December 20, 2010
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Monday, December 20, 2010
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 de Sousa, District Engineer Grabbe, Director of Operations Hoyle, Director of Finance Jeffrey, Board Secretary Stetson, Manager of IT Pilve, Sr. Administrative Assistant Johnson, Project Manager Carrillo and Water Systems Supervisor Klimas. Spectators present were Mrs. Olson, Mrs. Stone, Ms. Howells-Howells Government Relations, Mr. Ayala-Pardee Homes, and Mr. Ross-Roadrunner Newspaper.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS/QUESTIONS
Mr. Jimmy Ayala Representative of Pardee Homes informed the Board that a Request for Annexation application has been submitted to the District for the initiation of annexation procedures pursuant to the proposed Meadowood Project property located near Highway 76.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meeting held December 6, 2010
• Audit demand check numbers 127548 through 127670 and wire disbursements for November 2010
▪ Board of Director’s request for reimbursement of expenses and report of expenses
ACTION AGENDA
PUBLIC HEARING
2. Public Hearing to Establish a Special Service Connection Charge for the High Mountain Water Line:
Public hearing to establish a Special Service Connection Charge was opened by President Broomell at 2:04 p.m.
District Engineer Grabbe reviewed that staff had previously completed and presented a Reimbursement Report on the District’s participation in the High Mountain Water Line project which provides improved reliability and fire protection to the High Vista service area. This project was built in conjunction with the Steinbeck project which provided $110,000 of the cost; with the District’s share being $220,000.
A Special Service Connection Charge (SSCC) of $1,310 per residential unit in the High Vista service area is being proposed to reimburse the District for Capital Improvement Funds expended to install the waterline. This amount was derived by dividing $220,000 by the 168 total residential units possible in the service area. Currently, there are 58 lots with existing water meters that would not be subject to this charge. This leaves the possibility of 110 new domestic meter sales in this area with a total potential reimbursement to the District of $144,100. If approved, the SSCC would go into effect 60 days after adoption and be in effect for 20 years, unless later extended by the Board.
Notification letters were sent to property owners in the service area informing them of the proposed SSCC and providing them 30 days notice of the public hearing. No comments were received.
Hearing was officially closed at 2:10 p.m.
Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Stone and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2010-41
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL SERVICE CONNECTION CHARGE
FOR THE HIGH VISTA SERVICE AREA
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
3. Update on Federal Advocacy Efforts and Activities:
Ms. Jacqueline Howells of Howells Government Relations (HGR) presented a status report on the Federal Advocacy Services being provided to meet the District’s objectives of establishing a strong presence in Washington, D.C.; monitoring federal, legislative, regulatory and funding opportunities to meet the ultimate goal of securing federal legislative support and funding; and developing a coordinated strategy involving congressional, government and public relations at the federal, regional and local levels.
Ms. Howells discussed the meetings and contacts made during the last several months including:
- USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist,
Rural Development State Director
Farm Services Agency State Executive Director
- Board of Reclamation, Southern California Director
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- National Water Reclamation Association
- and regular meetings with the General Manager to discuss strategy and develop comprehensive lobbying materials.
- Conferences attended include:
- NWRA Federal Affairs Conference – San Diego
- ACWA Conference - Indian Wells
HGR’s goals for 2011 include determining which Federal programs to pursue on behalf of the District, lobbying visits to Washington, D.C. and rescheduling meetings with the USDA. They will be following the “earmark” debate closely and reiterated that the timeline for receiving appropriations is 2-3 years. HGR will continue to advocate VCMWD’s projects and efforts with Congress, Federal Departments, and Agency Officials, and will pursue other federal funding opportunities both inside and outside the appropriations process including:
- USEPA STAG Program
- USDA Grant/Assistance Programs
- US DOE Energy Efficiency Programs
- BOR WaterSMART and Rural Water Programs
Ms. Howells discussed the appropriations process in which authorization legislation must come first. The appropriations legislation is where the earmarks occur that we hear so much about. Director Aleshire questioned how items get on the appropriations bill from a Congressional Member without being classified as an earmark? As long as an item gets thorough review by the appropriations committee shouldn’t it be considered a request, not an earmark? Ms. Howells suggested that the next few months should be very interesting to see what the newly elected Congress ends up doing. Public sentiment is against earmarks but it’s possible that requests may be made with full transparency to proceed through the appropriations committee process.
Director Aleshire stated that the Omnibus Bill had failed and questioned whether it received a contending resolution. Ms. Howells stated yes, it received a contending resolution of just three days, so they will have to pass another one before they adjourn for the holiday. She opined that it will probably take several months before we see what the new Congress will be doing. Since we were not going to be asking for any appropriations for the next year, we can wait out this settling period.
4. Request to Purchase Rotary Drum Screen for Woods Valley Ranch WRF
Project Manager Carrillo explained that to improve the operation and reliability of the MBR System at Woods Valley Ranch WRF, a rotary drum screenings unit to back up the Augermonster is requested. In the event the Augermonster is shut down for maintenance, or if a failure occurs, a secondary screenings unit will provide the proper screening requirements for the membranes allowing the plant to remain in operation. It will also be utilized to re-screen the mix liquor from the membrane feed channel to further insure no solids or foreign objects flow to the membranes.
Three quotes were received from screenings unit manufacturers:
IPEC $51,850
Coombs Hopkins $90,000
JWC $106,500
Mr. Carrillo explained the discrepancy in bids was because some manufacturers do not make a smaller unit that met our criteria of 200 gpm; they only offer larger, 500 gpm, units. Prep work and installation of the screenings unit will be completed by District staff.
