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 :
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Tina Knapp , CMC
Deputy Clerk of the Board
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