MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
IRONHOUSE SANITARY DISTRICT
December 4, 2012
The Ironhouse Sanitary
District (ISD) Board of Directors met in regular session on Tuesday, December 4,
2012.
The place of meeting was the
Ironhouse Sanitary District Office at 450 Walnut Meadows Drive, Oakley,
California.
1.
Call to
Order
The
meeting was called to order by President Hardcastle at 6:30 p.m. who announced
that the board would go into the Closed Session shown as Item 1 on the Agenda.
Closed Session
Conference with Legal Counsel-Significant Exposure to Litigation (pursuant to
subdivision (b)(1) of Gov’t Code Section 54956.9 (one case)
At
7:00 p.m., the Board reconvened in Open Session
The
President called for a 5 minute recess.
At
7:05 p.m. the Board reconvened.
2. Roll Call:
Directors present: David Contreras, Doug Hardcastle, David
Huerta, Chris Lauritzen and Michael Painter
Members
absent: None
Staff/Consultants present: Tom Williams, General Manager
Jennifer Skrel, District
Engineer
David Dal Porto, Reclamation, Levee & Ranch Superintendent
Joe Mueller, Environmental/
Process Compliance Manager
Fred Etzel, District
Counsel
Michael Welty,
Financial Officer
Elayna Whyte, Permit
Planning Technician
Brian Pearce, Ranch
Operator
Interested
parties present: Michael and Susan
Morgan, Oakley, CA
Doug Scheer, Oakley, CA
Roni
Gehlke, Delta Science Center
Pledge of Allegiance: The pledge of allegiance was led
by Dave Dal Porto.
Presentation of Awards: On behalf of the Board and
staff President Hardcastle presented Brian
Pearce, Ranch Operator and Elayna Whyte, Permit
Planning Technician with 5 year service awards and thanked them for their hard
work and dedication to the District.
4. Approval
of Agenda
M/S M. Painter and D. Hardcastle and the Board voted
to approve the agenda.
5. Approval of the minutes of the November 6,
2012 Regular Meeting
M/S D. Hardcastle and D. Huerta and the Board voted to
approve the minutes of the November 6, 2012 Regular Meeting with one
correction; page 8 second sentence under Director Hardcastle’s Advisory Report
should state “pipe replacement”.
6. Report of Action Taken in Closed Session
No action to report out of closed session.
7. Public Comments – Communications from the public on subjects not on
the agenda.
There were no comments from the public.
8. Consent Calendar
A. Approval of
Payment Order, Report on Financial Position & Operating
Performance.
B. Confirm Final Director Benefit Policies.
Mr. Welty reported to the Board that next week the
management team will have a budget review meeting. Mr. Welty also reported it is staffs
intention to, during the next budget preparation, present a 2 year budget for
the Board to consider and approve.
M/S D. Huerta, C. Lauritzen and the Board voted
unanimously to approve the consent calendar.
9. Business Before the Board
9A. Annual Organizational Meeting of the Board
of Directors to Elect a President and Vice President.
President Hardcastle called for nominations to elect a
President and Vice President as stated in the ISD Board By-Laws Item 4.4. President Hardcastle nominated Chris
Lauritzen for President. David Contreras
nominated David Huerta for Vice President.
Hearing no other nominations, the nominations were closed.
The President called for a secret ballot vote, and the
result of the voting was unanimous, with Chris Lauritzen elected to the
position of President and David Huerta elected to the position of Vice President.
Director Hardcastle surrendered his position of
President to Director Lauritzen.
9B. Approve
Form of Director Agreement.
