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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOARD MINUTES 10-31-07 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BOARD MEETING OF THE DISTRICT BOARD OF THE CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT HELD ON OCTOBER 31, 2007 The District Board of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District convened in a special meeting at the Contra Costa Country Club, 801 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill, County of Contra Costa, State of California, at 12:25 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31, 2007. President Nejedly called the meeting to order and requested that the Secretary call roll. 1. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Members: Hockett, Lucey, McGill, Menesini, Nejedly ABSENT: Membeffi: None General Manager James Kelly and Secretary of the District Elaine Boehme were also present, together with Stephen Hayashi and Lauren Kell of Red Oak Consulting. 2. BOARD STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP A Strategic Planning Workshop facilitated by Stephen Hayashi of Red Oak Consulting was conducted, focusing on recycled water services; community outreach; cultural diversity; rates; the District as an industry leader; and the cost of retirement and employee benefits. These topics were identified by Board Members as the most important issues facing the District. A detailed record of the Strategic Planning Workshop is included in the October 31,2007 Position Paper file and is hereby incorporated by reference. 3. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, President Nejedly adjourned the meeting at 3:25 p.m. ~AN~e~ President of the Board of Directors, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: (;Q.~~~ Elaine R. Boehme Secretary of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, County of Contra Costa, State of California Book 57 - Page 21 TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FROM: STEPHEN T. HAYASHI SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING FACILITATION DATE: NOVEMBER 26, 2007 INTRODUCTION This memorandum summarizes Red Oak Consulting's strategic planning facilitation services to the Board of Directors (Board) of Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (District). The purpose of the effort was to align the District staff's strategic planning activities with the vision of the Board Members. METHODOLOGY In order to gauge the position of the Board with respect to the existing strategic plan, information was gathered from the Board in two steps: first, each Board Member was asked to complete a written survey, and then each Board member was individually interviewed. Based on the findings from the surveys and interviews (as summarized in Part 1, below), a four-hour workshop was held on October 31st 2007, during which Board Members discussed the strategic issues that the Members felt were the most critical to clarify in the District's strategic plan. The findings from this workshop are presented in Part 2 of this report. PART 1: SUMMARY OF INITIAL FINDINGS Written Questionnaires Strategy Development Roles - Responses to the survey suggested that there is general acceptance amongst the Board Members of the District's current Mission, Vision, and Values. There was a less unified view on the appropriate, respective roles for staff and the Board in creating the District's Mission, Vision, Values, Goals, and Objectives. Some Board Members believe that staff should develop the Goals and Objectives after receiving the Mission, Vision, and Values from the Board. Other Board Members believe that the Board should develop all policies, including Goals and Objectives. Industry Leadership - All Board Members agree that the District should strive to be an industry leader; most Board Members believe that the District is already an industry leader, and at least one Board Member believes that the District has become too "comfortable" in assuming that the District is an industry Red Oak Consulting 1 leader. Board Members have a variety of views on the strategies that should be used to remain an industry leader. Technology - Some Board Members believe that the District should make large investments in order to keep up with emerging technologies, and others believe that the technology investments should be more conservative. Customer Service Board District currently provides regulatory compliance. Members generally excellent customer agree service that the and full The issues of reclaimed water, cultural diversity, retirement/benefit costs, education, outreach, service rates, and the Board's current committee system stood out as potential topics for further discussion. The complete written responses to the surveys are available and can be provided under separate cover. Interviews After analyzing the written responses from the individual Board Members, Red Oak developed a series of follow-up questions for the in-person interviews. The purpose of the interviews was to allow Board Members to elaborate on their questionnaire responses, indicate their priorities regarding the issues facing the District, and propose the best way to spend the limited time allocated for the workshop. The interviews confirmed the survey findings and allowed the Board Members to elaborate on a variety of topics. Short summaries of the interview findings are provided below, organized by strategic topic. A more detailed summary of responses given during the interviews has been previously provided under a separate cover and is available upon request. Workshop Objectives: The overall objective of the workshop, as expressed by Board Members, was to increase communication regarding strategic planning and to focus on the issues that they commonly hold to be important, such as recycled water and leadership. Recycled Water: Recycled/reclaimed water is the single issue that all Board Members feel should be included in the strategic plan. There is general agreement on the need for the District to augment its recycled water services. Diversity: It is clear that all Board Members agree that workforce diversity is desirable. It is not clear how the Board Members wish to go about increasing diversity at the District. Namely, there is no agreement on whether diversity should be considered during the hiring process, or whether the District Red Oak Consulting 2 should make hiring decisions solely based on qualifications. The