minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

October 26, 2005

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2005, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Chair Pocklington called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington, Salas and Welsh.

Directors Absent: Morrison.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, and Board Secretary Farpón. Staff members Rick Alexander, Bill Barsch, Pete Famolaro, Mike Gravitt, Hank Gaus, Hector Martinez, George Silva and Tom Woodrum.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Director Welsh 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

Employee Service Awards
Operations Manager Rogers said that twice a year we recognize employees for their years of service with Sweetwater. He introduced, and Chair Pocklington presented service awards to, the following employees: Michael Garrod, Engineering Manager, and Lisa Moses, Customer Service Representative III, for five years of service; Miguel Alvarez, Water Quality Technician, Danny Gutierrez, Customer Service Representative, Steve Parker, Reservoir Operations Specialist, and Dot Ryan, Water Quality Secretary and Watershed Technician, for ten years of service; Alex Bareno, Customer Service Representative II, Ron Martin, Customer Service Representative II, and Rita Schoonderwoerd, Administrative Aide, for fifteen years of service; Laurie Edwards, Senior Engineering Technician, for twenty years of service; and George Silva, Information Systems Director, and Charlie Watters, Field Crew Supervisor II, for twenty-five years of service. Operations Manager Rogers said that there was one more twenty-five year recipient, Jim Smyth, who could not attend this meeting because he had to meet with a membrane vendor at the Perdue Treatment Plant.

NOTE: Director Morrison entered the meeting at 3:35 p.m.
At 3:43 Chair Pocklington called for a 10-minute recess to have coffee and cake with the recognized employees.

The meeting was called back to order at 3:53 p.m., with all members in attendance. Chair Pocklington noted that we had just recognized 190 years of service with the Authority, which is a tribute to Management. He congratulated Managers Bostad and Rogers for keeping this team together.

ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS

ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that a request for per diem for attendance at the First Friday Breakfast be added as Item 9 A to the agenda. The motion carried.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve the minutes of October 12, 2005. The motion carried with Director Salas abstaining due to being absent from that meeting.

APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve Warrants 102372 through 102600 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

AD HOC COMMITTEE – PER DIEM POLICY REVIEW (Meeting of October 18, 2005)

Director Beauchamp said this Ad Hoc Committee was formed to respond to two issues. One was a concern by Director Salas regarding policies on compensation and reimbursement, and the other was regarding conformance with AB 1234. The Committee had three meetings and, with the assistance of Legal Counsel Cowett, worked through some of the language of two policies, 510, Per Diem and Reimbursement, and 511, Training, Education and Community Outreach. At this second meeting, the Committee directed staff and Legal Counsel to bring a final revision to the policies at the next meeting. No action is required by the Governing Board.

OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of October 19, 2005)

Sec. 206 Vernal Pool Restoration Project: Director of Environmental and Governmental Services Alexander provided an overview of this project, which is a restoration of existing vernal pools located over approximately 52 acres of Authority land and will be part of the overall NCCP effort. During his Power Point presentation, Mr. Alexander noted that this project would be done in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers and that a Federal grant has been secured for it through Section 206 of the Water Quality Act of 1996. He added that this is a great opportunity to come up with a very significant environmental restoration project at very little cost to the Sweetwater Authority. General Manager Bostad said that the goal is to develop programs such as this to support the cost of managing our habitat and the NCCP program. Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Governing Board authorize staff to continue discussions with the Corps based on a 23-acre project, and that up to 29 remaining acres be considered for restoration in the future. It was noted that the remaining acreage may be developed as a commercial (i.e., for-profit) mitigation bank to help offset future environmental costs. The motion carried.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Governing Board approve a remote service to 4212 Loma Paseo, Bonita, with the understanding that Mr. Steepy will pay all costs associated with the new service and will be responsible for the installation of a consumer line. The motion carried.

Director Salas made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve funding in the amount of $42,500 from the Unallocated Reserve Fund to conduct the engineering analysis and design for the failed stairway section replacement at Loveland Dam. The motion carried.

