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Home My WebLink About01-24-2007 Steering Committee MinutesMINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Orange County Sanitation District Wednesday, January 24, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at 5:00p.m ., in the District's Administrative Office. (1) The roll was called and a quorum declared present, as follows: STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Directors Present: Jim Ferryman, Chair Doug Davert, Vice Chair Mark Waldman, F&A Committee Chair Larry Crandall, E&O Committee Chair Steve Anderson, Past Board Chair Phil Luebben, F&A Committee Vice Chair Cathy Green, E&O Committee Vice Chair DIRECTORS ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT: Bradley R. Hagin, General Counsel Craig Farrington, Counsel Terry Andrus, Counsel Scott Baugh, Lobbyist Holly Fraumeni, Lobbyist Jackie Nutting, ABC Eric Christen, CFEC Deborah Chadwick, Court Reporter (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PROTEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS STAFF PRESENT: Jim Ruth, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager Nick Arhontes, Director of Operations and Maintenance Ed Torres, Director of Technical Services Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance and Administrative Services John Linder, Engineering Manager Jim Burrer, Engineering Supervisor Michael Gold, Legislative Affairs Liaison Gail Garrett, Committee Secretary Mahin Talebi, Source Control Manager Martin Hall, Associate Engineer David Francis, Source Control Inspector Kelly Christensen, Source Control Supervisor Kim Christensen, Lab Supervisor Angela Brandt, Accounting Supervisor Kelly Ross, Senior Laboratory Analyst Chris Pelletier, Maintenance Specialist Juanita Skillman, Records Management Specialist George Rivera, Security Specialist ~U.~D IN Tl;t_li, ~eJ~E QF oRl~Ke~~~M-'§fNMfflo~9>'tr2cr FEB 28 2007 BY:._--'/_)_(v-_. --- Jackie Nutting, Government Affairs Director for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Southern California Chapter, provided comments re design build and asked the Board to consider a draft resolution she provided. Eric Christen, Executive Director, Coalition of Fair Employment (CFEC), provided copies of IBEW Proposed Electrical Safety ordinance and email correspondence from Doug Chappel, IBEW, to District's General Manager, Jim Ruth . Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 2 January 24, 2007 General Manager Jim Ruth reported that, as a result of Mr. Chappell's demand that the RFP stipulation mandate all projects over $200,000, he and District staff have cut off negotiations with IBEW at this time. He and Michael Gold, Legislative Affairs Liaison, will meet with IBEW representatives in the next 30 days to resume negotiations and explore other possible options. (4) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR Chair Ferryman announced the 2007 CASA Washington DC Conference March 12-14. Notify Gail Garrett, Committee Secretary, if you will be attending the conference. Steve Anderson, Darryl Miller, and staff attended the January CASA Conference in Indian Wells, California. Mr. Anderson will provide a report to the Board tonight. Mr. Ferryman, Mr. Ruth, and Dr. Ghirelli met with the new General Manager and several SAWPA board members last week to discuss the SARI line relocation. Mr. Ferryman explained his goal is to work closely with the SAWPA board and staff to ensure that the project stays on track and to develop a financial plan to pay for the relocation. Chair Ferryman announced the upcoming committee meetings for February and the special New Board Member Orientation workshop scheduled for Thursday, February 1 from 8:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. (5) REPORT OF GENERAL MANAGER Mr. Ruth provided highlights of his activities for the past year in his January Status Report, which was included with the Board package. (6) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Brad Hog in explained that he will be recusing himself from the Hawk Industrial Uniform appeal hearing. Craig Farrington will prosecute the appeal and Terry Andrus will advise the Steering Committee during this hearing. Mr. Hogin exited the room at 5:47p.m. (7) CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS a. MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED: Approve minutes of the December 20, 2006 Steering Committee meeting. END OF CONSENT CALENDAR (8) ACTION ITEMS a. Hawk Industrial Uniform Appeal Hearing Mr. Ferryman announced the appeal by Hawk Industrial Uniform Company of the General Manager's decision to suspend Hawk's Wastewater Discharge Permit and Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 3 January 24, 2007 impose fees and penalties for alleged violations of the District's Wastewater Discharge Regulations. He explained the proceeding is governed by the Rules of Procedure adopted by Resolution No. OCSD 98-13 and transcribed by a certified court reporter. Mr. Ferryman