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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-08-28 - Board of Directors Meeting Minutes2003-71 MINUTES OF THE YORBA LINDA WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING August 28, 2003 8:30 A.M. The August 28, 2003 regular meeting of the Yorba Linda Water District Board of Directors was called to order by President John W. Summerfield at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was held at District Headquarters, 4622 Plumosa Drive, Yorba Linda. Directors Present at Roll Call John W. Summerfield, President William R. Mills, Vice President Paul R. Armstrong Michael J. Beverage Arthur C. Korn Staff Present: Michael A. Payne, Assistant General Manager Arthur G. Kidman, District General Counsel Lee Cory, Operations Manager Beverly Meza, Business Manager Michael Robinson, Assistant Administrator Chuck Gray, Senior Project Engineer Amelia Cloonan, Administrative Secretary Jennifer Hill, Meter Reader II Visitors present: Thomas DeMars, Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates SPECIAL RECOGNITION 1. Michael A. Payne introduced Jennifer Hill, Meter Reader II, and recognized her for five years service to the District. CONSENT CALENDAR On a motion by Director Armstrong, seconded by Director Beverage, the Board of Directors voted 5-0 to approve the Consent Calendar. 2. Approve minutes of Special Board of Directors meeting, August 7, 2003. 3. Approve minutes of Public Financing Board of Directors Special Meeting, August 7, 2003. 4. Approve minutes of regular meeting August 14, 2003. 5. Authorize directors to leave the State of California prior to next meeting. 6. Approve disbursements of $697,741.68. -1- 2003-72 Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager, made a request to move Item 9.c. forward to this point in the Agenda so Mr. Tom DeMars, Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates, could conclude his business with the Board. The Board consented. 9.c. Mr. DeMars gave an update on the Certificates of Participation, which were sold on Tuesday, August 26. $10.6 million in bonds were issued at an interest rate of .498%. $675,000 will be used as debt service. Mr. DeMars presented information on who purchased the bonds. The District bonds were insured by FDIC. Questions were asked about: other bonds issued; the scope of the bonds issued at $675,000 rather than $875,000 (The reduction in debt service allows some flexibility.); the difference between a formal bid and a negotiated sale; and the fact that UBS was formerly Paine Weber. Mr. De Mars thanked Bill Robertson, Beverly Meza, and Mike Payne for their efforts to get the job done. Thomas Tonelli, International Custom Enterprises, contractors on the Richfield Plant renovation, entered the meeting at 8:43 a.m. Tom DeMars, Beverly Meza and Director Kom left the meeting at 8:55 a.m. ACTION CALENDAR 7. Consider ACWA Region 10 Election. Michael Robinson, Assistant Administrator II, presented the report. A ballot containing the recommendations of the Region 10 Nominating Committee was included in the Agenda for the consideration of the Board. Five seats are open for the Region 10 Board. Questions were asked, and a discussion was held. Lee Cory, Operations Manager, spoke positively about Betty Ferguson and gave information on her background. Director Armstrong made a motion to support, Betty Ferguson for Chair, Mary Eileen Matheis for Vice Chair, and Merle Aleshire, Jan Debay, Susan Hinman, Saundra F. Jacobs, and Jo MacKenzie for Board Representatives. Director Beverage seconded the motion. The Board of Directors voted 3-0-1-1, with Vice President Mills abstaining and Director Korn absent, to approve the motion. Director Korn rejoined the meeting at 9:00 a.m. 8. Consider ACWA/JPIA Liability Insurance Deposit Premium. Michael A. Payne, Assistant General Manager, presented the report and stated the issue had been presented to the Personnel-Risk Management Committee. Comments were made about the reasons for not raising the deductible. A question was asked about the premiums being high. Michael Payne responded the District had some big claims. There was discussion about rates. On a motion by Vice President Mills, seconded by Director Beverage, the Board of Directors, voted 5-0 to: 1) Approve ACWA/JPIA General Liability Insurance deposit premium for the policy year October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004 in the amount of $150,878; and continue with the Retrospective Allocation Point of $25,000. -2- 2003-73 Beverly Meza rejoined the meeting at 9:10 a.m. Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager, introduced Tom Tonelli, International Custom Enterprises. Mr. Tonelli wished to be heard under the public comment section of the Board meeting, but he was held up by traffic. The Board agreed to hear Mr. Tonelli who wanted to speak about some of what he believes to be outstanding issues with respect to what he called dramatic changes to the Richfield Plant renovation. Mr. Tonelli stated International Custom Enterprises was not compensated for change orders, which involved, among other items, enlarged footings, adding extra steel, and extra grading. A check for $15,000 was sent to them instead of the $93,000 they requested. Mr. Tonelli stated they should be paid for anything they were directed to do beyond what was in the contract. Structural changes had to be made to the design after award of the contract. Michael Payne said he would refer the matter to the General Manager for investigation and then on to the Planning, Engineering, Operations Committee for final review before taking it back to the Board of Directors. General Counsel Kidman said there are two issues. One is whether the job was changed after bid and, if that is true, the second issue is whether timely claims were made and processed. Contract documents are quite specific about not waiting until the conclusion of a project to file claims. A contract does require written submittals by the engineer. Exceptions need to be noted, and at the end of the contract, decisions need to be made. Mr. Tonelli stated he brought timeliness up, and the District waived the time frame for submitting claims at a meeting in December 2001. From that date forward, all work was done then change orders were issued. Thomas Tonelli left the meeting at 9:23 a.m. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT 9. General Manager's oral report and comments. a) General Counsel Kidman reported: 1) oral arguments took place Monday on the City of Huntington Beach case. There is no way to determine how long it will be before the court issues a decision. 2) On the legislative front, water storage fees were raised. It may be worthwhile for the District to check if there is any involvement with the Damn Safety Division. 3) Regarding the law on well shut downs, the Agricultural Agency in ACWA feels they could become the target because of different pesticides, etc., going into canals and into the groundwater, and eventually into the drinking water supply. It may become easier for victims of groundwater contamination to pursue the matter. b) lst Annual Cancer Relay Marathon. Michael Payne, Assistant General Manager, reported the District booth was a big success. He thanked Director Beverage and President Summerfield. The tanks will be stored, filled and covered, in the warehouse at the plant. 700 water bottles were given away. Director Beverage stated $80,00 was made on the relay for the Cancer Society. -3- 2003-74 d) Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce. Michael A. Payne, Assistant General Manager, reported the District invited the Chamber of Commerce to do a mixer on September 18 from approximately 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. All Board members are invited. President Summerfield will be unable to attend as he is committed to attending the Santa Ana River Watershed tour. e) General Manager William Robertson will return from vacation next Tuesday, September 2. f) District activities. There was nothing further to report. A recess was declared at 9:39 a.m. Lee Cory and Beverly Meza left the meeting. The Board reconvened at 9:47 a.m. with all Directors present. COMMITTEE REPORTS 10. Executive-Administration Committee (Summerfield/Mills) 11. Finance-Accounting Committee (Korn/Beverage) 12. Personnel-Risk Management Committee (Summerfield/Korn) Report of meeting held August 20, 4:00 p.m. Risk Management Activities, ACWA Liability Insurance, Recruitments, Job Descriptions, Grievance. 13. Planning-Engineering-Operations Committee (Armstrong/Mills) Report of meeting held August 21, 8:30 a.m. Greystone Homes Proposed Development, Highland and Bastanchury Booster Station Improvements, Proposed Shapell Industries Development, Hidden Hills Reservoir, report on discussions with OCWD regarding District participation in the MWD Long Term Groundwater Storage Program (proposed Well No. 19). Charles Gray, Senior Project Engineer was present to answer questions pertaining to the proposed construction of a partially buried 4 million gallon reservoir at the Bastanchury site rather than the originally envisioned 2 million gallon above ground steel reservoir and the S&S reservoir. General Counsel Kidman commented on the differences with the S&S reservoir utilizing a modified design/build concept where the District will administer the project with separate contracts for the design and construction with the funding by the developer. 