Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-10-11 - Board of Directors Meeting MinutesPage 4136 October 11, 2001 MINUTES OF THE YORBA LINDA WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 11, 2001 The October 11, 2001 regular meeting of the Yorba Linda Water District Board of Directors was called to order by President Paul Armstrong at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was held at District Headquarters, 4622 Plumosa Drive, Yorba Linda. Directors Present at Roll Call Paul R. Armstrong, President Arthur C. Korn, Vice President Mark Abramowitz John W. Summerfield Directors Absent at Roll Call Michael J. Beverage Staff Present: William J. Robertson, General Manager Edward Bertrand, District Counsel Lee Cory, Operations Manager Beverly Meza, Business Manager Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager Michael Robinson, Assistant Administrator Ken Vecchiarelli, Engineering Manager Amelia Cloonan, Executive Secretary Visitors resent: Katherine Beseau, Moreland & Associates Michael Moreland, Moreland & Associates Brett Barbre, MWDOC Director INTRODUCTION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Brett Barbre reported on the rate structure for MWD. CONSENT CALENDAR President Armstrong noted there was a request to pull Items 5 and 6 of the Consent Calendar. On a motion by Director Abramowitz, seconded by Vice President Korn, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to approve Items 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Consent Calendar. 1. Approve minutes of the regular meeting, 2. Authorize directors to leave the State of California prior to next meeting. 3. Approve disbursements of $557,472.09. 4. Approve Progress Payment No. 1 in the net amount of $55,066.50 to Valverde Construction Inc. for construction of the Avocado Avenue Pipeline Replacement. Page 4137 October 11, 2001 ACTION CALENDAR 5. Approve expenditure of $4,900.00 for District jackets. Director Abramowitz inquired about the purpose of purchasing jackets for all staff. There was a lengthy discussion. Director Abramowitz moved to approve expenditure of the funds for uniformed staff members only. The motion died for lack of a second. Vice President Korn believed there is image enhancement for those in the field coupled with team building for all staff. Since, by oversight, the item was not included in the budget, it must come back to the Board of Directors. On a motion by President Armstrong, seconded by Vice President Korn, the Board of Directors voted 3-1, with Director Abramowitz voting No, to approve the expenditure of $4,900.00 for purchase of District jackets. 6. Approve rejecting and referring the damage claim filed by Deborah E. Kennedy to Albert W. Davies, Inc. in the amount of $500.00. Director Abramowitz asked if there is a way to handle this type of claim other than to reject and refer to our insurance carrier. If not, is it possible to explain that this is how we go through the process? Michael Payne responded our insurance carrier recommends all claims be rejected and referred. There are also legal and time sensitive issues, which must be taken into consideration. The District Risk Management Manual includes a standard letter that was approved and authorized for use. On a motion by Director Abramowitz, seconded by Vice President Korn, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to approve rejecting and referring the damage claim filed by Deborah E. Kennedy to Albert W. Davies, Inc. in the amount of $500.00. Brett Barbre left the meeting at 8:45 a.m. 7. Consider acceptance of the Audited Financial Statements for Twelve months ended June 30, 2001. Beverly Meza, Business Manager, turned over the presentation to Katherine Beseau and Michael Moreland of Moreland and Associates. Katherine Beseau complimented staff for their cooperation. She reported on what they looked at in the audit and the controls present, and she referred to the Management Letter provided to the members of the Board of Directors, dated August 17. Questions were asked, and a discussion was held. On a motion by Vice President Korn, seconded by Director Summerfield, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to accept the Audited Financial Statements for the twelve months ended June 30, 2001. Katherine Beseau, Michael Moreland and Beverly Meza left the meeting at 9:07 a.m. . Page 413 8 October 11, 2001 8. Consider approval of services for the Richfield Transmission Main Project, Job No. 9414. Ken Vecchiarelli, Engineering Manager, reported. Questions were asked, and a discussion was held. Areas of interest included inquiries as to the quality of work performed and the connection of the 26" line across a city storm drain. William Robertson and Kenneth Vecchiarelli met with the owner of A.W. Davies and his son to negotiate outstanding items Vice President Korn requested that the Minutes reflect the cost over budget is in the area of 28%, not 33%. On a motion by Vice President Korn, seconded by Director Abramowitz, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to approve services for the Richfield Transmission Main Project: 1. Progress Payment No. 14 and Change Order No. 7, in the net amount of $171,726.55, to Albert W. Davies for construction services; and 2. Amendment to the Consultant Agreements with Parsons Engineering Science, Inc. in the amount of $28,340 for engineering design, construction management and inspection services. 9. Consider a Lease Agreement with the Amateur Radio Group of Yorba Linda, Yorba Linda RACES. (Continued from September 25, 2001) William Robertson asked this item be continued. Michael Payne is still inquiring about who the responsible signator of the agreement should be since this a volunteer group. The City believes they should be the signator. The question is being referred back to the Personnel Risk Management Committee. President Armstrong declared a recess at 9:35 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 9:46 a.m. with all Directors present. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT 10. General Manager's oral report and comments. a) Report by General Counsel. Edward Bertrand was present for McCormick, Kidman and Behrens. He had nothing to report. b) Heritage Days, October 13, 2001. Michael Robinson, Assistant Administrator, reported. Director Mark Abramowitz will attend. The parade route has been altered. The truck will be in place at 8:30 a.m. at Kraemer and Madison. The parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. Mike asks everyone from the District be in place by 9:00 a.m. There will not be a booth. c) Fiesta Days, October 27, 2001. Michael Robinson, Assistant Administrator, reported the District's float celebrates the 200th anniversary of Bernardo Yorba. The float will include the fagade of an adobe building and people dressed in early California clothing. An information booth will be located at the Nixon Library. Page 4139 October 11, 2001 d) Report on Cal-OSHA inspection. William Robertson, General Manager, reported there were letters included in the Board mail packet regarding the inspection of the process safety management. The District may have some issues on paperwork. It could be six months before the District receives a final report. Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Orange County Water District were also inspected. Director Abramowitz asked if these were issues that came out of new regulations. William Robertson responded that as best we know this is a spot check of chlorine users. The Fire Authority also performs inspections for different reasons. Certificates of training for staff need to be in the files. There are issues of testing for training to make sure the training is effective. Question is do we compile the test or do we have a packaged test? e) District activities. Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager, reported the repairs to the cellular "tree" tower at Highland Reservoir are complete. William Robertson reported on the receipt of an ACWA notice of suspension of chlorine shipments. Rick Walkemeyer, Chief Plant Operator, immediately ordered a shipment, which the vendor could supply by Wednesday. Thursday morning, October 11, notice was received that chlorine shipments could be resumed. There was a discussion of chlorine related issues. William Robertson reported receipt of a notice regarding a possible tampering at a South County water agency. Staff has increased the frequency of physical investigations of reservoir sites. Michael Payne noted there is a meeting scheduled with Brea Police for Tuesday, October 16. COMMITTEE REPORTS 11. Executive-Administration Committee (Armstrong/Kom) 12. Finance-Accounting Committee (KomBeverage) A report of the meeting held October 3, 2001, 9:00 a.m., was attached to the agenda. Auditor review, water rates, developer fees, customer service fees, and other fees were discussed. 13. Personnel-Risk Management Committee (Abramowitz/Armstrong) A meeting was scheduled for October 17, 2001, 9:00 a.m. Personnel rules, recruitment, risk management update, contract employees. 14. Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee (Beverage/Summerfield) A meeting was scheduled for either October 17 or October 18, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. Page 4140 October 11, 2001 15. Public Information Committee (Abramowitz/Summerfield) A report of the meeting held October 4, 2001, 4:00 p.m., was attached to the agenda. Annual report, District survey, Fiesta Days, Heritage Days, and the District tour were discussed. President Armstrong asked about the District tours. Michael Robinson reported MWD has shut down access to their facilities for the future. The Richfield Plant is in a state of construction, and there are safety concerns. The District has suspended all tours for youth groups due to these safety issues. We will reconsider doing tours again in February at which time those whose tours were cancelled will be notified of the rescheduled tour. Directors Abramowitz and Summerfield both commented on the District survey. Since there are no major negatives, it is not particularly valuable to perform the survey at this time. 16. Orange County Water District Ad Hoc Committee (Kom/Beverage) William Robertson reported that Bill Mills gave notice he will be leaving in six months. 17. MWDOC Ad Hoc Committee (Abramowitz/Kom) INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS 18. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, September 26, 7:30 p.m. President Armstrong attended and reported there was a discussion about the Highland Reservoir "tree". There is another "tree" going up in Yorba Linda where there will be annual inspections. 19. Yorba Linda City Council, October 2, 6:30 p.m. Vice President Korn attended. A considerable amount of time was spent discussing Pulte development. The City Engineer reported on the Black Gold Golf Course. His numbers did not seem correct about water usage. The City Engineer was probably talking about a different time period, thus the discrepancy in numbers. William Robertson received a letter from the City requesting a waiver of the penalties by MWDOC. If the City sends the District a letter, and if there is a meeting required face to face, the District will facilitate that process between the City and MWDOC. 20. MWDOC/MWD, October 3, 9:00 a.m. Director Abramowitz attended. The item of most importance was a discussion of the proposed new rate structure, which may provide savings. There was a discussion of in lieu fees OCWD is able to charge. Essentially, some agencies in the OCWD area are allowed to pull directly from the MET lines and charged as if they had pulled it up. The change in rate structure may allow a change in application of in lieu fees, which may be significant for the District, whereby the District could get water at a lower rate by pulling directly from the line. 21. WACO, October 5, 7:30 a.m. Director Abramowitz did not attend as there was nothing of significant interest to the District. Page 4141 October 11, 2001 22. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, October 10, 7:30 p.m. Director Beverage was not present to report. Michael Robinson and Lee Cory left the meeting at 10:47 a.m. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIVITY CALENDAR President Armstrong asked if anyone was planning to attend the Special Districts meeting on October 25. Director Abramowitz recalled the Board had a discussion some time ago about whether the District should be a member of this group and decided not to participate. There is a conflict with the Board meeting scheduled for October 25. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS/ITEMS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION The meeting of November 20 will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the District's Boardroom. The primary topic on the agenda will be water rates. A lot of people have approached Director Abramowitz. He believes there may be a problem with enough space for the meeting. Placentia's City Engineer is extremely pleased with the work of the YLWD on maintaining their sewers, according to Director Abramowitz. Both the Costa Bill and the Kuehl Bill passed and were signed by the governor. The Costa Bill has a number of items of concern for the District. Director Abramowitz would be interested in a staff analysis of what is required as a result of this Bill. President Armstrong asked for a status report on the new payment. William Robertson said there are between 600 and 800 accounts signed up for autopay through the first billing cycle. CLOSED SESSION 23. Discussion of pending litigation to which the District is a party, (Subsection (a) of Section 54956.9), County of Orange, Central Justice Center, Case No. 815921 Huntington Beach vs. OCWD, and Case No. 818852 Fountain Valley vs. OCWD, before the Superior Court of the State of California. No Closed Session was held. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Vice President Korn, seconded by Director Summerfield, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to adjourn at 10:53 a.m. A regular meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for October 25, 2001, at 8:30 a.m. at the District Headquarters. Secretary/General Manager