asked what the "digital twin concept"meant. Mr. Huie explained that its meaning is different to many. For the utility arena, it could be virtual modeling of a treatment plant, where every sensor is monitored in real-time, providing the ability to change something in the virtual version to see its effect on everything. A simpler version of a digital twin concept would be modeling pieces of a facility to predict its impact on the operation. With that explanation, Member Pilecki asked that "modeling capability"be added in parenthesis after "digital twin concept"in the Position Paper. Member Pilecki expressed concern about the document management system roadmap. He stated his recollection that in the 1970s, there was limited documentation and staff relied on one person that knew the what, when, where, and why to get information. He commented about his recent experience acquiring older documents from the Secretary of the District's office. His personal preference is that Mr. Bailey includes document management as a case for an audit to get an independent perspective on how the program is performing because he believes the audit may help the document management aspects of the task orders. July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 135 of 148 (Amended) Page 5 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 4 Chair Williams asked for a response from staff concerning the need to go forward with the two Asset Management and Document Management Task Orders (No. 2 Assessment) and (No. 3 Implementation) at this time. Mr. Huie said that the intent was to do it all at once. After hearing today's discussions and the conclusion to bifurcate, he will take Task Order 1 (ITMP) to the Board for approval now, with the intent to bring the other tasks back to the Board after the ITMP is done. Mr. Huie added that the optional task orders were a high priority for the Executive Management team. In response to the Committee's concerns on the dollar amounts for the optional task orders, Mr. Huie said that the costs could go up or down; the cost of the document management implementation would probably go down because it was based on replacing the existing system. Chair Williams said that it makes sense to bifurcate the ITMP. Once the ITMP is completed, the work to refine the remaining three task orders can start. Member Pilecki agreed. Mr. Bailey agreed with the Committee's recommendation. Mr. Huie will make the changes in the Position Paper to reflect that the agreement with SDI Presence, Inc. will be to complete the ITMP. The remaining task orders will come back to the Board with refined scope and costs for approval at a future time. Member Pilecki said it was important to highlight that all consultants were aware that the additional tasks were optional. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval with revisions noted above. C. Review draft Position Paper to consider replacing a vacant Information Technology (IT) Supervisor position (S-82, $5,558 - $6,717 bi-weekly) with a Project Manager/ Business Analyst Position (S-83, $5,691 - $6,882 bi- weekly) Mr. Huie reviewed the information presented in the agenda material. He emphasized that if the Board approves the change, a new employee can be brought in quickly; otherwise, he will need to open recruitment at the lower level. Mr. Bailey added that he had spoken with Mr. Huie and the Executive Management team regarding current and future technology projects. He believes this change in classification for the vacancy provides the July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 136 of 148 (Amended) Page 6 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 5 opportunity to get the project management skills needed now by the IT Division to meet current and long-term needs. Mr. Huie commented on the pros and cons of using consultants for project management and the importance of having the person involved in the details be an employee, to provide support over the long term. Chair Williams asked staff if it was presumptuous to recruit before getting Board approval. Ms. O'Malley stated that competitive recruitment had been completed because the need had already been identified and explained that a viable eligibility list exists because the recruitment was recently filled internally. Member Pilecki further explained that the IT Division had one Project Manager(S83) and two IT Supervisors (S82). The Project Manager retired, and recruitment to fill the vacant position resulted in the active eligibility list because the position was filled by one of the IT Supervisors. The resulting vacant IT Supervisor position is proposed for change because another Project Manager is needed to meet current and future technology needs. He noted that the Project Manager could assume the supervisory duties. Member Pilecki said he is comfortable with the proposal. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. 5. Other Items a. Conduct biennial review of the following Board Policies: • BP 006 - Records Program • BP 011 - Proposition 218 Notice • BP 018 - Sick Leave for Temporary Employees • BP 030 - Cost of Service Studies • BP 032 - Reimbursement of Toastmaster Dues The Committee reviewed the policies, and provided the following feedback BP 006 - Records Program Member Pilecki said he had no comment concerning the policy but noted he is recommending an internal audit of the Records Program because he believes it worthwhile to do the audit to determine Central San is following its program. Chair Williams asked Mr. Bailey for clarification on how the priorities for internal audits get developed. Mr. Bailey responded that priority is given July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 137 of 148 (Amended) Page 7 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 6 to high-risk areas; however, staff will put Member Pilecki's suggestion on the list and try to come up with a plan. No changes to the policy resulted from the discussion. BP 011 - Proposition 218 Notice Member Pilecki understands the process and is comfortable with it. He expressed concern about getting greater participation and response from the public for this process, though he recognizes it is not part of this policy. In response to the concern, Chair Williams commented on the response rate, that he believes the public relies on Central San to do the job correctly and cost-effectively, that no protests in a way validates that Central San is doing its