HomeMy WebLinkAbout17.c. Committee Minutes-Real Estate, Environmental and Planning 05-21-2024Item 17.c.
J une 6, 2024
T O: HO NO R A B L E B O A R D O F D I R E C TO R S
F RO M :K AT I E YO UNG, S E C R E TA RY O F T HE D I S T R I C T
S UB J E C T: MAY 21, 2024 - R E A L E S TAT E , E NV I R O NME NTA L & P L A NNI NG
C O MMI T T E E - C HA I R W E D I NG TO N A ND ME MB E R HO C K E T T
Attached are minutes of the above C ommittee meeting.
AT TAC HM E NT S :
D escription
1. R E E P C ommittee minutes 05-21-24
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 219 of 231
Page 1 of 8
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA
SANITARY DISTRICT
REAL ESTATE, ENVIRONMENTAL
& PLANNING COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
8:30 a.m.
Committee:
Chair Florence Wedington
Member Barbara Hockett
Staff:
Roger S. Bailey, General Manager
Philip Leiber, Deputy GM - Administration
Danea Gemmell, Planning and Development Services Division Manager (left during Item 4.a.)
Lori Schectel, Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Division Manager
Colleen Henry, Environmental Compliance Program Administrator
Rita Cheng, Senior Engineer
Robert Hess, Associate Engineer
Blake Brown, Laboratory Program Administrator
Jeremy Talarico, Senior Environmental Compliance Inspector
Nealsen Cayanan, Assistant Engineer (joined during Item 4.a.)
David Max, Temporary Staff Engineer
Karen DeLong, Administrative Services Assistant
1. Call Meeting to Order
Chair Wedington called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.
2. Public Comments
None.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
MARIAH N. LAURITZEN
President
MICHAEL R. MCGILL
President Pro Tem
BARBARA D. HOCKETT
TAD J. PILECKI
FLORENCE T. WEDINGTON
PHONE: (925) 228-9500
FAX: (925) 372-0192
www.centralsan.org
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 220 of 231
Page 2 of 8
Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes
May 21, 2024
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3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board
a*. Review draft Position Paper authorizing the General Manager to execute a
three-year permit contract with Acme Fill Corporation (Acme) for discharge of
treated landfill leachate from the Acme landfill located in Martinez, California,
through June 30, 2027 and find that this contract is exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Ms. Schectel gave introductory information and Ms. Henry reviewed the
updated contract. Handouts were distributed showing the revised
indemnification language, which will be included when presented to the Board.
Ms. Henry reviewed changes since the last renewal, which included some
changes to sampling frequencies for certain parameters, which was agreed
due to many years of good sampling results. She distributed handouts for new
indemnification language.
Member Hockett inquired if per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were
found, to which Mr. Talarico replied that Acme is not currently required to
sample for (PFAS) by Central San, but it may be needed in the future.
Member Hocket inquired whether, due to the age of the property, sampling the
soil around the area was required, to which Mr. Talarico responded that falls
under the jurisdiction of another agency which requires them to keep the
leachate low, so there is no migration.
Chair Wedington asked if keeping the contract as it was had been considered.
Ms. Henry stated that it had been, and that Acme usually suggests changes
and the District makes the decision on which to keep or reject.
In response to a question posed by Member Hockett regarding what
contractual items Acme would like to eliminate, Mr. Talarico responded that
Acme would like to eliminate biannual effluent toxicity testing, as they already
subject their effluent wastewater to the same species as the District. As their
test results are as good as possible, the renewed contract request is for testing
only in the last year of the contract.
Ms. Schectel stated that the contract was well thought out by the team, and
thanked Mr. Talarico and Ms. Henry for their work to achieve a collaborative
resolution.
Member Hockett stated that Acme has been a great partner, and she and
Chair Wedington agreed to recommend approval to the Board.
COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval.
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 221 of 231
Page 3 of 8
Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes
May 21, 2024
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4. Other Agenda Items
a. Klir Regulatory Software Demonstration
Ms. Schectel introduced the team and gave a brief overview of the project.