Mr. Williams addressed the Board stating the he has
worked with Bob Henn and Chris Lauritzen on the Directors Agreement. Key revisions of an earlier version have been
provided for review. Items that should
be noted address concerns such as: Lack of Payment – 3 notices will be given
over a two month period. At the end of
the 2 month period, benefits will terminate due to lack of payment; Late
Payment – A late fee will be charged for payments made 10 days after due
date. If 3 late payments are received
within a 12 month period a bank deposit may be required. Item 9B of the Agreement was also
discussed. The Board, by a conscience
decision, may elect to eliminate or alter the benefits provided by the
Director’s Agreement. Director Hardcastle
asked for clarification regarding the ability of the Board to alter formerly
retired members benefits. Director
Painter asked for clarification regarding the benefits for retired vs. sitting
directors. Mr. Williams stated the
Director Agreement as currently drafted would allow a Board majority to modify
or amend terms of the director agreement for both sitting and retired
members. Susan Morgan wanted
clarification regarding a retired vested director vs. a director that is
retired but not vested. As a result of
the discussion, Mr. Williams stated that changes as requested from the Board will
be made to the Agreement, and the Agreement will be brought back to the Board
next month for reconsideration.
9C. Consideration of Refurbishing Existing
Mischken Scrapper and Going Out to Bid for New GPS Leveling System.
Dave Dal Porto discussed the need to refurbish ISD’s
existing Mischken Scraper. The
refurbished scrapper will be used to re-level (fine grade) the south storage
pond and will be used routinely for other small leveling jobs on ISD’s fields. Part of the rehabilitation will include
purchasing a new GPS Leveling System to attach to the scrapper. ISD will need to go out to bid and will write
specs for the system. By refurbishing the
existing scrapper and adding the GPS Leveling System ISD will be able to
perform many functions in-house that outside resources currently perform. The project would be budget neutral; funded equally
by the farm and field maintenance and expansion funds (abandonment costs) of
the budget. Director Lauritzen asked if
we currently have a GPS system and how much training will be needed to operate
the system. Dave Dal Porto stated ISD
currently does not have a GPS system and the company will provide 2-3 hours of
in-house training for employees.
Director Contreras asked how the leveling work has been done in the past
and will it impact the budget. Mr. Dal
Porto stated that outside resources have completed the leveling work in the
past and no additional funds will be requested for this purchase. Director Hardcastle asked how much of the
system actually sits on the ground and what security measures will be taken to
secure the equipment. Mr. Dal Porto
stated that no part of the system will sit on the ground and that the system
will be secured when not in use in one of our locked and alarmed facilities.
M/S D. Contreras, D Hardcastle and the Board unanimously
authorize refurbishing the existing Mischken Scrapper and going out to bid for
new GPS Leveling System.
10. Staff Reports
Fred Etzel –
Mr. Etzel stated that the Delta Plan has been completed along with a
recirculated EIR but not yet adopted.
Counsel is preparing it for Tom Williams’ review. There are no errors that pertain to Ironhouse
and RD830. ISD and RD 830 have commented
on previous versions of the draft plan.
Bay Delta Conservation Plan is also complete. Mr. Etzel will review when it comes out and a
comment letter for the General Manager’s signature will be prepared.
Work is being done to compose an updated Procurement
Policy for ISD. Mr. Etzel is working
with Mr. Welty and will assist in pulling together older policies regarding
procurement into one updated policy.
Mr. Etzel will follow up with Tom Williams regarding
finalizing the Director’s Health Benefits Policy/Agreement.
Jenny Skrel –
Ms. Skrel reported that tentative waste discharge requirements (WDR’s) dated
November 20th have been received from the Regional Water Quality
Control Board (RWQCB). As part of the
District’s 2008 NPDES permit, the RWQCB required ISD to apply for a revised
land application (WDR) permit. The
tentative WDR’s update the District’s permit to reflect current State
regulation changes, and current ISD site conditions. On a positive note, the new permit will allow
ISD to save money annually by reducing the number of wells that will require
monitoring. Ms. Skrel also reported that the red dye monitoring results, as
part of the Diffuser Validation Study, were excellent. Proper placement and function of the outfall
received high praise from those conducting the study.
Staff anticipates the Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
with Real Goods Solar will be brought before the Board for consideration at the
regular meeting on January 8th. .
