February 7, 2011
VALLEY CENTER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Regular Board Meeting
Monday, February 7, 2011
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 Johnson, Manager of IT Pilve and Pumps and Motors Supervisor Rutherford.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Upon motion by Stone, seconded by Haskell and unanimously carried, the following consent calendar items were approved:
• Minutes of the Board meeting held January 18, 2011
• Audit demand check numbers 127885 through 128051 and wire disbursements for January 2011
• Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements for the period ended December 31, 2010
• Board of Directors request for per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses
ACTION AGENDA
2. Insurance Retrospective Premium Adjustment:
Director of Finance Jeffrey reported that a refund was received from the Joint Powers Insurance Authority in the amount of $49,255.74 for premiums paid over the past years. ACWA/JPIA insurance premiums are based partially on estimates of expected claims and earnings. Each year JPIA reviews each insurance program by policy year. As claims are closed, retrospective adjustments are made to the premiums. The District’s refund was mostly the result of lower than expected workers’ compensation claims during FY 2006-07.
The District was also recognized for achieving low ratios of “Paid Claims and Case Reserves” to “Deposit Premiums” for all three JPIA insurance programs for the three years 2006-2009. The low loss ratios and premium adjustment are attributed to a District-wide safety culture, training in safe work practices, and an overall safety-first attitude by all employees.
The Board expressed their appreciation for the District employees’ efforts and attention to safety practices.
3. New Stationary Emergency Generation Facilities; Red Mountain P.S., Circle R P.S. and Reid Hill Reservoir:
Director of Operations Hoyle reported that three permanent stationary emergency generation units with automatic transfer switches had been installed at the Red Mountain and Circle R Pump Stations and the Reid Reservoir SCADA communications hub site. The Red Mountain and Circle R Pump Stations are high volume, low capacity areas. The stationary gen-sets and automatic transfer switches will provide instantaneous response to power outages and a continuous supply to the low capacity reservoirs. The Reid Hill Reservoir SCADA communication hub back-up generation unit will sustain network communication and data transmission between multiple reservoirs, pump stations and the Operations Center.
Pumps and Motors Supervisor Rutherford presented an overview of the three projects showing the excavation, trenching, block walls, concrete pads, transfer switches, SCADA panels and conduit required to complete each individual project. Each project was completed by in house staff with coordination between Construction Maintenance, Pumps and Motors and SDG&E.
GENERAL MANAGER’S AGENDA
4. Review of the District’s Strategic Plan Performance Measurement Results for Calendar Year 2010:
A summary of the District’s Strategic Plan Performance Measurement results for calendar year 2010 was reviewed by General Manager Arant, as outlined below:
• Customer Satisfaction – “Meets” or “Exceeds” customers’ expectations was 97.2%
• Unknown Water Loss – 6.1%. The goal of 5% was not met. (CY 2009 – 5.8%)
• Discretionary Reserves – 5.3 months of Operations and Maintenance Budget
• District Share of Total Commodity Costs – Of the total commodity rate, the District’s share was 9.2% for full-price and 11.6% for IAWP.
• Pump Efficiency – 102% of design efficiency.
• Project Actual Cost v. Estimated Cost – Two projects bid with a cumulative contract amount of 38.8% below engineer’s estimate.
• Water Service Reliability – 99.998% service reliability.
• Compliance with All State and Federal Regulations – 100% compliance.
• Lost Time Accidents – 0.0000% lost time hours.
• Return on Investments – 1.31% weighted average return on all investments.
Six areas showed improvement over 2009, one stayed the same and three showed a decline. However, only “unknown water loss” did not meet the performance goal.
The Board of Directors expressed interest in obtaining water loss information from other districts for comparison.
5. San Diego County Water Authority’s Board Meeting Report:
General Manager Arant reported on the following items from the January 27, 2011 SDCWA Board of Directors’ Meeting:
• The Water Authority is participating with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and the Country of Mexico to implement a joint feasibility study for a desalination plant in Baja California. The Water Authority contributed $75,000 for its share of the second phase of the funding agreement. Arizona and Nevada are participating as part of the concept to intentionally conserve water. If these entities are funding a seawater desal plant in Mexico that reduces that Country’s take from the Colorado River, then they would benefit by receiving more water.
• Mr. Rua Petty was honored for his service to the Water Authority Board and will be replaced by Mr. Gerald Walson.
GENERAL COUNSEL’S AGENDA
6. General Counsel de Sousa reported on the following items:
• On March 29th the State Water Resources Control Board will begin taking public testimony on a revised Draft Industrial Permit. For the first time, it will apply numeric limits to storm water. The permit would apply to manufacturing facilities, outdoor storage areas, transportation facilities and wastewater treatment works. Unless you have coverage under a separate permit, it will apply to both private entities and public agencies that have corporate yards, treatment works and related facilities. The State Board permit will include numeric action limits and numeric effluent limits which, if exceeded, could be the basis for penalties. April 18th is the deadline for written comments.
• There has been a tentative ruling for State Regulators to halt implementation of the greenhouse gas rules. This is a big blow to the environmental community because it comes shortly after Congress and the Obama Administration abandoned its efforts for a national program. The tentative decision invalidates the CEQA document on the scoping plan, but could be modified to actually enjoin implementation of any of the greenhouse gas regulations.
• Barbara Boxer and Senator Feinstein introduced a bill to set an official limit on Chromium VI levels in drinking water. They propose to implement that within one year.
• The EPA announced that it is seeking to regulate perchlorate in drinking water and hope to set a standard over the next two years.
CLOSED SESSIONS
7. Closed sessions were called by President Broomell at 2:45 p.m. pursuant to:
• Government Code §54956.9(c), Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation
Number of potential cases: 1
• Government Code §54957, Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release
• Government Code §54957.6, Conference with Labor Negotiators
Agency Designated Representation: Gary Arant
Employee Organization: Valley Center Employees Association
ADJOURNMENT
8. Upon motion by Aleshire, seconded by Polito and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 3:39 p.m.
ATTEST: ATTEST:
____________________________ _______________________________
President Secretary