minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

August 11, 2004

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, August 11, 2004, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Chair Doud called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

· ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Reynolds, and Welsh.

Directors Absent: None.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Avery, and Board Secretary Farpón. Staff members Mike Gravitt, Hank Gaus, Scott McClelland, Mary Ann Mann, Jim Smyth, and Tom Woodrum.

· PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Director Beauchamp 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. ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA
General Manager Bostad requested that the regular board meeting of August 25th be rescheduled due to conflict for some of the board members attending the Urban Water Institute Conference in San Diego.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the rescheduling of the board meeting of August 25, 2004 be added to the agenda for consideration. The motion carried.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Board approve the minutes of July 28, 2004. The motion carried.
3. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Alkire made a motion, seconded by Director Reynolds, that the Board approve Warrants 95579 through 95830 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

4. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of August 2, 2004)

A. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve an adjustment to Mr. Legaspi's account in the amount of $712.98 in accordance with the Authority's policy to not profit from a customer's misfortune. The motion carried.

B. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board award a contract to Montgomery Watson Harza in the amount of $388,586 to proceed with the preliminary design report for the Robert A. Perdue Water Treatment Plant, Water Quality Studies. The motion carried.

5. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of August 4, 2004)

A. Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Reynolds, that the Governing Board approve a remote service to 548 First Avenue, Chula Vista, and that the owner be responsible for paying all fees and deposits for the new service. The motion carried.

B. Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Governing Board award a contract in the amount of $65,960 to Sapphire Electric, 311 Engel Street, Escondido, CA 92069, for the work related to San Diego Formation Well No 6. The motion carried.

C. Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Reynolds, that the Governing Board approve the grant easement to the County of San Diego for the Jamacha Boulevard widening. The motion carried.

D. Update of Cellular Company Contracts. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

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

A. Water Education Foundation - Northern California Tour - September 15-17, 2004 (Conflict with Operations Committee on the 15th). Director Alkire will be attending this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

B. First Friday Breakfast - Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce - Friday, August 6, 2004 - San Diego Country Club, Chula Vista. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Reynolds, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who attended this event. The motion carried.

C. City of National City - Official Swear-In Ceremony for Public Safety Chiefs - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at the Kimball Senior Center - National City. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who attended this event. The motion carried.

7. REPORT OF TREASURER - WANDA AVERY

Ms. Avery reported that interest rates went up a quarter of a percent.

8. BUDGET REPORT - DIRECTOR OF FINANCE GAUS
Report of June 30, 2004

Director of Finance Gaus reported that at the end of the Fiscal year, the Water Sales were $770,000 less than what we had projected. However, we have $1.4 million from the sale of the land for the SR-125 that will be carried over to next year. Also, we will apply for two grants totaling almost $900,000 for SR-125 and for URDS. Therefore, we will have $2 million to be carried over to next year's budget. The Interest Income is $600,000 higher than what we had expected. Operating Expenses are $687,000 below what we had projected. We estimated we would have $8.2 million of cash flow at this time. We only collected $6.8 million, but when we add the $2 million in the receivables, our cash flow is about $600,000 higher than we expected.

Mr. Gaus talked about the Capital Projects. He said that we had projected to spend about $16 million and we only spent $8.6 million. Even though we only spent 54 percent of what we projected, we have almost $6.3 million as carry over projects.

9. MANAGEMENT REPORT

A. Report of Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers gave a brief report on the status of Well No. 6 at the desalination facility. The crew has been working around the clock for the last three days. The well is complete now and the system will be on line pumping water into the desalination facility sometime during the first quarter of 2005. Operations Manager Rogers added that the deepest we would go to draw water is 750 feet.

B. Report of General Manager Bostad: Mr. Bostad shared with the Board a very positive letter received from Councilman Jerry Rindone complimenting the Sweetwater Reservoir fishing program and Sweetwater staff. Manager Bostad asked that the Board consider rescheduling the meeting of August 25th and suggested the date of August 24th.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the regular board meeting be held on August 24, 2004, at 3:30 p.m. The motion carried.

Mr. Bostad congratulated Directors Doud, Alkire, and Reynolds on their being reelected as there is no one running against them, and expressed his best wishes to Director Welsh. He also congratulated Director Pocklington on his nomination as the MWD representative for the CWA.

10. DIRECTORS' COMMENTS

Director Reynolds congratulated Director Pocklington and expressed best wishes to Director Welsh.

Director Alkire was interested in knowing how many people have been fishing at the Sweetwater Reservoir.

Director Inzunza commented on what is happening in National City. They have hired a new fire chief and a new police chief from two big cities in the country, who are almost over qualified. He believes that they will do an excellent job for National City and the entire region. The City has reorganized some of its departments. Any business related to the public in the community has been folded into a Community Services Department. Parks, Public Works and Engineering are also folded into one department. The City is bringing together a new, diverse, professional team into National City, and he thinks that the entire region will benefit from it. On a sadder note, Councilman Charles Lewis passed away over the weekend and he would like to adjourn in his memory. They always had a close relationship and Councilman Lewis was always looking to have a good time. He was an avid fisherman, and he will be missed. His passing is unfortunate knowing that he had dedicated himself to public service and had only spent a year and one-half as a councilmember.

Director Welsh said she appreciated the kind words from Director Reynolds. She does not know who the other candidate is. She will hopefully represent herself in terms of what she has stood for on this board because she does care.

Director Pocklington said he also wanted to congratulate the new board members for another two and four years. He said that Director Welsh will do well and has always had competition before. He said it is just another election that she will have to work at and he knows that she will be successful in doing that. As far as being the director at MWD, it was really quite a challenge. He said that it is an awful lot more work. His wife is very supportive but it will not be easy. It is going to be a challenge and hopefully we can be successful. He appreciates the support.

Director Beauchamp said he was a little confused by today's article in the newspaper about the fees at fishing. He understands that if you are over 16 you have to have a California Fresh Water fishing license. Then there is the fee to park and another fee, and it is confusing. He also commented on an article in today's paper on El Nino and he wonders how much it is worth to us filling up the reservoirs, if El Nino does what we hope it will.

Director Doud quoted Howard Fast, "Patriotism applies to true love of one's country in a code of conduct that echoes such love."

11. CLOSED SESSION

There was no need for one.

12. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 6:31 p.m., to the hour of 3:30 p.m. on August 24, 2004 in memory of Councilperson Charles Lewis. May he rest in peace.