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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-22-2003 Steering Committee MinutesDRAFT MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, October 22, 2003 A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 at 4 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 Jim Ferryman, Chairman, OMTS Committee Brian Donahue, Chairman, PDC Committee Brian Brady, Chairman, FAHR Committee Jim Silva , County Supervisor Norm Eckenrode, Past Board Chair Tod Ridgeway, Director, Guest Directors Absent: None FIL ED IN THE OF FICE OF THE SE CRETARY ORANG E r,n"~·-·' ,., """'~T 'f)N DISTR ICT NOV 19 200 3 OY _J L __ ~_ -~~ (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS OTHERS PRESENT: Thomas Nixon, General Counsel Don Hughes Scott Baugh Larry Kast Eric Saperstein Chris Townsend Chris Massey Mike Moore Sonja Wassgren Gerhardt Van Dreis Randy Fuhrman STAFF PRESENT: Blake Anderson, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services Patrick Miles, Director of Information Technology Carol Beekman, Commun ications Services Manager Jim Colston, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Liaison Layne Baroldi, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Liaison Jean Tappan, Committee Secretary Gerhardt Van Dreis stated that he had submitted an unsolicited joint venture proposal to operate secondary treatment processes and has not received a reply. Chair McCracken asked staff to prepare a response. L Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 2 October 22, 2003 Randy Fuhrman asked the legislative consultants to discuss how they will deal with trying to get funding when there are so many other issues also seeking the same funds. He also asked that alternative treatment processes be considered and stated he was interested in the directors' compensation discussion. (4) RECEIVE, FILE AND APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the September 24, 2003 Steering Committee meeting were approved as drafted. (5) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR Committee Chair Shirley McCracken asked Directors Brady and Anderson to provide an update on their review of the Directors reimbursement policies. They provided a draft with only three major changes: definition of what constitutes a meeting; how meetings are authorized; and how much compensation is received. Blake will ask Lisa Tomko, Gary Streed and General Counsel to review the proposed changes and it will be returned to the Steering Committee in November for further consideration before presentation to the Board. (6) REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER General Manager Blake Anderson said that he was pulling agenda item 6.A. Chair McCracken stated that Tom Woodruff will be addressing the Board on the subject in November in Closed Session. A breakdown of litigation fees will be provided at that time. Mr. Anderson announced that there were still seats available for the 2004 Economic Forecast Conference for Orange County that is being held on October 28. He reported that meetings are ongoing with SAWPA to negotiate an agreement based on the term sheet that was approved by the Board. There is another meeting scheduled for October 24 and he hopes to bring the agreement to the Board in November. EMT and staff are working together on strategic planning activities. This process should take another 16 to 20 weeks and will be used during the preparation of the 2004-05 budget. (7) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Tom Nixon reported that the arguments were held today in the appeal hearing on the Crow-Winthrop case was held today. The judge has 90 days to make an opinion. General Counsel Tom Woodruff represented the District. (8) DISCUSSION ITEMS (Items A-D) A. Update on Biosolids Program and Costs Layne Baroldi reported on ongoing activities and what is planned until such time as the Biosolids Management Strategic Plan is approved. One-half of the 'Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 3 October 22, 2003 biosolids is going to Tule Ranch at a cost of between $33-35/ton. Staff was asked to prepare a detailed breakdown of the contract terms and costs for the November 5, 2003 OMTS Committee meeting. B. Legislative Briefing by Consultants Chair McCracken commented that during 2003 legislative calendar the District hired four legislative advocates to assist the agency in forwarding its legislative agenda and respond to legislation of interest to the District. Each of those consultants provided the Committee with a brief update on the status of their efforts. Our federal legislative consultants, Eric Saperstein and Larry Kast (partner of John Freshman), updated the committee on their activities for the past year and their plans for 2004. Their consulting services focused on acquisition of federal funding for the secondary treatment expansion through EPA assistance grants. They have been building support for our request with the Orange County and California delegation in Washington and will continue to work to get this project into the EPA budget as a line item. The first year is always the hardest. Congressman Christopher Cox has asked to keep this project in view and has indicated that he will speak to the Chair of the Appropriations Committee to help him understand the project and the need for funding. It is important that the message be reinforced to our Washington delegation. Directors Jim Silva and Tod Ridgeway reported on their trip to Washington, DC. They were accompanied by Bob Ghirelli and our federal legislative consultants. They appreciated the work that the consultants did to set up the various meetings with the delegates and staff members, which were very focused and effective. Director McCracken thanked Directors Silva and Ridgeway for making the trip to Washington last week to help sell our project. It is important that through our consultants we are vigilant in our efforts to keep our goals in mind. Scott Baugh reported on the state legislative initiatives he was working on and most recently, his activities in the areas of biosolids and urban runoff funding. He will continue to work to amend the state constitution to allow the assessing of fees to treat urban runoff. There is a need to educate the public and those organizations that have expressed concerns, such as Howard Jarvis and the Orange County Taxpayers. Mr. Baugh is also working with the District on a state-wide biosolids policy, using a two-year bill that is now "parked" at our request of the author, Ken Maddox. If the State Water Board takes on the issue through language in its General Order for Biosolids, then the bill won't be necessary. He also discussed budget impacts and how the governor-elect may address these problems. There may be some special sessions of the assembly this fall to deal with the budget issues. Christopher Townsend and his firm are focused on acquisition of state funding for District projects including fats, oil and greases, Santa Ana River Interceptor line and other projects through Propositions 40 and 50 and other grant sources. He indicated that all of the Proposition 50 money has been given to the Department of Water Resources for distribution. They will be working to get funds identified for the District. After a brief question and answer period, the Directors agreed that the services provided by the three firms could not be accomplished with OCSD staff alone and felt that all ·Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 4 October 22, 2003 were representing the District professionally and effectively. Mr. Saperstein stressed that continued participation by the Directors will be required to make the team effective. He also thanked the staff for their assistance and responsiveness in providing such high-quality information for them. B. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in November were reviewed. Director Brady asked if the MOUs were going to be presented to the FAHR Committee in November. Mr. Anderson said that he was happy to report that all of the bargaining units have signed and the MOUs will be presented to the directors in November. C. The agenda items scheduled to be presented to the Board at tonight's meeting were reviewed. (9) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY Director Eckenrode announced that he met with the mayor of Anaheim, Curt Pringle, and briefly discussed the GWR System project. Mayor Pringle has asked to meet with the general managers of the Orange County Water District and the Sanitation District to discuss this project and the possibility of landscaping the settling basins. (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, November 19, 2003 at 5 p.m., one week earlier than usual. The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2003 at 7 p .m. (13) CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 6:42p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Sections 54957.6 to discuss the General Manager's performance evaluation and compensation. 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 Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 5 October 22, 2003 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 6:55 p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. (14) ADJOURNMENT The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. a Tappan ring Committee Secretary G:\wp.dta\agenda\Steering Committee\03\0Cn 102203 draft SC Minutes. doc