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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-11-2016 Legislative Committee Minutes MINUTES OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Orange County Sanitation District Monday, April 11, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. A regular meeting of the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee was called to order by Chair Nielsen on Monday, April 11, 2016 at 3:30 p.m., in the Administration Building of the Orange County Sanitation District. Chair Nielsen led the pledge of allegiance. A quorum was declared present, as follows: COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: John Nielsen, Board Chair Jim Herberg, General Manager Greg Sebourn, Board Vice-Chair Bob Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager Tom Beamish, Director Celia Chandler, Director of Human Robert Kiley, Director Resources Peter Kim, Director Rob Thompson, Director of Engineering Lucille Kring, Director Ed Torres, Director of Operations & John Withers, Director Maintenance Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance & COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Administrative Services None. Kelly Lore, Clerk of the Board Jennifer Cabral Norbert Gaia Alfredo Garcia Tina Knapp Rebecca Long Mark Manzo Kelly Newell Xuan Nguyen OTHERS PRESENT: Kendra Carney, Associate General Counsel Eric O'Donnell, Townsend Public Affairs Eric Sapirstein, ENS (via Teleconference) Cori Williams, Townsend Public Affairs (via Teleconference) PUBLIC COMMENTS: None. 04/11/2016 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 1 of 4 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. General Manager Jim Herberg informed the Committee of the tentative agenda for upcoming Lobby days (April 20 — 22) in Washington, DC, where he, Chair Nielsen and Vice-Chair Sebourn will be attending scheduled meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency staff and several elected officials. He also reported on his attendance at a General Managers Forum hosted by NWRI and the Utility Branding Network where discussions included: transparency; branding; investment in infrastructure and efficiency. CONSENT CALENDAR: Consent Calendar Items are considered to be routine and will be enacted, by the Committee, 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 Any items withdrawn from the Consent Calendar for separate discussion will be considered in the regular order of business. 1.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 regular Legislative and Public Affairs Committee meeting held on March 15, 2016. AYES: Beamish, Kiley, Kim, Kring, Nielsen, Sebourn and Withers NOES: None ABSTENTIONS: None ABSENT: None NON-CONSENT CALENDAR: None. INFORMATION ITEMS: 2. PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE (Jennifer Cabral) Principal Public Affairs Specialist, Jennifer Cabral provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding Community Outreach & Public Affairs, including information regarding tours and speaking engagements. Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Rebecca Long provided further information of the Children's Water Festival held on March 27t" and explained the "What 2 Flush Recycling Game" which she developed for that event. Ms. Cabral referenced a co-authored letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times in response to the recent Superbugs article, and stated that an anticipated follow- up segment has not been done. 04/11/2016 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 2 of 4 Ms. Cabral notified the Committee of two upcoming construction projects (7-37 and 2-72) and the proposed outreach efforts that will take place. Discussion ensued regarding communication and construction notification strategies and the affects our projects place on cities. Director of Engineering, Rob Thompson and Ms. Cabral responded to questions regarding the challenges of project planning; timelines and public notification. Ms. Cabral provided information on recent and upcoming tours; city council presentations; and the success of external communications including: "Five minutes per month" and "Wastewater word of the week". She also announced her recent appointment to the CASA communication workgroup. 3. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (Rebecca Long) Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources, stated that visits to U.S. Representatives Ed Royce and Mimi Walters, and U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez are scheduled for the upcoming Washington, DC trip, while visits to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency are still in the process of scheduling. The focus of these visits will be priority CIP packages, biosolids, and alternative energy projects such as AquaCritoe. Mr. Sapirstein provided recent developments in regards to: the Water Resources Development Act; drought relief policy; S.2533 (Feinstein) and the budget completion. Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Rebecca Long provided an update on the following bills: SB 1213 Wieckowski (support); SB 885 Wolk (oppose); AB 2022 Gordon (support); and SB163 Herzberg (support). Ms. Long also provided an overview of the recent Sacramento lobby day which included visits to: SWRCB; Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee; and the offices of Senator Hertzberg and Assemblymember Rich Gordon. Cori Williams, Townsend Public Affairs, provided an update on fiscal bill deadlines; AB 2022 (Gordon) Advanced purified demonstration water; SB 1213 (Wiekowski) Renewable energy, biosolids and matching grants; cap and trade funds; and Proposition 1 funding requests. OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY: Director Withers, stated that he had spoken with David Van Dorpe, US Army Corps of Engineers, regarding the SARI river rock removal contract, and the possibility of selling the material that will be removed. Vice-Chair Sebourn shared the participation award from the Children's Water festival. 04/11/2016 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 3 of 4 ADJOURNMENT: r`hnir Klinlonn Amnlnred the, rnop+inri nAiniirnoA n+ A•7� r, rv, +. +h + I �!c 1�+�.... A VI.. IJ,els ,, de Vla,l�ld IIIV Ill.a.�L III,. CA%AJ%JUI IIGId al T.L%J t,J.111. lV the I le:,l L-Uj 0 QIIVC QIIu Public Affairs Committee Meeting, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. Submitted by: a, Ke ly . ore Cl rk o the Board 04/11/2016 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 4 of 4