idea of how to go about increasing diversity within the applicant pool was also brought up in the interviews. Outreach: Two distinct perspectives were expressed during the interviews; some Board Members feel that the current outreach programs are adequate and that sometimes less news is better, and other Board Members feel that outreach should be enhanced, particularly with the District's educational programs. Employee Benefits: Board Members expressed varying opinions regarding the cost of employee benefits, particularly retirement costs, but the general consensus was to ensure that the District is providing proper benefits at a reasonable cost to rate payers. Service Rates: Some Board Members feel that some of the District rates are too high, while others feel that they are average as compared to other sanitary districts. While there is general agreement that the District provides a valuable service to its customers, some members feel that the District should be charging for services that currently do not have a fee, and other members feel that certain services should be provided at no additional cost. Strategic Plan Document: Most Board Members believe that the current staff-developed strategic plan should be considered a draft that will be revised to reflect the outcome of the issues addressed above. Preliminary Conclusions The written surveys and individual interviews revealed that the Board members are in general agreement on the District's Mission, Vision, and Values. Therefore, rather than spending time at the workshop on refining these strategic plan elements, the focus of the workshop became a strategic issues workshop to address select operational issues that were deemed important, yet unresolved, elements of the strategic plan. As such, the following list of topics was developed: . Recycled water services . Cultural diversity · Public outreach · Costs of retirement and benefits . Rates · The District as an industry leader Red Oak Consulting 3 PART 2: WORKSHOP Due to the limited amount of time, Red Oak asked each Board Member to select four issues from the above list that they felt were the most important to discuss during the workshop. The total vote tally was as follows: Issue Recycled Water Services Community outreach Cultural diversity Rates The District as an industry leader Costs of retirement and employee benefits Number of Votes 5 4 3 3 3 2 Based on these results, recycled water, community outreach, cultural diversity, rates, and the District as a leader were given priority to be discussed during the workshop. Ultimately, all of the topics were discussed during the workshop. Workshop Findings The following summarizes the discussions held during the Board's October 31st workshop with Red Oak. Recycled Water Services There is consensus among Board Members that the District should pursue increased recycled water services and that it will be one of the most important issues facing the District in the future. The following topics were discussed: · The relationship between the District and Contra Water District (CCWD) is an important consideration. is an apparent misconception or miscommunication part of the CCWD Board Members wi th respect to the of water recycling within the Water District. There was an active discussion on how to approach the CCWD Board, although no consensus was reached. · The District should approach recycled water from Uthe bigger picture" in terms of statewide water supply issues, especially considering the vulnerability of the Delta (i.e. potential for major catastrophe if there were a large seismic event) and other environmental issues. · With the augmentation of recycled water services, there may be an additional need for storing the recycled water. Costa There on the status Red Oak Consulting 4 . If the District is serious about providing recycled water services, a more comprehensive financial plan will need to be developed. Currently the budget has a line item for recycled water, but there is a need to better understand the costs associated with the service. . It may be appropriate to develop a Recycled Water Master Plan. The majority of Board Members agree on the following: . Currently, approximately 20 MGD of fresh water is used at the refineries; this is an opportunity to provide recycled water. The District should pursue large recycled water projects, such as providing recycled water to refineries and other large-volume users. . The District should also dedicate resources to influence legislation that will allow the District and other sanitary and sanitation districts to provide recycled water without the interference of the water purveyor. Community Outreach The topics addressed during the workshop with respect to public outreach included: . Creating partnerships with other special districts . Collaborating with environmental groups such as the Sierra Club or Bay Keeper to inform the public about issues such as triclosan soaps, etc. . Perhaps operational issues, such as recycled water services, should be prioritized rather than using resources to increase public outreach . Better informing the public of the annual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) report Although there was good discussion, there was not agreement among Board Members regarding if, and how, the District should approach community and public outreach. There were two distinctive perspectives, the first is that current outreach efforts should be increased and more proactive, and the second is to continue with the current outreach program employed at the District. A more proactive approach to community outreach may include the following elements: . As an environmental agency, the responsibilities of the District should change as related environmental challenges change. Responsibilities may include educating the public on emerging environmental issues, such as endocrine disrupters, as well as self-regulating the District's carbon footprint through efficient use of energy and sustainable practices. Red Oak Consulting 5 . Constituents, including both children and adults, should know about the District's services and they should be informed about how those services may affect the environment. . The District should be proactive in obtaining positive publicity in local news publications. . The District should have a system for reaching out to service clubs and other organizations. The more traditional (or business-as-usual) approach includes the following