Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-09 - Board of Directors Meeting Minutes2007-127 MINUTES OF THE YORBA LINDA WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING August 9, 2007 The August 9, 2007 regular meeting of the Yorba Linda Water District Board of Directors was called to order by President Ric Collett at 9:06 a.m. The meeting was held at District Headquarters, 4622 Plumosa Drive, Yorba Linda. DIRECTORS PRESENT AT ROLL CALL Ric Collett, President John W. Summerfield, Vice President Paul R. Armstrong Michael J. Beverage DIRECTORS ABSENT AT ROLL CALL William R. Mills STAFF PRESENT Michael A. Payne, General Manager Arthur G. Kidman, General Counsel Lee Cory, Operations Manager Leon de Los Reyes, Water Quality Engineer Ken Mendum, Wtr Maint Superintendent Amelia Cloonan, Exec. Secty INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS Farrah Hakimian Resident Dhiru Patolia Resident Uma Patolia Resident Susan Janowicz Operations Manager East Lake Village Community Association Don Holt Resident Jim Wohlt President East Lake Village Community Association SPECIAL RECOGNITION Water Maintenance Supervisor Mendum introduced Jaime Ruvalcaba, Maintenance Worker I, and Richard Gangloff, Maintenance Worker I, newly hired employees. Ken Mendum, Jaime Ruvalcaba and Richard Gangloff left the meeting at 9:08 a.m. CONSENT CALENDAR (Items 1 through 5) On a motion by Director Armstrong, seconded by Director Beverage, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to approve the Consent Calendar. Minutes of the Regular Board of Directors meeting held July 26, 2007. Recommendation: Approve the minutes as presented. 2. Payment of bills, refunds, and wire transfers. Recommendation: Ratify and authorize disbursements in the amount of $2,293,080,86. -1- 2007-128 3. Progress Payment Construction of New Administration Building. Recommendation: Approve Progress Payment No. 5 in the net amount of $380,165.63 to Grant General Contractors for construction of the New Administration Building, Job No. 200313. 4. Progress Payment Miraloma Avenue and Van Buren Street Storm Drain Project. Recommendation: Approve Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $29,620. 00 and a four-day extension, and Progress Payment No. 1 in the net amount of $182,178.79 to GCI Construction Inc. for construction of the Miraloma Avenue and Van Buren Street Storm Drain Project, Job No. 200614. 5. Progress Payment Construction of the Lakeview Booster Pump Station. Recommendation: Approve Progress Payment No. 15 in the net amount of $140,667.38 to Schuler Engineering for construction of the Lakeview Booster Station, Job No. 200505. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION 6. None ACTION CALENDAR 7. None DISCUSSION ITEMS 8. Status Report on East Lake Property Owners Low Water Pressure Area. General Manager Payne presented the report. He distributed a map indicating where the low water pressure areas are located. Forty of the homes were tied to a declaration of restrictive covenants, and any future homeowners were to be notified that there is a low water pressure condition present. This condition was approved by the District, developers and the City of Yorba Linda prior to the homes being built. The Board of Directors had asked staff to look at what could be done for these homeowners. A meeting was held with Jim Wohlt and Susan Janowicz. General Manager Payne stated there are four possible options. The first is to do nothing. Agreements are in place. The homeowners have a right to install booster pumps on their system. The second option is for the District to install a booster station. Land must be purchased. It would be a closed system with an estimated cost of $2,000,000. Who would pay the costs? Jim Wohlt said there were 77 responses received to a mailing sent out by the homeowners association. There was a question about why the low pressure exists. It was explained the developers were noticed before building that the elevation of some of the houses was too high and water pressure would be low. The District entered into a declaration of restrictive covenants to insure homeowners and future buyers were aware. -2- 2007-129 General Manager Payne continued with a third option, which would be to install a large diameter water main of 10, 12 or 16 inches in the area of East Lake Village shopping center. An artificial zone would be created, at a high cost, and there might be some water quality issues. The fourth option involves installing individual booster pumps at a cost of approximately $2,500 each with homeowners paying for the pump. Assistant General Manager Vecchiarelli addressed zones, pumps, checks, dead ends created in the system, water quality complications and the computer study conducted in 2003. President Collett commented it is tough to deal with what the developer did not do and try to repair it now. Dhiru Patolia and Uma Patolia left the meeting at 10:02 a.m. President Collett stated the Board has no written reports. He asked that this issue go back to the Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee so that more sound ideas and dollar amounts could be brought to the Board. Farrah Hakimian left the meeting at 10:04 a.m. Director Summerfield made a motion to take the issue back to the PEO Committee and look at all the options and schedule this to be brought back to the Board of Directors at the meeting first meeting in September. General Manager Payne stated the District is overloaded with work and does not want to promise what cannot be accomplished. Director Beverage asked if the District could bring in a consultant to look at all the options. President Collett wants to have someone look at the cost and the parameters. General Manager Payne