Loading...
02-06-92MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT FEBRUARY 6, 1992 The Board of Directors of the South Tahoe Public Utility District met in a regular session February 6, 1992, 4:00 PM, City Council Chambers, 1900 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Chairman Pierini, Directors Mason, Mosbacher, Onysko, Wallace ROLL CALL STAFF: Baer, Solbrig, Garton, Mamath, Gilbert, Miller, Knight, Hydrick, Lindsay, Eddy, Johnson, Twomey, B. Eppler, Rudokas, Hussmann, Hoggatt, Trella, Mueller Attorney Sate GUESTS: Brian Taylor/Tahoe Daily Tribune, Paul Hale, Ty Baldwin, Nat Sinclair, John Wynn/Chamber of Commerce, Judge Finney, Bill & Barbara Craven, John Nisby/PAM Development, Dave Bennett, Elizabeth Russell, Gary Sheerin/Rep- resenting Jack Van Sickle, Keith Klein/City Council, Paul Hale explained his request for relief from the sewer unit fees in dispute. He said the sewer units had not been added since he bought the property, but did agree he was informed prior to buying the property that three sewer units had been disconnected (from 15 to 12). The definition of a "sewer unit" was explained to Mr. Hale. He was advised to request the proper paperwork from the City to make the residence a legal, livable habitat and at the present time, he was living in the unit illegally and the District had no choice but to initiate the sewer disconnection. REQUEST TO APPEAR BEFORE BOARD: PAUL HALE Bob Eppler, Customer Service Manager, confirmed Mr. Hale had an illegal apart- ment and he was living in it. The sewer units for his apartment were abated November 30, 1987 and the lines were cemented over and Mr. Hale pur- chased the property 3 months later. ST055195 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 2 Mr. Hale said he was informed prior to the sale that the 3 sewer units in question had been red-tagged. REQUEST TO APPEAR BEFORE BOARD: PAUL HALE (continued) Mr. Hale was advised by Chairman Pierini the District would proceed on schedule and issue a disconnect notice in 30 days in compliance with the Ordinance, and under the Ordinance, he was entitled at that time to come before the Board and request relief if he could not work things out and pay the fees within the 30-day period. Further, Chairman Pierini said if Mr. Hale could not work things out with the City and had paid connection fees, and then had to tear down or abate it he could get a refund on the connection fee from the Board. But, he didn't see much chance in the District allowing him to live there, connect those units and get relief from paying the connection fee. Nat Sinclair commented on a remark he had heard Chairman Pierini say that rates may go up. Chairman Pierini said it was the intention of the Board not to raise rates at this time. COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE Shop Steward - No report. Manager Baer introduced Barrie Lindsay to the Board and presented him with a Certificate from Michigan State Univer- sity for successfully completing a correspondence course on Supervisory Management in the Water and Wastewater Field. Director Onysko asked to add an Item ii/MODIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS and rearrange the order of the Action Items from 11, 5, 6, 7 to 1, 2, 3, 4. CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA OR CONSENT CALENDAR Moved Onysko/Second Mosbacher/Passed Unanimously to approve the corrections as stated above. Moved Onysko/Second Mosbacher/Passed Unanimously to approve the Consent Calendar as submitted: CONSENT CALENDAR 1) Approved Regular Board Meeting Minutes of January 13, 1992; ST055196 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 3 2) Receive and file .2 MGD Expansion and ERB Liner Projects Mitigation Report and authorized staff to file the report with appropriate agencies. CONSENT CALENDAR (continued) 3) Approved Thomas Haen Contract Change Order No. 4 to reduce the contract amount by $1,345.00/Gardner Mt. VOC Treatment System project. 