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Home My WebLink About09-25-2002 Steering Committee MinutesDRAFT MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, September 25, 2002 A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 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: Shirley McCracken, Chair Steve Anderson, Vice Chair Pat McGuigan, Chairman, OMTS Committee Russell Patterson, Chairman, PDC Committee Brian Brady, Chairman, FAHR Committee Norm Eckenrode , Past Board Chair Directors Absent: Jim Silva, County Supervisor OTHERS PRESENT: Thomas L. Woodruff, General Counsel Don Hughes, Supervisor Silva's Office Gerard Thibeault, RWQCB Brad O'Brien , US Dept. of Justice Robert Moyer,US EPA, Region 9 THomas Huetteman,US EPA , Region 9 Janet Hashimoto, US EPA, Region 9 Jerry Klug, US EPA, Region 9 (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS STAFF PRESENT: Blake Anderson, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services David Ludwin, Director of Engineering Bob Ooten, Director of Operations and Maintenance Lisa Murphy, Communications Manager Jim Colston, Senior Regulatory Specialist Jean Tappan, Committee Secretary Julio Lara, RWQCB Gary Stewart, RWQCB Kris Lindstrom, Consultant Randy Fuhrman Doug Korthof Joey Racano Jan Vandersloot FIL ED IN THE OFF IC E OF TH E SECRETARY ORANG E cn r II\J T V ~ M,II T fi T ION DISTR ICT Randy Fuhrman commented that the he thought the information presented in last month's Steering Committee's closed session should have been public information. He also mentioned that the Committee should consider a direct contract with John Freshman (Item 8.B.) rather than paying mark-up to ENS Resources for a subcontractor. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 2 September 25, 2002 (4) RECEIVE, FILE AND APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the August 28, 2002 Steering Committee meeting were approved as corrected. (5) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR Committee Chair Shirley McCracken reported that Steve Anderson has volunteered to be the District representative on the Orange County Council of Governments. An alternate is still needed for this position in the event Director Anderson cannot attend a meeting. Chair McCracken also reported on the Joint Management Committee meeting yesterday. ESA has been selected to do the federal EIS and CA EIR report on the relocation project. This report is expected to be completed in December 2003. An update on the eight alternatives was provided. General Manager Blake Anderson also reported on progress of the SARI relocation project. The Corps of Engineers has established August 2003 as the drop dead date for changes to its project in the river. There is consideration being given to incorporating the proposed SARI project into the Corps' project. This will be discussed at the next PDC Committee meeting. Who would pay for the project has not yet been determined, though the Corps has previously indicated that it would pay the equivalent of the least costly alternative. Mr. Anderson reported that he is working with the general manager of SAWPA on the $3 million in past due invoices for engineering work, as well as the potential transfer of ownership of the SARI line north of SA VI Ranch. (6) REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER A two-day workshop on asset management was held Monday and Tuesday. This tool will be used to integrate everything we do. A gap analysis was performed and a game plan is being developed based on the findings in the analysis. Mr. Anderson announced that on October 1 0 the Orange County lnfrastructur~ Report Card will be unveiled. It is anticipated that this report card will begin a county-wide dialogue on what do we do to correct problems that have been identified pertaining to the condition, operations and capacity of the eight studied assets. Mr. Anderson reported that he will be presenting a 35-year service award to Gary Streed at tonight's Board meeting. He also announced that Ms. Lisa Murphy, Communications Manager, has submitted her resignation effective October 18 to join a private firm in Santa Barbara. (7) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Tom Woodruff reported on a recent Supreme Court ruling that limits invocations at public meetings to non-sectarian references only. He will be preparing an opinion memo for the Directors on this matter. . . Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 3 September 25, 2002 (8) DISCUSSION ITEMS (Items A-F) A. NPDES Permit Application Issues-Information Only Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services, summarized progress to date. Negotiations are underway with the regulators. The regulators are visiting the District today so that staff can give them an appreciation of all of our efforts and to understand all of our challenges in moving to secondary treatment standards. B. Additional Information re ENS Resources consulting services for Washington representation Mr. Anderson presented additional information on the services to be provided by ENS Resources. This firm has been representing the District's interests in Washington for the last four years. The additional scope will cover services to assure that regulatory fines are not raised as we move forward towards secondary standards by possibly amending the language of the Clean Water Act and to continue to work on securing funding or grants to offset some of our costs for moving to secondary standards. There was a discussion about contracting with John Freshman directly. Mr. Anderson pointed out that there is no subcontractor markup in ENS Resources' proposal, and that by working through ENS Resources we can be assured that the work is a coordinated effort and that there would be only one point of contact. The Steering Committee did not oppose increasing the contract amount with ENS Resources for the additional work. C. Consider support for Proposition 50, the Clean Water and Coastal Protection Bond on the November 5 ballot Mr. Anderson provided an overview of the terms and conditions of Proposition 50, which targets a wide-range of issues of interest to the District. After discussion, the Steering Committee decided not to take a position on this proposition. D. Consider Joint Exercise of Power Agreement (Draft 33) for Groundwater Replenishment System , Job No. J-36 Mr. Anderson reported that Draft 33 was endorsed by the Joint Coordinating Committee on Monday, September 24, and will now go through both agencies' committee and board approval process. There are a couple of changes that are being made because of the time it has taken to finalize the agreement so Draft 35 will be the document presented for final approval. Cost estimates and completion schedules are also be updated. The design is at about 60% and the current project cost estimate is $427 million, some of which will be offset by grants. Time for project completion is scheduled for fall 2007. Director Patterson indicated that the Board needs to have the answers to the questions he posed in his letter to the JCC, including why the 21 percent cost increase. It is his opinion that the Directors are not receiving enough information and has asked that the weekly reports be expanded to more fully explain what is happening. Mr. Anderson reported that he is having regular meetings with Paul Brown (COM) and Virginia Grebbien, OCWD general manager, to answer the questions raised by Director Patterson. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 4 September 25, 2002 E. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in October were reviewed. Director McGuigan reported that she would not be attending the next OMTS Committee meeting. F. There were no questions on the agenda items scheduled to be presented to the Board at tonight's meeting. (9) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS. IF ANY There was no other business discussed. (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. (12) CONSIDERATION OF UPCOMING MEETINGS The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 5 p.m. The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 7 p.m. (13) CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 6:05p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Government Code Sections 54957.6 and 54956.9(b){1 ), to discuss labor negotiations and potential litigation relating to the District's discharge pursuant to its NPDES Permit. Confidential Minutes of the Closed Session are on file with the Board Secretary. Confidential Minutes of the Closed Session held by the Steering Committee have been prepared in accordance with Government Code Section 54957.2, and are maintained by the Board Secretary in the Official Book of Confidential Minutes of Board and Committee Closed Meetings. A report of the recommended actions will be publicly reported at the time the approved actions become final. At 6:57 p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. Minut~s of the Steering Committee Page 5 September 25, 2002 (14) ADJOURNMENT The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m. n ·rappan eering Committee Secretary G:\wp.dtalagenda\Steering Committee\02\Sep\092502 SC Minutes. doc