HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-24-2001 Steering Committee MinutesI
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MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE M~;e1·t,~,;or: THE SECRETARY ~J· J I { !~ 'J!TA TfO N DISTRICT
Wednesday , January 24, 2001 FEB 2 8 200 1
nv '·-?K. A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was · T · "=~
held on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 at 5 p.m., in the District's Administrative
Office.
(1) The roll was called and a quorum declared present, as follows:
STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Directors Present:
Norm Eckenrode, Chair
Peter Green, Vice Chair
Pat McGuigan, Chairman, OMTS Committee
Steve Anderson, Chairman, PDC Committee
Shirley McCracken, Chairman, FAHR Committee
Jim Silva, County Supervisor
Directors Absent:
None
(2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM
No appointment was necessary.
(3) PUBLIC COMMENTS
OTHERS PRESENT:
Thomas L. Woodruff, General Counsel
Don Hughes
STAFF PRESENT:
Blake Anderson, General Manager
Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services
Greg Mathews, Assistant to the General
Manager
Gary Streed, Director of Finance
Lisa Lawson, Communications Manager
Mike Moore, ECM Manager
Sonja Wassgren, Public Information Coordinator
Jean Tappan, Committee Secretary
There were no comments by any member of the public.
(4) RECEIVE, FILE AND APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the December 20 , 2000 Steering Committee meeting were approved as drafted .
(5) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR
Committee Chair Norm Eckenrode introduced Director Shirley McCracken as the newly-appointed
FAHR Committee Chair. He also reported on the CASA meeting held last January 18-20, 2001 in
Palm Springs. Directors Steve Anderson, Joy Neugebauer and Peer Swan also attended the
Minutes of the Steering Committee
Page 2
January 24, 2001
conference. A meeting is being scheduled between Jim Stahl, general manager of the Los Angeles
County Sanitation Districts, Blake Anderson and Chair Eckenrode to discuss working together on
San Gabriel River issues that impact Seal Beach.
Chair Eckenrode announced that there will be a new Directors Workshop on February 10, 2001,
beginning at 8 a.m. New directors on the Orange County Water District Board will also be invited.
(6) REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER
General Manager Blake Anderson reported that Bill Mills, general manager of the Orange County
Water District, has invited Sanitation District directors to attend their series of noon-time briefings .
A. OMTS Committee Changes: The Staff Report was summarized by Bob Ghirelli, director of
Technical Services . Three options were discussed and the Committee members moved,
seconded and approved continuing the existing schedule for the time being (1 0 meetings per
year with January and August dark). If staff believes that there are insufficient items for the
Committee to review, the meeting will be canceled after discussion with the Committee Chair
and the general manager. The members indicated that this same guideline should apply to
all committees.
B. Update on Kern and Kings County Biosolids Activities: Mike Moore updated the member's on
recent activities in Kings County. It appears that the Board of Supervisors has changed
directions and is now recommending changing the ordinance to ban the land application of
Class B biosolids in 2003, allow Class A-Exceptional Quality material for three additional
years and in 2006 all biosolids must be Class A-EQ compost. These changes are under
review at this time and it appears that several lawsuits are being considered. Staff is
discussing options with General Counsel. It appears that CEQA requirements were not
followed . The District's property in Kings County is in production and Mr. Moore thinks that
the property values have increased, in spite of the proposed changes to the ordinance.
One-half of our biosolids are being trucked to Riverside County. The county's Environmental
Health department has issued an opinion paper on the operation of the facility and the
impacts of continuing development in that area. There will be a 30-day review of the paper
before the Supervisors act on it.
Staff is talking with the City of Colton about a new proposed composting facility located within
their city. The city's staff is very supportive of our agency taking part in this endeavor. All
public outreach efforts have been done with the community and the Board of Supervisors has
expressed support for the project, as has the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. This issue will
be discussed with the OMTS Committee in March .
C. Power Update: Blake Anderson reported on how the District is managing its power
requirements during the energy crisis. A decision was made last week that we will pay the
spot-market price for natural gas to supplement the digester gas used in the central power
generation system during Stage 3 alerts . Conservation efforts have resulted in savings of
about 2 megawatts of power (equivalent to 2000 homes).