job. However, public outreach could be increased. Chair Williams, concerning item 1 under the "Determination of Validity" section, stated he is comfortable with the Secretary of the District making determinations of validity, however, he recommended to add that the Secretary of the District shall present a report to the Board on the number of invalidated letters. He believed that if ever a significant number of letters were invalidated, the information would provide an opportunity for the Board to review the reasons for the determinations. Member Pilecki agreed and commented that having a report out to the Board would be good for transparency to the public. Mr. Bailey added that it was important that the public understand that the Secretary of the District does not have the authority to make up the validation rules but also agreed with the Committee's proposed changes. Chair Williams recommended adding "based on established rules"to the statement in that section to clarify the limited authority. (The Secretary of the District shall determine the validity of all written and verbal protests based on the established rules and shall not accept....) Staff will make the recommended change to the policy and bring before the Board for approval at a future meeting. BP 018 - Sick Leave for Temporary Employees Member Pilecki had no changes since it follows the Labor Code. Chair Williams had no changes but asked Ms. O'Malley to explain what is meant by "...discretion when implementing the act..."(the first bullet in the POLICY section concerning the Healthy Workplace/Healthy Families Act of 2014.) July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 138 of 148 (Amended) Page 8 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 7 Ms. O'Malley explained this was passed in 2014 and, based on her recollection, there were a couple of provisions that were left to the discretion of the employer where it could decide to be more generous, for example, give more leave or more reasons for leave. Central San chose to follow the minimum requirements of the law. Chair Williams asked if three days for paid sick leave in the policy was a Central San choice, to which Ms. O'Malley clarified that it is the minimum required by law. She explained that Central San decided to use the minimum because its temporary employees are not covered by a union. No changes to the policy resulted from the discussion. BP 030 - Cost of Service Studies Member Pilecki had no comments on the policy. He asked Mr. Bailey if Central San was due for a five-year update, to which Mr. Bailey responded yes. Member Pilecki then asked if the update is planned for next year. Ms. Gemmell explained that Central San is currently moving into the fourth year of rates, and staff will begin working on the update after the fourth year, over the next year and a half. Chair Williams clarified that the requirement was a minimum of every ten years. The policy states "generally be conducted not less than once every five years,"meaning that the policy does not bind Central San to exactly every five years. Ms. Gemmell said that staff consulted with District Counsel, who advised that Central San should have a recently completed cost of service study before entering into any long-term rate schedules. Mr. Bailey added that the Board adopted a four-year schedule with an understanding the schedule would come back every year for validation, that if Central San did only a validation again, it could potentially be outside of the ten-year requirement. For this reason, he thinks that a full-fledged cost of service study needs to be completed at the next round. Member Pilecki commented he thinks it is important to do the full cost of service study within the next year because of the pandemic's impact on commercial establishments, restaurants, etc.; staff and Chair Williams agreed. No changes to the policy resulted from the discussion. BP 032 - Reimbursement of Toastmaster Dues - No changes. COMMITTEE ACTION: Conducted Biennial Review and recommended revisions to Board Policy BP 011 as noted above. July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 139 of 148 (Amended) Page 9 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 8 b. Hold discussion regarding Return to Office and CAL OSHA Regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic response Ms. Barnett and Ms. O'Malley presented the information in the memorandum provided in the agenda material. Ms. O'Malley reviewed the new CAL OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards summarized in the memorandum. She said that basically, OSHA made changes to align with the state reopening plans and the Governor's executive order. Member Pilecki, referencing the sixth bullet on page 1 of the memorandum, requested that W95 mask"be added in parenthesis after the word "respirator"to specify the type of respirator Central San would provide to meet the new standards. Ms. O'Malley explained that it would be clarified in the updated COVID-19 Exposure Prevention Plan. Ms. O'Malley reviewed the Return to Office Proposed Timeline/Process summarized in the memorandum. She said approximately 20%-25% of employees are teleworking now and the remaining are on-site. The plan is to notify employees in July that a structured phased-in approach will start September 13, and all employees will return to work by December 21, 2021. Mr. Bailey interjected a clarification that the timelines Ms. O'Malley addressed are for bringing employees back to the office; it is not the timeline for adopting the CAL OSHA standards. Ms. O'Malley said that staff brought the first item (new CAL OSHA standards) to the Committee as an informational item to receive questions and comments; the second item, Return to Office Proposed Timeline/Process, was to get Committee recommendation before presenting to the Board for approval. Mr. Potter, a representative of the Management Support/Confidential Group (MS/CG), expressed support for the timeline. He said the schedule was compassionate in terms of considering the availability of daycare options and allowing education situations to be addressed by families. He emphasized the importance of tracking the status of the pandemic so that Central San can quickly change direction if there is a resurge in infection rates. Member Pilecki, in response to Mr. Potter's concern for flexibility, commented on recent information about the "Delta"and "Lambda"variants and the Pfizer vaccine effectiveness; he