05-05-2022SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
David Peterson, Vice President
Chris Cefalu, Director
BOARD MEMBERS
Shane Romsos, Director
Kelly Sheehan, President
Nick Exline, Director
John Thiel, General Manager Paul Hughes, Chief Financial Officer
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SOUTH TAHOE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
May 5, 2022
MINUTES
The South Tahoe Public Utility District Board of Directors met in a regular session, 2:00 p.m., at the
District Office, located at 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe, California.
ROLL CALL:
Board of Directors: President Sheehan, Directors Romsos, Peterson, Exline
Absent: Director Cefalu
Staff: John Thiel, Gary Kvistad, Paul Hughes, Melonie Guttry, Tim Bledsoe, Adrian Combes,
Chris Stanley, Jessica Henderson, Cuz Cullen, Bren Barley, Greg DuPree, Chris Skelly, Dan Arce,
Steve Caswell
Guests: Jesse Garner
1.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
2.COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Jesse Garner expressed appreciation on behalf of the
Montgomery Estates neighborhood that the District maintains their property in keeping defensive
space. Saturday, May 7, fire defensible space day. The Board expressed their appreciation for the
Montgomery Estates neighborhood positive comments.
3.CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA OR CONSENT CALENDAR:
Director Peterson would like to pull Item 4c for discussion.
4.ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR:
Moved Peterson/Second Exline/Sheehan Yes/Cefalu Absent/Romsos Absent/Peterson Yes/Exline
Yes to approve the Consent Calendar with changes as presented.
a.SECONDARY CLARIFIER NO. 3 REHABILITATION PROJECT
(Stephen Caswell, Principal Engineer)
Approved Change Order No. 2 to TNT Industrial Contractors, Inc., in the amount of
<$52, 120. 1 4>.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES: May 5, 2022 PAGE-2
b.2022 PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF FIRE HYDRANTS, VALVES AND ASSEMBLIES (Chris Stanley,
Field Operations Manager and Heidi Baugh, Purchasing Agent)
Awarded a Contract for the purchase of 37 fire hydrant assemblies and valves to lowest
responsive, responsible bidder, American A VK Company, in the amount of $103,665.61.
c.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
(Chris Skelly, Information Technology Manager)
Authorized staff to enter into a Contract with Government Technology Group, LLC, for
professional services to develop an updated Information Technology Strategic Plan and to
complete a Network Vulnerability Assessment for a cost not to exceed $78,340.
5.CONSENT ITEMS BROUGHT FORWARD FOR SEPARATE DISCUSSION/ACTION
a.VIRTUAL BOARD MEETINGS RELATED TO ASSEMBLY BILL 361 DUE TO COVID-19 STATE OF
EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION (John Thiel, General Manager)
Director Peterson raised a concern that he doesn't feel that the District is in a state of
emergency and that the community is no longer in a COVID-19 state of emergency;
therefore, the District should go back to business as usual. The Board discussed the ability to be
flexible with virtual meetings.
Moved Peterson/Second Sheehan/Sheehan Yes/Cefalu Absent/Romsos No/Peterson
Yes/Exline Yes to deny Resolution No. 3218-22 allowing for South Tahoe Public Utility District to
conduct virtual public meetings for 30 days.
6.ITEMS FOR BOARD ACTION
a.Bijou Pump Station Rehabilitation Project (Adrian Combes, Senior Engineer) -Adrian Combes
provided details and maps along with photos regarding the Bijou Pump Station Rehabilitation
Project and addressed questions from the Board.
Moved Sheehan/Second Romsos/Sheehan Yes/Cefalu Absent/Romsos Yes/Peterson Yes/Exline
Yes to 1) Approve the proposed Scope of Work from Water Systems Consulting, Inc., to provide
engineering services for the Bijou Pump Station Rehabilitation Project; and, 2) Authorize the
General Manager to execute Task Order No. 2 in the amount $116,411.
b.Setting Water and Sewer Capacity Charges -(Paul Hughes, Chief Financial Officer) -Paul Hughes
provided details regarding the water and sewer capacity charges in connection with the
recent presentation provided by HOR, Shawn Koorn, and addressed questions from the Board.
