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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-20 Board Minutes 1 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BOARD MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OTAY WATER DISTRICT April 22, 2020 1. At the request of President Croucher, General Manager Jose Martinez called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Directors Present: Croucher, Gastelum, Robak, Smith, and Thompson Staff Present: General Manager Jose Martinez, General Counsel Dan Shinoff, General Counsel Jeanne Blumenfeld, Chief Financial Officer Joe Beachem, Chief of Operations Pedro Porras, Chief of Engineering Rod Posada, Chief of Administration and Information Technology Adolfo Segura, Asst. Chief of Finance Kevin Koeppen, Asst. Chief of Engineering, Dan Martin, District Secretary Susan Cruz and others per attached list. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA A motion was made by Director Smith, seconded by Director Robak and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Directors Croucher, GasteIum, Robak, Smith and Thompson Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: None to approve the agenda. 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – OPPORTUNITY FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY SUBJECT MATTER WITHIN THE BOARD'S JURISDICTION BUT NOT AN ITEM ON TODAY'S AGENDA No one wished to be heard. 6. DISCUSS OTAY WATER DISTRICT’S CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESPONSE General Manager Jose Martinez presented an update of how the District is responding to the Federal, State and Local Orders and indicated that there are no issues with the District’s water supply. Chief Financial Officer Joe Beachem provided to the board a Collections and Bad Debt Exposure handout with information on the number of lockable accounts for 2 both property owners and tenants. It was noted that lockable accounts started at zero on March 1, 2020. As of March 31, 2020, there was a total of 276 lockable accounts. By April 22, 2020, an additional 439 lockable accounts were reported. Also reported to the board was the total amount of waived penalties, which was $61,519.00 as of April 22, 2020. Director Thompson requested that staff provide the number of accounts that were locked each month during the prior year to establish a baseline and compare it to this year’s number of lockable accounts. He would like to get a general idea of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the District’s customers. Customer Service Manager Andrea Carey indicated that an average of 200 to 225 accounts are typically locked every month. Staff responded to additional comments and questions from the board. It was noted that staff is making every effort to help minimize costs for both the District and its customers. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION 7. CLOSED SESSION The board recessed to closed session at 12:41 p.m. to discuss the following matter: a) EMERGENCY DISCUSSION RELATING TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) AND PUBLIC SERVICES [GOVERNMENT CODE §54957] RETURN TO OPEN SESSION 8. REPORT ON ANY ACTIONS TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION. THE BOARD MAY ALSO TAKE ACTION ON ANY ITEMS POSTED IN CLOSED SESSION The board reconvened from closed session at 1:15 p.m. and General Counsel Dan Shinoff reported that the board took no reportable actions in closed session. 9. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the board, President Croucher adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m. ___________________________________ President ATTEST: District Secretary SC:TRK