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Home My WebLink About05-01-19 Board Minutes 1 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS OF THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT AND OTAY WATER DISTRICT FINANCING AUTHORITY May 1, 2019 1. The meeting was called to order by Vice President Robak at 3:34 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Directors Present: Croucher, Gastelum, Robak and Smith Directors Absent: Thompson (out-of-town prescheduled vacation) Staff Present: General Manager Mark Watton, General Counsel Dan Shinoff, Chief of Engineering Rod Posada, Chief Financial Officer Joe Beachem, Chief of Administration Adolfo Segura, Chief of Operations Pedro Porras, Asst. Chief of Engineering, Dan Martin, Asst. Chief of Finance Kevin Koeppen, Asst. Chief of Operations Jose Martinez, District Secretary Susan Cruz and others per attached list. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. MOMENT OF SILENCE A moment of silence was observed to honor the victims of the Chabad of Poway Synagogue shooting that occurred on April 27, 2019. 5. APPROVAL OF AGENDA A motion was made by Director Croucher, and seconded by Director Gastelum and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Directors Croucher, Gastelum, Robak and Smith Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: Director Thompson to approve the agenda. 6. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING OF JANUARY 2, 2019 AND SPECIAL BOARD MEETING OF JANUARY 29, 2019 A motion was made by Director Smith, and seconded by Director Gastelum and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Directors Croucher, Gastelum, Robak and Smith 2 Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: Director Thompson to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting of January 2, 2019 and special board meeting of January 29, 2019. 7. 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. CONSENT CALENDAR 8. ITEMS TO BE ACTED UPON WITHOUT DISCUSSION, UNLESS A REQUEST IS MADE BY A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OR THE PUBLIC TO DISCUSS A PARTICULAR ITEM: A motion was made by Director Smith, and seconded by Director Gastelum and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Directors Croucher, Gastelum, Robak and Smith Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: Director Thompson to approve the following consent calendar items: a) APPROVE CHANGE ORDER NOS. 4 AND 5 TO THE EXISTING CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT WITH WIER CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION FOR THE CAMPO ROAD SEWER REPLACEMENT PROJECT IN A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $70,970 b) AWARD TWO (2) PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS FOR AS- NEEDED ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES TO NV5, INC. AND RICK ENGINEERING COMPANY, EACH IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $600,000. THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE TWO (2) CONTRACTS WILL NOT EXCEED $600,000 DURING FISCAL YEARS 2020-2022 (ENDING JUNE 30, 2022) c) AWARD A CONTRACT TO KIRK PAVING IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $200,000 FOR AS-NEEDED ASPHALT PAVING SERVICES FROM JULY 1, 2019 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020 WITH FOUR (4) ONE-YEAR OPTIONS FOR RENEWAL AT THE GENERAL MANAGER’S DISCRETION d) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 4358 TO UPDATE BOARD POLICY NO. 24, “RECRUITMENT, SELECTION, AND EMPLOYMENT POLICY”, AND 3 BOARD POLICY NO. 47, “POLICY AGAINST DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, RETALIATION AND COMPLAINT PROCEDURE”; AND ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. 572 TO UPDATE CHAPTER 5, SECTION 5, OF THE DISTRICT’S CODE OF ORDINANCES, “PERSONNEL PRACTICES, EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONS”, DUE TO RECENT LEGISLATIVE CHANGES e) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 4360 AMENDING POLICY NO. 27, INVESTMENT POLICY, OF THE DISTRICT’S CODE OF ORDINANCES TO RE-DELEGATE AUTHORITY FOR ALL INVESTMENT RELATED ACTIVITIES TO THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 53607 f) ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. 574 AND RESOLUTION NO. 4362 AMENDING APPENDIX A WITH THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO VARIOUS FEES, CHARGES, AND DEPOSITS; AMENDING SECTION 33, GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR USE OF WATER METERS; AMENDING SECTION 34, ISSUANCE AND PAYMENT OF WATER BILLS; AND AMENDING POLICY 5B, RECORDS POLICY AND PROCEDURES ACCESSIBILITY, OF THE DISTRICT’S CODE OF ORDINANCES ACTION ITEMS 9. GENERAL MANAGER a) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 4363 TO AMEND POLICY NO. 46, MEDIA RELATIONS, OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CODE OF ORDINANCE Communications Officer Tenille Otero requested that the board adopt Resolution No. 4363 to amend Policy No. 46, Media Relations Policy, of the District’s Code of Ordinances. She indicated that she would be providing additional clarity on the Media Relations Policy as requested by the board. Please reference the Committee Action notes (Attachment A) attached to the staff report for the details of Ms. Otero’s presentation. A motion was made by Director Smith, and seconded by Director Croucher and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Directors Croucher, Gastelum, Robak and Smith Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: Director Thompson to approve staff’s recommendation. 