minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

JULY 28, 2004

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, July 28, 2004, 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: Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, and Pocklington.

Directors Absent: Reynolds and Welsh.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Avery, and Board Secretary Farpón. Staff members, Leslie Filippi, Hank Gaus, Kevin Kasner, Mary Ann Mann, Hector Martinez, Scott McClelland, Bill Olson and Tom Woodrum.

· PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Director Alkire 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
There was none.

ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS

1. PUBLIC HEARING (Government Code Section 54954.3)

Chair Doud stated that the Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority was holding a Public Hearing to give the opportunity for members of the public to address the Board concerning the report on Water Quality Relative to Public Health Goals and Maximum Contaminant Level Goals. Chair Doud asked for a staff report. General Manager Bostad said that Water Quality Superintendent Thomson had provided a presentation at the Board meeting of June 28 and that the necessary public notification procedures had been followed.

Chair Doud opened the Public Hearing at 3:31 p.m., to receive comments from the public. There were no members of the public in attendance to provide comments. Chair Doud closed the Public Hearing at 3:31 p.m.
Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing board accept the report on Water Quality Relative to Public Health Goals and Maximum Contaminant Level Goals. The motion carried.

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 ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA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

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Board approve the minutes of July 14, 2004. The motion carried.

4. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Board approve Warrants 95392 through 95578 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

5. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of July 19, 2004)

A. Director Inzunza made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve the 2004-2005 membership renewal in the Western Coalition of Arid States (WESTCAS), in the amount of $2,060. The motion carried.

B. Director Inzunza made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve awarding a contract to Water Quality and Treatment Solutions, Inc., with funding from the Unallocated Reserve Fund in the amount of $19,500, to prepare a plan that will meet the requirements of the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The motion carried.

6. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of July 21, 2004)

A.Robert A. Perdue Water Treatment Plant, Water Quality Studies - Update on Design Status. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

B.Alleviation of Parking Problems at Operations Center. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

C.Desalination Facility Membrane Cleaning. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

7. COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of July 26, 2004)

A. Oral discussion regarding ribbon cutting and opening activities at Sweetwater Reservoir Shoreline Fishing Facility. Director Pocklington noted that the Committee agreed the opening ceremony was a great event and that management and staff did an outstanding job. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

B. Oral discussion regarding response to changes in Annual Water Quality Report. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

C. Report of online customer survey responses. Director Pocklington said that there were not many people that responded to the survey but, in general, the response was positive. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

D. Report regarding plans for Chula Vista Lemon Festival and Bonitafest participation. Director Pocklington referred to the sign-up sheet for this event scheduled for August 15, 2004. The Bonitafest is scheduled in September. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

E. Oral discussion regarding Communications awards and progress during tenure of Communications Director Roberts. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

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

8. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board reject Valley Center Municipal Water District's request to adopt a resolution Supporting Development of Desalination and Encouraging the San Diego County Water Authority to Take Action Consistent with its Stated Support for Local Desalination Projects.
The motion carried.

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

Director Pocklington said that Robert Valderrama could not be present due to a family emergency. He provided a report on issues discussed at the Board meeting under the Planning and Environmental, Water Policy, Engineering and Operations, Public Information, and Fiscal Policy Committees.

One of the main items they discussed was desalination and the possibility of the CWA getting back into it. Director Pocklington thinks that the CWA should take over this project, open it up to as many bidders as possible, and pick the best one for the job. He thinks that as a government agency we need to look out for the public and this is one way of doing it.

Another issue discussed was $250 per acre-foot local resource project credit that MWD had initially offered but now looks like the credit may be eliminated. They have sent a letter to all member agencies in which they talk about infrastructure costs and basically tell the member agencies that if they take rate issue to court or to Sacramento, they would lose any credit proceeds.

10. APPROVAL OF DIRECTORS' ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

A.G. Council of Water Utilities, San Diego County, Breakfast meeting - Stoneridge Country Club - Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 7:15 - 8:45 a.m. All the directors will be attending this pre-approved event. No action is required by the Governing Board.

B. California Special Districts Association, San Diego Chapter - Quarterly Dinner Meeting - Doubletree Club Hotel of San Diego - Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. All directors will be attending this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

C. Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve per diem for Director Pocklington's attendance at the Mayor's First Friday Breakfast on July 9, 2004. The motion carried.

11. REPORT OF TREASURER - WANDA AVERY

Ms. Avery reported a slight increase in the rates of the Treasury Notes.

12. STAFF REPORT - DIRECTOR OF WATER QUALITY MANN
Update on Drinking Water Permit as issued from the California Department of Health Services

Operations Manager Rogers indicated that Director of Water Qualilty Mann would be giving a presentation predicated on the changes required by the Department of Health Services.

Ms. Mann said that anybody who delivers drinking water in the State of California has to have a water supply permit issued by the Department of Health Services (DHS). The permits are also required when a new domestic water system is created or transfer of ownership is made. Amendments to the permit are needed if changes are made regarding the water source, method of treatment, distribution system, or additions or changes in recreation on a source of supply.

Sweetwater's permit was originally issued in 1980 to reflect the transfer of ownership from Cal American to Sweetwater Authority in 1977. The permit was amended in 1992 to include the Perdue Water Treatment Plant improvements that were made in 1986. The permit was reissued last December to cover several changes in the system.

One of the major changes to the system was the desalination facility. We applied for an amended permit to cover this facility in 1997 and were authorized by DHS to operate it from January of 2000 until a permit was completed. The permit that we received in December does not allow us to use the alluvial wells that were part of the regional design. We have not used the alluvial wells since we started operating the plant, so this should not be a major issue. The permit allows us to operate the facility remotely, which means that we do not have to have an operator at the facility. Currently, the facility is manned from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., every day of the week. In a couple of months, an operator will be at the facility for a couple of hours to take the readings and go back to the Perdue Plant. This will give us more flexibility with operator staff.

