VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Monday, July 17, 2006
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: Board Room
29300 Valley Center Road
Valley Center, CA 92082
The Valley Center Municipal Water District Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by President Broomell at 2:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Board members present were: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell. Director Polito was absent. Staff members present were: General Manager Arant, General Counsel de Sousa, Director of Finance Jeffrey, Pumps and Motors Supervisor Stetson, District Engineer Grabbe, Board Secretary Stetson, IT Specialist Learue, Accounting Manager Pugh, Project Manager Williams and GIS Analyst Garcia. Spectators present were: Mr. Pate and Mr. Ross.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the Board approved reordering agenda item number 18, Closed Session item, Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation per Government Code Section 54956.9(b) to the 1st agenda item.
CLOSED SESSION
1. A Closed Session was called by President Broomell at 2:02 p.m. pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b), Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation.
The Regular Board meeting was reconvened at 2:14 p.m. There was no reportable action.
CONSENT CALENDAR
2. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meetings held June 19, 2006
• Audit demand check numbers 109169 through 109461 and wire disbursements for the period April 1, 2006 through June 30, 2006
• Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statement for the period ended May 31, 2006
• Quarterly report of expense reimbursements per Government Code §53065.5
• Report of developers’ constructed facilities accepted by the District in Fiscal Year 2005-06
• Resolution No. 2006-33 adopting the 2006 Revisions to Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
ACTION AGENDA
3. Audit Contract for Fiscal Year 2005-06:
Leaf & Cole, LLP submitted a proposal to perform the audit of the District’s financial statements for the year ending June 20, 2006 at a fee of $18,500, an increase of $650 from the prior year’s base fee. A written Management Letter in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards will be provided. Adoption of Resolution No. 2006-34 to authorize Leaf & Cole to perform the financial audit of the District’s financial statements for Fiscal Year 2005-06 was recommended.
The function of the audit, responsibility of management including internal controls and the agreement which provides the auditors a waiver of responsibility were discussed. It was noted that an audit of the district’s financial statements is not required, but provides an independent audit review which will assist in the process of debt financing that the District will be pursuing.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2006-34
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
ENTERING INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH LEAF &
COLE, LLP TO AUDIT THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
OF THE DISTRICT FOR THE YEAR ENDED
JUNE 30, 2006
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Polito
4. Approval of Amendment to Contract with PBS&J Engineering, Inc. for GIS Support Services:
Adoption of Resolution No. 2006-37 to modify the existing agreement with PBS&J Engineering, Inc. to convert existing AutoCAD water and wastewater base map files to GIS format was requested. The proposal from PBS&J for the conversion work is for $143,769. Staff clarified that funding for this additional work is available in the current project budget and no additional funding is required to approve the amendment to the contract.
GIS Analyst Garcia reviewed that PBS&J had been contracted for initial GIS support services in November 2002. The contract has included installing and configuring ArcIMS software, development of an intranet based GIS application to provide basic GIS information available to staff, and upgrade of the ArcIMS intranet application to link with information saved in the District’s electronic document management system. At this point, conversion of the water and sewer AutoCAD base maps to GIS is required in order to continue with and complete the remaining tasks listed in the GIS Master Plan. Ms. Garcia demonstrated GIS applications, presenting drawings which link records to the model and geo-reference drawings.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2006-37
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
AMENDING THE AS-NEEDED ENGINEERING
SERVICES CONTRACT WITH PBS&J FOR
ADDITIONAL GIS SUPPORT SERVICES
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Polito
5. Agreement with ACWA for the Prepayment of Membership Dues:
Board approval of an agreement with the Association of California Water Agencies to refinance $35,757.38 of prepaid membership dues for another five years was requested. Director of Finance Jeffrey explained that since December of 1990, five agreements have been approved for prepaying ACWA dues. The total prepaid had been $56,825 in which the balance due at this time is $35,757.38. The prepayment of dues by ACWA’s membership was used to finance the purchase of their building and subsequent remodeling. ACWA has requested that the District approve refinancing this balance due through to January 1, 2011 at 6%. This will result in an annual reduction in the District’s ACWA dues of $1,683 per year.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the agreement with the Association of California Water Agencies to refinance $35,757.38 of advance dues at an interest rate of 6% until January 1, 2011 was approved.
