03-20-08
c.
SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
"Basic Services for a Complex World"
Richard Sol brig, General Manawer
Mary Lou Mosbacher, President
BOARD MEMBERS
Paul Sciuto, Assistant Manager
Dale Rise, Vice President
James R. Jones, Director
Eric W. Schafer, Director
Ernie Claudio, Director
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
MARCH 20, 2008
MINUTES
The Board of Directors of the South Tahoe Public Utility District met in a regular session,
March 20, 2008, 2:00 P.M., District Office, 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake
Tahoe, California.
~
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
President Mosbacher, Directors Rise, Claudio, Jones,
Schafer
ATTENDEES
STAFF:
Solbrig, Sciuto, Sharp, McFarlane, Bergsohn, S. Gray,
Coyner, Curtis, Rasmussen, C. Stanley, Cocking,
Pinkel, Attorney Herrema
GUEST:
Rex Thran
Ivo Bergsohn led the pledge to the flag.
PLEDGE OF ALLlGIANCE
COMMENTS
President Mosbacher announced Alpine County
Supervisor, Don Jardine, was recently appointed to
the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
ITEMS FOR BOARD ACTION
The District plans to construct a 1,000 gallon-per- ARROWHEAD WELL ARSENIC
minute (gpm) water treatment facility for the removal TREATMENT FACILITY
of arsenic from groundwater, in order to meet the
~. revised Federal Arsenic Standard and continue operation
~ of Arrowhead Well No.3. Carollo Engineers has been
involved with this project since 2005, and completed
a pre-design for this facility in September 2007.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 20, 2008
PAGE - 2
\..,
Moved Schafer I Second Jones I Passed Unanimouslv
to approve proposal from Carollo Engineers for
engineering final design, permitting support and
construction support services, in the amount of
$309,806.
One bid was received at the March 4 bid opening
for the pre-purchase of a 1,000 gpm water treatment
system. The bid, received from Severn Trent Water
Purification, Inc. (STWP), was reviewed by the project
design engineer (Carollo Engineers), District Legal
Counsel and District staff. Findings from the bid review
identified many deviations from the guide and
specifications in terms of both proposed equipment
and in changes to the contract terms and conditions.
It is the opinion of counsel that the deviations are
substantial and the STWP bid should be considered
non-responsive.
'-'
Ivo Bergsohn explained that while the changes made
to the bid were not in the District's best interest,
some of the suggested changes to the terms and
conditions appeared to be reasonable. Staff will
contact the suppliers who requested the specifica-
tions to determine whether a sufficient level of
interest exists to re-bid. Staff would report to the
Board at a future meeting as to whether there would
be any advantage to the District in re-bidding the
equipment pre-purchase.
Moved Schafer I Second Rise I Passed Unanimouslv
to reject bid received from Severn Trent Water
Purification, Inc., as non-responsive.
ARROWHEAD WELL ARSENIC
TREATMENT FACILITY
(continued)
ARROWHEAD WELL ARSENIC
TREATMENT FACILITY -
EQUIPMENT PRE-PURCHASE
Current District Administrative Code states that excess SEWER UNIT TRANSFER POLICY
sewer capacity is kept on a parcel unless transferred
to another parcel, sold on the open market, or returned
to the District. In order to maintain the capacity, trans-
fer the capacity or sell on the open market, sewer
service charges must be paid quarterly on the excess
sewer capacity.
The main issue is that many property owners choose
to hold onto their excess sewer units and do not use
them until they have a project, which could be years.
In the meantime, the property owner is required to pay
sewer service charges quarterly in order to bank the
sewer units. If the property owner elects to maintain
the sewer units for a long period of time, the sewer
service charges paid can be greater than the discount
, . the customer receives when they eventually transfer
..., the sewer unit to another parcel or utilize them on
their own property.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 20, 2008
PAGE - 3
c.
Lisa Coyner and Sandy Gray explained staff would
contact all customers with more than four sewer
units, inform them of the new process, and have a
deadline for notification to the District. Then, their
billing would be suspended after verification of the
sewer units by staff, and would have five years to
transfer them, or leave them on their parcel. The
goal is that after five years, the practice of transfer-
ring sewer units would be eliminated. Sunsetting
this program seems to be the right thing to do for
District customers. Coyner and Gray requested
direction from the Board in order to draft an
ordinance for consideration at a future Board meeting.
Rhonda McFarlane added that there will be no sunset
date if the sewer units are kept on a property owner's
parcel, and that the program would not be retroactive.
Staff answered questions from Board members, and
clarified the District does not know how many sewer
units there are, and therefore, cannot determine the
exact cost to the District.
\..,
Discussions took place regarding: transferring sewer
units not being the industry standard, negative impacts
to the budget, administrative impacts, and customer
notification processes.
It was the consensus of the Board to direct staff to
proceed with development of an amendment to the
Administrative Code to suspend billing on sewer unit
transfers.
No Board action.