declared the hearing open at 5:50 p.m. Craig Farrington, staff counsel, explained he would prosecute the appeal hearing and introduced Ms . Deborah Chadworth, court reporter, who will provide a transcript of the hearing to be received and filed at a later meeting. No one appeared for the Permittee. Staff provided a brief presentation outlining the measures taken to enforce compliance by the permittee . Three documents, Exhibits "I" and "J ", and the proposed decision and findings, were introduced and placed in the record. Mr. Ferryman called a five-minute recess at 6:01 p.m . for the Steering Committee to review the proposed decision and findings provided by staff counsel. Mr. Ferryman declared the hearing closed at 6:10 p.m . MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED: (1) Adopt the prepared Decision and Findings submitted by staff to uphold the determination of the General Manager and the monetary penalties in the amount of $126,293.23 and that the permit suspension shall continue for a minimum of thirty (30) days and until the total amount of $126,293.23 is received by the District, and until all necessary pretreatment equipment is installed and fully operational to District Staff's satisfaction; and, (2) Authorize Counsel to proceed immediately with filing a court order with contempt power (or a writ) enforcing immediate shutdown of Hawk's facilities. After being advised by Ms. Mahin Talebi that the District has the authority to administratively terminate Hawk's permit and shut down his facility to stop further contamination, it was then: MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED: Staff was further directed to terminate Hawk Industrial Uniform's permit and shut down the Hawk Industrial Uniform facility immediately. Mr. Hagin returned at 6:15p.m. b. Design-Build Legislation Michael Gold provided an update on recent staff meetings with union representatives and explained the practical limits of IBEW's request to apply apprenticeship training requirements to all projects, not only those over $10 million as originally proposed. Staff will continue to actively seek possible solutions to the union requests and work towards passing a bill granting design-build authority. Scott Baugh and Holly Fraumeni answered Directors questions and gave them a political perspective on the design-build issue. Mr. Baugh added that Senator Lou Correa, and Assemblymen Mike Duvall and Jim Silva, having been past District Board members, would reject ABC's letter to Orange County legislators implying the District had entered into inappropriate negotiations with the unions. Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 4 January 24, 2007 Mr. Baugh suggested the Steering Committee allow staff to introduce a bill to meet statutory deadlines and explained that changes could easily be made after the Steering Committee meets on February 28. It was then: MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED : Direct staff to (a) continue to negotiate with the unions and others, and (b) introduce des~n-build legislation to keep the District's options open and meet the February 23r filing deadline. (9) INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. Proposed Annexation No. OCSD-60-Lemon Heights Annexation Jim Burrer, Engineering Supervisor, informed that staff will be requesting the Board to approve the annexation of 70 properties in the Lemon Heights area at a cost of $26,000. These costs will be reimbursed by the property owners when they connect to a sewer. Estimated fees to be collected from the 70 property owners in the future is approximately $605,000 . b. The Agenda Items scheduled to be reviewed by the Board's working committees in February were reviewed. c. The agenda items scheduled to be presented to the Board at the January 24, 2007 meeting were reviewed. (10) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY There were none. (11) MATTERS WHICH A DIRECTOR WOULD LIKE STAFF TO REPORT ON AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING There were none. (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, February 28, 2007 at 5 p .m . The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 7 p.m. (14) CLOSED SESSION The Committee convened at 6:28p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Sections 54957(b)(1 ), 54956.9(b), and 54956.9(a) to discuss four matters. Minutes of the Closed Session are on file with the Clerk of the Board. Confidential Minutes of the Closed Session held by the Steering Minutes of the Steering Committee Page 5 January 24, 2007 Committee have been prepared in accordance with Government Code Section 54957.2, and are maintained by the Clerk of the Board 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 6:40p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. (15) ADJOURNMENT The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:40p.m. Submitted by: Gfzr;e Steering Committee Secretary H :\dept\agenda\Commfttees\Steering Commfftee\2006\Minutes\ 122006 SC Minutes. doc