minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

August 27, 2003

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on August 27, 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, Pocklington, Reynolds, Welsh, and Wright.

Directors Absent: Inzunza.

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

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Director Wright conducted the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (Government Code Section (54954.3)
There was no public present for comment. Director Wright introduced to the board his youngest granddaughter, seven-year old Mallory.

CHAIR ’S PRESENTATION
There was no presentation.

ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA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

1. CLOSED SESSION

At 3:32 p.m., in compliance with Government Code Section 54957.6 the Board recessed to convene in Closed Session to conference with Labor Negotiator Floyd regarding personnel matters.

NOTE: Director Inzunza entered the meeting at 3:41 p.m.

There were no minutes taken, and the session was not tape recorded. At 4:00 p.m., Chair Doud declared the meeting to be in open session.
Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve the terms of the Agreement between Sweetwater Authority and the three employees’ negotiating groups. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Wright, that the Board approve the minutes of August 13, 2003. The motion carried.

3. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve Warrants 90093 through 90323 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS

4. COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS TO REPLACE DIRECTOR JAMES S. WOLNIEWICZ

Chair Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that Director Reynolds replace Director Wolniewicz on the Finance and Personnel Committee, the Recreation Committee, and the Security Committee, and that Director Welsh be made Chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee. Also, Director Reynolds will replace Director Wolniewicz as the ACWA-JPIA delegate. The motion carried.

5. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of August 18, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve consent Items A through C . Item D was pulled by Director Pocklington for discussion. The motion carried.

A. Review of leak adjustments report for the period April 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

B. Award a contract for design survey and construction staking services for pipeline replacements to Nolte Associates, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $77,880, and that a variance to the Consultant Selection Policy be granted for this project.

C. Adopt Resolution 03-13 Establishing Its Policy Regarding the Resale of Metered Water and Amending Section VII of the Rates and Rules.

Item pulled by Director Pocklington for discussion:
D. Approve all proposed changes to the Rates and Rules and the Supplement to the Rates and Rules by adoption of a resolution:

Director Pocklington asked about the effective date for the rate increase and the procedure that we had followed to advise the ratepayers about the increase. Legal Counsel said there was no legal requirement to hold a public hearing to that effect. Director Pocklington stated that he did not support the 6.9 percent rate increase that was approved at a previous meeting, and he wanted it recorded in the minutes. Director Welsh also expressed that she supported the 6 percent but not the 6.9 percent increase. The Board was informed by Communications Director Roberts that there would be a notice included in the bill with an explanation for the new charges. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve all proposed changes to the Rates and Rules and to the Supplement to the Rates and Rules by adoption of a resolution. The motion carried.

E. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Chair Doud, that the Governing Board adopt the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2003-04. The motion carried.

6. ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS

ACTION ITEMS

Upon a motion made by Director Wright, seconded by Director Welsh, the following Resolution:

RESOLUTION 03-13

ESTABLISHING POLICY REGARDING THE RESALE OF METERED WATER AND AMENDING SECTION VII OF THE RATES AND RULES

was passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit:

Ayes: Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Reynolds, Welsh and Wright
Noes: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None

Upon a motion made by Director Welsh, seconded by Director Doud, the following Resolution:
RESOLUTION 03-14

AMENDING SECTIONS II, III, IV AND V OF THE RATES AND RULES AND SECTIONS II, III, IV AND V OF THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE RATES AND RULES
was passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit:

Ayes: Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Inzunza, Pocklington, Reynolds, Welsh and Wright
Noes: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None

7. NEW BUSINESS

Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board concur with the ACWA Nominating Committee’s recommendations for ACWA Region 10 nominees. The motion carried.

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

Director Pocklington noted that Mr. Valderrama was on a business/vacation combination trip. He would be back this evening and will attend the board meeting tomorrow. He reported on the Board Representation Ad Hoc Committee’s meeting last Friday. The Committee voted unanimously to open CWA representation to the elected officials as requested by cities of National City, Oceanside, Del Mar, Escondido, and Poway. Questions regarding representation by Carlsbad and Encinitas would also be resolved. He thinks that the recommendation from the Ad Hoc Committee will be coming to the Board for vote at theSeptembermeeting.

Director Pocklington then reported on some of the issues that would be discussed at the Board meeting tomorrow under Fiscal Policy, Public Affairs, Administrative and Legal, Water Policy, Planning and Environmental, and Engineering and Operations Committees.

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

A. National Water Research Institute Second International Riverbank Filtration Conference – September 16-19, 2003, Hilton Cincinnati Netherlands Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio: None of the Directors will be attend this event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

B. Securing our Systems, sponsored by ACWA Regions 8,9 & 10 – September 18, 2003, Hilton Ontario Airport Hotel, Ontario, California: Directors Pocklington and Wright will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

C. ACWA’s 2003 – A Workshop on Water Law for Water Resource Professionals – October 2 & 3, 2003 – Westin South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, California: Director Welsh will attend this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

D. CLE International – 2nd Annual Conference – California Water Law & Policy, October 9-10, 2003 – Marriott Coronado Island Resort, San Diego: Directors Doud, Pocklington, Welsh and Wright will attend this conference. 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.