6. Resolution Adopting a Water and Wastewater Services Priority Policy for Lower Income Housing Developments Per SB 1087:
General Manager Arant reported that Senate Bill 1087 adopted into law requires water and wastewater providers to reserve water service and wastewater treatment capacity for lower income housing developments within a respective agency’s jurisdiction. The bill was drafted in response to instances of denial of water and wastewater services to lower income housing projects on the basis of limited capacity but provided services to market-priced developments. Senate Bill 1087 had been opposed by ACWA and the District as local water and wastewater agencies need to maintain local control of service provisions and that the law provides protection against discrimination. General Manager Arant noted that implementation of the regulations per the provisions of SB 1087 providing that the District will grant service priority to all low or lower income housing within the District’s service area will not impact the District’s policies for the provision of utility services. The District has never had a policy or procedure which allocated water or wastewater capacity on the basis of the affordability of housing. Upon the adoption of Resolution No. 2006-35, developments with low or lower income units will be given service priority pursuant to the statute.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2006-35
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
ADOPTING A SERVICES PRIORITY POLICY FOR
LOWER INCOME DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCORDANCE
WITH SB 1087
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Polito
7. Designation of Proxy Holder for the
San Diego
County Water Authority’s Board of Directors:
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Act provides that a member agency’s representative may designate another member of the Authority’s Board of Directors to vote in the absence of such representative. Such designation must be confirmed by the agency’s governing body. Adoption of Resolution No. 2006-36 was requested to designate and confirm Keith Lewinger of the Fallbrook Public Utility District to vote in the absence of the District’s representative to the San Diego County Water Authority
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled
RESOLUTION NO. 2006-36
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
CONFIRMING KEITH L. LEWINGER TO VOTE IN
THE ABSENCE OF THE
VALLEY
CENTER
MUNICIPAL
WATER DISTRICT’S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE
SAN DIEGO
COUNTY
WATER AUTHORITY
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: Director Polito
8. Review of Year-End Status Report on the Strategic Plan Specific Goals and Budget Objectives:
A year-end status report of the 2004-05 through 2007-08 Strategic Plan Specific Goals and the FY 2005-06 Budget Objectives was reviewed. As of June 30, 2006, the status of the 62 individual projects, programs and tasks approved by the Board were:
27 were complete or had been deferred,
14 were underway and near completion with completion anticipated by the
end of FY 2006-07,
1 was under the control of an outside agency or party such as the County of
San Diego or the San Diego County Water Authority,
20 were multi-year projects.
The percentage of identified projects which were either complete or underway and near completion represent 66% of the 62 active projects and 67% of all objectives controlled by the District.
9. Report on the District’s Customer Service Comment Card Program for Fiscal Year 2005-06:
During Fiscal Year 2005-2006, 180 customers, who had some form of service contact with the District, received customer comment cards requesting their input on the level of service received. Of the cards returned, ratings from the five service rating categories were:
Exceeded Expectations – 78.8%
Met Expectations – 19.9%
Did Not Meet Expectations – 1.3%
For the year ended June 30, 2006, 98.7% of the customer service response ratings were Exceeds Expectations or Met Expectations. The five service rating categories are:
• Did you find our personnel courteous and professional?
• Were our personnel well informed and did they understand your request or concern?
• Did our personnel respond promptly to your request for information or service?
• Was the information, either oral or written, concerning services, charges, policies and standards complete and understandable?
• Overall, how would you rate your service experience?
