minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

August 13, 2003

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on August 13, 2003, 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: Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington, and Wright.

Directors Absent: Inzunza and Welsh.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, and Board Secretary Farpón-Friedman. Staff members, Hank Gaus, Mary Ann Mann, Bill Olson, Paula Roberts, George Silva, and Tom Woodrum.

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

ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA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

1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve the minutes of July 30, 2003. The motion carried.

2. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve Warrants 89886 through 90092 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS

3. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of August 5, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Wright that the Governing Board approve consent Items A through C. The motion carried.

Further Discussion of directors’ benefits. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

Approve the proposed amended Policy 605 – Minutes of the Board Meetings, changing the retention time of the recordings of the Board meetings from one year to such time when the minutes are approved by the Governing Board.

Approve membership in San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce for a period of one year in the amount of $1,750, and that the value of this organization to the Authority be reviewed before the next membership renewal.

4. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of August 6, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Wright, that the Board approve consent items A through F . The motion carried.

Approve funding for the 5th Street widening, West of Harbison Avenue, National City in the amount of $13,500 from the Repair and Replacement Reserve Fund.

Approve Otay Water District’s request for Sweetwater to serve the South County Animal Shelter and authorize the General Manager to sign an agreement subject to the terms and conditions proposed by staff.

Award a one-year extension on an annual time and materials contract to Cass Construction.

Approve funding in the amount of $23,500 from the Power Rate Stabilization Reserve Fund to proceed with the necessary work to improve the energy efficiency at the Reynolds Demineralization Facility.

Approve AT&T’s request to install a cellular facility at the Authority’s Operations Center subject to the conditions noted by staff.

NOTE: Director Inzunza entered the meeting at 6:05 p.m.

Approve the continuation of the environmental process for the Lynwood Hills Tank Project; set a public review period from August 16 through September 5, 2003; set a public hearing at the regular scheduled Governing Board meeting on September 10, 2003 at 6:00 p.m.; and direct staff to finalize the DeMinimis Impact Funding with the California Department of Fish and Game and the Negative Declaration, upon results of the public hearing.

5. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS

ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS

A. ACWA General Elections for President and Vice President – Deferred from the July 30th Board Meeting. Chair Doud said that there would be no action required on this issue since none of the Board members were interested in being nominated as a candidate.

B. ACWA Region 10 – Request from Municipal Water District of Orange County to concur in the nomination of Susan Hinman for ACWA Region 10 Director. Deferred from the July 30th Board Meeting: Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board support the nomination of Susan Hinman for ACWA Region 10 Director. The motion carried.

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

C. Council of Water Utilities breakfast meeting – StoneRidge Country Club – Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 7:15 a.m. Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Welsh, and Wright will be attending this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

San Diego County Water Authority – Olivenhain Dam Dedication – Thursday, September 4, 2003, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington and Wright will attend this event. Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who wish to attend this event. The motion carried.

WateReuse Association 2003 Annual Symposium XVIII – September 7-10, 2003, San Antonio, Texas. None of the Directors will attend this event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

SANDAG Public Workshops “How does Our Region Grow?” – September 11, 2003 at National City Community Building: Directors Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington and Wright will attend this event. Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Inzunza, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who wish to attend this event. The motion carried.

CSDA Annual Conference – Resort at Squaw Creek – North Shore Lake Tahoe, California – September 16-18, 2003. None of the Directors will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

NOTE: Director Welsh entered the meeting at 6:10 p.m.

Water Education Foundation – Northern California Water Facilities & Fisheries Tour – September 24-26, 2003. None of the Directors will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

7. REPORT OF TREASURER – WANDA AVERY

Treasurer Avery was absent.

8. MANAGEMENT REPORT

D. Report of Rainfall and Reservoir Levels – Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers displayed a picture that showed one of the Watershed Caretakers rappelling down Sweetwater Dam to take care of the weeds and shrubs that grow in the face of the dam. He had nothing else to report.

Report of General Manager Bostad: General Manager Bostad presented a videotape from the City of Chula showing the last Council meeting, which was dedicated to the memory of Director Wolniewicz. He said the videotape would be given to Director Wolniewicz’s family. He referred to an urgent notice sent out by the CWA to all member agencies regarding treated water delivery insufficiency. This was due to a 20 cubic feet per second pump failure at the CWA Miramar Pump Station, which brought up that we are now peaking at 96.9 percent. He noted that, due to investments in reliability, this is a non-issue within the Sweetwater Authority system, and that our customers have additional reliability because we are not 100 percent dependant upon treated water at Skinner. He also reported having received a letter from the Department of Health Services encouraging agencies to support an additional 100 mgd treatment plant at the crossover. He indicated there are other options that need to be explored prior to constructing another treatment plant. General Manager Bostad also talked about the cost impacts of regulations on different levels of arsenic. USEPA is looking at restricting arsenic levels from 50 micrograms per liter down to 10 micrograms per liter, and the State of California is looking at lowering the limit from 10 to possibly as low as 2 micrograms per liter. If it goes to 2 micrograms per liter, the cost increase to the public would be between $550 million and $850 million per year, primarily for disposal of the arsenic waste.

9. REPORT OF CALFED/BAY-DELTA OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND NWRA REPRESENTATIVE - DIRECTOR WRIGHT

Director Wright did not have a report to give. He distributed one handout about the President’s new selection for EPA.

10. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS

Director Pocklington said it was a month ago yesterday that Director Wolniewicz passed away. He had breakfast this morning with Rebecca Wolniewicz and she seemed to be doing fine. She said that her sisters are doing as well as possible. She wanted to convey again her very heartfelt thanks to Sweetwater, South Bay, and all the other agencies that her dad was connected with. He reminded everyone that it is important to have more than just a will in order to avoid legal problems.

Director Wright said that the meeting he attended in Compton was one of the best desalination conferences he ever attended. He passed out pictures of the board of West Basin. There was an article in the paper that the directors from division one and two were involved in some kind of fraud. It not only has to do with $100,000 distribution to other individuals but the Federal Government is involved because of the tax considerations. At the meeting they discussed a report issued by the California Coastal Commission that attacked everything you could possibly mention about the hurdles that desalination is going to have to overcome in order to become online and be an effective contribution to our water. He also referred to an article from the Oakland Tribune referring to tapping the ocean and it being risky, and another article about the coastal panel warning about desalination and that companies are lining up to help California squeeze salt from the sea in its quest for new water resources. It read that tapping the ocean could pose serious problems for the state’s coastline.

11. CLOSED SESSION
There was no need for one.

12. ADJOURNMENT
With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 6:23 p.m., to the hour of 3:30 p.m. on August 27, 2003.