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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReal Estate, Environmental & Planning MINUTES 09-20-23Page 2 of 6 110ENTRAL SAN REGULAR MEETING OF THE CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT REAL ESTATE, ENVIRONMENTAL & PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday, September 20, 2023 9:00 a.m. rnmmittaa Chair Tad Pilecki Alternate Member Mike McGill Guest: Eric Burns BOARD OF DIRECTORS: BARBARA D.HOCKETT President MARIAHN LAURITZEN President Pro Tent MICHAEL R. MCGILL TAD J PILECKI FLORENCE T WEDINGTON PHONE: (925) 228-9500 FAX- (925) 372-0192 www.centralsan.org Staff. - Katie Young, Secretary of the District Philip Leiber, Deputy General Manager — Administration (joined during Item 3.a.) Charles Mallory, Information Technology Manager (joined during Item 3.a.) Danea Gemmell, Planning and Development Services Division Manager Dana Lawson, Senior Engineer Kim Stahl, Development Services Supervisor Stephanie Gronlund, Associate Engineer (left after Item 4.a.) Stacey Durocher, Administrative Services Assistant 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair Pilecki called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. 2. Public Comments None. October 5, 2023 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 140 of 144 Page 3 of 6 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes September 20, 2023 Page 2 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to adopt proposed Resolution No. 2023-xx authorizing (1) execution of a Notice of Easement Encroachment at 1 La Senda, Orinda and (2) allow staff to record the documents with the Contra Costa County Clerk -Recorder's Office Chair Pilecki announced Item 3.a. will not be heard by the Committee. Chair Pilecki introduced Mr. Burns who was present to address the Committee. Mr. Burns stated that in June 2021 he applied for a sewer repair permit after a sewage flood inside his home and was notified that his home sat on Central San's main sewer line and was asked to consider recording a real property agreement. The permit he needed to fix the lateral was denied, and again was sent a Notice of Encroachment which asked him to sign a real property agreement. He believes Central San has made false claims of encroachment and has made numerous errors based on faulty data during this process that has cost him valuable time, stress and money. Mr. Burns requested that Central San work with him to find a solution that benefits everyone. Member Pilecki acknowledged and thanked Mr. Burns for his comments. The Committee had no additional questions. COMMITTEE ACTION: Heard public comment from Mr. Burns and tabled the item for a future meeting. 4. Other Agenda Items a. Receive Quarterly Permit Counter/Plan Review Report Ms. Gemmell provided an overview of the report through June 30, 2023 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23. Ms. Gemmell mentioned the Sewer Summit is returning since the pandemic and is scheduled for October 2 and November 1, 2023. Ms. Stahl is in the process of confirming a speaker for this event. Chair Pilecki asked staff to explain to Member McGill the plan review issue the District is having with the County. Ms. Gemmell explained that prior to the pandemic Central San would receive plans from the County and do plan review first, then the County reviewed the documents and provided final approval. Since the pandemic, the County has been receiving complaints October 5, 2023 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 141 of 144 Page 4 of 6 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes September 20, 2023 Page 3 regarding their plan review turnaround times and has decided to remove the requirement to come to Central San first and are only recommending sanitary sewer approval and is now approving plans and issuing the permit to begin building. The problem occurs when the sewer is addressed after building has begun. Ms. Stahl said staff is dealing with the County submittals differently and not being too strict because the approval to start building has already been granted and staff is concerned if they ask for resubmittals the customers won't come back because technically, they don't have to. Ms. Gemmell mentioned staff will be preparing the latest Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA) report to include a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping component. This report provides the District with information regarding how many housing units are needed in a specific area. Further discussion ensued. Chair Pilecki asked if development was dropping off and how that will impact the District's projected number of connections versus what is anticipated. Ms. Stahl said the District is still seeing some new capacity fee developments, but not as much, however there are more Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) which is currently half of staffs daily intake at the permit counter, and there are less of the home additions and things that require a cap and reconnect. In response to Chair Pilecki's concern about revenue dropping off, Ms. Gemmell said some projections were lowered and staff is comfortable with those estimates at this time. Chair Pilecki commented on the unusual building combinations that are being developed and referenced the 15-minute City concept and requested feedback from staff at a future meeting about the possible impacts this would have to the District if those were to start being developed in this area. He recommended that staff keep an eye on that and start thinking about what we need to do to get ahead of the curve. