CALL TO ORDER:  The Board of Directors’ meeting of the Mid-Peninsula Water District was called to order by Vice President Linvill at 6:30 p.m.

 

A.  ROLL CALL:
PRESENT:  Directors Altscher, Linvill, Stuebing, Vella (by phone) and Zucca. 

 

ALSO PRESENT:  General Manager Regan, General Counsel Cassman, Secretary Remeleh Treasurer Ira and Engineer Boscacci.

 

STAFF PRESENT: Henry Young.

 

MEMBERS OF PUBLIC:  

Joubin Pakpour from Pakpour Consulting and Alex Handlers from Bartle Wells

 

PRESIDENT:  Vice President Linvill presiding. 

 

Whereupon the following proceedings were duly had:

 

B.  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: 

Manager Regan led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The minutes of the Regular Board meeting of February 25, 2010 were unanimously approved as corrected, on a motion by Director Stuebing and seconded by Director Altscher.

 

D.  PUBLIC COMMENTS:

None.

 

E.  EXBOURNE TANK PROJECT:

Joubin reported that the project is moving very smoothly and in the last month the contractor has made up 10 of the 35 days the project is behind schedule. The tank construction and painting has been completed. The contractor is working on constructing the pump station and electrical modifications are being worked on. Joubin informed the Board of change Order # 5 for $6,000.00. Item # 1 on the change order is for additional asphalt concrete for the installation of the main. Item # 2 is for insulation for the pump station to reduce the noise and control the temperature. Joubin also explained the pictures that were included in his report.

 

F. BELMONT COUNTY WATER DISTRICT EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATIONS REPORT:

There was nothing to report.

 

G. REGULATIONS FOR METER READING/BILLING PRACTICES:

Secretary Remeleh presented the amended policy for the meter reading schedule. The policy now states that meters will be read between the time period of 27 to 35 days each month.

Director Altscher would like to see the policy state that if a bill is not read within the time period stated that the bill will be adjusted accordingly. Staff will add the requested verbiage and present it to the Board at the April meeting.

 

H.  WATER CONSERVATION:

Secretary Remeleh reported that the District has been working with the Holiday Inn Express to be part of our water conservation program for hotels and motels in Belmont.

The District will also be working with the City to help with conservation of large outdoor water users such as the sports complex.

She also reported that the District's water conservation specialist has met with BAWSCA for next year's water conservation programs. Grant funding will not be available until next year around this time.

Director Altscher suggested looking into partnering with local businesses for conservation incentives.   

 

I.  HUMAN RESOURCE AUDIT:

Secretary Remeleh reported that she has one proposal in hand for this service and another that will be submitted next week.

Vice President Linvill would like to see staff bring a scope of the work and a recommendation for retaining a consultant to perform an HR audit before the Board. 

 

J.  AGREEMENT FOR 101 IRRIGATION SERVICE (RECLAIMED WATER) CALTRANS/REDWOOD CITY/MPWD:

Manager Regan explained that staff has come up with an agreement with Redwood City that addresses the main concerns with allowing Redwood City to enter our service territory to irrigate Caltrans landscaping at the Ralston/101 interchange with reclaimed water. It was made clear in the agreement that the reclaimed water would only be used to irrigate the landscape put in by Caltrans, that the District will not be liable for anything that may go wrong, that Redwood City is responsible for costs incurred by the District, and that the period of time that Redwood City may provide reclaimed water for this limited purpose in the District's service area shall not exceed 5 years.

The Board offered some comments on the agreement.

The Board unanimously approved direction to staff to revise the Agreement as discussed and send the Agreement to the City of Redwood City for review, on a motion by Director Zucca seconded by Director Altscher.   

 

K.  RATE STUDY WORKSHOP PRESENTATION AND UPDATE:

Alex Handlers from Bartle Wells thanked the Board for the good input on the Rate Study at the workshop. He presented the Board with the revised recommendations for the proposed rate structure and various charges. He explained that the Board should review and make adjustments where they see fit. He also explained that in order for the District to hold the public hearing concerning the rates that are proposed to go into effect July 1, 2010, the Proposition 218 notices must go out in the next few weeks. He stated the District has been a good financial steward and has been raising rates every year. The District’s current rates are in the middle range compared to other Districts on the Peninsula. The District has also been a good operational steward, placing new pipelines, building new tanks and keeping up general maintenance of the system. Just as other agencies in the Bay Area and across the state have experienced, revenue has dropped. Rate increases will be necessary to continue to maintain the District's system  due to SFPUC’s 134% rate increase over the next six years that will help fund SFPUC’s Capital Improvement Project. The District's rate increases will also assist in accruing reserves. Alex recommended an overall 9% rate increase in the District's revenues for each of the next five years. He also recommended that the rate structure be modified so the 2 fixed charges are combined into one meter charge.  He explained that currently the District's fixed charges make up 18% of its revenue which is low in comparison to industry standards.  He recommends the District increase its fixed charges to bring the revenue for these charges to 20% with additional gradual increases to the service charge over the next 5 years. The commodity charges will also be increased and the breaks in the residential tier structure will be modified in a way to continue the water conservation incentive. The commercial tier breaks will remain the same. The rates have also been figured to balance out residential and commercial rate charges.