14. Public Information Committee (Beverage/Armstrong) 15. Orange County Water District Ad Hoc Committee (Summerfield/Beverage) A meeting is scheduled for September 15, 4:00 p.m. 16. MWDOC Ad Hoc Committee (Summerfield/Korn) A meeting is scheduled for September 8, 4:00 p.m. -4- 2003-75 Director Korn asked that William Robertson contact Board members prior to the next meeting if a committee meeting is planned for scheduling, so Board members may plan their personal schedules. Charles Gray left the meeting at 10:04 a.m. INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS 17. Yorba Linda City Council, August 19, 6:30 p.m. Director Armstrong attended. The biggest issue of discussion was approval of Santiago Walk. The District has a number of easements on the property. 18. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, August 27, 6:30 p.m. Director Korn attended. The first item under consideration was continued after discussion. The developer wants to put four houses on two acres of land. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIVITY CALENDAR Authorization to attend meetings scheduled after August 28, 2003. Agenda is available in the District office prior to meeting. ISDOC Board, September 2, 7:30 a.m. Yorba Linda City Council, September 2, 6:30 p.m. Armstrong MWDOC/Met Jt. Workshop, September 3, 8:30 a.m. OCWD, September 3, 6:00 p.m. WACO, September 5, 7:30 p.m. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, September 10, 7:30 p.m. Beverage Yorba Linda City Council, September 16, 6:30 p.m. Mills MWDOC, September 17, 9:00 a.m. OCWD, September 17, 6:00 p.m. Yorba Linda Planning Commission, September 24, 7:30 p.m. Korn MWDOC/Met Jt. Workshop, October 1, 8:30 a.m. OCWD, October 1, 6:00 p.m. WACO, October 3, 7:30 a.m. Mills ISDOC Board, October 7, 7:30 a.m. Yorba Linda City Council, October 7, 6:30 p.m. Armstrong Yorba Linda Planning Commission, October 8, 7:30 p.m. Beverage MWDOC, October 15, 9:00 a.m. OCWD, October 15, 6:00 p.m. Yorba Linda City Council, October 21, 6:30 p.m. Mills Yorba Linda Planning Commission, October 22, 7:30 p.m. Korn ISDOC Membership, October 30,11:30 a.m. -5- 2003-76 BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS/ITEMS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION Vice President Mills received a call from Assemblywoman Lynne Daucher who is unhappy with the article in Waterlines. Michael Payne distributed a timeline to the Board of Directors about how this issue of confiscation of property tax by the state came up. Director Beverage requested a memorandum be issued to Board members when a communication is sent out on anything that is a decision by the Board on which a Board member might get a call or be stopped in public for comment. Director Korn thought this was too broad an advisory for staff. General Counsel Kidman recommended the District ask Barry Brokaw of Sacramento Advocates to speak with Lynne Daucher. After Barry meets with her, it may be appropriate for a Board member to meet with her when she is in the area. Vice President Mills believes it is important to communicate to Lynne Daucher that there is not a second letter going out. This communication went out to customers over a billing cycle. Director Beverage suggested sending a copy of Waterlines to Barry Brokaw. Director Armstrong wanted to clarify what will happen with the International Custom Enterprises matter. Michael Payne responded that staff will look at the matter. He will talk to Tom Tonelli and to the Engineering Department. The matter will go to the PEO Committee for sorting out and then it will go back to the Board. CLOSED SESSION No Closed Session was held. 19. Discussion of pending litigation to which the District is a party, (Subsection (a) of Section 54956.9), Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Central Justice Center, Case No. 815921 Huntington Beach vs. OCWD, and Case No. 818852 Fountain Valley vs. OCWD. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Director Beverage, seconded by Director Korn, the Board of Directors voted 5-0 to adjourn at 10:34 a.m. The next regular meeting of the Board is scheduled for Thursday, September 11, 2003 at 8:30 a.m., at the District Headquarters. Michael A. Bayne Assistant Secretary/Assistan neral Manager -6-