The Perdue Water Treatment Plant permit allowed us to do full scale testing of chlorine dioxide and to continue using it as a preoxidant or as a disinfectant through the treatment plant. The National City Wells new permit covered the new well number 4 as well as the National City Well Disinfection Facility.

Our previous permit did not address recreation at Loveland or Sweewater Reservoirs. At the time that the Loveland Fishing Program was being put together, DHS did not require a permit because Loveland is not a terminal reservoir, which means that there is not a water treatment plant on that particular reservoir. The permit did not include the riding and hiking trail on Sweetwater Reservoir because DHS did not consider it necessary.

An application for a permit for the Shoreline Fishing Program was made in 2002. This new permit covers the Shoreline Fishing Programs and the Sweetwater Reservoir Riding and Hiking Trail. There were several permit provisions for the recreation. We were specifically prohibited to have any body contact. We had to maintain what they refer to as a public health setback of at least 2,500 feet from the intake tower to where we could have people fishing. There were requirements for the placement and the number of chemical toilets and trash cans for the program. We were required not to allow any fish cleaning unless we had a septic system and a fish-cleaning station because of significant public health problems that can occur if the fish entrails are allowed in the reservoir.

Operations Manager Rogers complimented Ms. Mann. He said that this was a long, hard fought, long drawn-out process with DHS. He noted that DHS just hired a new person and they have asked Ms. Mann, who is a former regulator from DHS, to train this person on how to investigate our own system. Ms. Mann will be providing that training for at least a half day tomorrow.

13. MANAGEMENT REPORT

A.H. Report of Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers reported that as of July 28th, Sweetwater Reservoir is only 41 percent full, and we will probably not get any water in the reservoir until we start taking water through MWD, which will probably happen in October. Loveland Reservoir is only 29 percent full. The total rainfall for the year at Sweetwater Reservoir was 8.51 acre-feet, and the average is 11.32 acre-feet. At Loveland Reservoir, the rainfall was 11.84 acre-feet, and the average is 15.45 acre-feet. We are in our sixth year of drought.

Operations Manager Rogers showed a video of the coverage on the Shoreline Fishing Opening broadcasted by several T.V. stations. He also displayed some photos taken on the opening day. He said that 168 parking passes were handed out on the first day; the second day we issued 77 parking passes, 49 on the third day, 50 on the fourth day, 21 on Monday. We will continue issuing parking passes through this week and see how it goes after the weekend. There were 1,079 fishermen on the first day and 274 the next day, and 22 percent were from the Sweetwater Authority service area. Only 33 bass were kept and 122 were tossed back. Fishermen walked away with 65 catfish, 39 blue gill, and 35 carp. Mr. Rogers also provided an extensive report on what staff observed as problem areas and how we would proceed in order to improve the program and eliminate those problems, if at all possible.

B. Report of General Manager Bostad: Mr. Bostad informed the Board that he would be attending this evening an event at the Sweetwater Civic Association where Supervisor Cox would be addressing the Bonita community and he would talk about Sweetwater Authority and Sweetwater Reservoir. He also reported that next week he and Operations Manager Rogers would meet with the City Manager of the City of Chula Vista regarding recycled water service and brine service.

14. DIRECTORS' COMMENTS

Director Pocklington said that in 1997 we opened up fishing at Loveland Reservoir, and it turned out great except it rained that day, which would be nice if it did again. Saturday was a fun day and it was a happy group. He cannot say enough for staff and management on a job well done. Every little facet of it was taken care of and he knows a lot of people worked hard to do it. He thanked everyone for doing a great job.

Director Beauchamp said that this represents for him professionally the end of an event that started with Don Hunsaker, when they did the original baseline investigation to see where to stop the fishing, whether you could be on the lake in a boat, etc., and how it has evolved. He also mentioned that encumbrances were created when they discovered the vernal pools on the south shore, and how we were able to get around that. This means more to him than just as a director. It is a project that he, as a consultant, was involved with and finally got done in a way that kept the resource yet allowed for the project intent. It was a compromise of what was originally envisioned, because they were considering boats and other things. It was important to him to have this happen. A lot more happened this last week. On his birthday, he filed for City Council in National City. Also, he was informed by the Secretary of External Affairs in Mexico City that he has been approved to become a Mexican National and that will happen in a couple of months, and he will not have to renounce his American citizenship to do so. On Thursday night, he and his wife flew to Phoenix and witnessed his daughter's defense of her PhD dissertation; she now has her PhD in Biology. On Monday, his second daughter was auditioned for a teaching position at Buena Park High School in Orange County and she was told the next day that she has that job. His daughters are educated and employed, so he is a happy camper.

Director Alkire said that Saturday when he rode the trolley around the 2-½ miles of the fishing program, he asked a guide where the iron rangers were and where one could buy the tickets. They pointed it out to him, and he realized he was parked almost beside it, so he understands why 36 percent of the people did not pay.

Director Inzunza said that staff did an outstanding job on this fishing program and that they really deserve to pat themselves on the back.

15. CLOSED SESSION

At 4:28 p.m., in compliance with Government Code Section 54957, the Board recessed to convene in Closed Session to consider the process for employee appointments and evaluation. There were no minutes taken, and the session was not tape-recorded.

At 4:59 p.m., Chair Doud declared the meeting to be in open session, and reported a motion made by him and seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve the process for the hiring of a Director of Environmental and Governmental Services to begin employment with Sweetwater Authority on July 1, 2005. The motion carried.

16. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m., to the hour of 6:00 p.m. on August 11, 2004.