December 17, 2001

Regular Board Meeting

Monday, December 17, 2001

Time: 2:00 P.M.

Place: Board Room

29300 Valley Center Rd.

Valley Center, CA 92082

The Valley Center Municipal Water District Board of Directors’ meeting was called to order by

President Broomell at 2:00 P.M.

Board members present: Directors Broomell, Aleshire, Stone, and Haskell. Director Polito was

absent. Staff members present: General Manager Arant, General Counsel Strand, District

Engineer Jewell, Director of Finance Jarrell, Director of Operations Dacus, Manager of Accounting

Jeffrey, Manager of Human Resources Hale and Board Secretary Stetson. No spectators were

present.

1.

2. Amendment to Provide for the Use of Sick Leave as Vacation Leave Prior to Retirement:

The provision to allow employees, who have given a binding one-year advance notice of

retirement, the option to use accumulated sick leave as vacation leave was presented for the

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Board’s consideration. The minimum age and years of service for eligibility would be the

same as required by the Cal-PERS Program, and the use of leave could not exceed

6 months. Manager of Human Resources Hale presented an outline of the proposal’s

benefits and costs. Benefits to the employees include enhanced flexibility in pre-planning for

retirement, provide additional time in service as a participant in the Cal-PERS Program and

avoid tax consequences related to payment of accumulated leave in one lump sum. The

District would benefit as there would be advance planning for employees’ retirements for

recruitment, selection and training of replacements and/or organizational restructuring, the

accumulation of sick leave would be encouraged and the liability of accrued leave would be

paid over time. As proposed, an employee wishing to utilize accumulated sick leave as

vacation leave (not to exceed 6 months) would commit to a binding retirement agreement

providing one year’s advance notice. During this 12 month time period, the employee would

continue to be eligible for health benefits including disability insurance.

Concerns expressed by the Board were that the District would loose 6 months of service from

the employees who elect this option and would be paying benefits for the extended time of

service while the employee is utilizing accumulated sick leave as vacation leave. In addition,

an employee on the extended leave prior to retirement may request reinstatement. Staff

noted that the employee would have signed an irrevocable 12 month notice of retirement, but

it could be revoked at the General Manager’s discretion. However, when an employee

commences utilization of the sick leave under this proposal, his/her position could be filled

or the position eliminated through a reorganization, which could prohibit reinstatement of the

employee.

3. Lilac Pump Station – Award of System Integration Contract:

Project Engineer Grabbe addressed the Board explaining that the Lilac System Integration

project is a design and installation project for the automatic and remote manual controls of

the Lilac Pump Station. The project consists of programming and installing a remote terminal

unit at the pump station, McNally Reservoir and Oak Glen Reservoir sites and the Operations

Center. The project also includes design and installation of a radio communication link

between the sites. The data transmitted from the McNally and Oak Glen Reservoirs will be

used to automatically control the individual pumps at the Lilac Pump Station.

The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system portion of the project will

provide for the display of equipment status and remote manual control of the pump station

from the District’s Operations center. Also, there will be the ability to view the Moosa SCADA

system from the Operations center. The SCADA equipment will serve as a pilot project for

the future District wide SCADA system.

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Bids were received from 3 pre-qualified consultants with the lowest submitted by Realtime

Systems Corporation at $129,000. The scope of work for the project was revised for an

adjusted negotiated amount of $125,200. Staff recommended adoption of Resolution

No. 2001-52 to award the contract for the Lilac Pump Station System Integration to Realtime

Systems Corporation.

4. Moosa Special Projects – Status Report and Approval to Purchase a Replacement

Emergency Standby Generator:

Eleven project tasks had previously been identified to be completed using funds remaining

from the Solids Handling and Odor Control Project as identified on the attached Table A.

Four of the tasks have been completed with much of the materials already purchased for the

remaining tasks.

Completion of the remaining 7 tasks by AmeriCon Constructors was pursued as a change

order to the Solids Handling and Odor Control Project relating to the pipe lining failure

settlement. Project Engineer Grabbe reported, however, that they were unable to negotiate

a satisfactory change order with AmeriCon Constructors. As such, payment of the $75,000

settlement amount will be requested of AmeriCon Constructors and the remaining tasks will

be completed through the bidding process.

Bids were received for an emergency 400 kW diesel standby generator in which the lowest

was submitted by Valley Detroit Diesel at $59,650. Staff recommended authorization to

purchase the emergency diesel generator from Valley Detroit Diesel.

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5. Ratification of Change in the Scope of Work – Couser Canyon Road Water Main

Replacement Project:

District Engineer Jewell reported that during construction of the Couser Canyon Road

Pipeline Replacement project, it was discovered that connection to the 10-inch supply line

in Pala Loma Drive could not be completed as there was not enough metal in the line for a

proper weld. Several probes of this 10-inch pipeline revealed deterioration where the pipe

is located in the bottom of the canyon.

C&L Construction proposed replacing approximately 550 feet of the 10-inch line in Pala Loma

Drive at a cost of $45,969, or approximately $83.58 per foot. It was felt that this was a

favorable bid as the contract to replace the 8-inch pipe in Couser Canyon Road had been

$80.27 per foot. Immediate approval of this change was required in order that the contractor

could order the materials for the work at the quoted price and perform the work while the

equipment was still on site. Approval was obtained from President Broomell on December 7

6. Report of Sewer Spill at the Lower Moosa Canyon Water Reclamation Plant:

Director of Operations Dacus reported that on December 12

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compensation plans. Under the Federal Act, the maximum annual contribution into a

457 deferred compensation plan will increase from $8,500 to $11,000, effective January 1,

2002.

The California Department of Personnel Administration is working on a solution for the state’s

457 plan participants. An urgency measure by the State Legislature to correct the inequity

could become effective January 1, 2002.

9. ACWA Fall 2001 Conference:

Director Aleshire reviewed information provided at an ACWA-JPIA Session pertaining to

generations in the workplace and managing an evolving workforce. The presentation

addressed the need to accommodate employee differences, create workplace choices,

operate from a sophisticated management style, respect competence and initiative and

nourish retention so that the different generations with their own set of values, points of view

and motivations can effectively work together.

10. Ethics for Public Officials:

Proposed legislation pertaining to ethics for public officials was discussed at the ACWA

Conference. Director Aleshire stated that one proposed bill would require that Board

members and executive officers of public agencies receive training in ethical standards of

conduct. This bill was not adopted.

Another proposed bill addressed obligations of public agency attorneys to protect the interest

of the public and the competence of the public agency as it would permit public attorneys to

disclose attorney-client confidences for the protection of the public.

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Director Aleshire suggested that an ethics training program for public agency officials be

arranged that would provide guidelines to follow when conducting public agency business.

It was proposed that the District could host such a program in coordination with the Economic

Study Group.

11. San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors’ Meeting:

President Broomell provided a summary of action at the San Diego County Water Authority

Board of Directors’ meeting of December 6

12.