REGULAR MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE MID-PENINSULA WATER DISTRICT
June 26, 2008
Belmont, California
CALL TO ORDER: The Board of Directors’ meeting of the Mid-Peninsula Water District was called to order by President Zucca at 6:30 p.m.
A. ROLL CALL:
PRESENT: Directors Altscher, Feldman, Linvill, Vella and Zucca
ALSO PRESENT: General Manager Regan, General Counsel Cassman, Secretary Remeleh, and Engineer O’Flaherty
STAFF PRESENT: Superintendent Michael Anderson, Rick Bisio, Jon Tscharner and Jonathan Anderson.
MEMBERS OF PUBLIC:
None
PRESIDENT: President Zucca presiding.
Whereupon the following proceedings were duly had:
B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Director Linvill led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes of the Regular Board meeting of May 22, 2008 and Special Board meeting of June 11, 2008 were unanimously approved on a motion by Vice President Feldman and seconded by Director Altscher.
D. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
E. HUMAN RESOURCE CONSULTANT:
General Manager Regan gave a brief background on the Organization Assessment to be presented by Susan Couden of Couden & Associates. He stated that Susan will be giving an overview of her findings and explaining next steps. Susan thanked the Board for their participation in the Assessment since she felt this process will not only require work by all District employees but also the Board of Directors. Susan stated there are 6 key themes and findings in the report. The report shows the District is well run and employees are very proud to work at the District. The major problem seems to stem from a personnel issue that came to light a few years ago and is still disruptive to the employees and work environment. This issue continues to bring down the moral of a lot of employees. The employees expressed their desire to resolve this issue and hopefully bring the District’s “family”- like work environment back to where it was a few years ago. The employees also stated they were confused about the role of the Board and the role of Management and will need to be educated on how the Board works, what their responsibility is and how that relates to them as workers. She stated there should be some changes to help clarify procedure on issues in the employee Personnel Manual and add a code of conduct for employees to follow and refer to. The Directors thanked Susan for her hard work. They asked a few clarifying questions on what the next steps will be. Susan stated the next meeting will be held with all employees to go over the assessment findings. Staff will then report back to the Board with possible next steps as it is a desire to let the employees have input on how to move forward with the next steps. President Zucca stated he had a request from the Employees Association to have two Board members address the employees in an informal setting as has been done in the past. Possible topics could be the budget and how the economy and increasing costs affect the financial future of the District.
F. WATER CONSERVATION:
Secretary Remeleh opened the discussion on this item. The Board received the customer outreach plan in their Board packets to review. She stated that some of the items are already being implemented, some ideas are being worked on and some ideas are in the planning stages. The Board also received the quarterly newsletter for review and comments and a print out of the proposed water conservation banner. The Directors had several questions and comments on these items. General Manager Regan asked for comments to be presented on or before the next Board meeting. Secretary Remeleh also stated the District water conservation coordinator attended the Green Advisory Committee meeting at the City of Belmont. She handed out conservation materials and talked with a few committee members about conservation items.
G. DISTRICT’S INSURANCE PROGRAM FOR F/Y 2008/2009:
President Zucca opened the discussion on the District’s Insurance Program. He stated at the last meeting staff was directed to contact the District insurance carrier to find benchmarks from other water districts on their excess liability insurance and aggregate limits. The Board received an email from our insurance broker that covered most of the questions the Board had. Another issue of concern is the limit or lack of a cap on defense costs. The Board directed staff to request the District’s insurance broker to be present at the next Board meeting to answer this question and any other questions the Board may have in regards to the policies.
H. ESTABLISHING AN APPROPRIATIONS LIMIT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008/2009 RESOLUTION NUMBER 2008-1:
General Counsel Cassman led the discussion on this item. She explained to the Board this is an annual exercise for the District. She gave some background on how and why the appropriations limit was enacted. She explained about the formula used and that the District portion of property tax revenues is far less than the expenditures the District has. On motion by Director Vella and seconded by Vice President Feldman, Resolution 2008-1 Establishing an Appropriations Limit for Fiscal Year 2008/2009 was unanimously approved by a roll call vote.