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the report. b. Receive the update on the Implementation of the Online Permit Process (Oracle) Ms. Gemmell provided an update on the implementation of the online permit process included in the agenda packet. Ms. Gemmell said the Planning and Development Services staff has been working with the Information Technology (IT) staff as well as Finance andEnvironmental Compliance to implement the Oracle Permitting and October 5, 2023 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 142 of 144 Page 5 of 6 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes September 20, 2023 Page 4 Licensing (OPAL) software. She said the new software is intended to replace the Districts' old permitting software Sun Gard, and said staff is currently participating in testing the system and will begin training October 1st with a tentative go -live date internally November 1, 2023. Ms. Gemmell said the OPAL software is very new and there are only two public agencies currently using the software. She said staff intends to go -live internally first and will invite a select group of contractors to use the portal and, when comfortable, they will fully open the portal to the public sometime in 2024. Mr. Mallory said he anticipates more work to be done on the District's side, and even more work on the side of Oracle. The team has done an excellent job. Member McGill acknowledged the hard work by staff to get this in place. Chair Pilecki asked if staff will be including instructional videos for the public. Ms. Stahl confirmed there will be step-by-step directional screenshots and videos in place and the system will still use generic terms and will have descriptions of the different types of permits making it more user friendly. Ms. Gemmell added there will also be informational icons customers can click on to get more information. Chair Pilecki requested a demonstration at the December Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Meeting. In response to Chair Pilecki's inquiry regarding customers who may have problems similar to Mr. Burns and how that would be handled, Ms. Stahl replied that staff will still be reviewing everything that comes in and will still reach out to customers if there is an issue. There will not be an artificial intelligence component that will automatically sweep your application. In response to Member McGill's question regarding open permits that don't get completed, Ms. Stahl responded that the permit and inspection staff are in the process of cleaning up the records and closing open application and permits. Ms. Gemmell also said the new system will have a feature that alerts staff after a certain amount of time to extend or close the application or permit. Chair Pilecki asked if the property owner will be able to access information regarding easements and Central San pipeline locations online, or will they have to come in. Ms. Stahl said they will still need to come in, but the new system will have some maps that will show customers their parcel and the main lines, but it won't give exact easement locations. Chair Pilecki then asked if this would be available in the future. Ms. Lawson stated because of the way the District receives land rights and the various forms, that would not be easy to do. The Contra Costa County Clerk -Recorder's Office is the office of record for recorded documents so Central San's records may be incomplete since the information is not owned or controlled by Central San. October 5, 2023 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 143 of 144 Page 6 of 6 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes September 20, 2023 Page 5 In response to Chair Pilecki's question regarding what permit category ADUs were under, Ms. Stahl stated ADUs were included in the new residential category. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update. 5. Announcements None. 6. Suggestions for future agenda items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items As mentioned above, Chair Pilecki requested a demonstration of the Online Permit application at the December REEP meeting. The Committee also requested an update on the 15-minute City development concept. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list and provided input to staff. 7. Future scheduled meetings Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. 8. Announce Closed Session Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated litigation exposure pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(e)(3); one potential case: Easement Encroachment,1 La Senda, Orinda Chair Pilecki advised that Closed session pertaining to Item 3.a. has been cancelled. 9. Closed Session This item was not heard. 10. Report Out of Closed Session There was no report. 11. Adjournment — at 9:50 a.m. October 5, 2023 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 144 of 144