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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReal Estate, Environmental & Planning MINUTES 05-21-24Page 2 of 8 110ENTRAL SAN BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MARIAHN. LAURITZEN President REGULAR MEETING OF THE MICHAEL R. MCGILL CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA President Pro Tem SANITARY DISTRICT BARBARA D. HOCKETT TAD J PILECKI REAL ESTATE, ENVIRONMENTAL ELORENCET WEDINGTON & PLANNING COMMITTEE PHONE: (925)228-9500 FAX.- (925) 372-0192 MINUTES www.central.van.org Tuesday, May 21, 2024 8:30 a.m. (-:nmmittaa 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 Meetina to Order Chair Wedington called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 2. Public Comments None. June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 220 of 231 Page 3 of 8 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 2 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 4 of 8 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 3 4. Other Aaenda 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 Page 5 of 8 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 4 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 Page 6 of 8 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 5 Chair Wedington, along with all present, congratulated Ms. Brown on her achievement. The BACW4 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 Page 7 of 8 Real Estate, Environmental & Planning Committee Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 6 COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update. 5. Announcements None. 6. Suaaestions for future aaenda 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 meeti Tuesday, Lune 18, 2024 at 8:30 a.rn. (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 Page 8 of 8 3a (Handout) 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. June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 226 of 231 Page 1 of 5 Item 19.a. DCENTRALSAN MEETING DATE: JUNE 6, 2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITION PAPER SUBJECT: CONSIDER AUTHORIZING MEMBER WEDINGTON TO ATTEND THE NATI ONAL ASSOCIATI ONS OF CLEAN WATER AGENCI ES (NACWA) UTILITY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, JULY23 -26, 2024 IN BUFFALO, NY AND APPROVE ADDING THE CONFERENCE TO THE ANNUAL BOARD CONFERENCE LIST FOR YEARLYAPPROVAL SUBMITTED BY: INITIATING DEPARTMENT: KATIE YOUNG, SECRETARY OF THE SECRETARYOF THE DISTRICT DISTRICT Roger S. Bailey General Manager ISSUE In accordance with Board Policy No. BP 008 -Travel Expense Reimbursement Policy, Board approval is required in advance for Board Member conference attendance. BACKGROUND Conference attendance for calendar year 2024 was approved by the Board at the November 16, 2023 meeting. Since that time, Member Wedington has expressed interest in attending the National Associations of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Utility Leadership Conference, July 23 -26, 2024 in Buffalo, NY. Member Wedington also expressed interest in adding this conference to the annual conference list that is approved every October for advance Board Member conference attendance approval. ALTERNATIVES/CONSIDERATIONS The Board may deny the request for attendance to the event and/or adding the event to the Board Conference list. June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 227 of 231 Page 2 of 5 FINANCIAL IMPACTS The registration, flight and hotel cost is expected to be approximately $5,000. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION This matter was not reviewed by a Board Committee. RECOMMENDED BOARD ACTION Consider authorizing Member Wedington to attend t the National Associations of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Utility Leadership Conference, July 23 -26, 2024 in Buffalo, NY and approve adding the NACWA Utility Leadership Conference to the annual Board Conference list for next year's approval. Strategic Plan re -In GOAL ONE: Customer and Community Strategy 3 - Build neighborhood and industry relations GOAL FOUR: Governance and Fiscal Responsibility Strategy 1 - Promote and uphold ethical behavior, openness, and accessibility, Strategy 2 - Encourage and facilitate public participation ATTACHMENTS: 1. NACWA Conference Agenda June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 228 of 231 Page 3 of 5 N /\ C W/\ 6) 2024 Utility Leadership Conference and 54th Annual Meeting Dealing with Disruption: A New Approach for the Water Sector July 23 - 26 1 Hyatt Regency Buffalo I Buffalo, NY All meetings are on the Mezzanine level unless otherwise noted. A Board of Directors Committee As of May 14, 2024 Tuesday, July 23 Morning 8:30 - 1:00 Women's Water Network Program (Optional - Separate Registration Required) Afternoon 12:00 - 1:45 Executive Committee Lunch 11 Niagara 1:30 — 4:30 Registration Grand Ballroom Foyer 2:30 - 5:00 Committee Discussion Sessions Grand Ballroom ABC All Conference attendees are welcome to attend the committee meetings, whether or not they are members of the committee. Evening 5:00 - 6:00 Regency Ballroom Foyer 5:30 — 6:30 Regency Ballroom Registration Welcoming Reception Wednesday, July 24 Morning 8:00 - 9:15 Financial Plan Task Force Breakfast A Franklin, 2nd Floor 9:00 — 11:30 Registration Grand Ballroom Foyer June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 229 of 231 Page 4 of 5 9:00 — 10:00 Spouse & Guest Lounge Ellicott Room, 2nd Floor 9:00 - 5:00 NACWA Networking Lounge Genesee Room, The lounge provides an opportunity to connect with your peers during Lobby Level the conference. 9:30 — 12:00 Committee Discussion Sessions Grand Ballroom ABC All Conference attendees are welcome to attend the committee meetings, whether or not they are members of the committee. Afternoon 12:00 -1:30 Optional Lunch - Collaborative Delivery Fundamentals and Equitable Risk Allocation (Free; Separate RSVP Required) Join the Water Collaborative Delivery Association (WCDA) for a lunchtime session on the fundamentals of collaborative delivery methods for water and wastewater, with a focus on equitable risk allocation for all parties. This event is open to all, and will be of particular benefit to senior leadership, legal counsel, and procurement professionals responsible for making risk - related business decisions and implementing them in design and construction contracts. A hard copy of WCDA's Water and Wastewater Collaborative Delivery Handbook, 6th Edition will be provided to all attendees, with access to electronic versions of contract templates and procurement guides provided as follow-up materials. Please complete this form by Wednesday, July 3 to RSVP for this event. 12:15 - 2:00 Awards Committee Meeting and Lunch A 2:00 - 4:30 Registration Grand Ballroom Foyer 2:30 — 5:00 Committee Discussion Sessions Grand Ballroom ABC All Conference attendees are welcome to attend the committee meetings, whether or not they are members of the committee. Evening 5:30 - 7:00 Awards Ceremony & Reception Grand Ballroom EFG Thursday, July 25 Morning 8:45 - 11:30 Registration Grand Ballroom Foyer 9:00 — 10:00 Spouse & Guest Lounge Ellicott Room, 2nd Floor June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 230 of 231 Page 5 of 5 9:00 — 5:00 NACWA Networking Lounge Genesee Room, The lounge provides an opportunity to connect with your peers during Lobby Level the conference. 9:30 —12:00 Plenary Session Grand Ballroom ABC 11:40 — 12:00 Annual Association Business Meeting Grand Ballroom ABC Afternoon 12:15 - 2:15 Regency Ballroom 2:00 — 4:00 Grand Ballroom Foyer Board of Directors Meeting A Registration 2:30 - 5:00 Plenary Session II Grand Ballroom ABC Evening 6:00 - 7:30 TBD Friday. July 26 Morning 8:30 -10:30 Grand Ballroom Foyer President's Reception Registration 9:00 - 12:00 Plenary Session III Grand Ballroom ABC June 6, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 231 of 231