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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-12-2017 Legislative Committee MinutesMINUTES OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Orange County Sanitation District Monday, June 12, 2017at12:00 p.m. A meeting of the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee was called to order by Chair Sebourn on Monday, June 12, 2017 at 12:01 p.m. in the Administration Building of the Orange County Sanitation District. Vice-Chair Shawver led the pledge of allegiance. A quorum was declared present, as follows: COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Sebourn, Board Chair David Shawver, Board Vice-Chair Allan Bernstein, Member-At-Large Peter Kim, Member-At-Large Donald P. Wagner, Member-At-Large Chad Wanke, Member-At-Large John Withers, Member-At-Large COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: None. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None. STAFF PRESENT: Jim Herberg, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager Celia Chandler, Director of Human Resources Jim Colston, Director of Environmental Services Rob Thompson, Director of Engineering Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance & Administrative Services Tina Knapp, Deputy Clerk of the Board Jennifer Cabral Belen Carrillo Rebecca Long Kelly Newell Mark Manzo OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Atkinson, Inside the Outdoors Brad Hogin, General Counsel Eric O'Donnell, Townsend Public Affairs Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources (via teleconference) Stephanie Smith, Inside the Outdoors Cori Williams, Townsend Public Affairs 06/12/2017 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 1 of6 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 reported that he and Director of Engineering Rob Thompson recently had a successful meeting with the Orange County Transportation Authority CEO and Director of Capital Projects. Director of Environmental Services Jim Colston reported that the diesel fuel excise tax increase recently adopted by State legislation does not significantly impact internal OCSD operations. OCSD, however, will see a significant increase in biosolids hauling contract costs due to the fuel tax increase. With the introduction of centrifuge operations in the near future, however, OCSD should see a reduction in overall biosolids hauling. Mr. Colston indicated he would confirm whether or not the diesel costs would rise incrementally annually. The Committee requested that this information be provided to them in brief talking points. 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 Committee meeting held on May 8, 2017. AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: INFORMATION ITEMS: Bernstein, Kim, Sebourn, Wagner, Wanke, and Withers None Shawver None 2. LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE (Rebecca Long) Rebecca Long, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, indicated that staff recently attended a grants workshop and scheduled a meeting with a contractor regarding the possibility of obtaining grant writing services. The upcoming visit to Sacramento is June 27th. Ms. Long also indicated that the State of the District event will be rescheduled from October 13th due to a conflict with the Association of California Cities-Orange County (ACC-OC) Leadership Symposium. Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources, reported that confirmation was recently received from the Bureau of Reclamation that the final expansion of the 06/12/2017 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 2 of 6 Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) project is eligible to receive continued federal assistance, notwithstanding Title 16 assistance. Mr. Sapirstein also indicated that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has received approximately 43 applications for water funding loans, 23 of which are from California. The GWRS final expansion project and the Poseidon project are two of the 23. Mr. Sapirstein reported that water infrastructure continues to be an important message bearing repeating to members of the House and Senate, and Committees of the same, for continued understanding of water's role in infrastructure. Water infrastructure funding opportunities continue to remain at the same levels as in the previous budget. Mr. Sapirstein also indicated that public-private projects, like the Poseidon project, are of interest to water infrastructure development as this type of project continues to offer a public aspect as opposed to being entirely privatized. Mr. Sapirstein addressed the item on the agenda for consideration to approve letters regarding H.R. 2510. Mr. Sapirstein also reported on recent staffing changes made in various branches of the federal government. Cori Williams and Eric O'Donnell, Townsend Public Affairs (TPA), provided an informative PowerPoint presentation that included an update on the 2017-18 state legislative session deadlines and specific calendar dates; the state budget general fund and the strong theme of social services; May revisions made by the Governor regarding natural resources and the conclusion of the emergency drought response; updates on a variety of bills of interest including AB 574 (Quirk), AB 851 (Caballero), SB 212 (Jackson), AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer), AB 1479 (Banta), AB 1129 (Stone), park bond bills, and SB 623 (Manning); bills to watch including SB 231 (Hertzberg) and AB 967 (Gloria); long term conservation proposals including AB 968 (Rubio), AB 1654 (Rubio), AB 1668 (Friedman), AB 1669 (Friedman), and a proposed budget trailer bill; and upcoming OCSD tour dates for key legislative stakeholders. As AB 851 (Caballero) changed dramatically and co-sponsorship of the bill was not desired. The Committee expressed interest in developing a bill next year, like AB 851 (Caballero), offering and addressing a narrower scope for design-build authority for OCSD projects. The Committee requested a copy of the final language of AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer) once it is available. 