stated the study is not budgeted. General Counsel Kidman said the direction to staff to look into the issue and report back to the Board is acceptable, but the direction to change the budget is not in the guidelines of the Brown Act. On a motion by Vice President Summerfield, seconded by Director Beverage, the Board of Directors voted 4-0 to direct staff to look into and report back at the next Board meeting on August 23 with an outside estimate of costs. Jim Wohlt stated he appreciates the Board's willingness to look into a solution to the problem. Jim Wohlt, Susan Janowicz and Don Holt left the meeting at 10:20 a.m. -3- 2007-130 REPORTS, INFORMATION ITEMS AND COMMENTS 9. a. President's Report President Collett attended Congressman Miller's discussion held today. b. Directors Reports Vice President Summerfield also attended Congressman Miller's discussion today. He suggested the monthly meetings of the Chamber's Legislative Commission might be something the District should plan to attend. c. General Managers Report The Relay for Life is scheduled for the upcoming weekend. The Yorba Linda Water District will man a booth, and the mister water system will also be there. The final documents on the John Taylor lawsuit were received, and the case is settled and closed. The District received a subpoena for a pool company vs. homeowners claiming groundwater is causing damage to the pool. E-mail messages were sent to all Board members regarding the availability of the agenda and packet on the YLWD website. General Manager Payne asked if Board members still want to receive mailed packets. Hard copies will be available at the District offices. President Collett, Vice President Summerfield and Director Beverage do not want a copy mailed to them but do want hard copies available at the District. Director Armstrong wants a hard copy available at the District for pick up. Water Quality Engineer de los Reyes reported on lead in Wells #1 and #5. Because test results exceeded the notification level, the District, in accordance with the law, is required to report to the State. Staff took samples in Zone 1 and 2, and all results were non detects. The District believes it was a case of bad samples and is working to clear up the confusion. Associated Labs reran the samples and claims it was a reporting error. DOHS did not mandate any public notification. The District's confidence in Associated Labs is questionable at this point. General Manager Payne received word from MWD that they are commencing implementation of fluoride in the system. The Diemer Plant is scheduled for October 22. Water Quality Engineer de los Reyes gave an update on fluoridating water supplies and outlined which areas will receive fluoride and at what levels they will receive it. It is recommended levels be monitored daily. This is an unfunded mandate. -4- 2007-131 MWD states the District must notify customers before it supplies them with fluoridated water. Public information should be supplied by the local agencies, which should expect calls from customers opposed to fluoridation. Assistant General Manager Vecchiarelli said the District should find a way to notify customers in advance that the range will be within certain limits. Some people take fluoride supplements. d. General Counsel's Report 1) Second Report on 2007 Legislative Bills General Counsel Kidman said there is not much activity in Sacramento now. No committee meetings are scheduled for August. Several bills reported on are not finalized. AB 1260, the bill that would allow giving notice on rate increases, has not been dealt with. AB 964 interprets the Brown Act in a liberal manner. What the Brown Act actually allows is a different rule when the majority of the Board is together in the same place at the same time. If there are reports being given and if there is deliberation, you have a Brown Act violation. If all Board members are not together in the same place, the Wolff case says it would be OK to communicate to all as long as you are not counting votes on an item. More strictly interpreted, anytime you start delivering information to the Board, deliberation has commenced. President Collett asked if the Board should write a letter in opposition to this Bill. General Counsel Kidman said the public law bar lawyers are in favor of this stricter bill. The District can take a position. With respect to the climate change bill, it is very likely to be a requirement to consider climate change more in EIR's. This would be required to be part of the water management plan. With respect to the low pressure area, General Counsel Kidman suggested there may be other way to approach this rather than engineering solutions. It is not necessarily the best public relations solution. The water District should be open minded to the idea of joint venturing with homeowners for some sort of maintenance of these pumps as a solution to the public relations problem. Leon de los Reyes left the meeting at 11:03 a.m. COMMITTEE REPORTS 10. a. Executive-Administrative-Organizational Committee (Collett/Summerfield) Alternate: Armstrong 1) Meeting scheduled for August 21, 4:00 p.m. Director Armstrong will attend for President Collett. -5- 2007-132 b. Finance-Accounting Committee (Mills/Beverage) Alternate: Summen`ield 1) Meeting scheduled for August 14, 4:00 p.m. c. Personnel-Risk Management Committee (Summerfield/Armstrong) Alternate: Mills 1) Meeting scheduled for August 13, 4:00 p.m. d. Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee (Armstrong/Mills) Alternate: Collett 1) Minutes of meeting held August 2 appeared in the Agenda.. Staff presented a report on the status of monthly groundwater production and purchased imports for July 2007. A status report will be presented to the Board. Lee Cory presented a status report on the preventative maintenance program and recent pipeline failures. Reports were also presented on: the Final Change Order No. 4 and Final Progress Payment No. 11 for completed Cast Iron Replacement Project and other sewer projects; the water pipeline easement encroachment at 5052 Grandview Avenue; and the project schedule for low pressure zone reconfiguration project. Discussion of standing items included: Preannexation Agreement with Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District; a status report on the meter replacement project; a status report on progress of capital improvement projects in progress; and a status report on progress of OCWD Annexation request. Director Mills requested staff prepare a draft plan for development of the R&R Program. 2) Meeting scheduled for September 6, 4:00 p.m. e. Public Information Committee (Collett/Beverage) Alternate: Armstrong 1) Minutes of meeting held August 7 will appear in the Board Agenda for August 23. President Collett reported. Discussion items included: status report on recruitment for Management Analyst, article for West Coast Magazine; status report on District's GIS project and District information activities, MWDOC inspection trip program; District & historical video; and correspondence. -6- 2007-133 A flyer was sent to Board members in connection with a MWDOC inspection trip. If Board members have anyone they want to invite, please let staff know so arrangements can be made. 2) The meeting scheduled for September 4 has been rescheduled to September 7, 8:30 a.m. f. Building Ad Hoc Committee (Summerfield/Beverage) Alternate: Armstrong 1) Meeting scheduled for August 16, 4:00 p.m. g. MWDOC Ad Hoc Committee (Beverage/Collett) Alternate: Mills 1) Meeting scheduled for August 28, 4:00 p.m. h. City of Placentia Ad Hoc Committee (Beverage/Payne) 1) Minutes of meeting held August 1. Director Beverage reported the committee met in the room where the telemetry equipment is located. Updates were presented on YLWD's request to annex territory into Orange County Water District; YLWD Administration Building; Mira Loma & Richfield Road Improvements; Water conservation measures - grants; sewer and water rates; and drought. Another meeting will take place in two or three months. INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS 11. a. MWDOC/MWD Joint Workshop, August 1, 8:30 a.m. No one attended. b. OCWD Board, August 1, 2:00 p.m. No one attended. c. WACO, August 3, 7:30 a.m. No one attended. d. Yorba Linda City Council, August 7, 6:30 p.m. President Collett attended. e. LAFCO Meeting, August 8 was cancelled. -7- 2007-134 f. North Orange County Legislative Alliance, August 9, 7:30 a.m. (Collett/Summerfield) This was a Chamber alliance meeting. Congressman Miller indicated there is money there for the District's grant. g. Orange County Groundwater Producers, August 8, 10:30 a.m. (Staff) Staff attended. A lot of frustrations came out in the form of complaints about the process taking too long. A meeting is scheduled in two weeks. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIVITY CALENDAR Authorization to attend meetings scheduled after August 9, 2007. Agenda is available in the District office prior to meeting. Auaust 2007 r Personnel-Risk Management Committee, Au 13, 4:00 .m. Summerfield/Armstron Finance-Accounting Committee; Au 14, 4:00 .m. Mills/Beverage Yorba Linda Planning Commission, Au 15, 6:30 p.m. Armstrong MWDOC Board, Aug 15, 8:30 a.m. Staff OCWD Board, Au 15,5:00 p.m. Staff Building Ad Hoc Committee, Au 16, 4:00 .m. Summerfield/Bevera e Executive-Admin-Organizational Committee, Aug 21, 4:00 p.m. Go4ett/Summerfield/Alt. Armstrong Yorba Linda City Council, Aug 21, 6:30 p.m Yorba Linda Planning Commission, Aug 29, 6:30 p.m. Mills Summerfield Seetember 2007 Yorba Linda City Council, Sept 4, 6:30 p.m. Collett MWDOC/MWD Joint Workshop, Sept 5, 8:30 a.m. Staff OCWD Board, Sept 5, 5:00 .m. Staff WACO, Sept 7, 7:30 a.m. Mills Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee, Sept 6, 4:00 .m. Armstrong/Mills Public Information Committee, Sept 7, 8:30 a.m. Collett/Beverage Personnel-Risk Management Committee, Set 10, 4:00 .m. Summerfield/Armstron Finance-Accounting Committee, Sept 11, 4:00 .m. Mills/Beverage Yorba Linda Planning Commission, Set 12, 6:30 .m. Armstrong Executive-Admin-Or anizational Committee, Set 18, 4:00 .m. Collett/Summerfield Yorba Linda City Council, Sept 18, 6:30 .m. Mills MWDOC Board, Set 19, 8:30 a.m. Staff OCWD Board, Set 19, 5:00 .m. Staff Building Ad Hoc Committee, Sept 20, 4:00 .m. Summerfield/Bevera e Yorba Linda Planning Commission, Sept 26, 6:30 .m. Summerfield CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS 12. Authorize attendance of Directors and such staff members of the District as approved by the General Manager to attend the following conferences and seminars. -8- 2007-135 a. ISDOC Quarterly Meeting presents The Changing Face of Local Politics and Orange County's Significance on the National Stage, Martin 'Vvisckol, OC Register, August 30, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m., at IRWD. b. Water Education Foundation 2007 Northern California Tour, September 12-14. c. ACWA Fall Conference, Nov 27-30, Indian Wells, CA. Director Armstrong complimented Anh Nguyen, GIS Technician, on her capabilities and what the system is able to do. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Director Beverage, seconded by Vice President Summerfield, the Board of Directors voted to adjourn at 11:24 a.m. to a regular meeting of the Board of Directors scheduled for Thursday, August 23, 2007, at 8:30 a.m., at 4622 Plumosa Drive, Yorba Linda 92886. Michael A. Payne Secretary -9- 200"/-136