Ms. Cheng stated that many software companies they approached for permit
management were interested in working with larger private corporations. Klir
is an Environmental Management System (EMS) designed to work with water
and wastewater agencies for centralized tracking of permits and associated
requirements. Their customer service is excellent and beta testing was very
smooth.
Mr. Hess gave an overview of the presentation and facilitated the
demonstration. Previously a lengthy manual process, as of August 2023,
Central San has been running exclusively on Klir with minimal oversight
required to ensure meeting regulatory requirements. With the optimized
workflow, hours spent were reduced from 150 to less than ten hours per year.
Permits to date have been where we are the regulated entity, but Ms. Henry’s
group is exploring the development of pre-treatment options with Klir.
Member Hockett inquired whether the KLIR pre-treatment would include
pretreatment sampling. Ms. Henry replied that the tool would be primarily used
for commercial and industrial inspections and could potentially include
sampling data.
Member Hockett observed that the system is a truth teller for the status of
permits and projects.
Member Hockett inquired about changing or updating tasks, to which Ms.
Chen confirmed that updating or loading new information is very dynamic and
easily done. Ms. Schectel mentioned that there was a large effort up front to
load all the permit information into the system.
Chair Wedington opined that this application is an awesome program that
simplifies the process and eliminates the possibility of overlooked tasks.
Ms. Schectel agreed that the program saves significant amounts of staff time.
Ms. Cheng noted that there are task filtering features that are easy to use and
could be useful to other divisions or workgroups in the District. With unlimited
licenses, and storage, people outside of the department can use the tool for
tracking without additional cost. Mr. Leiber suggested sharing the
demonstration with other groups, such as client activities, internal audit, and
risk management.
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 222 of 231
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Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes
May 21, 2024
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Member Hockett mentioned that this program could be useful for the lab, to
which Ms. Schectel agreed, mentioning the sampling schedule for the lab,
stating that the primary focus had been making sure that it was running well
before expanding.
In response to a question posed by Member Hockett regarding cost, Ms.
Cheng stated it was approximately $60,000 annually, which includes
customizations and ongoing customer support. Member Hockett encouraged
the program be shared throughout the District.
Chair Wedington asked whether the fees were fixed. Ms. Cheng stated that
there is currently a three-year contract, and she does not anticipate any
significant increases going forward.
In response to Mr. Bailey’s observation that there are many workgroups with
permits, Mr. Hess confirmed that there are currently Collection System
Operations (CSO) and other workgroup’s permits in the system and showed
the list of users and permits included.
Mr. Hess thanked the Implementation Team and Beta Testers.
Ms. Schectel praised the team for the ingenuity of the idea to increase
efficiency, as well as finding the right software and completing the
implementation.
Chair Wedington shared congratulations and stated that she was very
impressed, and Member Hockett agreed.
COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the demonstration.
b. Receive a verbal update on the most recent meeting of the Bay Area Clean
Water Agencies (BACWA)
Ms. Schectel reviewed the May 3, 2024 BACWA annual members meeting.
Subjects discussed included strategic workplans, climate action related to
clean up sites, military underground storage, environmental justice, engaging
with communities, new projects for recycled water, and nutrients. She
moderated a Panel on workforce development and presented on her
experience with Central San’s mentorship program. She also had the
opportunity to present Blake Brown with the Arleen Navarret Award for
professional development in honor of the Public Utility Commission employee
who passed away.
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 223 of 231
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Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes
May 21, 2024
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Chair Wedington, along with all present, congratulated Ms. Brown on her
achievement.
The BACWA Nutrient Strategy team met on Friday, May 17 and discussed the
next steps on the Nutrient Permit. The team is expecting that the water board
will have written responses to comments between June 4 and June 7. The
adoption hearing for the permit is on June 12. BACWA will be discussing the
feasibility of enforceable milestones with the EPA and discussing permit
concerns with the State Water Board. The next internal strategy meeting will
be on June 7, and they are encouraging everyone to come and comment on
the permit at the June 12 meeting. BACWA’s hope is for oral comments is to
amplify a few key points and will seek to do a comprehensive PowerPoint to
address the administrative record.
