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Home My WebLink About08-22-2007 Steering Committee Minutes. MINUTES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING Or~nge County Sanitation District Wednesday, August 22, 2007, at 5:30p.m. A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District was held on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 5:30p.m., in the District's Administrative Office. (1) A quorum was declared present, as follows: STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Directors Present: Jim Ferryman, Chair Doug Davert, Vice Chair Mark Waldman, Administration Committee Chair Larry Crandall, Operations Committee Chair Steve Anderson Cathy Green Phil Luebben OTHERS PRESENT: Bradley R. Hogin, General Counsel Heather Dion Ryal Wheeler Juanita Skillman (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PRO TEM No appointment was necessary. (3) PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. (4) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CHAIR DIRECTORS ABSENT STAFF PRESENT: Jim Ruth, General Manager Bob Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager Nick Arhontes, Director of Operations and Maintenance Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance and Administrative Services Michael Gold, Legislative Affairs Liaison Jeff Reed, Human Resources Manager Penny Kyle, Clerk of the Board THFILE0D IN THE OFFICE OF IE LEAK OF THE BOARD ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION OISTRIC1 SEP 2 6 2007 BY:_t._· ._<._~ -- Chair Jim Ferryman reported he requested Directors compensation be listed on the agenda for discussion, noting that it had been a few years since the issue was considered. He requested staff to conduct a survey of local agencies and submit an agenda report for discussion at the September meeting. Director Ferryman noted that Celeste Cantu, SAWPA General Manager, would be providing a \ Minutes of the Steering Committee August22,2007 Page 2 watershed presentation at the Board of Directors meeting that evening; and Directors Crandall and Green attended the CASA conference in San Diego and received the CASA 2007 Public Education and Outreach Award on behalf of the District for the Residential Fog Can Campaign. (5) REPORT OF GENERAL MANAGER Mr. Ruth reported briefly on the Workers Compensation Plan; Succession Plan, NWRI Panel Review; Safety study, and the success of the Contractors' Open House. (6) REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel, Brad Hogin, reported that the U.S. District Court granted summary judgment in favor of OCSD and other plaintiffs on two claims in City of Los Angeles v. Kern County. The case involved a challenge to Kern County's Measure E. Adopted by the voters in 2006, Measure E banned the land application of biosolids in the unincorporated areas of Kern County. The Court ruled that Measure E violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Court also ruled that Measure E was preempted by the California Integrated Waste Management Act. The Court will presumably permanently enjoin the implementation of Measure E, allowing the Sanitation District to continue using Tule Ranch for biosolids application. This will save the Sanitation District as much as $1 million per year. Kern County will probably appeal the ruling. Legal costs for the defense amounted to about $75,000, which was $25,000 below estimated legal costs. (7) ACTION ITEMS a. MOVED, SECONDED AND DULY CARRIED: Approve minutes of the July 18, 2007 Steering Committee meeting. (8) INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. Legislative Affairs Report: Christopher Townsend and Heather Dion from Townsend Public Affairs provided an update on State Legislative items including the recently passed State Budget and the status of the Water Bond implementation Legislation. Michael Gold provided an update on Federal legislative matters and the District's design-build legislation, SB 645. b. The agenda items scheduled to be presented to the Board at the August 22, 2007 meeting were reviewed. c. The agenda items scheduled to be presented at the Operations Committee meeting on August 29, 2007, and the Administration Committee meeting on September 12, 2007, were reviewed. Minutes of the Steering Committee August22,2007 Page 3 (9) CLOSED SESSION The Steering Committee convened at 6:09 p.m. in Closed Session, pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b )(1) and 54957.6 to discuss two matters. Agenda Item No . 9(a)(3) was not discussed. 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 Clerk of the Board in the Official Book of Confidential Minutes of Board and Committee Closed Meetings. At 6:25 p.m., the Committee reconvened in regular session. (10) OTHER BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS. IF ANY 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 MEETING The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. (13) ADJOURNMENT The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Submitted by: Clerk of the Board < H:\dept\agenda\Steering Committee\2007\0907\ltem 7(a).082207 Steering Minutes .doc