I. PROPOSED F/Y 2008/2009 BUDGET – RESOLUTION NUMBER 2008-2:
President Zucca opened the discussion on this item. He explained the Board had a Special meeting on June 11, 2008 to go over the budget and ask any questions they may have. The budget for fiscal year 2008/2009 is a total of $8,575,868. On motion by Director Altscher, seconded by Director Vella, Resolution Number 2008-2 Approving the Operations and Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2008/2009 was unanimously approved by a roll call vote.
J. DIRECTORS’ REPORTS:
Director Altscher reported on his attendance at the last LAFCo meeting. Director Vella reported on a meeting he attended on recycled water. Discussion ensued that the District needs to continue to keep in mind the possibility of recycled water and other programs for alternate water sources. Director Vella also told the Board he will not be able to attend the August Board meeting as he will be out of the country. President Zucca reported on his attendance at the San Francisco Planning Commission public hearing on the Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel Project Environmental Impact Report. He gave an overview of the project to the Board. The President expressed support for this important project.
K. MANAGER’S REPORT:
Manager Regan reported on the Village Drive main break. He also reported on the Coronet mainline project that is now complete. It was completed on time and letters will be going out to customers thanking them for their patience during this project and to make sure all is in order in their neighborhood. The General Manager reported that Solar City had visited the District to look at our building and supply a quote for solar panels. Director Altscher told staff about a shared savings program that he saw in the newspaper. He suggested staff might want to check into this program. On motion by Director Altscher, seconded by Vice President Feldman, the Manager’s Report was unanimously approved.
L. FINANCIAL REPORTS:
Manager Regan stated it looks like the budget will be coming in a little under what was anticipated. Capital Projects are completed with the exception of the Exbourne Tank Project which was delayed because of the need to relocate the cell site tower and the rainy weather in the fall. Vice President Feldman requested that staff check into having a separate account set up for the funds set aside in our LAIF account for Other Post Employment Benefits. Director Linvill stated it should be included on the Financial Statement as a restricted fund. On motion by Director Vella, seconded by Vice President Feldman, the Financial Report was unanimously approved.
M. FUTURE NEW BUSINESS ITEMS-SUGGESTIONS BY THE BOARD MEMBERS:
Director Altscher asked to have the change in the November and December Board meeting placed on the agenda for discussion as the regular meetings would otherwise be on Thanksgiving and Christmas. President Zucca advised the letter from the City of Foster City will be on the July agenda.
N. COMMUNICATIONS:
President Zucca stated the District has received a letter from the City of Foster City about plan to open the intertie for a week in February to accommodate an improvement project on their distribution system. Rick Bisio addressed the Board with dates that all employees will be at work for their meeting with Board members. He requested at this meeting to have the Directors go over some of the items in the budget that relate to labor and healthcare costs so the employees have a better understanding of them. He stated the employees had reviewed the Employee Assistance Program. Rick also gave a brief overview of the Department of Transportation Drug Testing program. He reported the employees had received the language changes to the District’s retirement benefits and were satisfied with the changes. Rick told the Directors that all staff had a Pandemic Flu emergency/response exercise. This exercise covered what would happen if a pandemic flu hit our area and how that District would continue to run with a limited number of employees.
O. CLOSED SESSION:
At the direction of President Zucca, the Board recessed at 8:38 p.m. and convened to closed session with respect to the following specified items on the agenda:
1. CONFERENCE WITH DISTRICT LABOR NEGOTIATORS:
Closed session pursuant to Government Code 54957.6
District Negotiator: Board President
Unrepresented Employee: Belmont County Water District Employee Association
2. POSSIBLE ACTIONS IN OPEN SESSION:
1. Approving clarifications to Personnel Manual
a. Retiree Medical Benefit – Sections II and XII
b. Substance Abuse Policy
- Instituting Employee Assistance Program
The Board came out of closed session at 9:21 p.m. The following actions were taken.
1. Approving clarifications to Personnel Manual
a. Retiree Medical Benefit – Sections II and XII
b. Substance Abuse Policy
On motion by Vice President Feldman, seconded by Director Linvill the Board unanimously approved Clarifications to the Personnel Manual referred above.
- Instituting Employee Assistance Program
On motion by Vice President Feldman, seconded by Director Linvill, the Board unanimously approved Instituting an Employee Assistance Program.
P. ADJOURNMENT:
President Zucca adjourned the meeting at 9:23 p.m. The next regular meeting of the MPWD Board is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the District’s administrative offices at 3 Dairy Lane, Belmont CA 94002.