Director Altscher asked staff to give their recommendations on the proposed rate increase and other expenses to the District. He also asked Alex to elaborate on the 4% labor increase assumption over the next few years that was included in his report.

Alex explained that the 4% is the standard increase that is used in this type of report. This does not mean that the total 4% will actually be used.

Manager Regan explained that costs for capital facilities maintenance have been budgeted for $500,000.00 dollars less than in previous years. 3 Different budgets will be submitted to the Board; one with a 5% cut back, the second with a 7% cutback and the final one with a 10% cutback.

Director Zucca was pleased to see that the proposed increases have remained single digit percentages. He also asked Alex to elaborate on how it was figured to keep it as low as it is.    

Alex explained that part of it was due to the cutback in capital projects as well as conservation efforts.

Director Zucca also asked if the charges on the large meters are covering the actual costs of the meter.

Alex explained that the proposed increases will help cover the costs of the meter.

Director Zucca asked where the District will sit compared to other Districts as far as rates after the increase is put into place.

Alex explained that the District will probably remain in about the place it is now compared to other Districts. Alex also explained the 218 notice has to reflect the highest possible rate increase under consideration. The District, however, is allowed to adjust the increase in the case of the SFPUC raising rates higher than what was already proposed.

Vice President Linvill asked what the next step will be in this process.

Alex explained that the 218 notices with the final edits to the rates must go out 45 days prior to the Public Hearing where the rate increase proposal will be considered by the Board.

Vice President Linvill asked for staff’s recommendation on the rate increase.

Manager Regan recommended that the Board adopt the current proposed rate increase.

Director Stuebing supports Manager Regan’s recommendation.

President Vella commented that several things will need to be taken into consideration when comparing the District’s rates to the rates of neighboring water agencies.   

Director Altscher is comfortable with moving forward and looks forward to seeing staff’s ideas on how the District will be containing and managing costs.

The Board unanimously approved direction to staff to proceed with the process of sending out the 218 notices to the customers, on a motion by Director Zucca seconded by Director Altscher.

 

L.  RESOLUTION 2010-1 SUPPORTING THE SAFE CLEAN AND RELIABLE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY ACT OF 2010:

The Board decided to move this item to the May Board Meeting after the ACWA Conference for further consideration.

 

M.  DIRECTORS’ REPORT:

There were none.

 

N. MANAGER’S REPORT:

Manager Regan reported the Buckland Tanks are in the cleaning process and one is in need of a new roof. He also reported that the solar project has been completed at Hallmark Tank.

Director Altscher noticed that the District was listed as a sponsor of the ACWA Conference and was wondering what the District gave ACWA.

Secretary Remeleh explained that a small monetary donation was given to ACWA. 

The Board unanimously approved the Manager’s report, on a motion by Director Altscher seconded by Director Zucca.

 

O.  FINANCIAL REPORT:

Secretary Remeleh explained that the District's financial reports are handled by C.G. Uhlenberg & Co and introduced the District Treasurer Jeff Ira.

Treasurer Ira explained that revenue is down this month due to the rain and conservation. He stated that the District is in a good financial position overall being a “pay as you go” District and that will be beneficial in the long run.  He also asked if there was something on the Financial Report that needs to be changed.

Vice President Linvill would like to see the Financial Report be more understandable for the general public.

Treasurer Ira stated that he will edit the report to achieve this purpose.

President Linvill thanked Treasurer Ira for attending and for working with Management on the financials.

 

P. FUTURE NEW BUSINESS ITEMS-SUGGESTIONS BY THE BOARD MEMBERS:

Request Treasurer Ira to attend Board meetings on a quarterly basis.

 

Q. COMMUNICATIONS:

The new Spring Newsletter was presented to the Board for review.

President Linvill would like to see articles from the newspaper relating to or impacting the District in the Board packet.

 

R. CLOSED SESSION

At the direction of Vice President Linvill, the Board and General Counsel recessed at 8:52 to convene in a closed session with respect to the specified item on the agenda:

 

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ASSOCIATED NEGOTIATIONS:

Closed session pursuant to Government Code 54957 AND 54957.6

Title: General Manager

 

The President reconvened the meeting in open session at 10:16 p.m. and the General Counsel reported that the Board had met in closed session to discuss the matters identified above.  No action was taken in closed session.

 

S. ADJOURNMENT:

Vice President Linvill adjourned the meeting at 10:19 p.m.  The next regular meeting of the MPWD Board is scheduled for Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. in the District’s administrative offices at 3 Dairy Lane, Belmont CA 94002.