minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

March 26, 2003

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Chair Doud called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Welsh, Wolniewicz and Wright.

Directors Absent: None.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Avery, and Board Secretary Farpón-Friedman. Staff members Hank Gaus, Bill Olson, Paula Roberts, George Silva, Jim Smyth, Don Thomson, and Tom Woodrum. Also, National City Representative to the San Diego County Water Authority Robert Valderrama.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Chair Doud conducted the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (Government Code Section (54954.3)
There were no members of the public present for comment.

CHAIR ’S PRESENTATION

Chair Doud reported that he had attended the WESTCAS Conference and had copies of the Washington report and an overview of the Bush Administration Fiscal 2004 Budget, which he passed on to staff.

ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA
There were none.

1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Wolniewicz made a motion, seconded by Director Wright, that the Board approve the minutes of March 11, 2003. The motion carried.

2. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve Warrants 87593 through 87866 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS

3. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of March 19, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve consent Items A, B and C. The motion carried.

Approve additional funding in the amount of $160,000 from the Repair and Replacement Reserve Fund for the deficit associated with the 12-inch Main Replacement, Highland Avenue, Division Street to 12th Street.

Authorize the General Manager to sign an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for Phases II and III of the San Diego Formation Study, and that funding in the amount of $200,000 be authorized as part of the 2003-04 Fiscal Year budget.

Letter of interest from Otay Municipal Water District to participate in expansion of Robert A. Perdue Water Treatment Plant. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

4. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of March 20, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Wolniewicz made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Board approve consent items A and B. The motion carried.

Award a sole-source contract to DeC Consultants in the amount of $11,100 to evaluate the existing condition of the 36-inch transmission main from Chula Vista to Bonita.

Authorize up to $5,000 from the Unallocated Reserve Fund to be used for the purchase of ergonomic furniture for the Training Office.

ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS

5. COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of March 25, 2003)

A. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board award its $1,000 scholarship to Susana Orozco, a Bonita Vista Senior, and that her application be forwarded to the CSDA competition as the Sweetwater Authority finalist. The motion carried.

Information items; press releases, other items prepared for public information distribution, and update on major projects. No action was required by the Governing Board.

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve the purchase of an advertisement in the San Diego Metropolitan Uptown Examiner and Daily Business Report. The motion carried.

6. REPORT OF THE SOUTH BAY IRRIGATION DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE AND THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY REPRESENTATIVE TO THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY

Mr. Valderrama reported on some of the items from the Administrative and Legal, Public Affairs, and Planning and Environmental Committees that will be discussed at the Board meeting on the 27th.

Director Pocklington reviewed the schedule of meetings for tomorrow. He also gave an extensive report on items of interest to Sweetwater Authority that will be discussed at the Board meeting. His report included items under Fiscal Policy, Engineering and Operations, and Water Policy.

7. APPROVAL OF DIRECTORS’ ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

B. First Friday Breakfast with Bonnie Dumanis as guest speaker – April 4, 2003 at the San Diego Country Club, Chula Vista. All directors will attend this event. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who wish to attend this event. The motion carried.

Legislative Roundtable with Senator Denise Ducheny held at San Diego County Water Authority – Wednesday, April 16, 2003 – 7:30 a.m., to 9:00 a.m. All directors will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

Water Agencies Association of San Diego County – Quarterly Dinner Meeting – Thursday, April 17, 2003, Holiday Inn, Mission Valley Stadium. Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Welsh, and Wright will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

Community Issues Forum – Surmounting the Water Crisis – Hosted by SDG&E with presenters Ron Gastelum, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and Maureen Stapleton, San Diego County Water Authority – La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad – April 17, 2003, 11:30 a.m. Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Welsh, and Wright will attend the Forum. Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who wish to attend this event. The motion carried.

Water Education Foundation – The Central Valley Tour – May 14-16, 2003. None of the directors expressed interest in attending this pre-approved tour. No action was required by the Governing Board.

8. REPORT OF TREASURER – WANDA AVERY

Ms. Avery reported that the interest rate at the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) is between 1.95 and 2.01 percent and the Treasuries are still 1 percent. She noted they might go down another quarter.

9. BUDGET REPORT – DIRECTOR OF FINANCE GAUS
Report as of February 28, 2003.

Director of Finance Gaus reported that Water Sales are ahead by $414,000. Interest Income is also higher by $166,171. The Operating Expenses are $82,000 less than what we anticipated. Mr. Gaus also reported on the individual budgets by Department. Overall, we had estimated to spend 76 percent in capital projects and we have spent 55 percent. He also reported that we had started sending the refunds from the Energy Reserves to our customers, and that the second cycle would go out in April.

