CALL TO ORDER: The Board of Directors’ meeting of the Mid-Peninsula Water District was called to order by Vice President Feldman at 6:30 p.m.
A. ROLL CALL:
PRESENT: Directors Altscher, Feldman, Linvill, and Vella.
ALSO PRESENT: General Manager Regan, General Counsel Joan Cassman, Secretary Remeleh, Engineer O’Flaherty, and Treasurer Jeff Ira.
STAFF PRESENT: Superintendent Michael Anderson
MEMBERS OF PUBLIC:
None
PRESIDENT: Vice Present Feldman presiding.
Whereupon the following proceedings were duly had:
B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Superintendent Mike Anderson led the Pledge of Allegiance.
C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes of the Regular Board meeting of October 23, 2008 were unanimously approved on a motion by Director Vella and seconded by Director Altscher.
D. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
E. WATER CONSERVATION:
Secretary Remeleh reported on the updated Water Conservation Plan. She stated the plan has been expanded.
She also reported on a meeting with George Metropulos, a teacher from one of the Belmont Schools. They discussed possible ways for the District to become more involved with the schools. The District will be working with the teachers to somewhat customize the activities in a way that will be suitable for teachers’ curriculum.
Secretary Remeleh presented the top 12 posters for the 2009 MPWD Poster Contest. There were 135 posters submitted this year. The kids and teachers have been invited to the December Board meeting where the winners will be presented with the prizes. Each student that participated will receive a certificate for participating in the poster contest.
Director Vella commented that the kids did a good job with the posters this year. He was pleased with the District’s participation with the schools. He would like to see more specific details on the meeting with the different entities on the Water Conservation Plan.
Director Altscher was also impressed with the participation this year in the 2009 Poster Contest. He would like to see more Market Transformation programs in the Water Conservation Plan.
Director Linvill commended the District on the programs and efforts that have been made so far. She would like to see more specific dates for the various activities on the Water Conservation Plan.
F. MID-PENINSULA WATER DISTRICT INVESTMENT POLICY:
The Investment Policy was moved to the Financial Report.
G. DIRECTORS’ REPORTS:
Director Altscher reported on the Ethics Training that was taken by the Directors and the employees of the District with General Counsel.
Director Vella also commented on the Ethics Training. He said that the representatives from the General Counsel’s office did a good job and the subject was explained in a simple yet effective way. He also mentioned that he will be attending the BAWSCA meeting on the following day and he will report on that next Board meeting. He also requested the Board’s approval to attend the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Conference in Washington D.C. Director Linvill believes that it would be a good idea to send someone to the conference in D.C. and maybe have a rotation in the future for Board members to attend this conference. Director Altscher also thought it would be a good opportunity for a Board member to attend the conference. This will be an item for discussion on the next meeting’s agenda.
Director Feldman reported on his attendance at the San Mateo Chapter of the Special District Association meeting. The Mayor of Tracy who is also a consultant was in attendance at this meeting and he spoke about the improvement of Board leadership.
H. MANAGER’S REPORT:
Manager Regan reported that the Exbourne Tank project should be completed in mid December. The Maywood mainline project is in progress. The main will be placed in service and service lines will be transferred soon after that. The Talbryn Regulator project is completed. He also reported on a meeting he had with David Jury of Palo Alto Medical Facility (PAMF) regarding the hospital plans. He stated the meeting went very well and he hopes to set up a meeting with the PAMF representative and Pakpour Consulting Group to discuss further planning.
Director Altscher inquired about the District’s research on installing solar panels on the District Operations building. Manager Regan explained the District has received an estimate to install the solar panels but he would like to wait until the market makes the project more cost effective. Although the technology is not new, there are many changes coming in the industry and Manager Regan has found out in talking with others the cost should be decreasing to install solar. In addition, more cost sharing programs are coming available. Director Altscher also suggested that Manager Regan speak with the ACWA energy consultant at the ACWA conference that Manager Regan will be attending.
Director Vella stated he was happy to see the District is testing its generators and asked about the process. General Manager Regan explained the process and stated staff and an outside consultant were in the process of load testing all the District generators. Director Vella asked the General Manager about the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) critique meeting. General Manager explained that the District is waiting for the critique meeting to be scheduled. Director Vella also congratulated Rick Bisio on the First Aid, CPR, AED training that he did for the District. On motion by Director Vella, seconded by Director Linvill, the Manager’s Report was unanimously approved.
I. FINANCIAL REPORT:
Treasurer Ira began by explaining that on the Capital Expenditures Report the Exbourne project had been changed. It reflects the engineering fees and has been broken down into three projects. There were also many changes to the Financial Reports. He stated that balance sheet items that have been completed are now closed out. The remaining items are ongoing projects. He is also working on finding a better “budget to actual” report format. Due to the District’s seasonal sales of water, it is difficult to break this down into a 12 month average. The report now compares current to prior month and fiscal year to date. Also added are the same two timeframes for the prior year. On motion by Director Linvill and seconded by Director Altscher, the Financial Report was unanimously approved.
F. MID-PENINSULA WATER DISTRICT INVESTMENT POLICY:
Moved from earlier in the meeting.
Treasurer Ira led this discussion by stating that he did a thorough analysis on the investment portfolio of Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF). Treasurer Ira advised the Board that LAIF is a very safe place to keep the District’s money during the current financial crisis. LAIF is taking a very conservative approach to their investments. Also District has a very simple investment policy with a lot of restrictions and LAIF suites the District’s desire to have a safe and sound investment vehicle. Vice President Feldman asked Treasurer Ira to give suggestions for the Other Post Employment Benefit funds (OPEB). Treasurer Ira explained that the District’s current investment policy only allows investments in 3 different types of accounts which are LAIF, CD’s and Treasuries. If the District wanted to invest in anything else it would be required to amend the investment policy. Treasurer Ira suggested the OPEB be invested in CD’s. After further discussion the Board directed staff to continue researching the investment of OPEB into CD’s. The Board thanked Treasurer for all his hard work on this item.
J. FUTURE NEW BUSINESS ITEMS-SUGGESTIONS BY THE BOARD:
Director Altscher suggested that we place the Green Business Certification Program on the January Agenda. The ACWA Conference in Washington D.C., Poster Winners, Reorganization of the Board, and the BAWSCA meeting will also be on next months agenda.
K. COMMUNICATIONS:
The Board Members received an invitation to the Belmont Chamber of Commerce Annual Holiday Fundraiser and Gala.
L. CLOSED SESSION:
At the direction of Vice President Feldman, the Board and General Counsel recessed at 7:56 to convene in a closed session with respect to the specified item on the agenda:
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Closed session pursuant to Government Code 54957
Title: General Manager
The Board reconvened in open session at 8:36. The General Counsel reported that no formal action was taken in closed session.
K. ADJOURNMENT:
Vice President Feldman adjourned the meeting at 8:37 p.m. The next regular meeting of the MPWD Board is scheduled for Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the District’s administrative offices at 3 Dairy Lane, Belmont CA 94002.