The FY 2010/11 budget allocated $51,000 for the purchase of the screenings unit. Due to the higher quotes, tax and installation work, additional funds are needed to complete the project. It was requested that authorization be given to transfer available funds from other Woods Valley Ranch WRF capital accounts (Chlorine Contact Basin Mixers and Combination Sewer Cleaning Truck) to the WVR Screening Unit account (17-5685.78) to cover the additional $25,000 needed to complete the project.
Upon motion by Polito, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following resolution, entitled:
RESOLUTION NO. 2010-40
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
APPROVING PURCHASE OF A SCREENINGS UNIT
FOR THE WOODS VALLEY RANCH WRF
was adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Directors Broomell, Polito, Aleshire, Stone and Haskell
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
5. SDCWA Water Quality Monitoring Plan
Operations Supervisor, Thad Klimas, reported that due to the region’s successful conservation measures and cooler than normal weather patterns, significant reductions in water demand has been experienced throughout San Diego County. The low demands have contributed to greater retention times at the Skinner Plant and in the aqueducts between Skinner and the San Diego retail agencies. Water that used to take less than one day to reach us now can take up to almost four days, causing the water to become slightly degraded.
In late October, increased temperatures along the Colorado River open channel were observed. Higher temperatures, along with longer retention times cause Chloramine decay, increasing the potential of nitrification within the distribution system. The Water Authority took immediate steps to mitigate the high levels of nitrification experienced by some agencies in the southern portion of the County. On November 18, 2010 SDCWA held a Nitrification Response Plan meeting with all the member agencies to formulate an action plan for future events. The Water Authority has requested that VCMWD monitor the total chloramine at our V.C. #3 and #2 aqueduct connections. Staff and Authority personnel were able to tie-in the Cl2 residual monitors to our SCADA system that transfers the information into the Authority’s data system.
Even though VCMWD did not experience any failures, Mr. Klimas stated that we will be taking a proactive approach to the situation. Through attrition and maintenance, we have reduced the number of reservoirs in use by 13. Most of these were already scheduled for cleaning and represent about 31 million gallons of our system. Those reservoirs will be brought back into the system when current demands increase. Sixteen steel reservoirs were also cleaned to decrease any further potential for nitrification build up. Chloramine residual levels are monitored and tested throughout our system and chlorination levels have been boosted to offset the chloramine decay process.
With the SDCWA actions and our local efforts, VCMWD has been able to maintain strong chloramine levels, avoiding the potential problem of increased bacteriological levels or sample failures. VCMWD continues to monitor and test the water as required by the State and, as part of the Nitrification Response Plan, will be in close communication with the SDCWA in the event that any member agency suspects or recognizes that a nitrification event is developing and be ready to make any necessary changes.
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
6. Review of Miscellaneous Informational Items:
• General Manager Arant reported that at the San Diego County Water Authority Board meeting of December 9th,
- The Water Authority authorized additional money for consultants on the Poseidon Desal project, Clean Energy Capital and RW Beck, nearly doubling their contracts.
- The Blackstone Group has been identified as Poseidon’s equity partner.
- CH2M Hill has been hired to prepare the 2012 Regional Water Facilities Optimization and Master Plan update.
• At the direction of the Board, a plaque was prepared commemorating the resolution that was adopted at the last board meeting honoring the service of Michael Cowett. The plaque was presented to Paula de Sousa of Best, Best and Kreiger to give to the Cowett family.
GENERAL COUNSEL’S AGENDA
7. General Counsel de Sousa reported on the following ongoing litigation:
• The San Diego Coastkeeper challenged the California State Land Commission’s approval of a lease amendment permitting Poseidon to operate the desal facility on the basis that the Land Commission needed to do additional environmental review. The Court of Appeals disagreed with Coastkeeper.
• Judge Wanger overturned the biological opinion on the Delta Smelt litigation as insufficient and based on sloppy science. In his 225 page opinion, the Judge declared that “the public cannot afford sloppy science and unidirectional prescriptions that ignore California’s water needs”. Ms. de Sousa opined that Judge Wanger took four months to prepare this opinion so it is anticipated that another four months will pass before we see a ruling on the salmon issue.
8. Board of Directors Agenda
• Director Aleshire inquired as to the nature of the large number of encroachments listed in the Status Report. District Engineer Grabbe responded that there is a wide range of violations from trees on the easements, fences, vehicles, boats and sometimes buildings. Most are relatively easy to remedy. In cases where there is a building or fence on the easement, an Encroachment Permit is issued which states that in the event of an emergency, the District will remove whatever is obstructing the easement. The Encroachment Permit would be recorded against the property so that future property owners would be aware of the situation.
• Director Aleshire noted some interesting facts regarding Lake Mead and Lake Powell in the SDCWA’s report on the Colorado River Operations Under Shortage Provisions. The report states that the reservoir operating guidelines provide a coordinated operation “to help prevent shortages from occurring in the Lower Basin and minimize the need to curtail water deliveries in the Upper Basin.” Director Aleshire questioned whether the Upper Basin has priority over the Lower Basin. General Manager Arant noted that the Upper Basin has to deliver 75 million acre feet to the Lower Basin over a ten-year period, and that it is not a matter of priority, but a matter of trying to balance the reservoirs so that all the basin states receive a portion of the water supply.
ADJOURNMENT
9. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 3:54 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ _______________________________
President Secretary