Member Hockett requested a printed copy of the 15-page regulatory issues
matrix from the BACWA bulletin.
Member Hockett also requested the specifics for the hearing. Ms. Schectel
confirmed the meeting will be at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12 at the
Regional Water Board offices in the Elihu M. Harris Government Building at
1515 Clay Street in Oakland, CA. Mr. Bailey requested that the link to the
virtual meeting be sent out, when available, for those who cannot attend in
person.
As it relates to public policy issues, Mr. Bailey opined that Central San needs
to educate the public and encourage involvement. This is a complex issue
and the public needs a lot of time ahead to understand. He believes that the
Regional Board will listen to the public, but the public needs to be educated.
Central San needs time to educate the customers. If the public shows up it
could make a difference, and it is important to get the public involved.
Member Hockett stated that a crash course and a personal invitation are
needed for the public to understand.
Mr. Bailey confirmed that Central San presented to California Special Districts
Association (CSDA) yesterday, to the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce on
Friday, and will present to the taxpayers’ association this coming Friday. He
would also like an opportunity to present to Rossmoor. He is reaching out to
the alumni group of Central San Academy and encouraging them to engage in
the conversation. He stated the need to be strategic and prepare ahead of
time, believes this issue is the fight of the moment and deserves every bit of
Central San’s attention, and that it is immoral to ask the public to spend $700
million dollars that will not make a difference. The District wants nutrient
mitigation but feels that recycled water should be part of the solution.
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 224 of 231
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Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes
May 21, 2024
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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
COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list and provided input to staff.
7. Future scheduled meetings
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. (canceled)
Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at 8:30 a.m.
8. Adjournment – at 9:25 a.m.
*Attachments
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 225 of 231
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CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT
WASTEWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT CONTRACT
WITH
ACME FILL CORPORATION
(Section 15 updated language)
15.INDEMNIFICATION
15.1 Mutual Indemnity
DISCHARGER shall indemnify and hold the DISTRICT, its officials,
employees, agents free and harmless from any and all claims, demands,
causes of action, suits, actions, proceedings, costs, expenses, liability,
judgments, awards, decrees, settlements, loss, damage or injury of any
kind, in law or equity, including damage or loss to property or injury or
death to persons (collectively, “District Claims”) to the extent arising out of
the proven active or passive negligence or breach of this Agreement by
DISCHARGER, its officials, officers, employees, subcontractors,
consultants or agents in connection with DISCHARGER’S performance of
this Permit Contract. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent required
by Civil Code section 2782, DISCHARGER’s indemnity obligation shall not
apply to liability for damages for death or bodily injury to persons, injury to
property, or any other loss, damage or expense arising from the gross
negligence or willful misconduct of the DISTRICT or the DISTRICT’s
agents, servants, or independent contractors who are directly responsible
to the DISTRICT.
DISTRICT shall indemnify and hold DISCHARGER, its officers,
employees, agents free and harmless from any and all claims, demands,
causes of action, suits, actions, proceedings, costs, expenses, liability,
judgments, awards, decrees, settlements, loss, damage or injury of any
kind, in law or equity, including damage or loss to property or injury or
death to persons (collectively, “Discharger Claims”) to the extent arising
out of the proven active or passive negligence or breach of this Agreement
by DISTRICT, its officials, officers, employees, subcontractors,
consultants or agents in connection with DISTRICT’S performance of this
Permit Contract. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent required by
Civil Code section 2782, DISTRICT’s indemnity obligation shall not apply
to liability for damages for death or bodily injury to persons, injury to
property, or any other loss, damage or expense arising from the gross
negligence or willful misconduct of the DISCHARGER or the
DISCHARGER’s agents, servants, or independent contractors who are
directly responsible to the DISCHARGER.
3a (Handout)
June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 226 of 231
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