VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
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, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell. Staff members present were: General Manager Arant, General Counsel Akins, District Engineer Grabbe, Director of Finance Jeffrey, and Director of Operations Hoyle. No audience members were present.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meeting held February 4, 2008
• Notice of Completion filed for the Paradise No. 2 Reservoir Repainting, Exterior and Interior
• Resolution Nos. 2008-07, 2008-08 and 2008-09 concurring in the nominations to the ACWA/JPIA Executive Committee for W.D. “Bill” Knutson (Yuima M.W.D.), Paul Dorey (Vista I.D.), and Mary M. Gibson (Mission Springs Water District), respectively
• Audit demand check numbers 116876 through 117071
• Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements for the period ended December 31, 2007
ACTION AGENDA
2. Amendments to Construction Support Engineering Contracts for the Valley Center Road Pipeline Relocation Project:
District Engineer Grabbe reported that pursuant to the Valley Center Road Pipeline Relocation Project that is being completed in conjunction with the County’s road
improvement project, the District has contracts with R.W. Beck to provide general construction engineering support services. These contracts are:
▪ Task Order No. 9 to the agreement with R.W. Beck for “As-Needed Engineering Services” which provides for construction related engineering services such as reviewing material submittals, preparing design revisions, resolving utility conflicts and other construction related engineering support work.
▪ Task Order No. 10 to the agreement with R.W. Beck for “As-Needed Engineering Services” provides engineering support associated with County sponsored design changes. This contract addresses changes made to the County’s plans after March 4, 2004, relating to the Valley Center Road Improvement Project that impact the design or construction of District facilities. An agreement had been reached with the County that the District would be reimbursed all costs incurred as a result of changes to the road improvement plans after March 4, 2004. The engineering support services within Task Order No. 10 may include review of County changes, revisions to waterline design to accommodate County changes and redesign to avoid utility conflicts.
R.W. Beck’s services within the Task Order Nos. 9 and 10 are nearing the authorized not-to-exceed amounts of the contracts and increases to cover current and anticipated work associated with general construction engineering services for the Valley Center Road Pipeline Replacement Project were requested. An increase of $15,000 for Task Order No. 9 and an increase of $25,000 for Task Order No. 10 have been approved. The revised contract amounts are: $47,976 for Task Order No. 9 and $60,378 for Task Order No. 10. Per the District’s Administrative Code, the contract amendments were presented for Board information.
3. Report on Reimbursement of Costs Incurred During the October 2007 Wildfires:
Director of Finance Jeffrey provided a report on the reimbursement of costs that the District incurred as a result of the fire suppression efforts during the wild fires of October 2007. He reported that $17,082 was received from FEMA for labor costs and for the repair of damaged appurtenances. A reimbursement total of $41,703 had been requested. The amount not reimbursed was considered by FEMA to not be overtime pay as it represents time worked during regular work hours during the evacuation order. This decision will be appealed as all time worked is considered overtime for disaster assistance purposes because during the evacuation period all employees had been on paid administrative leave. Director of Finance Jeffrey further reported that CalFire reimbursed the District $344,197.92 for water used during the fire suppression efforts which was outside of the District’s service area, which also includes the electricity costs to pump the water.
Additional reimbursements received were: $14,300 from CalFire for wastewater disposal services, $9,100 from the Ramona Municipal Water District for labor assistance and $8,800 from Yuima Municipal Water District for use of the generator.
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
4. Review of Miscellaneous Informational Items:
Water sales for the month of January 2008 totaled 598 acre feet which are directly attributed to the wet weather. Projected water sales in Fiscal Year 2007-08 are 37,127 acre feet. The Automatic Meter Reading conversion program is continuing at a fast pace in which 729 meters were converted during January for a total to date of 5,981. This program is anticipated to be completed with all meters converted to AMR devices by the end of 2008.
An article on the District’s proposed photovoltaic solar system to run the 350 hp pumps at the Betsworth Pump Station was included in the WaterWorld publication. The article described that the solar project will improve reliability for the District’s water system and the financial benefits. Also mentioned were the Renewable Energy Credits (REC) that will be earned by the District for every kilowatt hour generated by the solar system. Poseidon Resources, the firm that is pursuing construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, is interested in purchasing RECs to offset its energy consumption for a carbon neutral operation. The District has received drafts of the grading plan and hydrology report for the Lake Turner/Betsworth Pump Station Solar Power Project that are under review.
Best, Best & Krieger has submitted a proposal to be Special Counsel for the seven water districts that have contracted with Poseidon Resources, the water districts named as real parties in interest in the Surfrider Foundation v. California Coastal Commission litigation. The suit seeks to have the court set aside the approval of the Coastal Development Permit for the Carlsbad desalination plant claiming that the California Coastal Commission abused its discretion by approving the permit without assessing environmental impacts of the facility. Best, Best & Krieger will represent the seven retail agencies as joint parties. This legal representation will be paid by Poseidon Resources per the water purchase agreements between Poseidon and the water districts. The Board concurred with the proposal that Best, Best & Krieger act as Special Counsel representing the named water districts as real parties in interest, including Valley Center Municipal Water District, in the litigation Surfrider Foundation v. California Coastal Commission.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ AGENDA
5. ACWA/JPIA Professional Development Program:
Director Aleshire stated he received notification of the completion of the JPIA Supervisor Basics Specialty Program by two employees: Tom Regan and Ed Olson. He noted that the Program’s required course work is impressive and commended them for their accomplishment. General Manager Arant noted that the employees will be recognized at the next Board meeting for this achievement.
CLOSED SESSION:
6. A Closed Session was called by President Broomell at 2:21 p.m. per:
• Government Code §54957.5(a), Conference with Labor Negotiators
Agency Representative: Gary Arant, General Manager
Employee Organization: Valley Center M.W.D. Employees’ Association
RECONVENE
The Regular Board meeting was reconvened at 3:14 p.m. There was no reportable action.
ADJOURNMENT
7. Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ _______________________________
President Secretary