minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

November 14, 2007

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, November 14, 2007, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Chair Beauchamp called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.

• ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington, Thomas, Welsh

Directors Absent: Morrison

Others Present: General Manager/Treasurer Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Delegatee Farrow, and Board Secretary Schoonderwoerd. Staff members: Jack Adam, Rick Alexander, Bill Olson, George Silva, Jim Smyth, Don Thomson, and Tom Woodrum. Also present: Attorney Don Detisch, Law Offices of Don Detisch

• PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Chair 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.

• CHAIR’S PRESENTATION
There was none.

ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS

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 ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA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

2. CLOSED SESSION

At 6:05 p.m., in compliance with Government Code Section 54956.9(a), the Board recessed to convene in Closed Session to confer with Legal Counsel regarding existing litigation on two cases: California Department of Transportation v. Sweetwater Authority, Case No. GIC 838118-1 (C/W: GIC 838119-1 and GIC 838120-1) and Armenta et al. v. James Jones Company et al. There were no minutes taken, and the session was not tape-recorded.

At 6:24 p.m., Chair Beauchamp declared the meeting to be in open session. There was no reportable action.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board approve the minutes of the October 24, 2007 meeting. The motion carried.

4. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Alkire made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve Warrants 111964 through 112197 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

5. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of November 5, 2007)

A. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve a waiver to the Consultant Selection Policy; approve the consultant selection of MWH Americas, Inc., 9444 Farnham Street, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92123, for the Otay River Basin Brackish Groundwater Desalination Study; and authorize staff to proceed with contract negotiations with MWH for the final scope and fee for the project, not to exceed $200,000. The motion carried.

B. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board award a contract in the amount of $19,845.66 to Villa Ford, 2550 West Tustin Avenue, Orange, CA 92865, for the purchase of one 2008 Ford ¾-ton, 4x2 extra-cab standard pickup truck as a replacement vehicle for the Distribution Department, as approved in the FY 2007-08 budget. The motion carried.

C. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve funding in an amount not to exceed $30,000 from the Capital Contingency Fund for the purchase of one 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid as a replacement for the Administration pool car, based on the lowest written quotation. The motion carried.

D. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve compensatory paid leave for one-half of the time that employees under mandatory evacuation were displaced during the recent countywide fires, up to a maximum of 20 hours; allow any remaining time off to be charged to frozen sick leave; and, as a show of appreciation, grant an additional four hours of paid time off (PTO) for those employees who reported to work for the full week. This would not apply to employees on scheduled PTO or travel. The motion carried.

E. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board discontinue its current scholarship program and forward this recommendation to the South Bay Irrigation District Board of Directors for its consideration. The Board discussed concerns expressed by Director Thomas that the program was advertised in the current Water Quality calendar, and that the program should not be eliminated until next year. However, staff verified that information packages promoting the program had not yet gone out to local schools. The motion carried with Directors Thomas and Beauchamp opposing.
6. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of November 7, 2007)

A. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve two remote service connections to the water main in “O” Avenue and 14th Street with the understanding that the owner shall pay for all fees and deposits. The motion carried.

B. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board award a sole-source contract in the amount of $76,875 to Pacific Titan, 11671 Sterling Avenue, Suite H, Riverside, CA 92503, for the National City Wells Tank coating repairs, and authorize funding in the amount of $9,375 from the Capital Contingency Fund, based on the projected deficit. The motion carried.

C. Membrane Bioreactor Feasibility Study final report.

Jack Adam, Principal Engineer, provided a presentation on the final results of a study on satellite membrane bioreactor (MBR) facilities. Together with Otay Water District (Otay), the Authority put together a consultant selection package and selected RMC Water and Environment to pursue the feasibility study. The original project goal was to look at the feasibility of an MBR facility that would serve recycled water to the Authority and Otay and help resolve the City of Chula Vista’s (City) issues with excess flows into the Metro Wastewater System (Metro). The Authority’s goal was to determine if augmenting its local supplies by serving recycled water is economically justifiable. Currently, the City’s annual average wastewater flow to Metro is about 17 million gallons a day (mgd). The existing Metro System has the capacity for 19.8 mgd, with about another one million expected through the South Bay Water Secondary Plant, for a total capacity of 20.8 mgd. The City’s expected annual average wastewater flow at buildout in 2030 is 26.2 mgd, plus an additional 2 mgd of capacity from the Metro System expansion in 2025. This leaves an expected capacity shortfall of 3.3 to 5.3 mgd. Mr. Adam further explained the recycled water demands and how they reduced the potential to solve the City’s problem on a year-round basis. Decisions were made for Otay and the Authority to take recycled water produced by an MBR before other sources; the sizing of the MBR will be driven by the City’s need for sewer capacity; and facilities will include a dedicated failsafe pipeline to the South Bay Ocean Outfall. The City’s Wastewater Master Plan projected growth has slowed significantly, and it appears that a 2 mgd facility in operation between 2011 and 2015 would solve near-term Metro Wastewater capacity issues; and an expansion of the MBR to 4 mgd in 2020-2025 would further reduce Metro Wastewater capacity issues. It was decided to study a 2-4 mgd phased facility. The City also recognized that if the South Bay plant is expanded in 2025, it would receive an additional 2 mgd and solve the potential 5 mgd problem. Mr. Adam showed maps of possible sites and explained preliminary layouts and project concepts. Cost analysis assumptions determined that it made the most sense for the City to construct and operate the MBR recycled water treatment facilities and effluent diversion and failsafe facilities; the Authority would be responsible for the costs and operations for its recycled water pumping, transmission, and distribution facilities; and Otay would be responsible for its recycled pumping and transmission facilities (Otay has an existing distribution system installed by developers). Depending on which site was used, the cost analysis for the City’s facilities would be a capital cost of $89.1-$108.4 million; Otay’s facilities would be a capital cost of $11-$20.5 million; and the Authority’s facilities would be a capital cost of $37.9-$39.1 million.