Moved Schafer / Second Rise / Passed Unanimously
to approve payment in the amount of $727,644.97.
Water and Wastewater Operations Committee: The
committee met March 17. Minutes of the meeting
are available upon request. Discussions took place
regarding the substantial financial impacts that could
occur if the City implements new asphalt/paving
standards.
Planning Committee: The committee met March 11 to
provide input on the sewer unit transfer policy
District representatives will attend the agency's
strategic planning session on March 24.
\., After the April 9 County Water Agency board meeting,
staff and legal counsel will meet with members of the
SEWER UNIT TRANSFER POLICY
(continued)
PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
BOARD MEMBER STANDING
COMMITTEE REPORTS
EL DORADO COUNTY WATER
AGENCY PURVEYOR
REPRESENTATIVES REPORTS
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 20, 2008
PAGE - 4
c.
Department of Transportation, and Supervisors Santiago
and Sweeney to discuss a long-range agreement for
utility relocations resulting from erosion control projects.
It was mentioned that there are three open seats on the
Board of Supervisors.
An application for supplemental water on the west slope
has been submitted to the State Water Board.
3:15 - 3:30 P.M.
Director Jones reported the fire department distributed
information from the building code on the calculations
necessary to determine if fire sprinkler systems are
required. He gaye a copy of the information to staff to
distribute to the full Board.
'-'
Director Rise reported on three items:
1) He will attend a California Special Districts seminar
for new Board members, and will also attend an ACW A
legislatiye briefing.
2) He sat in on a meeting regarding flow monitoring deyices.
3) He encouraged staff to look into ways to maximize
billing potential. There are other sources of income that
the District is not taking adyantage of. The Finance
Committee will discuss this idea.
Director Schafer reported on two items:
1) The USFS has unused sewer units and the ability to
transfer them to people who use their land. He felt it
would be inappropriate if the USFS allowed Heayenly
Ski Resort to use them for commercial use.
2) He encouraged the District's opposition to the pro-
posal to take special districts' property tax money to
supplement the state's budget (a crisis created by their
oyerspending).
President Mosbacher reported on two items:
1) She reported on her attendance at the Alpine County
Contracts Commission meeting where nitrate testing
was discussed.
2) Sorenson's Resort is haYing a difficult time connect-
ing to the District's export system through their
agreement with Alpine County.
\." !3eneral Manaqer: Richard So/brig reported on three
Items:
1) After considering input received from the Technical
Advisory Committee meeting, staff developed a flow
EL DORADO COUNTY WATER
AGENCY PURVEYOR
REPRESENTATIVES REPORTS
(continued)
MEETING BREAK
BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
GENERAL MANAGER REPORTS
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 20, 2008
PAGE - 5
\.,
chart including costs to homeowners, and the number
of inspections staff would have to perform as a result
of the sewer lateral testing/inspections issue. Items on
that chart will be incorporated into Administrative Code
changes, which will bring the District more in line with
industry standards.
2) In response to recent articles about pharmaceuticals
in the groundwater, he reported that since the District
exports all wastewater from the basin, the groundwater
is safe. This was confirmed through testing conducted
by the US Geological Survey.
3) Staff developed a spreadsheet summarizing grant
award achievements. The grant coordinator program is
beneficial to both the District, and to Alpine County.
Assistant General Manager/Engineer: Paul Sciuto
reported on two items:
1) Lahontan approved the rescission of a cease and
desist order that was issued 20 years ago.
2) Staff from Brown and Caldwell reported they
received inquiries from the City of South Lake Tahoe
regarding the report they did on the value of the
Lukins Water Company. Rhonda McFarlane added
that Lukins will be going before the PUC to
request a rate increase for its customers.
'-'
Attorney Herrema reported comments have been
submitted to the State Water Board in response
to their proposed recycled water policy.
District Information Officer: Dennis Cocking reported
on the District's appropriations request, opposition
to the Waters of the U.S. legislation, opposition to
the proposed property tax diversion by the state,
proposal of a water bond that would provide for new
infrastructure and water storage, and water metering
legislation.
4:20 P.M.
GENERAL MANAGER REPORTS
(continued)
STAFF REPORTS
ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED
SESSION
ACTION I REPORT ON ITEMS DISCUSSED DURING CLOSED SESSION
No reportable Board action.
\.,
Pursuant to Government Code
Section 54956.9(a)/Conference
with Legal Counsel - Existing
Litigation re: Meyers Landfill Site:
United States of America vs. EI
Dorado County and City of South
Lake Tahoe and Third Party
Defendants, Civil Action No.
S-01-1520 LKK GGH, U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Ca.
\.,
\.,
\.,
PAGE - 6
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 20, 2008
4:25 P.M.
ATTEST:~~~:Sh,rw '/:'
Kathy Shar , Clerk of thtt'Board
South Tahoe Public Utility District
RECONVENED TO OPEN SESSION
AND MEETING ADJOURNMENT
Mary u sbacher, Board President
South Tahoe Public Utility District