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
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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 Any items withdrawn from the Consent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.
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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.
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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.
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