A number of subjective comments were included on the response cards from our customers with the majority being very complimentary of the District’s staff and the services received. The responses indicate that the District continues to maintain a very high level of customer satisfaction. In response to the two negative ratings contained on one card, the matter was investigated and a detailed letter of explanation forwarded to the customer.
10. Report on the Water Service Reliability Performance Measurement Standard for Fiscal Year 2005-2006:
General Manager Arant stated that the District’s Strategic Plan Performance Measurement Standard for water service reliability is that it shall be “Greater than 99%”. For Fiscal Year 2005-06, 923 customers experienced a total of 4,384 hours of service interruption or an average of 4.8 hours per interruption. With a total of 8,760 service hours for each impacted customer per year, the average reliability factor is 99.5% for the customers actually experiencing an outage. The District’s overall water reliability factor was 99.994% for the fiscal year considering an average of 8,741 active accounts with a total of 76,571,160 service hours.
11. Approval of Amended Employment Agreement, District General Manager:
Upon motion by Haskell, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the “Amended Employment Agreement Between the Valley Center Municipal Water District and Gary T. Arant” was approved effective as of July 1, 2006, providing for an annual salary of $170,000 and a performance bonus of $9,400.
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
12. Review of Miscellaneous Informational Items:
▪ Bonsall and Pala Hydrologic Subareas Municipal Service Review and Sphere Update, San Luis Rey Municipal Water District – The Municipal Service Review (MSR) working group met in June in which it was reported that Rainbow M.W.D. had submitted their data in response to the Request for Information. The District’s data had been submitted in February. In addition, the proposed sphere area for the San Luis Rey M.W.D. had been reviewed. LAFCO’s Executive Officer had ruled that due to Yuima M.W.D.’s geographical proximity to the study area, Yuima’s data would not be included in the MSR for the Bonsall and Pala Hydrologic Subareas. The MSR working group will meet again in September to review a draft of the consultant’s report. Upon review and evaluation of the reports by LAFCO, the Executive Officer of LAFCO will make certain findings and report on those findings pertaining to service for the San Luis Rey area.
▪ Peak Management Project – During the weekend of July 15th and 16th with the extended hot weather, flows at Metropolitan’s Lake Skinner Treatment Plant ran at 105%-106% of flow capacity. The District’s flows were at 130 cfs on Saturday, July 15th. District customers received in their June water bills a flyer to inform them of the “peaking” problem as the treatment plants’ capacity for the region can no longer meet water demands during an extended hot weather period. Water conservation practices such as outside watering during off-peak hours were encouraged. The District is preparing to contact its top 500 water users concerning the potential for water cutbacks. It was noted that additional treatment capacity will be available for the summer of 2007 when the improvements at the Skinner Treatment Plant are completed.
GENERAL MANGER’S AGENDA
13.
San Diego
County
Water Authority Board Meeting:
The San Diego County Water Authority has experienced a number of pipeline breaks; namely, Pipeline 3, Mission Trails Park, Pipeline 5, North of the flow control structure, and the Ramona Pipeline off of Pipeline 4. These pipelines are pre-stressed concrete pipe with steel cylinders wrapped with pre-stressing wires. The District’s connections are on the 1st and 2nd aqueducts which are concrete cylinder pipe that have proven to be very reliable. New sonar sounding technology will assist the Authority in detecting weaknesses developing in their pipes which will reduce the number of pipeline breaks, property damage that can result and emergency repairs.
CLOSED SESSION
14. A Closed Session was called by President Broomell at
3:19 p.m.
pursuant to:
$ Government Code '54957, Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release
$ Government Code '54956.9(a), Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation.
Name of Case: Sweetwater Authority, et al. v. Dynegy, Inc., et al.
San Diego Superior Court Case GIC 760743
RECONVENE
15. The regular Board meeting was reconvened at 3:37 p.m. No action was reported.
ADJOURNMENT
16. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at
3:38 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ _______________________________
President Secretary