Minutes of the Steering Committee
Page 3
January 24, 2001
D. Update on the Five-year Staffing Plan : Greg Mathews provided a preview of the report that
will be presented to the standing committees in February. He reviewed the changes in
staffing over the next three years and the reasons for those changes.
E. Outreach to Cities : Blake Anderson reported that staff has met with 16 of the cities in Orange
County in an effort to provide information on common issues regarding sewer infrastructure .
Eight additional meetings have been scheduled and four remain to be set.
F. Freeze on Federal Rule Making: President Bush has placed on hold all proposed rules left
over from the previous administration . This includes the regulations on CMOM and TMDLs,
as well as other major pieces of regulatory reform. When there is movement, staff will notify
the directors.
G. State of the District Report: Blake Anderson will be presenting a 'State of the District' report
at the Board meeting. He will be discussing in detail the Huntington Beach and energy
issues , as well as listing some of the other major projects impacting the District.
H. GWRS Financial Study: PRAG, the firm preparing the financial report on the project, still has
not presented a final draft, but will by the end of the week. The Water District staff is still
considering some of the findings . The final draft will be reviewed by the Joint Coordinating
Committee at its next meeting.
Director Steve Anderson questioned the practice of receiving IRWD flows during its voluntary black-
out pe riods, as well as the associated increase in costs to the District to treat the increased flows.
Mr. Anderson said that IRWD is charged for the amount of flow we treat and that we can refuse it if
there is insufficient capacity available . Director Anderson asked 'that this policy to be reviewed and
reconsidered.
(7) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL
General Counsel Tom Woodruff reported on discussions at the CASA Legislative Committee
meetings. An author is being sought to sponsor a statute in the state legislature that would authorize
land application of biosolids as a state-wide interest. The Polanco bill that did not make it out of
committee last year prohibited counties from banning land application of biosolids .
Mr. Woodruff also mentioned that he prepared a memo for the directors addressing the issue of e-
mails and Brown Act restrictions . While this form of communication between directors is allowed , e-
mails can not be used to develop a consensus .
There has been no movement on the Crow Winthrop case.
The District was served with a lawsuit filed in federal court by an employee claiming racial
discrimination. A claim was filed with the EEOC, which ruled that there was no bas is for the lawsuit
and it was denied.
Counsel continues to work with The Irvine Company on an agreement to handle urban runoff flows
from new development in Crystal Cove . Because this agreement is precedent setting , particular
attention has been paid to issues of liability and i ndemnification, and future capital charges for
. '
Minutes of the Steering Committee
Page 4
January 24, 2001
discharges in excess of the 4 mgd currently authorized.
(8) DISCUSSION ITEMS (Items A-C)
A. Huntington Beach Activities Update
Bob Ghirelli reported that staff is developing a strawman proposal that will address the
2001 summer activities in an attempt to answer the question: is our plume hitting the
shore as submitted by UCI Professor Stanley Grant. The estimated costs of these
activities is between $1 million and $1.2 million plus staff time of about $400,000. One
of the items that will be reviewed is the proposed operational changes at the AES plant.
It was announced that all meetings will be open to everyone.
B. Public Information Update
Lisa Lawson, Communications Manager, introduced Sonja Wassgren, our new Public
Information Coordinator. The public outreach on the various Huntington Beach activities
were described.
Ms. Lawson also listed the items that are on the horizon that has interested the media.
Blake Anderson stated that a "Letter to the Citizens of Orange County" has been sent to
both the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times editors about our plans
through the summer. We've been told that the letters would be published.
C. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in
February were reviewed.
(9) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY
The CASA Spring Conference is being held at the Tanaya Lodge in Fish Camp near Yosemite.
Directors are to inform Jean Tappan if they plan to attend as rooms will be limited.
(10) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR WOULD LIKE STAFF TO REPORT ON AT A
SUBSEQUENT MEETING
There were none.
(11) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR MAY WISH TO PLACE ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR
ACTION AND/OR STAFF REPORT
There were none.
Minutes of the Steering Committee
Page 5
January 24, 2001
(12) CONSIDERATION OF UPCOMING MEETINGS
The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for February 28, 2001 at 5 p.m.
The next Board Meeting is scheduled for February 28, 2001 at 7 p .m.
(13) CLOSED SESSION
There was no closed session.
(14) ADJOURNMENT
The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:47p.m.
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