emphasized that information is July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 140 of 148 (Amended) Page 10 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 9 tracked weekly and if Central San were to see an uptick, especially in hospitalizations and deaths, it would adjust to the actual circumstances. Mr. Bailey expressed that the key is to remain flexible and adaptable. He indicated that he spoke to the bargaining units and conveyed those sentiments and that Central San would adjust as needed. Member Pilecki acknowledged the positive benefits employees receive by working from home. He, however, is also looking at what is important to Central San and the ratepayers. He shared his negative personal experiences using virtual communications, noting that the non-verbal communications in-person meetings provide are lost in a virtual meeting. He believes that broadly (not just Central San), employees are busy but maybe not be working on the best work (e.g. "filler"work), and studies show the negative impacts working from home has on productivity. Member Pilecki said that customer service is important, which is why the Board has asked staff to open the Permit Counter to the public. He noted that internal customer service and staff development are also important reasons for returning to in-person work. Member Pilecki expressed that from his perspective as a Board Member, equity is very important. He expressed concern that while 25% or so of employees are working from home, the rest are working on-site and dealing with childcare and all the other issues. For this reason, he does not want work schedules that were not in place before the pandemic. He expressed that he did not like the timeline and prefers that all employees be back to work by the end of September, which coincides with the Governor's orders, and that for most employees, two months is sufficient notice. Chair Williams agreed with Member Pilecki's comments, expressing he does not understand the need for an additional three months. Mr. Bailey acknowledged the feedback received from the Committee. He said given the state trend to "open up"(return to on-site work), Central San needs to remain flexible. To the extent that the infection rates get worse, Central San can adjust and change the plan to ensure the health and safety of employees and the public. Chair Williams agreed with Mr. Bailey's comments. He restated his agreement with Member Pilecki to recommend September 30 as the return to work timeline for all employees. Mr. Potter said the whole concept of rolling out a phased-in approach allows for higher occupancy office areas, in particular, to not have so many people all at once in case of a resurge due to the variants. He said that discussions are still ongoing concerning the declaration of vaccination July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 141 of 148 (Amended) Page 11 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 10 status and how staff would know who must wear a mask or not. Some employees working effectively remotely now may want to continue while others want to come back. The phased-in approach provides employees working in high-density cubicle areas a buffer to any potential impact if the variants spread. Ms. Barnett clarified that the remaining Governor's orders expire on September 30. She said the Governor indicated his powers will not extend beyond September 30 unless the infection rates surge. Mr. Bailey interjected he is convinced the Board is very adaptable and flexible and knows the situation, and if there is a need to adjust, it will be done in a timely manner. Chair Williams commented that Central San's practice has been to take the lead in many aspects from the state and the county guidelines and orders to deal with the pandemic. If there were to be an upsurge, the Governor would issue new executive orders, the county would adopt new rules, and the District would follow suit. Ms. Barnett agreed and added that Central San has a county health officer that has more discretion locally. If the situation were to worsen locally, Central San has its own COVID-19 Exposure Prevention Plan to address an upsurge. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the information and provided direction to staff. C. Receive annual status report on biennial review of Board Policies Ms. Berumen briefly reviewed the information provided in the agenda material. She stated that 20 policies had been reviewed this year, including the seven today, with a few more to conclude for the year. In response to Member Pilecki's inquiry of three policies that appear past due, Ms. Berumen provided the following updates: BP 007 and BP 027— The policies are under review. Staff will present the policies for consideration once the initial review is complete pending any further information not yet confirmed that may require changes. BP 013— The revisions to the policy were presented in April along with two proposed new policies. The formal approval has been rescheduled to accommodate other matters requiring priority attention; the policies will be brought forward for approval at a future meeting. July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 142 of 148 (Amended) Page 12 of 13 Administration Committee Minutes July 6, 2021 Page 11 Chair Williams, addressing Mr. Bailey, commented that during recent discussions on the water transfer and other recycled water projects, he recalled a Board Member stating the need for a recycled water policy. He observed that Central San already had one, referring to BP 019. Mr. Bailey said staff is preparing a presentation to bring it to the Board to give an overview of where Central San is now and where it is headed to see if the Board would like to change the recycled water policy. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received report. d. Review timelines (Gantt charts) for activities related to upcoming labor negotiations with the Management Group, Management Support/Confidential Group, and Public Employees Union, Local #1 COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the information. 6. Announcements Mr. Bailey announced that he will be out of the office July 7 and would be available the following day. 7. 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. 8. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. 9. Adjournment— at 10:37 a.m. July 15, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 143 of 148 (Amended)