4) Approved Thomas Haen Contract Change Order No. 2 in the amount of $20,473.98/Luther Pass Pump Station- Site Work project. ITEMS FOR BOARD ACTION Director Onysko stated the purpose of his planned motion was to direct staff to come to the next Board meeting with appropriate changes to the medical plan to self-insure our own employees and their spouses to allow reimbursement to each of those persons, up to $60 ($120/ family), if they chose to participate in the non-profit Bone Marrow Registry. Judge Finney explained the bone marrow donor program to the Board and left brochures for distribution. He ex- plained each donor test would cost $30 rather than $60 because the com- munity had over 100 donors. Attorney Sare clarified this would not be something an insurance company would cover, but rather a benefit that is not purchased for the employee, but is made available to the employee by the District. Moved Onysko/Second Wallace/Passed Unanimously to direct staff to appear at the next Board meeting with the appropriate language, as an action item or a consent item, extending reimbursement of up to $60 per employee and spouse to register with the bona fide IRS, Section 501(c) (3) nonprofit Bone Marrow Registry. Presented by Mary Rudokas who re- quested this item be tabled to allow staff to meet with the Board committee and then meet with the other major players (City, EPA, SWRCB, Air Board) to discuss mitigation problem areas MODIFICATION OF EMpLOyEEMEDICAL BENEFITS PACKAGE: BONE MARROW REGISTRY PROGRAM 1981 MITIGATION PROGRAM REVISION ST055197 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 4 and bring it back to the Board after 1981 MITIGATION PROGRAM REVISION these meetings. (continued) Item Tabled - No Board Action. Mary Rudokas reviewed the selection process. Director Mosbacher, who served on the selection committee, recommended the firm of James Mont- gomery Engineers be selected. CONSULTANT SELECTION: 1992-97 SEWER CONNECTIONS EIR/EIS & FACILITY PLAN Director Wallace noted the present amount budgeted for this project may need to be augmented. Moved Mosbacher/Second Wallace/Onysko Abstained/Passed to authorize staff to enter into tripartite negotiations with James Montgomery Engineers to complete the 1992-97 Sewer Connections EIR/EIS & Facility Plan. Director Mason stated the Operations Committee had met and come to the same conclusion regarding storage sites as staff engineer, Chris Twomey. STATELINE STORAGE TANK SITE Moved Mason/Second Onysko/Passed Unanimously to authorize staff to proceed with the investigation of preferred sites. Presented by Attorney Sare who re- viewed the problems with the present Agreement in addressing "in-kind" service and City Attorney Crabb's suggestions to resolve them. WATER USE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SLT AND THE DISTRICT Attorney Sare recommended, for economical reasons, to draft a "public benefit facility agreement", with a charge over a certain amount. He noted the problems related to "overlays" and water for the "green belts" would have to be addressed separately. Moved Mason/Second Mosbacher/Passed Unanimously to direct staff to pursue a proposed Amendment to the present Agreement, with details worked-out with city staff, which would then be reviewed by the Government Committee for pres- entation to the full Board. (Separate minutes prepared for Public Hearing) PUBLIC HEARING: 5:00 PM ST055198 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 5 Presented by Attorney Sare who stated he had researched the Grant language and the present law and concluded it could jeopardize the District's grants and would also be breaking the law to offer special rats for affordable housing projects. He said several actions were available to the Board: (1) Present the proposed Bill to EPA and SWRCB and see if it would cause a problem with the present Grant funded programs and allow the Bill to languish in Committee until we had an answer from EPA and SWRCB; (2) Ask that the Bill be taken out of Committee and "kill" it; (3) Look at other ways to give Afford- able Housing relief. AFFORDABLE HOUSING Sare read aloud the EPA grant language and the law governing this issue and recommended the District request that the Bill be "pulled" and kill it and try to facilitate affordable housing at the pleasure of the Board due to his concerns about jeopardizing grant funding (present and future). It was the consensus of the Board to contact Dennis Crabb and ask him to contact Senator Leslie to "pull" the Bill. No Board Action. Manager Baer clarified his perception of the Board's direction on this issue: To cause F.L.L. to meet its capacity limitation. District staff should cooperate and help them achieve that goal. He felt there were four areas in which the District could assist F.L.L.: (1) Check the flow testing equipment and come back to the Board with a plan; (2) Investigate Infiltra- tion; (3) Aggressive P/R campaign for water conservation; (4) Look into a measuring system. FALLEN LEAF LAKE SEWAGE COLI,ECTION SYSTEM No Board Action. ST055199 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 6 Presented by Richard Solbrig who noted WATER SUPPLY STUDY the Board had requested staff develop a planning level cost estimate to meet the 1992 Safe Drinking Water Act. The plan