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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-2003 Steering Committee MinutesDRAFT MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, November 19, 2003 A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, November 19,2003 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 Jim Ferryman, Chairman, OMTS Committee Brian Donahue, Chairman, PDC Committee Jim Silva, County Supervisor Norm Eckenrode, Past Board Chair Directors Absent: Brian Brady, Chairman, FAHR Committee (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS OTHERS PRESENT: Thomas L. Woodruff, General Counsel Don Hughes Ryal Wheeler Gerhardt Van Drie STAFF PRESENT: Blake Anderson, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services Bob Ooten, Director of Operations and Maintenance Carol Beekman, Communications Services Manager Mike Moore, ECM Manager Jim Colston, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Liaison Jean Tappan, Committee Secretary FILED IN TH E OFFI CE or-THE SECRETARY ORANG E (',..,,.,.-,, "'""~' ... '"~.! DISTRICT DEC 1 7 200 3 /f. fJ Y=-- Mr. Gerhardt Van Drie asked for a copy of the correspondence pertaining to his proposal. (4) RECEIVE, FILE AND APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the October 22, 2003 Steering Committee meeting were approved as drafted. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page2 November 19, 2003 (5) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR Committee Chair Shirley McCracken announced that the CASA Conference will be held January 21- 24 in Palm Springs. Chair McCracken also announced that she is changing the governance system for the Cooperative Projects Guidance Committee. It will be chaired by the Board's Vice Chair, Steve Anderson, and include the chairs of the three standing committees and the Board of Supervisors representative. They will be the voting members of the committee. This is a significant change from the last five years when city managers and sanitary district managers were also voting members. However, the involvement and input from the cities and the districts we serve remains important and staff will invite all of them to future cooperative projects committee meetings. The Guidance Committee will continue to report to the Board through the PDC Committee, as it has been doing. Chair McCracken reported that the Directors Compensation Task Committee continues to work on refining the policies and procedures. A report will be forthcoming. The report of the Legislative Advocacy Ad Hoc Committee will be made under Agenda Item 8.B. (6) REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER A. Staff Response to Unsolicited Proposals General Manager Blake Anderson reported that staff evaluated the unsolicited proposal from Mr. Gerhardt Van Drie and has recommended that no action be taken at this time. He commented on staff's ongoing practice of providing information that members of the public request. Mr. Anderson also reported that staff has spent a considerable amount of time meeting with the proposer, conducting tours, reviewing data and answering questions but due to construction and operating constraints, as well as a lack of necessary data as out lined in Mr. Ooten's memo, no action is recommended. B. Update on SAWPA Agreement Negotiations Meetings continue between the Sanitation District and SAWPA. The amount of outstanding invoices and interest on overdue amounts has been established. The terms for SAWPA's option to purchase the SARI line have been established including the pricing structure for how SAWPA eventually sells back treatment capacity and sewer capacity to the District if their proposed brine line to the ocean is constructed. The problematic issue at this time is what happens in 2008 if SAWPA hasn't bought the 4-mile stretch of the SARI line or Orange County Flood Control and the Corps of Engineers haven't issued a notice to proceed with the line improvements. Both sides continue to try to reach an agreement. It is anticipated that the agreement will move through the FAHR Committee to the Board in December. Another concern that has surfaced is the progress on the CA Fish and Wildlife Services studies as a result of a federal court case brought by an environmental group to protect the critical habitat of the Santa Ana Sucker. The results must be addressed in the EIS/EIR. If the federal agency studies are not forthcoming, the District could ' Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 3 November 19, 2003 ask for a federal hearing on the problems. The County of Orange, Orange County Water District and SAWPA also are stakeholders in the process as they have projects that impact the river watershed. It was suggested that the lobbyists for the impacted agencies work together on this issue in an effort to keep the project moving. (7) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Tom Woodruff did not make a report. (8) DISCUSSION ITEMS (Items A-E) A. Joint Water Campus and Related Signage Concepts The District has conceptually agreed to allowing the chemical trucks for GWRS to come through our Ellis Avenue gate to reduce traffic on Ellis and Ward, to reduce the noise impacts, improve safety, maintain good relations with our neighbors and the City of Fountain Valley, and to guarantee unrestrained night-time deliveries to GWRS. The District has always attempted to take extra measures to protect the interests of our neighbors around our treatment plants. The signage at the front gate is under study as well as the appropriate level of security and access to areas of the treatment plant. By providing an entrance road to access the Sanitation District, the Water District, NWRI and MWDOC, a water campus could be created that will address both traffic and security issues. A second entrance on Ward is also contemplated that would provide the same level of access from that direction as well. Once GWRS is online, an increase in visitors is expected and many of them will want to tour the Sanitation District as well. Easy access for visitors and delivery trucks through one entrance provides a better opportunity for security checks. Director John Collins has asked for the general counsels of all agencies to make certain there isn't a liability issue. General Counsel Woodruff reported that he doesn't see any increased liability with the proposed change but an evaluation will be made. The Committee agreed to send the item through our working committees and report back to the JCC. B. Update on the Renewal of the NPDES Ocean Discharge Permit Jim Colston updated the Committee on ongoing negotiations for the NPDES permit. He described the contents of the operational plan and proposed changes to it and explained the proposed interim limits that will be in effect until secondary treatment is achieved. Bob Ooten said that Operations has been able to do better than the proposed limits through optimizing the system. Two-thirds of our ocean discharge now receives secondary treatment. Disinfection will be included for the duration of the 2004-09 Permit. Engineering is looking at final alternatives for permanent disinfection which will be included in the next permit. Mr. Colston explained that once the permit is issued, the process requires that the District be sued and a consent decree will then be signed. This will allow the District \ Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 4 November 19, 2003 the time it needs to convert to full secondary treatment. Staff will continue to update the Committee on future activities and progress. C. Legislative Consultant Contracts Bob Ghirelli updated the committee on the federal, state and local legislative advocacy activities in the past month. The EPA funding bill is one of four spending bills still pending before Congress and our lobbyists are continuing their work to secure funding for OCSD in that process. In February, Board members will be visiting key members of Congress to bolster support for our $3 million request and begin to lay the groundwork for an authorization in next year's session. State lobbyists are following the changes in Sacramento and looking for opportunities to gain support for the District's issues and funding requests. Staff is going to be working more closely with the Water District, the Orange County Business Council and the County of Orange on legislative initiatives of mutual interest. Bob Ghirelli reported that staff was directed to prepare contracts for the consultants at last month's Steering Committee. MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED TO: Recommend to the Board that it: 1) Establish a budget of $320,000 for state and federal legislative advocacy; 2) Authorize the General Manager to enter into Consultant Services Agreements with ENS Resources, Inc., for a contract amount not to exceed $180,000; Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP, for a contract amount not to exceed $60,000; and Townsend Public Affairs, Inc., for a contract amount not to exceed $60,000, for a one-year period, effective January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004, which will provide for professional advocacy services in a form approved by General Counsel; and 3) Each contract will be renewable for up to three (3) one-year periods at the discretion of the General Manager. D. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in December were reviewed. E. 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 There was no other business discussed. (10) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR WOULD LIKE STAFF TO REPORT ON AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING There were none. ' Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 5 November 19, 2003 (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, December 17, 2003 at 5 p.m. The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2003 at 7 p.m. (13) CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 6:12p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Section 54957, to evaluate General Counsel Services. 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 6:55p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. (14) ADJOURNMENT The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. J a Tappan ring Committee Secretary G:\wp. dta \agenda \Steering Committee\03\NO V\111903 SC Minutes. doc