AD HOC COMMITTEE – PER DIEM POLICY REVIEW (Meeting of October 26, 2005)

Further review of Board Policies 510 – Per Diem and Reimbursement and 511 – Training, Education, and Conferences: Director Beauchamp noted that the committee addressed Director Salas’ concerns and the requirements of the new law. General Manager Bostad said that staff and Legal Counsel, at the request of the Committee, had revised Policies 510 and 511 and additional clarifications of language and minor changes were made so that these policies would be transparent and in agreement with the Salinas Bill 1234. A suggested addition is a quarterly report of directors’ expenses presented for information to the Board at the beginning of each quarter.

One of the specific changes was separating in groups the meeting types for which directors would receive compensation. The first group applies to attendance at Board and membership meetings of the preapproved organizations. The next series is for attendance at educational functions of those preapproved organizations; the request for compensation for attendance to such educational functions will need to be brought to the Governing Board for approval as agendized action items. Another set of preapproved meetings covers the community outreach events. Another series of events was identified that would be inclusive of the Bonita Business and Professional Association, National City Chamber of Commerce, Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce/First Friday Breakfast, and the South County Economic Development Council. The Chair of the Governing Board would appoint a representative and an alternate to attend the meetings of these groups in representation of Sweetwater Authority.

Chair Pocklington asked board members to review the draft policies recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee and to direct comments or suggestions to staff in order to incorporate them into the final version that will be brought back to the Board at its next meeting. Director Morrison suggested adding the National City International Fair and, with concurrence from the Board, the event will be added to the list of community outreach events. Director Doud noted that the Leader Tours were not included in the list of community outreach events and asked that it be incorporated to the policy.

Director Salas said that the Committee worked on this very diligently and came up with some very good changes. In particular, she liked the idea of making a director responsible for one organization so that there is a consistency in attending the events and that way the community leaders will associate that particular director with somebody with whom they can talk about issues or concerns relative to the Sweetwater Authority. Chair Pocklington said he plans to ask for volunteers as representatives for these different groups. He asked staff to incorporate the suggestions to the policies and bring a final revision for approval and adoption by Resolution at the next Board meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Board vote for Wayne Clark, Lawrence Libeu, Gregory Zlotnick, John Fraser and Stella Mendoza for the positions of three full board members and two alternates for the NWRA California Caucus. The motion carried.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that Director Pocklington be designated as the Voting Delegate for the ACWA Officer Elections at the Fall Conference. The motion carried.

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

Chair Pocklington briefed the Board on issues of interest to Sweetwater Authority that will be discussed or acted upon by the CWA Board at tomorrow’s meeting. He noted that the directors’ expenses report for the third quarter of 2005 would be presented for information to the Board. There will be a report on water conservation efforts by the Farm Bureau and the City of San Diego, as well as information on the Water Conservation Garden and the Landscape Conservation Programs. There will be a Closed Session dealing with the water conserved from the All American Canal lining. He stated that conservation is going to become a much bigger effort at MWD and the CWA.
Other issues he reported on were the Pipeline Relining program, MWD issues and activities reports and updates, a report on the Colorado River, a Public hearing to receive comments on the CWA draft 2005 Urban Water Management Plan, and another closed session on Seawater Desalination regarding the Encina Power Plant and the negotiations with Poseidon.

APPROVAL OF DIRECTOR’S ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve per diem for any directors who wish to attend the First Friday Breakfast on November 4, with the topic of Creating Safe & Healthy Communities Through Urban Design. The motion carried.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Morrison, that the Governing Board approve per diem for Director Welsh to attend the California Water Policy Conference November 17 and 18, 2005. The motion carried.

REPORT ON CONFERENCES ATTENDED BY DIRECTORS

Director Welsh reported that she attended the WAASDC quarterly dinner meeting last week with the Chairman of MWD as the speaker. He talked about the improved relations between management, employees and the board.

