VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Monday, August 4, 2003
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: Board Room
29300 Valley Center Road
Valley Center, CA 92082
The Valley Center Municipal Water District Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by President Broomell at 2:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Board members present were: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, and Stone. Director Haskell was absent. Staff members present were: General Manager Arant, General Counsel Cowett, District Engineer Jewell, Director of Operations Dacus, Director of Finance Jeffrey, GIS/Mapping Technician Garcia and Board Secretary Stetson. Spectators present were: Messrs. Schaffer, Hutchings, Ross, Ms. Thornton and others.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meeting held July 21, 2003
• Report of developers’ constructed facilities accepted into the District’s water distribution system in Fiscal Year 2002-03
• Audit demand check numbers 94934 through 95116
ACTION AGENDA
2. Adoption of Subsurface Disposal Sewerage System:
Policy guidelines were presented for the Board’s review and consideration regarding the District owning, operating and assuming regulatory responsibility for subsurface disposal sewerage systems as had been directed at the June 2nd Board meeting. The addition of Article 173 to the District’s Administrative Code book was proposed which sets forth the policy for subsurface disposal sewerage systems that the District will assume responsibility for ownership, operation and regulatory compliance.
General Manager Arant clarified that a subsurface disposal system is defined as a system which disposes of sewage effluent soley through use of a pre-treatment process and/or septic tank and a leach field distribution system for disposal of the effluent. District ownership and operation of a subsurface disposal system will only be considered for privately held projects and written verification must be provided that the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region and/or the County of San Diego Department of Health Services requires that the project have a specific Report of Waste Discharge and that the discharge permit be issued in the name of a public agency. A project’s subsurface disposal system will need to be in full compliance with the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s and the County of Health Services’ regulations and have obtained all necessary approvals prior to the District’s consideration of ownership, administration and operation.
The proposed policy guidelines governing the District’s ownership, operation and responsibility of a subsurface disposal system require that the project’s proponents provide, for a minimum of five years, a licensed and bonded system operator who has demonstrated experience and qualifications in the operation of such a system. Further, to insure the long-term financial viability of a subsurface disposal system being considered for acceptance by the District, the owners of the subject property shall be responsible for payment of all annual expenses for the administration, regulatory compliance, operation and maintenance of the sewerage disposal system. Payment may be secured through such means as collection through the property tax bill from the owners of the properties served by the sewerage disposal systems (i.e. sewer assessment district).
Mr. Herbert Schaffer, a proponent of the proposed Village Square Development that will be served by a subsurface disposal sewerage system, stated that the proposed policy guidelines are acceptable, but details need to be worked out for his specific project’s development agreement.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following ordinance, entitled:
ORDINANCE NO. 2003-12
ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
ADDING ADMINISTRATIVE CODE ARTICLE NO. 173
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire and Stone
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Haskell
3. Report of Water Service Reliability for Fiscal Year 2002-2003:
An adopted District Strategic Plan Performance Measurement is that water service reliability for our customers shall be greater than 99%. The water service reliability report for Fiscal Year 2002-2003 shows that 630 customers were impacted with a total of 3,350 hours of service interruption. With a total of 8,760 service hours per customer, per year, the average reliability factor is 99.940% for customers that experienced an outage. The District’s overall water reliability factor was 99.9951% for the fiscal year considering 7,841 customers with a total 68,687,160 total service hours per year.
The high level of water service reliability can be attributed to many factors including the District’s pipeline replacement program, replacement projects have more three-way valve intersections and shorter distances between in-line valves and providing, wherever feasible, temporary water service through meter high lines during a shutdown.
4. Award of Contract for Multi-Media Audio/Visual Systems for the New Modular Boardroom Building:
Bids for the Multi-Media Audio/Visual Systems for the new modular Boardroom building were opened on July 24th with the lowest bid received from Audio Associates at $44,771. District Engineer Jewell recommended adoption of Resolution No. 2003-30 approving award of contract for this project to Audio Associates.
Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2003-30
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT AWARDING
CONTRACT FOR THE MULTI-MEDIA AUDIO/VISUAL SYSTEMS
FOR THE NEW
MODULAR
BOARDROOM
BUILDING
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire and Stone
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Haskell
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
5. Review of Miscellaneous Informational Items:
• Letter Supporting HR 2828, Reauthorization of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. General Manager Arant reported that ACWA is requesting its member agencies forward letters of support of the proposed HR 2828 (Calvert) which, if adopted, will reauthorize federal participation in CALFED ($880 million authorization) and identifies studies for additional surface storage and expansion of the State Water project’s pumping limit from 6,500 cfs to 8,500 cfs and the actual pumping capacity increased to 10,300 cfs. The Board authorized forwarding a letter of support for HR 2828.
• Olivenhain Dam Dedication. The San Diego County Water Authority will have a ceremony on September 4th to dedicate the Olivenhain Dam, a 24,000 acre feet emergency drinking water storage facility.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ AGENDA
6. Report of San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors’ Meeting:
President Broomell reported that at the July 24th San Diego County Water Authority Board meeting a second amendment to the agreement with Richard J. Strobel was approved for $50,000 which increases the total contract amount to $150,000. President Broomell stated he opposed this amendment to the contract for consulting services in the Imperial Valley as the expenditure is questionable considering that the farmers of the Imperial Valley will not determine the fate of the proposed SDCWA-IID water transfer.
A contract with Rick Engineering for $540,000 was authorized for the Desalinated Water Conveyance Facilities Project. Initially, this project was being pursued by the City of Carlsbad and Poseidon Resources to develop a desalination facility at the Encina Power Station in Carlsbad. When the San Diego County Water Authority became interested in this project it has sought to be the lead agency. The City of Carlsbad has challenged this position due to several issues including the loss of tax revenue for the city should it become a public project. The many issues concerning this proposed desalination project have delayed its progress. Also, environmental concerns regarding desalination and discharge impacts support the importance of constructing Pipeline 6 into San Diego County.
7. Geographical Information System:
A review of the applications and benefits of the Geographical Information System (GIS) within the District’s operations was provided by Trish Garcia, GIS/Mapping Technician. It was reported that more than 80% of all information used by water and wastewater utilities is geographically referenced, i.e. the key component of the information is its relative location to other geographic features and objects. The GIS utilizes computer software to collect, store, retrieve, display, analyze and manipulate descriptive and geographic data. Through the GIS, employees will have access to information from the District’s data base including names and phone numbers to use in an emergency shutdown, as well as access to SCADA information pertaining to reservoir and pump status and parcel specific information (meter location, easements, etc.). The GIS will improve organizational integration, eliminating duplication of work and result in increased efficiency and enhanced customer service and satisfaction.
CLOSED SESSION
8. A Closed Session was called by President Broomell at 3:15 p.m. pursuant to:
$ Government Code '54956.9(a), Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation.
Name of Case: Sweetwater Authority, et al. v. Dynegy, Inc., et al.
San Diego Superior Court Case GIC 760743
$ Government Code '54956.9(a), Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation.
Name of Case: Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District, et al. v. San Diego County Water Authority, et al.
San Diego County Superior Court Case No. GIC798230
$ Government Code '54956.9(a), Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation.
Name of Case: Cougar Pass Coalition v. John Braman, et al.
San Diego County Superior Court Case No. GIN028464
$ Government Code §54957, Public Employee Performance Evaluation – General Manager and Government Code '54957.6, Conference with Labor Negotiators – Unrepresented Employee, General Manager
9. The Regular Board meeting was reconvened at 3:46 p.m., and the following action was reported:
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Polito and unanimously carried, the General Manager’s Employment Contract was modified to reflect an annual salary of $150,000 and the $7,200 annual car allowance paid as salary in-lieu of car allowance.
ADJOURNMENT
10. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 3:49 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ ___________________________
President Secretary