10. REPORT OF TREASURER – WANDA AVERY

Ms. Avery reported that interest rates at the Local Agency Investment Fund were 1.62 percent.

11. MANAGEMENT REPORT

E. Report of Rainfall and Reservoir Levels: Operations Manager Rogers reported that Sweetwater Authority, being the third largest among the 23 water agencies in the county, is still kind of a neighborhood water agency. One out of four customers walked through the front doors to make their payments during the month of July. He then referred to the new telephone system approved by the Board a few months ago for about $200,000. This telephone system has features that allow us to accommodate various workloads and determine when the calls are coming in so that we can to set up staff to handle those workloads. He asked Information Systems Director Silva to give a brief presentation explaining some of the main features of the new telephone system.

Mr. Silva gave a detailed presentation explaining how the system works, specifically the Automated Call Distribution (ACD), which is an important tool for the Customer Service Representatives to provide a better customer service to our ratepayers. The ACD was installed last week and it is still in a test phase. It will officially start September 1st.

F. Report of General Manager Bostad: General Manager Bostad thanked the Governing Board for approving the funding to get this kind of equipment that will help staff provide better customer service. He informed the Board that a San Diego Police Air Support Unit is going to be doing some tactical exercises at Sweetwater Reservoir this Saturday that will improve our working relationship with the Security agencies. Reservoir Operations Specialist Parker will be coordinating the effort.

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

Director Wright reported on the Water Conference at the Hyatt that he had recently attended, where ex-Senator Costa addressed the hundred and some people in attendance. He does not know if CALFED has run its course, but he knows that the environmentalists got the jump on us. He said that Senator Feinstein is doing all she can to get it moving. He noted that President Bush was in Central Valley and that his message to the people was that the dams and the fish could live in concert.

13. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS

Director Reynolds said that it was a pleasure to be on the Board. He attended the Urban Water Institute’s Desalination conference and was amazed at the price that desalination is coming down to. He was sorry to see environmental folks having agendas that would slow down or stop desalination. Some might think that we should go back 50 years and support the augmentation of the Colorado River with the Columbia River because it all goes into the Pacific Ocean, but he does not think that is the way we should do it. We should work with environmentalists and change their minds about stopping desalination. He said that he hopes this board can work towards becoming less dependent on imported water as we move ahead. He repeated that it was an honor to serve with this Board.

Director Wright said he gets notices from the Water Quality Control Board and on September 10, 2003 there is a non-consent item that will be discussed. It is a status report on Duke Energy South Bay LLC on the studies being conducted to assess the impact of the intake structures and thermal discharge at the South Bay Power Plant on the biological resources and beneficial uses of South San Diego Bay. He thinks anything that talks about intakes and outtakes could have some influence on desalination facilities later. He also referred to Senator Mike Machado having sent him a request for $40. He is being supported by Congress member George Miller. He brought up the important role that Senator Machado plays in state water policy. Thirdly, he talked about his field trip with his granddaughter to the Sweetwater marsh to see the fish there. He was interested to see the role that they are giving the Sweetwater River. They are doing a great job of telling school kids and others about the habitat and the environment there. There are big signs that talk about the importance of growing things in the water and a big chart on the five endangered species in the Sweetwater marsh area.

Director Welsh said that there was an incredible special report on TV on the construction of the Hoover Dam. She said that the labor differences in 50 years and the unsafe conditions they worked under were unbelievable. She welcomed Director Reynolds and said she is very happy to see him on the board.

Director Pocklington seconded that comment and said that he hopes Director Reynolds’ expertise can help them solve the desalination problems. He also attended the Urban Institute. He stated that Peter Douglas, the second director from the Coastal Commission, made some statements that were absolutely mind-boggling. He did not think that there was a free enterprise private individual company that could do desalination and be honest, and he did not think there was a private agency that did any water business. Director Pocklington added that Mr. Douglas is one of the executives on the commission and we will have to go through him to get this approved. There are about 20 different permits that have to get approved, which will take a long time. He said that this first one is a big one and the environmentalists will fight it tooth and nail. Once we get our foot in the door, they know that desalination will be opened up along the coast.

Director Beauchamp said that the state government of Baja California through their water agencies has decided to move ahead with the Emetec project, but he does not know where they will get the funding. It is called the Binational Pipeline, which is now a uni-national pipeline. They have left the door open to the United States to share in the capacity on that line. This morning he had breakfast with a group in Tijuana, called Foro Civico, which is kind of a leaders get-together. He met with Manuel Montenegro, who was former Mayor of Ensenada about three terms back, and talked about desalinization and taking care of water supplies on the coast in light of the energy plants supplying a subsidized level of energy to those desalination plants.

Director Doud said that he had a little tidbit compliments of George Waters. “If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you are old.”

14. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 5:14 p.m., to the hour of 6:00 p.m. on September 10, 2003.