SLVWD Board Meeting Summary

June 16, 2022

Mark Dolson

Highlights:

  • Peer Review of Cross-Country Pipeline Constructability Study

  • Investment Policy and Treasurer Designation

  • Personnel System Policy

  • Next Board meeting is at 6:30 PM on July 7th.

Preliminaries

There was no Closed Session.

Alina Layng had a non-agenda-related public comment expressing her concern about the design of the impending Fall Creek Fish Ladder.  She said the Environmental Committee advised a year and a half ago that the concrete weirs should not be poured at sharp 90-degree angles because this would cause lampreys to lose suction.  Alina said the current plan does not reflect this recommendation, and she was now being told that it was too late to change, but she didn’t agree.  District Manager Rick Rogers said this had been discussed internally and with the design engineer, and there wasn’t a simple response.  Former Environmental Programs Manager Carly Blanchard said this will be discussed in detail at the next Engineering and Environmental Committee.  She said surveys had confirmed the presence of lampreys in Fall Creek and that they are able to get over the ladder in its current configuration.

There was no President’s Report.

 

Unfinished Business

Remote Meeting Authorization Under AB 361

The Board has become accustomed to the routine monthly reauthorization of the resolution enabling its meetings to be conducted remotely.  Director Fultz asked if there was any sense of how much longer this might continue.  Legal Counsel Gina Nicholls said the law allows it to potentially continue through the end of 2023, but this could change at any time if the Governor withdraws his proclamation of statewide emergency.

Director Ackemann moved to adopt the resolution proclaiming an ongoing state of local emergency and authorizing remote meetings for another 30 days during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Director Fultz seconded.

There was no public comment.  The motion passed 5-0.

 

New Business

Cross-Country Pipeline Peer Review

District Engineer Josh Wolff introduced this agenda item.  He described it as a request that the Board authorize a peer review of the Freyer & Lauretta Constructability Study.  He said internal discussions have determined that a peer review is necessary for a project of this scope, and Haro, Kasunich, and Associates (HKA) offers the three best available local experts for this task: John Kasunich, Mark Foxx, and Tim Best.  (Josh neglected to note that HKA was also tasked with assessing a new option: a buried/covered pipeline with a smaller bench resulting in lower cost and less environmental impact.)  Josh said a contract had been negotiated for an amount not to exceed $57,875.  (Upon further questioning, he said the expectation is that HKA will accomplish 100% of the agreed-upon work for this amount, but they may need additional funds.)  Rick Rogers added that this was a Sole Source Procurement but that it was in keeping with the District’s policies due to the specific expertise required.

Director Smolley said the Engineering and Environmental Committee had discussed the idea of a peer review and concurred that it was appropriate.  He said the committee had not reviewed the HKA proposal.

The Board was unanimously interested in the possibility that there could be a less expensive middle-ground option.  There was some questioning from the Board as to why this was being called a “peer review” when it prominently featured the assessment of a new option.  Josh described this as a “peer review plus.”  He said the District felt the need for a second assessment due to the scope of the project, and the middle-ground option emerged organically from the discussions about the peer review.  He noted that the Freyer & Lauretta “Option 3B” calls for an 8’ bench with intermittent sections of 12’ and 14’; the new option calls for a bench width of 4’ to 5’.  Similarly, Option 3B calls for buried pipe whereas the new option calls for the pipe to be either buried or covered (it would make no sense to leave any pipe uncovered because any VOC contamination would affect the entire pipeline).  Josh also noted that a narrower bench was feasible in the past, but Freyer & Lauretta rejected it as a viable option for the replacement pipeline (based on the idea that the construction should use bigger, faster, safer, more efficient equipment).  Upon further questioning, Josh estimated that perhaps 60% of the contract cost would go to the peer review, and maybe 40% would go to assessing the middle-ground option.

Director Smolley had multiple questions about details of the propose HKA contract.  He asked that HKA formally confirm their commitment to the bullet points in Josh’s memo (which, Josh explained, was based on a phone conversation).  Josh said he expected this to be feasible.  Director Smolley also questioned the feasibility and desirability of having HKA review the cost estimates in the Freyer & Lauretta Constructability Study.  President Mahood and he agreed that a 10% reduction in estimated cost would not be significant.

Director Ackemann wanted to be sure that she understood how this work would mesh with plans for involving the public in the final decision.  Director Hill said he was certain that the public would expect this kind of middle ground approach to have been explored.  Director Smolley concurred.

There was one public comment.  April Zilber said she didn’t know how feasible it would be to perform Task E (a rough evaluation of project cost estimates presented in the Constructability Study).  Rick said the District would see what was feasible.

Director Fultz moved to authorize the District Manager to enter into a contract with HKA not to exceed $57,875 provided that HKA provides the Amendment requested by Director Smolley.  Director Smolley seconded this.

There was no further public comment.  The motion passed 5-0.

 

Investment Policy and Treasurer Designation

District Counsel Gina Nicholls introduced this agenda item as a fairly minor bit of legal housekeeping.  She said she didn’t see a legal need to revisit the policy since last year's adoption.  The law requires that if the Board wants to appoint a Treasurer, this delegation of authority must be made each year, and the District policy states that this will be done in June.  Gina noted that the appointed Treasurer is the Finance Manager who is currently on maternity leave, but she didn’t think her input was required.

Director Smolley noted that the standards included a suggestion that the Board check performance each year with regard to some standard indices.  Rick Rogers said he would get back to the Board with this information.  Director Smolley also wanted to know the dollar values of the amounts invested and what funds the District is invested in, but it was pointed out that this information was included in the Board packet.  President Mahood noted that the District was investing through the County so the yields are low but safe.  Director Fultz attributed this to an excellent revision last year.   Director Ackemann expressed interest in having a representative brief the Board with an overview of its positions, and Rick said he could check on this.

President Mahood moved to adopt the resolution readopting the investment policy and reappointing the Finance Manager as Treasurer.  Director Ackemann seconded.

There was no public comment.  The motion passed 5-0.

 

Personnel System Policy

District Counsel Gina Nicholls introduced this agenda item as another piece of legal housekeeping.  The Board Policy Manual calls for a review of the District’s Personnel System Policy in June of each year.  Gina explained that this is actually more than just a personnel policy; it essentially implements a civil service program for the District.  The Board Packet included a revised version of the policy with tracked changes necessary to ensure compliance with applicable law regarding background checks, leave policy, and criminal activity.  In addition, a more recently updated version on the website corrected some minor typographical errors.  Gina said she had no reason to believe that the District is not in compliance.

Director Fultz had some questions about minor details.  Gina answered some of these, and Director Fultz suggested that he could take the remainder offline.

President Mahood moved to adopt the resolution adopting the proposed changes.  Director Smolley seconded.

There was no public comment.  The motion passed 5-0.

 

Consent Agenda

Without objection, the consent agenda was adopted.

 

District Reports

Rick Rogers delivered a District Manager’s Report.  He announced that the Administration Committee completed a final review of the RFP for expanded Outreach support services and that this RFP will now be published.  He also reported that fish relocation is underway for the Fall Creek Fish Ladder construction project.  Also, the District has completed its 2022 mainline flushing program.

Director Fultz had a question on the Finance Department Status Report.  He noted that operating margin at the end of April was at $1.3 million whereas the projection for the end of June remains at $3 million.  Rick said this would be brought to the Finance and Budget Committee in July when Finance Manager Kendra Reed returns from maternity leave.  It will then come to the Board.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 PM.