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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-2011 Board Agenda Packet - Special Meeting SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT 2011 Strategic Plan Board Workshop Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 5:00 OCSD Board Room, Administrative Offices, 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 Pledge of Allegiance and Welcome Larry R. Crandall, Chairman Opening Remarks Jim Ruth, General Manager Public Comments 1. Where We Are Today – a Progress Update on Strategic Plan Goals Bob Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager 2. Strategic Issues Executive Management Team · Biosolids Jim Herberg, Assistant General Manager & Director of Engineering · Urban Runoff Nick Arhontes, Director of Facilities Support Services · Ocean Outfall/Disinfection Ed Torres, Director of Operations & Maintenance · Leadership of the Future Jeff Reed, Director of Human Resources · Rates Lorenzo Tyner, Director of Finance & Administrative Services 3. Board of Directors – Roles and Responsibilities Larry R. Crandall, Chairman 4. Discussion and Direction to Staff Board of Directors 5. Adjourn 10/19/2011 Page 2 of 2 Accommodations for the Disabled: The Board of Directors Meeting Room is wheelchair accessible. If you require any special disability related accommodations, please contact the Orange County Sanitation District Clerk of the Board’s office at (714) 593-7130 at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. Requests must specify the nature of the disability and the type of accommodation requested. Agenda Posting: In accordance with the requirements of California Government Code Section 54954.2, this agenda has been posted in the main lobby of the District’s Administrative offices not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting date and time above. All public records relating to each agenda item, including any public records distributed less than 72 hours prior to the meeting to all, or a majority of all, of the members of District’s Board, are available for public inspection in the office of the Clerk of the Board, located at 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, California. Meeting Adjournment: This meeting may be adjourned to a later time and items of business from this agenda may be considered at the later meeting by Order of Adjournment and Notice in accordance with Government Code Section 54955 (posted within 24 hours). NOTICE TO DIRECTORS: To place items on the agenda for the Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors, items shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Board 14 days before the meeting. Maria E. Ayala Clerk of the Board (714) 593-7130 mayala@ocsd.com Revisiting OCSD’s 95 percent Recycling Level of Service for Biosolids Management Should OCSD consider landfill options for biosolids? Why is this issue important to the District? OCSD’s Board Resolution (OCSD 06-10) supports biosolids reuse and encourages its member agencies to use OCSD compost. This policy is implemented through a 95 percent recycling Level of Service goal. OCSD’s solids are increasing from a historic average of 650 tons per day to a peak of about 800 tons per day until dewatering centrifuges are installed at both plants and the Irvine Ranch Water District manages its own solids. These projects are all scheduled for completion by 2017. The use of in-county landfills for OCSD’s biosolids could potentially reduce the costs of managing solids during this interim period. Goals · Use landfills as a biosolids management option during the interim peak production period when there is a clear advantage to OCSD to do so. Clear advantages include: costs, problems with existing contractors, weather, and other management challenges. · Change short term diversion goals to allow greater amounts of biosolids going to the landfill during the interim period. · Continue to investigate and evaluate the use of landfills as a biosolids management option and at the same time consider the triple bottom line (environmental, financial, and societal), State of California’s recycling policies, greenhouse gas emissions, and our recent survey of stakeholders to prioritize biosolids management. · Recognize that there is an interest by the County of Orange to work with OCSD to utilize local landfills as a potential biosolids management option. · Continue dialogue with the County of Orange and local agencies to build relationships and partnerships for local landfill options. · Utilize landfills that use biogas recovery and energy production. Desired outcome · Allow the use of landfills as a biosolids management options during the interim peak production period. · Develop a biosolids management strategy that benefits both OCSD and local county landfills. · Continue recycling biosolids and utilizing them for their nutrients, carbon sequestration, and energy values. · Maintain a diversity of biosolids options. · Maintain operational flexibility. · Maintain fail-safe biosolids management options and capacity, including locally. Full-Cost Recovery: Urban Runoff Diversion Program Should OCSD charge the County of Orange the cost of providing urban runoff treatment or continue to absorb the costs within our budget? Why is this issue important to the District? In September 2000, the Board of Directors adopted a dry weather urban runoff policy to assist in remediation of the public health and environmental problems associated with urban runoff. The original resolution and its subsequent amendment, (Resolution No. 01-07), initially waived all fees and charges associated with the urban runoff discharges for flows below 4 million gallons per day (MGD). During the past 11 years, the District has treated a total of 5.8 billion gallons of urban runoff from the City of Huntington Beach, Orange County Public Works, City of Newport Beach, Irvine Ranch Water District, and The Irvine Company. The District’s urban runoff treatment cost for 2010-2011 was $976,593 based upon a reported discharge flow of 538 million gallons. These treatment costs are projected to increase steadily. While the program has been successful in reducing beach contamination, OCSD continues to provide benefits to agencies without capturing the cost of delivering this service, while our costs increase as we move to full secondary treatment in 2012. The Board of Directors directed staff to review this matter during its discussion of the 2010 strategic plan update and to return with a recommendation for this year’s strategic plan update. Because of the current economic environment, OCSD must review this program and ensure that our agreements provide full cost recovery for the treatment of urban runoff from participating agencies and cities. Goals · Meet with participating agencies and cities to explain the issues and costs associated with the current Urban Runoff Diversion Program. · Amend the District’s Fee Ordinance to include Urban Runoff User charges to the appropriate agency or agencies. · Recover the cost of providing the service from the agencies currently receiving the benefit. Desired Outcome · Charge the County of Orange, the NPDES permit holder of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), for Urban Runoff costs starting July 1, 2013 when the new rate structure is in place. Evaluation of Natural Community Decline Around Ocean Outfall Should OCSD reconsider its use of chlorine disinfection? Why is this issue important to District? The Clean Water Act requires the District to protect the natural communities that live around the ocean outfall pipe. Communities of small animals that live in the sediments in the vicinity of the outfall pipe began changing in 2005, and showed significant degradation by 2009. Changes in small animal populations have been seen up to one-half mile beyond the pipe. The District is at risk of being non-compliant with its ocean discharge permit requirements unless this trend is reversed. Ocean monitoring data shows this trend is not caused by usual sewage contaminants and is not the result of natural changes occurring in the ocean environment. There are no discernible changes over time in animal populations at clean reference areas, nor are other treatment plants (POTWs) experiencing similar occurrences, including those POTWs that disinfect their effluent. There appears to be a strong correlation between these changes and the District’s use of chlorine as a disinfectant. Total chlorine use and daily maximum chlorine residual concentrations correlate to the changes we are seeing in the communities of small animals. The use of chlorine as an anti-fouling agent for the Groundwater Replenishment System’s (GWRS) reverse osmosis membrane filters may also be a contributing factor. There is also a correlation with decreased final effluent flows discharged out the ocean outfall as a result of water going to GWRS. If chlorine byproducts, and their interactions with the more concentrated solids during periods of low flow, are determined to be significant causes of these changes, staff would recommend discontinuing effluent disinfection to eventually reverse these adverse effects in the ocean around our outfall. Such a recommendation would be controversial because some interest groups believe disinfection prevents beach water contamination, despite evidence to the contrary. Goals · Determine if chlorine is the cause of the decline and changes in animal communities near the outfall. · Develop and implement mitigation strategies to reverse the decline. · Communicate results to regulators and stakeholders and seek approval to cease chlorine disinfection if shown to be the cause. Desired Outcomes · Definitive identification of the source(s) of the decline and changes. · Successful mitigation of the cause(s). · Return affected area to reference conditions. Leadership of the Future Should OCSD continue devoting resources toward leadership development programs to meet future challenges of employee attrition? Why is this issue important to the District? During the past year, we have experienced increasing numbers of employees retiring, resulting in a rapid loss of institutional knowledge. We expect this trend to continue. Currently, 56 percent of all managers and supervisors are eligible to retire. Five year projections indicate that the retirement eligibility trend will continue. The Board has indicated that future leadership is important to maintaining service levels and ensuring our continued success. Building a bench of leaders is an important initiative that helps meet this challenge of staff attrition. The retirement impact coincides with plans to reduce the overall number of OCSD management positions; a direction given by the Board to maintain our financial strength and sustainability. While these events are complementary, they emphasize the importance of developing a pool of individuals who possess skillful and competent abilities to be eligible to compete for future leadership positions. Leadership development efforts can also aid in retaining talent. Goals · Apply Workforce Planning Assessments to advanced development efforts. · Strengthen staffing processes. · Improve talent management programs. · Increase accessibility of leadership development programs. · Support initiatives that provide the essential skills needed to develop successful leaders. · Ensure programs reinforce core values, promote fairness and equity, and are inclusive and open to all. · Partner with other organizations to share resources aimed at leadership development. Desired outcome · Enhance and accelerate the development of diverse, dedicated, and talented employees ready to lead OCSD into the future. Updating the Sewer Service Fee Five-Year Rate Plan Should OCSD develop a new five-year rate plan in 2013? Why is this issue important to the District? Long-term financial planning is critical to meeting the objectives of the District’s long-term strategic plan. In February 2008, the Board approved a five-year rate plan to meet the objectives of the five-year strategic plan including the design and construction of full secondary treatment facilities by December 2012 as mandated by the U. S. Court Consent Decree. This rate plan is set to expire June 30, 2013. As a result, the District will need to establish a new rate plan. The benefits of implementing a five-year rate plan include the assurance that funding will be available to support the initiatives contained within the five-year strategic plan. It also provides our rate payers the ability to plan for future business expenses and personal finances. Approving a five-year rate plan for sewer service fees is fiscally advisable considering the preparation and cost of annual public notices to our 550,000 rate payers. Lastly, it provides sustainability of wastewater collection and treatment services into the future. Goals · Identify key stakeholders impacted by sewer service fee rates and develop an outreach strategy. · Prepare an updated sewer service fee rate study for the regional and local areas served. · Utilizing the sewer service fee rate study, update the 10-year forecast. · Prepare a Proposition 218 Notice which includes sewer service fee rates for the next five years. · Present the proposed five-year sewer service fee rate schedule to the Board for approval. Desired outcome · The establishment of a new five-year sewer service fee rate schedule that balances users fees, service levels and the use of debt to ensure the sustainability of the Orange County Sanitation District.