concepts: . Continuously improve the current educational offerings. . Continue to ensure that the public is informed about the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility and pollution prevention. . The District should not be seeking publicity; rather, it should focus on doing what it does well without worrying about recognition. This means that the District should continue to be on the leading edge of understanding sanitary issues and providing quality services to the public The majority of the Board Members generally agree on the following: . At a minimum, the current approach outlined above should be continued. . The District should get positive value from the resources it spends on public outreach. . The new Public Information Officer is performing well and should be given time to implement the community outreach plan. Cultural Diversity The current District Values include ~all aspects of diversity." Some Board Members feel that ~cultural" diversity should be more clearly specified as a District Value. Other Board Members were less clear on what should be included in the definition of diversity, e.g. should cultural, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation all be included. Other Board Members believe that diversity should not influence the hiring process at all, and that jobs should be offered to those who are the most highly qualified, regardless of ethnicity. with respect to this topic, the Board discussed, but did not reach conclusion on, the following issues: Red Oak Consulting 6 . The extent to which staff should pursue candidates to ensure there is a high level of diversity within the candidate pool, as well as the actual level of diversity within the hiring pool. . The extent to which staff should pursue hiring the best qualified candidate or consider hiring a qualified candidate that would increase the diversity of the organization. . What would be the impact of hiring a qualified candidate at the District versus hiring the best-qualified candidate? The majority of the Board Members generally agree on the following: . Diversity at the District is a confirmed goal of the Board. Staff will need more guidance on defining the scope of diversity. . The District should pursue diversity while continuing to emphasize recruiting and hiring highly qualified employees. . The District's recruiting and outreach efforts should be audi ted by a third party to assess whether there are any internal or external barriers to di versi ty, or other ways to improve recruitment. Rates The District's current rates are plus an ad valorem assessment as approximately $80 per household. $300 per year per household, part of the property tax, of The issues that were discussed in relation to the District's rates include: . The effect of the economy on the revenues received from the ad valorem taxes; the District may see a decrease in ad valorem revenues because of the real estate slow down in the recent past. . Setting rates based on the current providing services to customers, as rates based on the rates that other their services. . The appropriate management reserves. and future cost of opposed to setting Districts charge for of the District's current . The appropriate reserve amount for the District. . Increasing recycled water services will probably impact District finances. There may be a need to increase rates and there also may be a need to reallocate the overall District budget. . There is a concern that the rates paid by small businesses are prohibitively high, particularly connection fees for restaurants. Red Oak Consulting 7 . Whether the District should horizon longer than 10 years sustainable. have a financial planning to ensure our programs are The majority of the Board generally agrees on the following: . Rates are currently adequate to cover the services that the District provides to its customers. . The District needs to continuously ensure that ratepayers are getting a good value through quality services. . Rates should reflect what the District plans to accomplish and provide / i. e. / ten-year capital and financial plans should continue to be developed. The District as a Leader Board members agree that the District should strive to maintain a leadership position within the wastewater industry. The following issues were discussed during the workshop: . Being an industry leader should include showing leadership as an environmental agency. . There are many organizational facets that the District can measure and strive to improve in its quest to remain a leader. The District should identify which facets it wants to focus on, such as technology, sustainability, politics, fiscal organization, academic involvement, and research to name a few. The majority of the Board members agree that: . The District can consider itself an industry leader based on the fact that it continuously meets or exceeds state and federal regulations, it receives outside recognition for its work, and it has a state-of-the-art laboratory. . The Board wants the District to continue to be an industry leader. . Staff should continue to stay involved in professional and technical organizations in order to maintain a leadership position in the industry. . Staff should inform the Board what areas staff believes the District could/should pursue to continue to be an industry leader. Red Oak Consulting 8 Cost of Retirement Benefits The topic of retirement costs was discussed. The majority of the Board Members agreed that staff should bring a request to the Board to conduct a study of the costs associated with switching their retirement benefits administrator from Contra Costa County to CalPERS. Conclusions Following the workshop discussion of key strategic issues, Board Members expressed general satisfaction on the success of the workshop. The approach of providing a summary of the group's responses from the questionnaires and interviews prior to meeting was appreciated. Some Board Members felt that the group could have used more time to more fully discuss all of the topics. The workshop provided a forum for discussing key strategic issues, all of which should be included in the District's strategic plan. The consensus among Board Members on the key strategic issues outlined above provides a basis for staff to revise the existing strategic plan. Staff should use the information in this document to assist in reporting back to the Board on the strategic issues work progress. Red Oak Consulting 9