Attorney Kvistad added that construction cost index adjustment protects the capacity
charges from inflation.
Moved Sheehan/Second Romsos/Sheehan Yes/Cefalu Absent/Romsos Yes/Peterson
Yes/Exline Yes to adopt Ordinance No. 581-22, an Ordinance of the South Tahoe Public Utility
District, Setting Water Capacity Charges and Sewer Connection Fees and Amending
Administrative Code Sections 3.1.49(a), 3. l .49(c), 3. l .49(e), 4.5.7 and Associated Appendix Fee
Schedules, directing staff to research the most appropriate index for the Tahoe area and
include that reference in the Ordinance.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES: May 5, 2022
c.Approve Payment of Claims (Debbie Henderson, Accounting Manager)
PAGE-3
Moved Sheehan/Second Peterson/Sheehan Yes/Cefalu Absent/Romsos Yes/Peterson
Yes/Exline Yes to approve Payment of Claims in the amount of $2,267,169.47.
7.STANDING AND AD-HOC COMMITTEES AND LIAISON REPORTS:
Director Peterson reported that he represented the Board at the Employee Communications
Committee meeting on April 20, 2022. He also attended the Association of California Water
Agencies (ACWA) and Joint Powers Insurance Association conference in Sacramento May 3
through the 5. The District is in Region 3 of ACW A, and lvo Bergsohn presented Region 3 with a
great groundwater presentation.
8.BOARD MEMBER REPORTS:
Director Exline reported he attended Earth Day yesterday, along with Director Romsos, both
reporting it to be successful.
9.EL DORADO WATER AGENCY PURVEYOR REPORT:
Director Peterson reported that the April 13 meeting included a Public Hearing for the
Groundwater Sustainability Plan which was approved. On April 21, he and John Thiel had a virtual
meeting with El Dorado Water Agency (EDWA) leadership discussing how the District can work
more effectively with them. John Thiel added that the District has made requests for: l. HARPA
Funds; 2. Cost Share Projects; and, 3. Groundwater Management.
10.STAFF/ATTORNEY REPORTS:
None
11.GENERAL MANAGER REPORT:
John Thiel reported on several items:•Provided a staffing update•Provided details regarding a productive meeting with Lake Valley Fire Department
yesterday reviewing site and utility plans for the District's property on the corner of Pioneer
Trail and Black Bart.•The Board has been discussing the current Payment of Claims process and legal counsel
has done some work on this subject. Attorney Kvistad added that the Public Utility Code
requires that the Board of Directors approves Payment of Claims, but there is an exception.
There is a Government Code Section that allows a delegation of authority with certain
restraints, to certain officers at the District and there must be two officers to approve
Payment of Claims. This process can be as simple or complex as the Board pleases. The
process would require that if the claims were approved by officers, those claims would be
brought forward at the next meeting for acceptance and filing by the Board. There is a
little more research to be done regarding the definition of officers (whether this term
includes Board members) and if officers are required to be bonded. The Board discussed
several options. Any change would be adopted by a Resolution and included in the
Board Policy Manual.•Provided an update regarding Red Lake Road water quality, which was brought to the
Board's attention on April 7th. Test results are indicating elevated levels of iron in the Red
Lake Road neighborhood, which is not a health hazard, but a taste and odor issue. Dan
Arce explained the testing process and addressed questions from the Board. The District
has Initiated low volume flushing and is seeing reduced levels of iron as a result. The flushing
will continue until the waterline replacement in this neighborhood is complete.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES: May 5, 2022 PAGE-4
• John Thiel addressed questions from the Board regarding the childcare crisis in our
community. He further addressed questions regarding community fire hydrants. Chris
Stanley and Steve Caswell commented on the progress being made.
12.NOTICE OF PAST AND FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS
ADJOURNMENT: 3:24 p.m.
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Meonievttry,Clerk of the Board c.!.
South Tahoe Public Utility District
Kelly Sh e an, Board President
South Ta oe Public Utility District