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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-09-2015 Legislative Committee MinutesMINUTES OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Orange County Sanitation District Monday, November 9, 2015, at 8:00 a.m. A motion was made by Director Kring and seconded by Director Diep to appoint Director Beamish to serve as Interim Chairman. A regular meeting of the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee was called to order by Interim Chair Beamish on Monday, November 9, 2015 at 8:05 a.m., in the Administration Building of the Orange County Sanitation District. Director Diep led the pledge of allegiance. A quorum was declared present, as follows: COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Tyler Diep, Director John Nielsen, Board Chair Tom Beamish, Director Robert Kiley, Director Lucille Kring, Director John Withers, Director COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Greg Sebourn, Board Vice-Chair STAFF PRESENT: Jim Herberg, General Manager Celia Chandler, Director of Human Resources Nick Arhontes, Director of Facilities Support Services Rob Thompson, Director of Engineering Ed Torres, Director of Operations and Maintenance Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance & Administrative Services Kelly Lore, Clerk of the Board Jennifer Cabral Jim Colston Al Garcia Rebecca Long Kelly Newell Eric Sirjord Nina Tran OTHERS PRESENT: Brad Hogin, General Counsel Eric Sapirstein, ENS (via Teleconference) Eric O'Donnell, Townsend Public Affairs Cori Williams, Townsend Public Affairs Adam Link, CASA 11/09/2015 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 1of4 PUBLIC COMMENTS: None. REPORTS: The Committee Chair and the General Manager may present verbal reports on miscellaneous matters of general interest to the Committee Members. These reports are for information only and require no action by the Committee. None. CONSENT CALENDAR: Consent Calendar Items are considered to be routine and will be enacted, by the Board of Directors, after one motion, without discussion. Any items withdrawn from the Consent Calendar for separate discussion will be considered in the regular order of business. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Clerk of the Board) MOVED, SECONDED and DULY CARRIED TO: Approve minutes for the Committee meeting held on October 12, 2015. AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: Beamish, Diep, Kiley, Kring, and Withers None None Nielsen and Sebourn Chair Nielsen arrived at 8:09 a.m. and presided. INFORMATION ITEMS: 2. PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE (Jennifer Cabral) Principal Public Affairs Specialist, Jennifer Cabral provided an update on Public Affairs community education outreach for the month, and showed photos of the Placentia Heritage Festival and the Los Alamitos Wheels, Wings & Rotors events attended. She also notified the committee that an informational item regarding Public Affairs and Community outreach will be presented at upcoming Operations and Administration Committee meetings. Ms. Cabral stated that a request for OCSD to man a booth at the OC Fair had previously been made; and that after research was completed, staff found that the extensive amount of volunteer time (400 hours, 2 week period) and resources needed for an event this large was not recommended. 11/09/2015 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 2 of 4 3. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (Rebecca Long) Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Rebecca Long updated the committee on the State of the District event held on October 15th and Senator Janet Nguyen's tour on October 28th and further stated that she is now a member of the State CASA Committee. Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources, provided an informative presentation regarding: new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and his pledge to have an open process for legislation consideration; the FY 2016 budget process, including a two-year budget agreement reached; tax reform; water infrastructure funding; climate change issues; funding priorities; spending limits, including the 80 to 85 billion in new spending and the allocations; and issues with current year spending bills. Mr. Sapirstein also provided information regarding: Emergency Drought bill challenges and announced that Joel Beauvais will serve as acting Assistant Administrator of the USEPA, who's area of priority is climate change issues. Mr. Sapirstein then answered questions from the committee regarding: funding for storage and distribution of water, additional water recycling and alternative energy production and innovation; funding assistance and challenges for desalination projects; and the possibility of a scaled back drought bill due to the probability of El Nino. Cori Williams, Townsend Public Affairs, reported on the continued work of the Transportation Infrastructure Conference Committee Special Session and the considered funding proposals. Ms. Williams stated that California continued to reduce water usage by 26% in September, and stated that the emergency water conservation regulations that will expire in February 2016, will be evaluated and reconsidered by the State Water Resources Control Board at a Public Workshop on December 7. Ms. Williams further stated that for FY 2016, there are five measures that qualified for initiatives or referendum on the ballot; one which will require voter approval for Public Works projects which mandate over 2 billion in revenue bonds, is of most importance to the District. Eric O'Donnell, Townsend Public Affairs, reported on the IRWM funding approval and the future actions that will be taken. He also reported that he had met with Senator Herzberg's office regarding SB163 and recommends sending position letters to the Senator. Mr. O'Donnell is also working on setting up a meeting with the Senator at his Van Nuys office in early December and scheduling a tour of OCSD in February. 11/09/2015 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 3 of 4 4. CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SANITATION AGENCIES LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM (Jennifer Cabral) Ms. Cabral introduced Adam Link Director of Affairs for CASA who provided an informative PowerPoint presentation regarding: CASA sponsored leg islation and priority issues in 2015; state and federal legislative p riorities for 2016; anticipated legislation; issues of significance; fellow associations; and CASA initiatives and upcoming events. Mr. Link responded to questions from the committee regarding : the makeup of the CASA legislative committees ; and California "Duck Curve ", solar power system peaks and excess energy issues. NON-CONSENT CALENDAR: None. OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY: General Manager Jim Herberg announced that OCSD Administrative Offices will be closed on Wednesday , November 11th in observance of Veterans Day . Director Kring announced that the City of Anaheim will be hosting a Veterans Day event at the Muzeo with a special commemoration of the Marine Corps 240th birthday. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Nielsen declared the meeting adjourned at 9:14 a .m. to the next Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Meeting, December 14, 2015 at 8 :00 a .m. 11 /09 /2015 Legislative and Publi c Affairs Committee Minutes Page 4 of 4