The conclusions of the study reveal that recycled water service within the Authority’s service area is not economically justifiable and, therefore, should not be pursued with further studies. A 4 mgd MBR project could be an alternative to the City purchasing additional capacity in the Metro Wastewater System. Recycled water cost for Otay compares favorably with the cost of imported water, and the City and Otay may proceed with a joint study to further refine the Phase I study concept. The City of San Diego has investigated other uses for recycled water, such as indirect potable use, but has been unsuccessful in implementing recycled water uses that do not involve dual distribution systems. Staff concludes that, to avoid the high cost of dual distribution systems, the Authority should continue to augment local supplies through groundwater reclamation and desalination. Further discussion was held by the Board. This presentation was an information item; however, Director Doud suggested that the Board take a vote.

Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board approve staff’s recommendation to discontinue participation in any near-term studies regarding an MBR plant to serve recycled water in the Authority’s service area. The motion carried.

7. REPORT OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY DIRECTOR TO THE WATER CONSERVATION GARDEN AUTHORITY

Director Beauchamp reported that there was no Garden Authority Board meeting this month. He attended the California Friendly Garden Festival on November 10th and there was a lot of activity. Although it was not as active as the last festival, they had a lot of good plants, there was good interaction, and the irrigation display was opened.

8. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board accept the results of the audit report as presented by Bartlett, Pringle, and Wolf, LLP for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007 and 2006.Given that the full audit report was not available at the last meeting and was distributed to the Board members shortly after the meeting, Director of Finance Farrow answered several questions posed by Director Doud for clarification. The motion carried.

9. NEW BUSINESS

A. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that Chair Beauchamp be designated as Sweetwater Authority’s voting delegate for the ACWA officer elections at the Fall Conference General Session, with Director Doud as back-up. The motion carried.

B. Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board cast its vote for Wayne Clark, Lawrence Libeu, Terrance King, and Charles Muse for the positions of board members and alternates for the NWRA California Caucus. The motion carried.

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

A. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Pocklington, that the Governing Board approve per diem for Chair Beauchamp’s attendance at the Four Reservoir Intertie tour on Monday, November 5, 2007. The motion carried.

B. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Thomas, that the Governing Board approve per diem for directors who wish to attend the California Coastal Commission meeting to consider the Carlsbad Desalination Plant on Thursday, November 15, 2007. The motion carried.

C. Dinner hosted by Best Best & Krieger LLP in conjunction with the ACWA Fall Conference in Indian Wells – Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Renaissance Esmeralda Resort. Directors wishing to attend this event were asked to complete the signup sheet. No action was required by the Governing Board.

D. Dinner co-hosted by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Sutter Securities Incorporated in conjunction with the ACWA Fall Conference in Indian Wells – Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Woodhaven Country Club. Directors wishing to attend this event were asked to complete the signup sheet. No action was required by the Governing Board.

11. REPORTS BY DIRECTORS ON EVENTS ATTENDED

Director Pocklington attended the California State Lands Commission meeting on October 30th and noted the high level of bureaucracy he found at this meeting. Director Thomas praised Director Pocklington’s candid and heartfelt presentation to the Commission on the Carlsbad Desalination Facility. She added that one key issue addressed at the meeting was the greenhouse gas calculations. A couple of early speakers asked that a vote on the issue be postponed until December, which she believed was a definite political strategy. She was impressed by Bob Yamada’s (CWA) presentation, which was strengthened by Fern Steiner’s presentation, even though it was cut short. It was important that CWA emphasized the message that it is now behind desalination.