Director Beauchamp said he had attended a meeting of the South County Economic Development Council and they talked about growth, infrastructure, the cost of housing, and SR-125. He also commented on some events he attended in Tijuana. One was a meeting with the Group 21 that included high-powered people and the director of the water agency that serves Tijuana, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate, and Mexicali. They talked about their concerns with the water transfer from Mexicali to Tijuana. The second event was a Federal Conference at the El Camino Real Hotel. The EPA and Water Resources Agency signed a federal accord on diesel emissions across the border and they were going to have a big talk about climate changes. The Director of the National Water Agency was complaining about the canal and the lost water that Mexico is using. He also took a Water Education tour and people from the Energy Commission were there, concerned about cooling the plants with reclaimed water and upset about the magnitude of the damage to fisheries by the impingement when the cooling water is sucked up. He also met with the State Fish and Game Director in Sacramento yesterday, and on the flight back he met Pete Silva, who has been appointed to be the liaison for MWD with Mexico. He also noted that he had attended the Otay groundbreaking ceremony for the reclaimed water line on the 24th.

Director Alkire said he had attended the Otay Water Reclamation Hookup. It impressed him to know that twenty percent of the water they deliver will be recycled water. He noted that the ceremony was well attended. With regards to the WAASDC quarterly meeting, he thought that Wes Bannister is an outstanding speaker and he can understand why he is Chairman.

Director Morrison said that he found the program at the Council of Water Utilities breakfast meeting on the City of San Diego’s landscape conservation program extremely interesting. Chair Pocklington said next month they would give this presentation to the CWA.

Chair Pocklington said that he always finds the leader tours fascinating because you run into interesting individuals. There were three staffers from Sacramento representing different Assemblymen and Senators as well as the City of San Diego. The Representatives are so busy that they have to depend on their staffers. When he goes to these tours and walks around with them, he learns something new every time.

BUDGET REPORT – DIRECTOR OF FINANCE GAUS
Report as of September 30, 2005

Mr. Gaus said that three months into the new fiscal year, the water sales are over by $240,000. Other income is $353,000 over budget because we received some money earlier than what we anticipated. The Interest Income is also higher by $147,000. The Operating expenses are over budget by $43,000. He expects it to go up in the next couple of months when the cost of the chemicals will come in. Overall, we are about $700,000 better than what we budgeted for at this time. We anticipated about fifteen percent of the budget to be spent at this time, which is what was actually spent.

MANAGEMENT REPORT

Report of Operations Manager Rogers: Mr. Rogers noted for the record that there were two more employees that could not be here today to receive their service awards: Cruz Aschenbrener in the Purchasing Department, who has been with Sweetwater Authority for twenty-five years, and Debra Farrow, who has been announced as the next Director of Finance, and has been with us for fifteen years.

Report of General Manager Bostad: Mr. Bostad reported that we received a check from Best Best and Krieger for $38,455, which is the refund on litigation fees on the energy crisis and had been kept in a trust account waiting to see if there would be an appeal. It has now been added to the general fund. He also informed the Board that next week he would be going to Washington to provide testimony on our Intertie Project to the Water and Power Subcommittee. Finally, he said that Management had evaluated the Board Secretary’s replacement and they are moving forward with the selection of Rita Schoonderwoerd as a promotional opportunity for her.

DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Director Alkire said that the Board of Directors of the Bonita Museum, through Tom Pocklington of the Bonita Sunnyside Fire District, had invited this Board to the dedication of the new Veteran’s Memorial on Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 10:00 a.m., at the new library. They are dedicating the oversized flagpole with an oversized flag. The speaker is W.D. Pocklington, Captain U.S. Navy Retired.

Director Morrison said one of the handouts he received tonight mentioned the Awane Water Principals. He noted that the Awane conference that is put on by the LGC has a different agenda every year but it always revolves around water. They hold it every year in March at Yosemite. Water is a huge part of the whole thing and he would highly recommend it.

Director Doud said he saw most of the board’s heads at 5:00 on the Channel 10 news that evening at the Otay dedication. His quote from Grandma Moses: “Life is what we make of it. Always has been. Always will be.”

CLOSED SESSION

There was no need for one.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Pocklington adjourned the meeting at 5:17 p.m., to the hour of 6:00 p.m. on November 9, 2005.