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Home My WebLink About04-28-2004 Steering Committee MinutesDRAFT REVISED MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, April 28, 2004 A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, April28, 2004 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 Brian Donahue, Chairman, PDC Committee Brian Brady, Chairman, FAHR Committee Jim Silva, County Supervisor Directors Absent: Norm Eckenrode, Past Board Chair Jim Ferryman, Chairman, OMTS Committee (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS OTHERS PRESENT: Thomas L. Woodruff, General Counsel Don Hughes Darrel Cohoon STAFF PRESENT: Blake Anderson, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Director of Technical Services Bob Ooten, Director of Operations and Maintenance Gary Streed, Director of Finance/Treasurer Jim Herberg, Engineering Manager Jean Tappan, Committee Secretary FILED tN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY ORANGE rr-• ·~·-··' "' •nnTinN DISTRICT MAY 2 6 2004 . ~f. DY ~--~-·~~-·---~----·· There were no comments by any member of the public. (4) SPECIAL CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 4:10 p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Section 54957, to discuss General Counsel Services. Minutes of the Closed Session are on file with the Board Secretary. At 5:05p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. The Chair reported that a full discussion occurred among the Committee Members, General Counsel, General Manager, and Consultant Cohoon on the issues of quality of service and overall total costs to the District for legal services, including litigation. The Board expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the excellent quality of Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 2 April 28, 2004 service provided to the Board and Staff by the General Counsel and other attorneys and support staff of his Firm. The Committee also expressed satisfaction with the amounts expended for legal services per year, but requested the General Counsel to provide an annual written report of activities, expenses, and analysis. The Committee requested a report from the General Manager after six months of the District's new employee/Contracts Administrator assuming responsibility for all contracts administration, including construction to assess if any cost savings are realized. (5) RECEIVE, FILE AND APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the March 24, 2004 Steering Committee meeting were approved as drafted. (6) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR Committee Chair Shirley McCracken reminded the Steering Committee members that nominations for Board Chair would be opened at the May 26, 2004 meeting with elections scheduled for the June 23, 2004 meeting. The Meeting Reimbursements/Compensation Subcommittee, General Counsel and staff reported on the major changes to the proposed ordinance and resolutions pertaining to directors' compensation and policies. The proposed change in the number of compensable meetings detailed in Ordinance OCSD-14 was discussed and no agreement among the Directors was reached. Chair McCracken further reported that a pending legislative Bill (Senate Bill1272-Ortiz) was directly addressing this subject and General Counsel recommended taking no action until the future of that Bill and any changes to State law are known. MOVED, SECONDED AND APPROVED TO: Convey Report from the Steering Committee to the Board at its May 26, 2004 regular meeting, recommending adoption of a Resolution re Rules of Procedure and a Resolution re Expense Reimbursement Policies. The proposed repeal of Ordinance OCSD-14 and adoption of a new Ordinance re maximum number of meetings will not be acted upon by the Steering Committee, awaiting action on the Ortiz bill. (7) REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER A. June 23. 2004 Steering Committee start time-change to 4 p.m. to accommodate 50th Anniversary Reception General Manager Blake Anderson asked to change the June 23, 2004 Steering Committee meeting start time to 4 p.m. to accommodate the 50 1h Anniversary reception planned for 6 p.m., prior to the Board meeting. The Directors agreed to the change. B. Tax Revenue Take by State Mr. Anderson provided updated information on the possibility of the State taking a portion of special districts' ad valorem real property tax revenues. The Governor has indicated that if the State takes the revenue for two years, a constitutional amendment would be proposed and actively supported by the Governor, to protect those agencies from future 'takes.' This could mean a reduction in revenues of between $16-33 million per year to OCSD. With the proposed increase in user fees, there will be a shortfall of between $2 -19 million per year. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 3 April 28, 2004 C. Late Breaking News (if any) re GWRS Bid Award for Advance Water Purification Facilities There was no additional news. D. In-County Biosolids Management Option: News on South County Proposal Mr. Anderson reported on an issue that arose today with the County of Orange IWMA. Staff planned to oppose the proposed composting facility at Prima Descheca in closed session with a subcommittee of the IWMA Board without ever consulting with the agencies involved. The meeting did not comply with Brown Act requirements and our representative and others were told not to attend. After discussions with Supervisor Silva's office, the item was removed from the agenda and the report will be modified to include support for the project by the cities of San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. It will then be presented to IWMA management for review before moving forward. E. Article re Under/Over Charging User Fees Mr. Anderson commented on the e-mail and newspaper articles on the protest of the District's Sanitary Sewer Service Charges Program. He indicated that there are problems with the non-residential codes developed and assigned by the County of Orange to some properties, but that a staff driven process has been developed to improve the data base and manage the program on an annual basis. A consultant could be hired to do this, but Mr. Anderson stated that he is convinced the District can do it cheaper and better. The FAHR Committee is considering the program and should be making a decision on moving forward within the next two months. (8) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Tom Woodruff did not make a report. (9) DISCUSSION ITEMS (Items A-B) A. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in May were reviewed. B. The agenda items scheduled to be presented to the Board at tonight's meeting were reviewed. (10) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY There was no other business discussed. (11) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR WOULD LIKE STAFF TO REPORT ON AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING There were none. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 4 April 28, 2004 (12) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR MAY WISH TO PLACE ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR ACTION AND/OR STAFF REPORT There were none. (13) CONSIDERATION OF UPCOMING MEETINGS The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26, 2004 at 5 p.m. The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26, 2004 at 7 p.m. (14) CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 6:20p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Sections 54956.9{c), 54957.6 and 54957.8, to discuss anticipated litigation, employee compensation and benefit matters and a real property issue. 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. H:\deptlagenda\Steering Committee\04\Apr\042804 SC Minutes-Revised. doc