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minutesRegular Meeting November 22, 2006 The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, 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, Morrison, and Pocklington Directors Absent: Salas and Welsh Others Present: General Manager/Treasurer Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Delegatee Farrow, and Board Secretary Schoonderwoerd. Staff members: Rick Alexander, Rick Bird, Melody Diaz, Mike Hansen, Bill Olson, George Silva, Jim Smyth, Don Thomson, and Tom Woodrum • PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG • OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (Government Code Section (54954.3) • CHAIR’S PRESENTATION ACTION CALENDAR ITEMS 1. ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA Chair Pocklington reordered Item 2 to follow Item 3 on the agenda, as Director Salas was not present at this time. 2. ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS RECOGNIZING RETIRING EMPLOYEES FOR SERVICE TO SWEETWATER AUTHORITY A. Upon a motion made by Director Doud, seconded by Director Alkire, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-18 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, and Pocklington NOTE: Director Morrison entered the meeting at 3:40 p.m. B. Upon a motion made by Director Beauchamp, seconded by Director Morrison, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-19 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY was passed and adopted by the following vote to wit: Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Morrison and Pocklington Operations Manager Rogers read highlights from the work history for each
employee as they received their resolution from Chair Pocklington and were
congratulated by the Board. He added that, in addition to the resolution, each
retiring employee received a framed photograph of the reservoir, a miniature
desktop bronzed fire hydrant, a $100 gift card, and a lifetime access card for
the Authority’s fishing program. At 3:45 p.m. Chair Pocklington called a ten-minute recess for coffee and cake with the retiring employees. The meeting was called back to order at 3:55 p.m. with all members of the Board in attendance except Directors Welsh and Salas. C. Upon a motion made by Director Beauchamp, seconded by Director Doud, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-20 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY was passed and adopted by the following vote to wit: Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Morrison and Pocklington 3. Upon a motion made by Director Doud, seconded by Director Beauchamp, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-17 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY was passed and adopted by the following vote to wit: Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Morrison and Pocklington Director Beauchamp noted that in Director Salas’s time on the Board, she has learned what is going on in the world of water, and that she is the kind of person who will move forward with things and be a powerful connection for the Authority in Sacramento. General Manager Bostad added that Director Salas was interested in an appointment to the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. Director Alkire said that he had volunteered the Authority’s resources if Director Salas ever has any questions for which she needs resolution regarding water issues during her time in the Assembly. Chair Pocklington said he believes Director Salas now has a good foundation, knows where to go if she needs some help, will do a great job in Sacramento, and we wish her well. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve the minutes of the November 8, 2006 meeting. The motion carried with Director Beauchamp abstaining as he was not in attendance at that meeting. 5. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve Warrants 107692 through 107884 including all voided checks. The motion carried. 6. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of November 15, 2006) A. The Federal Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited
Segments in California. This was an information item and no action was required
by the Governing Board. General Manager Bostad said that the potential listing
for not only Sweetwater Reservoir but for San Vicente and Hodges Reservoirs as
well could have potentially affected the ability to transfer imported water into
these reservoirs. Through the efforts of Rick Alexander of Sweetwater, San Diego
and Helix Water District staff, the State of California Water Resources Board
dropped the 303 (d) listing of county drinking water reservoirs as impaired for
salinity. ACWA also played a role of providing support in this effort. C. Discussion of the Urban Runoff Diversion System, Phase II, Pumpback
Project. This was an information item and no action was required by the
Governing Board. D. Upon a motion made by Director Doud, seconded by Director Alkire, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-16 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY was passed and adopted by the following vote to wit: Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Morrison and Pocklington 7. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of November 20, 2006) A. Upon a motion made by Director Alkire, seconded by Director Beauchamp, the following resolution: RESOLUTION 06-21 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SWEETWATER AUTHORITY was passed and adopted by the following vote to wit: Ayes: Directors Alkire, Beauchamp, Doud, Morrison and Pocklington B. Workers’ Compensation rates. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board. C. Director Alkire made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that the Governing Board approve the 2007 Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) membership renewal and the payment of dues in the amount of $15,410. The motion carried. D. Closed Session 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board elect Director Beauchamp as the Chair and Director Alkire as the Vice Chair of the Board for 2007 and 2008. The motion carried. B. Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Alkire, that the Governing Board approve the cancellation of the December 13, 2006 Board meeting. The motion carried. General Manager Bostad reminded the Board that the Public Hearing on the proposed rate increase would be held at the next meeting on December 27, 2006. Chair Pocklington commented that water rates and average water usage listed in a recent newspaper article were inaccurate and unclear. He requested that staff take a look at the CWA rates and perhaps report to the Board through the Finance and Personnel Committee. He added that he does not like to raise rates, but the proposed increase is less than nine cents per day and reasonable. General Manager Bostad said that facilities need to be upgraded to keep up with improvement requirements and to increase local supply. Chair Pocklington said that a CWA study last August or September publicly stated that Sweetwater Authority was the most reliable agency within San Diego County, which is a big plus. 9. REPORT OF THE SOUTH BAY IRRIGATION DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE AND THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY REPRESENTATIVE TO THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY Director Pocklington reported that the CWA Board meeting would be held on November 30th. He just received the agenda and would review it over the weekend, as would General Manager Bostad and Director Morrison. The agenda contained 23 consent items and no action items. He added that the new Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Robert Johnson, is familiar with Sweetwater Authority and also works very closely with MWD. 10. APPROVAL OF DIRECTORS’ ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS A. Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting, November 29, 2006, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Director Doud made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Governing Board approve per diem for Directors who wish to attend this meeting. The motion carried. B. Water Education Foundation Executive Briefing, February 22-23, 2007, at
the Radisson Hotel, Sacramento: “Water Challenges – Opportunities for Action.”
Directors wishing to attend this pre-approved event will contact the Secretary.
No action was required by the Governing Board. Director Morrison attended the National City Chamber of Commerce meeting on November 15th. The focus of the meeting was to honor the teachers of the year from the various school districts. Director Doud reported on the CSDA San Diego Chapter Quarterly Meeting on November 16th. He stated that Mark Muir will be the incoming President, Gary Croucher the new 1st Vice President, and Larry Brietfelder the new Treasurer. He added that the position of Secretary is still unfilled, and Olivenhain MWD will take over the Scholarship Program. Chair Pocklington said the meeting program was interesting. The Executive Officer and Board Chairman of LAFCO were the speakers and gave everyone a better insight on what LAFCO does. Chair Pocklington reported on the Council of Water Utilities meeting of November 21st. He thought the program on the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage project was very educational. He noted that the high cost of this project makes it even more encouraging to pursue our local reservoir interties. General Manager Bostad said there may be some opportunities here for a dual value project that includes storage of imported water and energy benefits. He said he has also suggested to CWA that perhaps the head pressure at Loveland could assist with moving water to North County in the Emergency Storage Project. 12. BUDGET REPORT – DIRECTOR OF FINANCE FARROW Director of Finance Farrow reported that as of October 31st, water revenues and consumption are where they were projected to be, and capital expenditures are moving along. General Manager Bostad added that the figures are presented in the Board agenda package report, and that the PowerPoint presentation would be available in the near future. 13. MANAGEMENT REPORT A. Report of Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers displayed some photographs of Operations Committee members on a field trip to view the Vac Truck. He directed the Board’s attention to a notice from MWD regarding a treated water shutdown on the 27th of November that will last 11 days and added his hopes that the North County agencies would get through the shutdown with sufficient supplies. Chair Pocklington noted that MWD hopes that if everything goes well, they may be able to do it in eight days. Mr. Rogers stated that as a result of newspaper reports a year or two ago, the Authority conducted its own water rate study, which found that generally the published studies do not include pumping charges, lift charges, or the taxes that show up on the tax rolls. After adding those charges back into the rates, Sweetwater Authority was only a bit higher on that study. A current study will be brought to the Board through the Finance and Personnel Committee in December. B. Report of General Manager Bostad: Mr. Bostad reported that the retirements
of Annette Hubbell and Harry Ehrlich would leave two openings on ACWA’S State
Legislative Committee. He said that Dr. Merle Aleshire has nominated Keith
Lewinger to serve on this committee for ACWA Region 10 and has also extended
that invitation to him. Before confirming with Dr. Aleshire, Mr. Bostad wanted
to be sure he had the support of the Board. It will involve meetings in
Sacramento about 10 times a year. He said this would present an opportunity for
South County representation and an opportunity to promote local interests. Chair
Pocklington said that ACWA has always been the Authority’s weakest link, and he
looks forward to Mr. Bostad’s contribution to that effort. As this item was not
on the action agenda, no action can be taken by the Board at this time. Counsel
Cowett questioned whether this appointment needed to be sponsored by the agency.
