The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About09-11-2017 Legislative Committee MinutesMINUTES OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Orange County Sanitation District Monday, September 11, 2017 at 12 :00 p.m. A meeting of the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee was called to order by Chair Sebourn on Monday, September 11 , 2017 at 12 :00 p .m. in the Administration Building of the Orange County Sanitation District. Director Kim led the pledge of allegiance . A quorum was declared present , as follows : COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Sebourn , Board Chair David Shawver, Board Vi c e-Chair Peter Kim, Member-At-Large Donald P. Wagner, Member-At-Large Chad Wanke , Member-At-Large John Withers , Member-At-Large COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Allan Bernstein, Member-At-Large PUBLIC COMMENTS: None . STAFF PRESENT: Jim Herberg , General Manager Bo b Ghirelli , Assistant Gene ral Manager Celia Chandler, Director of Human Resources Roya Sohanaki , Engineering Manager Rob Thompson , Director of Engineering Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance & Administrative Services Tina Knapp, Deputy Clerk of the Board Jennifer Cabral Tanya Chong Daisy Covarrubias Gregg Deterding Alfredo Garcia Ted Gerber Mark Kawamoto Rebecca Long Kelly Newell Man Nguyen Merrill Seiler OTHERS PRESENT: Brad Hagin , General Counsel Eric O 'Donnell , Townsend Public Affairs Eric Sapirstein , ENS Resources (via teleconference) Cori Williams , Townsend Public Affairs Kevin Hardy , National Water Research Institute 09/1 1/20 17 Legislative and Public Affairs Comm ittee M i nutes Page 1of 4 REPORTS : Th e Co mmittee Ch air an d the Ge nera l Manager m ay pres ent verb al r eports o n misce lla n eous matters of gene ra l inter es t to th e Committee Mem bers. Th ese repo rt s are fo r i nformatio n only a nd req uire no actio n by th e Com mittee. General Manager Jim Herberg introduced Kevin Hardy, Executive Director of the National Water Research Institute , who provided information regarding the 2017 Clarke Prize Award Ceremony and Conference being held on October 19-20, 2017 at the Irvine Marriott. Director Wagn er arrived at 12:05 p .m . CONSENT CALENDAR: Co n se nt Calenda r Ite m s are conside red to be r o utin e and will b e enacte d, by the Co m mittee, a fte r on e m otion, with out d isc ussion. Any item s withdrawn fro m th e Co nse nt Ca le ndar fo r separa te discussion w ill be co nside r ed in th e r egula r orde r o f b usiness. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Clerk of the Board) MOVED, SECONDED, and DULY CARRIED TO: Approve minutes for the Committee meeting held on July 10, 2017. AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: INFORMATION ITEMS: Kim , Sebourn Shawver , Wagner, and Withers None None Bernstein and Wanke Board Chair Sebourn requested that the federal update portion of the Legislative Affairs Update be provided prior to the Non-Consent Calendar. 5. LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE (Rebecca Long) Rebecca Long , Senior Public Affairs Specialist, introduced Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources , who reported that OCSD recently applied for grant funding under the WllN Act Title XVI program . OCSD applied for approximately $1.5 million in grant funding. Mr. Sapirstein also spoke about the upcoming infrastructure hearing where the California Association of Sanitation Agencies will be testifying and a letter being sent by OCSD to the Bureau of Reclamation requesting adherence to the specifics of the WllN bill, especially pertaining to one account for all funds. Director Wanke arrived at 12 :10 p .m. NON-CONSENT CALENDAR: 2. PUBLIC AFFAIRS STRATEGIC PLAN YEAR-END REVIEW (Jennifer Cabral) Public Affairs Supervisor Jennifer Cabral introduced the Public Affairs division staff and provided an informative PowerPoint presentation that included an overview of 09/1 1/20 17 Leg is lative an d Pu b lic Affairs Committee Minutes Page 2 of 4 what Public Affairs does , how many and through what venues community outreach is conducted, division highlights over the past year, and a preview of what is coming in the year ahead . Ms . Cabral also indicated that, as the Sanitation District's rates ex pire next year , a campaign related to the rate structure will be presented to the Committee at next month 's meeting . Board Vice -Chair Shawver ex pressed interest in learning more about the fats , oil , and grease program being offered in the City of Stanton and seeing if there is larger interest County-wide . In response to an inquiry from the Committee, Mr. Herberg and Ms. Cabral provided additional information regarding staff's participation in the Volunteer Incentive Program . The Board Chair directed that this item be received and filed . INFORMATION ITEMS: 3 . ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT MEMBERSHIPS (Bob Ghi relli) Assistant General Manager Bob Ghirelli introduced this item and referred to the list of organizations to which the Sanitation District belongs, which was provided in the agenda packet. Mr. Ghirelli highlighted the Association of California Cities-Orange County (ACC-OC), Orange County Business Council , California Special Districts Association (CSDA), and California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA). Mr. Ghirelli indicated that individuals interested in participating in any of the agencies should contact the Board Chair . Vice-Chair Shawver indicated that he feels that General Manager Jim Herberg would be an excellent Board Member for CASA and encourages his enhanced involvement. Director Withers indicated that it might be of interest to do a survey of other agencies to determine in what organizations others are involved/have memberships . 4 . NEW DENTAL OFFICE RULES AND THE ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT'S ROLE (Jim Colson) Templates of the compliance reports pertaining to this item were distributed to the Committee and made available to the public. Mr. Herberg introduced Roya Sohanaki, Engineering Manager, who provided an informative PowerPoint presentation pertaining to this item that included an overview of dental amalgam , who is impacted and how, and OCSD 's obligations . In response to questions from the Committee , Ms . Soahanki indicated that there is not an enforcement obligation involved with this new requirement and that there are approximately 800-1 ,700 dental offices in the County. 5 . LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE (Rebecca Long) Eric O 'Donnell , Townsend Public Affairs (TPA), provided a PowerPo int presentation pertaining to this item that included an overview of the legislative calendar; current major topics (affordable housing funding package, cap and trade extension plan, and 2018 park bonds); an update on several bills including AB 574 (Quirk) -Potable Reuse , AB 967 (Gloria) -Human Remains Disposal (hydrolysis 09/1 1/2017 Leg is lative a nd Public A ffairs Committee Minutes Page3of 4 facilities), AB 1479 (Bonta) regarding the designation of a Custodian of Records , SB 623 (Monning) pertaining to water taxes ; Little Hoover Commission ; and tours of OCSD offered to various legislators . Director Wanke departed the meeting at 1:13 p.m. Cori Williams , TPA, provided an overview of future legi slat ion concepts of possi ble interest to OCSD , including legislation pertaining to co ntracting codes , procurement and advertising for obtaining goods and services , design-build authorization , and a study of sewer lines at the time of sale referenced by the Little Hoover Commission. Staff will provide additional information to the Com mittee for future cons ideration by both this Committee and the Board of Directors . 6. PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE (Bob Ghirelli) Ms. Cabral updated the Committee on commun ity outreach , speaking engagements, and social media postings for the month of August. Ms. Cabral also reviewed upcoming events. OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IFANY: None. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Sebourn declared the meeting adjourned at 1 :27 p.m. to the next Legislative and Public Affairs Committee meeting , Monday, October 9, 2017 at 3 :30 p.m. Submitted by: ·rwv~~~ Tina Knapp, CMC Clerk of the Board .. 09/1 1/20 17 '• Legisl ative and Public Affairs Committee Minutes Page 4 of 4