06/12/2017 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 3 of6 NON-CONSENT CALENDAR: 3. CO-SPONSOR H.R. 2510 LETTER AND H.R. 2510 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER (Bob Ghirelli) Assistant General Manager Bob Ghirelli provided a brief introduction of this item. Director Wagner indicated that the sponsorship acknowledgement letter could better attract attention if it identified the benefits at the outset. Staff indicated that the letter would be rewritten to outline the benefits at the beginning of the letter. It was also requested that the co-sponsorship acknowledgement letter include Representative Linda Sanchez. MOVED. SECONDED. and DULY CARRIED TO: A. Approve, as amended, H.R. 2510 Co-Sponsorship Request Letter - Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2017 (DeFazio) for Congressman Ed Royce, Congresswoman Walters, Congressman Rohrabacher, and Congressman Lou Correa; and B. Approve, as amended, H.R. 2510 Sponsorship Acknowledgement Letter -Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2017 (DeFazio) for Congressman Alan J. Lowenthal and Congresswoman Napolitano. AYES: Bernstein, Kim, Sebourn, Shawver, Wagner, Wanke, and Withers NOES: None ABSTENTIONS: None ABSENT: None INFORMATION ITEMS: 4. POSITION LETTER DISTRIBUTION (Bob Ghirelli) Public Affairs Supervisor Jennifer Cabral provided an overview of this item and indicated that staff proposes providing a summary of the legislative position letters, and the corresponding letters, to the Directors via the General Manager Monthly Report. The Directors can then use them according to their needs. The Committee requested that the position letters also be distributed to ACC-OC and the League of California Cities. The Committee indicated that other agencies distribute letters like this to their Board Members and the City/General Managers for the respective agencies. The Chair clarified the wishes of the Committee and requested that the legislative position letters be sent to the Board Members and their respective City/General Managers via a specific and separate email from the General Manager Monthly Report, and that these letters and a summary of the positions also be included in the General Manager Monthly Report. 06/12/2017 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 4 of 6 5. INSIDE THE OUTDOORS YEAR-END PRESENTATION (Bob Ghirelli) Public Affairs Specialist Kelly Newell introduced the representatives from Inside the Outdoors, Mark Atkinson and Stephanie Smith, and provided a brief overview of the Inside the Outdoors organization. Ms. Smith and Mr. Atkinson provided an informative presentation on the Inside the Outdoors programs, which included an overview of the organization, the programs offered, and components of the various programs. Ms. Smith responded to questions from the Committee regarding costs of the program, the application process, and how the organization markets itself, which differs district-by-district. Staff responded to a question regarding the number of young adults reached through the OCSD tour program. The Committee requested additional information about the Inside the Outdoors programs so they can notify schools in their cities of the availability of the programs and to encourage participation. 6. PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE (Jennifer Cabral) Ms. Cabral provided a brief overview of the current public affairs outreach efforts. Chair Sebourn indicated that the information included in the agenda packets provides specific information pertaining to these efforts. Ms. Cabral indicated that the outreach efforts are highlighted in the General Manager Monthly Report and indicated that this information can be shared and used as each Director deems appropriate. From today's meeting, a recap and follow up information regarding the diesel fuel excise tax will be included in the General Manager Monthly Report, as will additional information pertaining to the Inside the Outdoors programs. OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY: Chair Sebourn announced that if you are interested in participating in an organization to which OCSD belongs, please let General Manager Herberg or Ms. Cabral know. The Committee requested a list of those organizations to which OCSD belongs and a description of the opportunities for Board Member involvement and what this involvement entails, including location and time commitment. 06/12/2017 Legislative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Pages of6 ADJOURNMENT: Chair Sebourn declared the meeting adjourned at 1 :23 p .m . to the next Legislative and Public Affairs Committee meeting, Monday, July 10 , 2017 at 3:30 p.m. Submitted by : ·rw N ~7JC Tina Knapp , CMC Deputy Clerk of the Board , ' (' .. 06/12/20 17 Legislative and Public A ffai rs Committee M inutes Pag e 6 of 6