General Manager Bostad said he wanted to begin the process with the Board’s
intention, and he will contact Mr. Bostad said that in the General Managers’ meetings, there has been interest from some local agencies to purchase water from Poseidon and how that water might be moved throughout the county. One concept is to put pipes in to carry the water to the customer, and the other concept is to deliver water through an exchange model. An exchange would develop partners and mechanisms so that one agency would take direct delivery and would exchange that water for imported water that would be delivered to a partner within the CWA. Mr. Bostad will be on a committee looking at those options as well as the possibility of expanding beyond desal water and delivering other forms of excess supply to areas of the county where there is a potential deficiency in supply. Mr. Bostad also noted that a proposal will be made to CWA that the Recycled Water Development Fund become a local resource development fund that includes brackish water and other local resources. Sweetwater Authority has also been requested to be part of a regional advisory committee of 23 members to review and recommend projects through the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. Mr. Bostad will work with Rick Alexander on that committee. Mr. Bostad said that staff also met to evaluate the current Seasonal Storage Operating Agreement and will be developing a new position to begin negotiations on a subsequent agreement. This is the third year of a five-year agreement and discussions are targeting issues now to be put in place in the new agreement, hopefully to be in place in the fourth year. The CWA and some of the other member agencies are struggling with the rising costs of capital development projects. The current CWA Capital Improvement Program is $3.4 billion in the 2006-2007 budget, and it has been changed to $4.3 billion. These significant increases will be brought back to the CWA to evaluate costs and benefits. Sweetwater Authority is looking at its Capital Improvement Program because of increased costs as well as to ensure that it gets the most for its money. A regional desalination effort may provide some relief. Mr. Bostad then played a short video of recent news reports on scam artists
in the local community and fraudulent claims made about water quality in an
attempt to sell products for point of use treatment. The Authority coordinated a
message along with other local water agencies to dispute these claims, and Sue
King, Communications Coordinator, participated in a television interview to
inform the public. He also showed a photo of a meeting staff had with Kyle
Morgan, one of the Authority’s first Board members and a very strong proponent
for taking over the private water agency and making it public. Mr. Morgan is 86
years old and has remained very active in the community. 14. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS Director Morrison said that Kyle Morgan would swear him in as Mayor in two weeks. Director Doud read a quote from Thomas Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and it looks like work.” He also said that his brother was National Teacher of the Year in 1986 and had lunch with President Reagan. Director Doud only found out about the award through a friend at Rohr, who pointed out an article in the Good Housekeeping magazine with his brother’s story. Director Beauchamp read a letter he wrote to the editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune regarding the temporary shutdowns at the Lake Skinner treatment plant, the drastic impact it has to downstream water agencies, and Sweetwater Authority’s reliability. Director Pocklington congratulated the new Chair and Vice Chair and said he looks forward to working with them in the future. He wished the Board a Happy Thanksgiving. 15. CLOSED SESSION At 4:41 p.m., in compliance with Government Code Section 54957, the Board recessed to convene in Closed Session to consider a succession planning process for the appointment of all executive positions. All persons left the room with the exception of the Governing Board, Management Team, Legal Counsel, Administrative Services Director, and Board Secretary. There were no minutes taken, and the session was not tape-recorded. At 4:58 p.m., Chair Pocklington declared the meeting to be in open session, and there was no reportable action. 16. ADJOURNMENT With no further business before the Board, Chair Pocklington adjourned the meeting at 4:58 p.m., to the hour of 3:30 p.m. on December 27, 2006.
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