10. MANAGEMENT REPORT

C. Report of Rainfall and Reservoir Levels – Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers reported on the status of the Direct Storage Program. He said that if we continued to take the same volume of imported, treated water from the CWA, we would end up with 8,534 acre-feet at the end of April. Due to the fact that runoff into both reservoirs has been less than expected, we will probably be taking as much as 160 acre- feet per day, and the figure at the end of April will probably be about 11,500 acre-feet. Sweetwater Reservoir is at 42 percent capacity and Loveland is at 30 percent. He hoped that we would be able to put enough water in Sweetwater reservoir to get us through the summer without having to transfer water from Loveland Reservoir. The last time we transferred water from Loveland Reservoir was in 1998; because it is so dry right now, we would probably lose about 40 percent of the water released out of Loveland.
He mentioned that about four years ago we had started sending staff to Washington, D.C., to try to get funding for various programs. He reported having traveled to Washington on March 3 and 4 with Rick Alexander to speak to various representatives about three projects, the San Diego Formation, Habitat Restoration in Sweetwater Lake, and bringing water from San Vicente to El Capitan to Loveland. They met with Barbara Boxer’s staff, with John Duncan from Tennessee, who is the Chairman of the Water Resources and Environmental Subcommittee, Bob Filner, Diane Feinstein, representatives of the Energy and Water Committee, and Duncan Hunter’s staff. In the last two years we have received $1,500,000 for various projects and he hopes we will receive some benefit from this trip as well.

Report of General Manager Bostad: General Manager Bostad gave a brief report on the Chula Vista Interagency meeting that took place this week. The City of Chula Vista is very interested in hosting an Interagency meeting April 28, 2003 to discuss and have a presentation on water supply reliability. He has discussed this with CWA staff and they said they could probably talk about water supply reliability from a regional standpoint and we would provide a presentation on water supply reliability from a local water agency’s perspective. He also reported having met with CWA staff to discuss some common projects that Sweetwater Authority and some neighboring water agencies are interested in pursuing, including the pipeline to Loveland along with the treatment plant. He also discussed the possibility of a plant expansion at the Perdue Treatment Plant.

11. REPORT OF CALFED/BAY-DELTA OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE - DIRECTOR WRIGHT

Director Wright referred to information he had received through an Environmental Scientist with the Office of Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship regarding the interest of the State of California Agriculture Department in sustainable agriculture. He also mentioned a major CALFED subgroup called the CALFED Working Landscape Subcommittee. He thinks there will be press releases from other states on sustainable agriculture.

12. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS

Director Wright said he also receives information from the State Water Resources Control Board. The issue regarding watershed and non-point source pollution control is a big item, and the latest release talks about availability of up to $138 million in watershed non-point source grants through the State Water Resources Control Board. They are in partnership with CALFED, USEPA, California Coastal, and California Resource agencies. The grants available are coming from Safe Drinking Water Act, Watershed Protection Act and Flood Protection Act. Also, the Federal Clean Water Act section 319 and Water Security Clean Drinking Water Coastal and Beach Protection. He also commented on the proposed General Permit for Coastal Marinas. The San Diego Regional Board has decided to hold a public workshop to receive information. The marinas located in the San Diego region are Dana Point in Orange County, US Marine Corp base in Camp Pendleton, the Oceanside Harbor, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay. He said that the emphasis on the Coastal Marina permit would be on control of discharges of liquid and solid wastes, underwater boat cleaning activities, sewage and petroleum.

He also provided comments regarding the Metropolitan Water District meeting he had attended yesterday, which was a follow-up on the IID settlement of the water transfer. Most of it was originally scheduled to be in closed session, but they decided at the last minute not to go into Closed Session probably because much of this information is already out. He noted that his trip report had been distributed to Board members. At the Committee on Water Education there was some criticism on the program developed for the 6th grade students. He suggested that this information be given to the Communications section to see how it ties in with Sweetwater Authority’s 6th grade programs. The opinion was that there was not enough emphasis on watershed and where the water starts. Guidelines were given for director-sponsored inspection trips. His write-up includes a recommendation to try to get some of the City Council members to take some of the water trips that are offered.

Director Pocklington commented that he could not say anything more about the IID Transfer than what we had read in the paper. He would assume that he would get some information in the closed session tomorrow. He said that a portion of the gag order has been placed on all those participating and he is still optimistic that there has to be movement in this direction. It is for the benefit of all of California and hopefully level heads will prevail and an agreement will be resolved.

Director Doud shared an African proverb. “Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.”

13. CLOSED SESSION

There was no need for one.

14. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 4:25 p.m., to the hour of 6:00 p.m. on April 9, 2003.