Tom Williams
– Mr. Williams reported on recent RD 830 activities:
The RD 830 Rock Placement Bid for approximately 11,000
tons of rock riprap was won by the Dutra Group, who has begun placing rock
along the southern portion of Taylor Slough.
Rock placement began yesterday, December 3rd, and approximately
800 feet has been placed thus far. The
project is anticipated to take approximately 30 days to complete.
The RD 830 Marsh Creek Enhancement Project agreement appears
to be very close in its final language and should be sent to RD 830 for
signature soon. The Marsh Creek
Enhancement Project is a $9 million grant to create approximately 200 acres of
enhanced habitat (up to 100 acres of habitat on the Dutch Slough Restoration
site, and up to 90 acres of habitat on approximately 100 acres of ISD property
along Marsh Creek). The habitat enhancement
at both locations is accomplished by moving up to 600,000 cubic yards of dirt from
the ISD property to the neighboring Dutch Slough Habitat Restoration site Once initiated, the project will take
approximately 3 years to complete. RD
830 will advise the ISD Board when the Agreement is being considered for
approval by RD 830 so the ISD Directors may attend the meeting if they wish.
Also, Mr. Williams reported that on Thursday, December
6th the Principal from Freedom High School, Erik Faulkner, and a
Science Teacher from Freedom will meet with staff to discuss opportunities to
work with the school’s Pathway Programs.
ISD and RD 830 can provide information, and can offer valuable tours, on
subjects such as the agriculture business (ISD’s extensive farming and cattle
operations), the science of recycled water treatment and reuse (ISD’s
collection, state-of-the-art treatment, and reuse of our regions valuable
water), the science of water chemistry (ISD’s on-site laboratory), and delta levees
(RD 830’s operation and maintenance of its 15.5 miles of levee protecting Jersey
Island).
Public Relations Consultant Roni Gehlke – Ms. Gehlke gave a report on the grease drop off
that occurred the week after Thanksgiving.
Ms. Gehlke reported that the turnout was not as well attended as
expected but that an average amount of oil was collected. The rainy weather may have played a part in
the low turnout. The next drop off is
scheduled for January 5th.
Ms. Gehlke reported that the grease is used for bio diesel for school
buses.
11. Board
Members Advisory Reports
Director Painter – Director Painter reported that he attended
the BIMID meeting on November 15th.
BIMID is currently struggling with limited finances and is having
difficulty finding a part time manager to help out with routine maintenance, as
well as filling out grant applications and working with DWR.
To date, 238 Jersey Island Pheasant hunting passes
have been issued. In visiting Jersey
Island and speaking with the caretaker, problems with security (vandalism and
theft) around the old homestead area continue.
The sooner staff can abate the old structures the quicker we can
minimize trespass issues.
Delta Science Center calendars are at the printer
and will be distributed when received.
Director Hardcastle – Director Hardcastle reported
that at the city council meeting they voted to increase the garbage rates by
16%. A concerned citizen suggested that
garbage pickup be changed to every other week but state law requires weekly
pickup.
HALO has been removed from the old firehouse building
and is seeking to relocate to a new facility.
Director Lauritzen - Director Lauritzen thanked Director
Hardcastle for his 12 years of service and his dedication to ISD and presented
him with a commemorative jacket.
12. Future Agenda Items for Consideration
There were no future agenda items suggested for
consideration.
8:18 p.m.: President Lauritzen called for a 10
minute recess before entering the closed session. The Board entered closed session at 8:30 p.m.
13. Closed
Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957: Public Employee Performance
Evaluation (General Manager)
At
10:02 p.m., the Board reconvened in Open Session.
14. REPORT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED
SESSION
No
action to report out of closed session.
15. Adjournment
President Lauritzen
adjourned the regular meeting at 10:02 p.m. until Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at
7:00 p.m. for the next regular meeting in the Ironhouse Sanitary District
offices at 450 Walnut Meadows Drive, Oakley, California.
Respectfully Submitted by
Elayna Whyte
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