presented was developed as an in-house study, to be performed by various members of the Engineering Dept. using 120 hours of staff time. The consensus of the Board was to authorize staff to go ahead with the proposed study. No Board Action. Presented by Manager Baer. Finance Officer Garton reported on the impacts to District rate payers, stating there would be a minimum of $105/year in- crease on all sewer bills. GOVERNOR'S PROPOSAL: SHIFT PROPERTY TAX FROM "ENTERPRISE" DISTRICTS TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS Moved Mason/Second Mosbacher/Passed Unanimously to oppose the proposal by supporting CASA efforts, ACWA efforts through the County Water Agency and write to and meet with elected representatives. Moved Mason/Second Mosbacher/Passed Unanimously to approve payment in the amount of $952,715.99. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS Director Wallace reported the Finance Committee had met with Management re their vision care insurance coverage and salaries. BOARD MEMBER COMMITTEE REPORTS Chairman Pierini said the Government Committee had plans to meet concerning the City Water Agreement. None. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Manager: Manager Baer reported on two items: 1) Repairs on the Centrifuges and the Hearth by the Maintenance crews; 2) Meeting with Harold Singer re Lahontan's grant to study the VOC problem in the South "Y" area, the problem with the flume from Terrible Herbst which is affecting the District's well drilling location(s) and Singer's commitment to help the District with the Demonstration Project and potential available grant monies. STAFF REPORTS ST055200 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 6, 1992 PAGE - 7 Past Meetinqs/Events MANAGER'S REPORT 1-16-18 - CASA (continued) 1/22/92 - Area Managers @ NTPUD 1/31/92 - Tahoe CEO Meeting 2/01/92 - Board Retreat 2/06/92 - Ford Settlement Conference 2/06/92 - Consultant Interviews/93-97 Sewer Connection Project Attorney:. Attorney Sare reported: 1) the 1992 ACWA membership dues are due and payable; 2) He had received some objections from state officials about the Clean Water Grant Act, because they were worried it might jeopardize funding for some of their other programs. 2/07/92 - 10:00 AM - EDWPA @ Lake Tahoe NOTICE OF FUTURE MEETINGS 2/10/92 - - HDR Claim Mediation 2/20/92 - 4:00 PM - Regular Board Mtg. Attorney Sare requested a Special Mtg. be posted for Monday, February 10th at 4:00 PM and Tuesday, February llth at 1:00 PM in the event an Executive Session was needed to ratify or reject the results of the HDR claim mediation. 8:25 PM ADJOURNMENT TOEXECUTIVESESSION Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b)(1)/Discussion of significant exposure to litigation/HDR CLAIM, FORD CLAIM STATELINE RESERVOIR PROPOSAL; Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6(a)/Discussion with designated representative regarding the salaries, salary schedules, or compensation to be paid to District's represented and unrepresented employees/ MANAGEMENT NEGOTIATIONS, REPORT ON UNION MEETING. 9:00 PM ADJOURNMENT LOU PIERINI, CHAIRMAN OF BOARD SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT PAT -A. MAMATH, CLERK OF BOARD SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT ST055201 Date: BOARD GUEST SIGN-IN SHEET: (please print) PHONE NUMBER: NAME: ADDRESS: NOTE: COMPLETION OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS VOLUNTARY AND NOT A ~ECONDTTION ~O~ ATTEnDAnCE. ST055202 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT WILL BE HELD ON THE 1st DAY OF February , 1992 9: 30 A, M, AT 1275 Meadow Crest Drive to adjourn to Tallac Vista Conference Center TO: Hold a Board Member and Management Staff Retreat. action (vote) is anticipated at the Retreat. This Notice is necessary to accommodate Government code Section 54956 due to a quorum of Board members attending said Retreat. No formal Board DATED: January 28, 1992 PAT A, MAMATH, CLERK OF BOARD SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT ST055203 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A SPECIAL MEETING OF T~ BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT WILL BE HELD January 16-18, 1992 atvarious times P,M, AT CASA - Palm Springs Hilton, 400 East Tahquitz Way, Palm Springs, CA TO attend a California Association of Sanitation Agencies Midyear Session -Annual Work Conference. This Notice is necessary to accommodate Government Code Section 54956 due to a quorum of Board members attending said conference. DATED: January 10, 1992 PAT. A.-MAMATH, CLERK OF BOARD SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT ST055204