Director Doud reported on the WESTCAS Fall Conference on October 31st to November 2nd and the NWRA Annual Conference on November 7-9. He stated that the Bureau budget is flat this year; no money was received from the federal government this year, and 2008 will be even worse. He provided HR 3432 tax credit information to the board secretary to be made available to interested directors. He noted that he and Chuck Muse were the only San Diego County delegates at the NWRA conference out of only 24 from the state of California. NWRA Municipal Caucus dues will be $350 for 2008. He gave a party breakdown on the 2008 Senate and House races, as noted in the Washington Report. He said that the Oberstar/Feingold bill will be marked up next month, and we should keep an eye on that bill. According to Herb Guenther, Arizona Director of Water Resources, Las Vegas has a proposal to run the Yuma desalter in exchange for water. Chromium 6 will have a new standard and should be watched. Mike Gritzuk, Director of Pima County, Arizona Wastewater has Zeon membranes in his facilities and says that the maintenance is a nightmare. Among the notable resolutions voted on were the USGS Cooperative Streamgauging Program, Colorado River Salinity Control, and Invasive Plant Species Control. Director Doud provided the Secretary with his written report to be kept on file. Director Beauchamp attended the WESTCAS conference as well and added that they proposed a dues increase, although no action was taken. Texas is becoming very active and realizing they have issues to be addressed. The current conditions in Georgia have them concerned. He noted that the Rapanos court decision on the limit of federal control of drainages is also at issue, especially in Arizona.

Director Beauchamp attended the Four Reservoir Intertie Tour on November 5th and stated that it was well attended by representatives for legislators and there was very good interaction among the attendees. He had some good discussion with Mayor Sanders’ representative about his opposition to potable reuse. He noted that it gave a good opportunity to interact with the City of San Diego’s Water Department representatives.

Director Thomas reported on the CSDA Leadership Academy on Human Resources held on November 9th. She stated that the meeting was very worthwhile, and she has now completed three of the four-part certification program. The presenters were superb communicators and provided excellent resources. The sharing of information by the leaders was well facilitated. She brought back several questions about the Authority’s programs and will seek clarification on those with staff as time allows. She encouraged all veteran directors and staff to participate in the program in the future, as information presented has changed over the years. The Authority could also qualify for application for a district of distinction if the required courses were completed. Director Thomas expressed pride in the Authority’s leadership and staff, because many of the issues and problems presented had already been resolved by our organization. As examples, she noted and commended the safety program, the SARA program, staff development, and achievement acknowledgements.

12. MANAGEMENT REPORT

A. Report of Operations Manager Rogers: Mr. Rogers reported a recent incident at the Perdue Treatment Plant involving an individual who lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the entry gate at 1:00 a.m. Mr. Rogers then displayed a photo taken by one of the Loveland caretakers of a grey fox sitting 50 feet up in a tree. He also showed a photo of Superintendent of Construction Molsberry’s son, who works at the Nature Interpretive Center, and was called in to rescue an injured red-tailed hawk discovered at the Desal Facility. Mr. Rogers reported that fluoride is reportedly going to be added to imported water on December 3rd. There is $5.7 million available in San Diego County for the installation of fluoride systems in water agencies that do not currently have them. Rick Brady and Associates has been contracted to look at various water agencies to determine which agencies need these systems and in which order. It appears that the City of San Diego will be first, and if funds are still available, Sweetwater Authority is near the top of the list as well. This means that the Authority could have fluoride in 18 months. Mr. Rogers concluded by sharing the audio of a phone message he received commending Richard Emerson and his service crew for a job well done on a recent project in National City.

B. Report of General Manager Bostad: Mr. Bostad reported on the Desalination Partnership signing event, noting that four television stations covered the event. That coverage helped to build additional momentum for the project, and it showed the level of interest from the public. The event was very successful and positive. KUSI aired a very comprehensive news report on the event. He added that the Senate voted an override on HR 1804, the WRDA bill. The bill passed and is now officially law. He now hopes to see the intertie project move forward. He provided a media clip from C-Span on the action taken on the Senate floor.

13. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS

Director Doud provided the board members with a USA Today article on the disposal of leftover medicines.

Director Pocklington commented that he heard a women caller from Chula Vista on the Roger Hedgecock radio show say that she was very pleased that her community was buying some of the desalination water. He said that the signing event yesterday went very well and the positive comments made were tremendous. He thanked staff and management for putting the event together so well. The intertie project is making nationwide news, he attributes this to staff’s good work, and he appreciates working with an organization with this kind of vision.

Director Thomas commented on a two-day conference she attended through the Southern California American Society for Microbiology, focused on human waste and sewage bacteria. There is a sewage spill from one of the local medical centers in Hillcrest that will spread these kinds of organisms as well as viruses and other chemicals and toxic products. She is concerned with the huge push for artificial turf in response to drought efforts. The kind of turf being promoted has not been studied for effectiveness as far as the ability to percolate as far as the accumulation of heat and toxic substances from the environment. Precautions are needed as far as how easily artificial turf can transmit in this setting and others. Her research found that even sellers of artificial turf are admitting that disinfecting with chemicals needs to take place. Some of those chemicals are toxic and need water to wash them away; therefore, it is not necessarily a means to save water.

Director Beauchamp commented that he watched Distribution staff work on a fire service valve in 28th Street, and he found it very interesting to observe their safety precautions, etc. He also expressed concern over the fact that the Authority helped Ramona Water District during the fire crisis, yet their presence at water organization events is minimal. He wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving and reminded the Board that the next meeting will take place on December 12th.

14. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Beauchamp adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m.