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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-24-2001 Steering Committee MinutesI DRAFT >-i t E O 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. G:\wp.dla\agenda\Steering Commitlee\01Van\012401 SC Minutes.doc