10. BOARD a) DISCUSS THE 2019 BOARD MEETING CALENDAR 4 Director Smith noted that the District has a special board meeting scheduled tomorrow, May 2, to discuss the fiscal year 2020 budget. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 11. THE FOLLOWING ITEM IS PROVIDED TO THE BOARD FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO ACTION IS REQUIRED ON THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEM: a) REPORT ON THE STATUS OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH RELATED TO THE CAMPO ROAD SEWER REPLACEMENT PROJECT Communications Officer Otero provided an update regarding the community outreach program related to the Campo Road Sewer Replacement Project which is scheduled to be completed in December 2019. Please reference the Committee Action notes (Attachment A) attached to the staff report for the details of Ms. Otero’s presentation. Ms. Otero noted that the April 23 meeting date with the Jamul/Dulzura Planning Group listed on page three (3) of the staff report has been changed to May 28 as the planning group canceled the meeting due to a lack of agenda items. It was indicated that the project’s three final construction work items that are listed on page two (2) of the staff report will have minimal impact to traffic. REPORTS 12. GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT General Manager Watton presented information from his report which included an update on the employee survey, the workshop on how to do business with the Otay WD, the ID 27 tax rate, the sewer debt issuance, the AMR change outs, the sanitary sewer overflow in Rancho San Diego, Cal-American Water’s request for an emergency interconnect, water sales and purchases. Director Robak inquired if the District could start including Cal-American’s rate in the rate comparison charts that are presented during the budget workshops. Staff noted that Cal-American is a private company and indicated that they would review that possibility. Staff responded to additional questions and comments from the board. 13. SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY UPDATE Director Smith reported on information from CWA’s April 2019 board meeting that included an evaluation of space needs for CWA’s Escondido facility, that the Administrative and Finance Committee negotiated an agreement with Microsoft Office 365 and received an excellent deal, and that the Carlsbad Desalination Plant is required to continue utilizing the existing pumps for the former power plant which will increase the cost for the production of water and, thus, increase the acre foot cost of water from the desalination plant by $135. 5 Director Croucher added that they are continuing to work on the recruitment of the general manager position, and by the end of this week it is expected that they will select the firm who will assist with the recruitment. CWA is also discussing maximizing storage at the San Vicente Reservoir and power generation at the reservoir. In response to an inquiry from Director Robak, Director Croucher suggested that the District arrange a presentation of the new proposed Colorado aqueduct. He stated that it is currently only in the brainstorming stage, but it would be beneficial to get questions back to the group. 14. DIRECTORS' REPORTS/REQUESTS Director Gastelum reported that he attended the Water Conservation Garden Festival and the very first meeting of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce’s Utilities Subcommittee. Director Smith reported on meetings he attended during the month of April which included the District’s regular board meeting, the Engineering, Operations and Water Resources Committee, a meeting on CWA issues, and the East County Caucus meeting. He noted that he will be out-of-town when the next East County Caucus meeting is held and asked Director Croucher if he would like to attend the meeting in his place. 15. VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT Vice President Robak shared an article about work that needed to be done to the Lake Wohlford dam and that would require the City of Escondido to purchase $35 to $50 million in mitigation credits to mitigate for environmental issues. He lastly shared information about a project he is working on in Lakeside and that he participated in a bike ride that toured the sewer systems/large channels and tunnels in Los Angeles. Director Croucher stepped off the dias at 4:25 p.m. 16. CLOSED SESSION The board recessed to closed session at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the following matters: a) CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – PENDING LITIGATION [GOVERNMENT CODE §54956.9] MARK COZIAHR, ET AL. vs. OTAY WATER DISTRICT, SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY, ET AL.; CASE NO. 37-2015-00023413 b) CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – PENDING LITIGATION [GOVERNMENT CODE §54956.9] OTAY WATER DISTRICT v. CITY OF SAN DIEGO; CASE NO. 37-2017- 00019348-CU-WM-CTL 6 Director Croucher joined the board in closed session at 4:31 p.m. The board reconvened at 4:47 p.m. and General Counsel Dan Shinoff indicated that the board took no reportable actions in closed session. OTAY WATER DISTRICT FINANCING AUTHORITY 17. NO MATTERS TO DISCUSS There were no items scheduled for discussion for the Otay Water District Financing Authority board. 18. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Board, Vice President Robak adjourned the meeting at 4:47 p.m. ___________________________________ President ATTEST: District Secretary