MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS INDIAN WELLS VALLEY WATER DISTRICT July 11, 2016 The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Indian Wells Valley Water District was called to order by President Cortichiato at CALL TO ORDER 6:00 p.m. in the Board of Directors Hearing Room, 500 West Ridgecrest Boulevard, Ridgecrest, California. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Rose Koch. DIRECTORS PRESENT: President Donald J. Cortichiato Vice-President Peter E. Brown Director Charles F. Cordell Director Leroy H. Corlett Director Charles D. Griffin PLEDGE ROLL CALL DIRECTORS ABSENT: ALSO PRESENT: None. Jim Worth, Attorney; Don Zdeba, General Manager; Jason Lillian, Operations Superintendent; Renee Morquecho, Chief Engineer; Jennifer Keep, Chief Financial Officer; Rose Koch, Recording Secretary; AGENDA DECLARATION AGENDA Recording Secretary, Rose Koch, reported that the agenda for tonight's DECLARATION Regular Board Meeting was posted on Friday, July 8, 2016. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION CONFLICT OF Director Griffin announced that due to a conflict of interest he will INTEREST abstain from voting on Agenda Items 7. B. 1. Award of Contract: Fence District Properties and 7. B. 2. Acceptance of Contract Work: Valley Wide Construction. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS Public making comment was Judie Decker, 625 W. Ward, Ridgecrest, regarding relaxed water conservation standards. PUBLIC COMMENTS CONSENT CALENDAR Jim Worth announced that the Minutes should be revised to clarify the Motion approving the three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the employees that was made in Closed Session and announced in Open Session and that the Motion regarding the General Manager's salary revision was made in Open Session. CONSENT CALENDAR 1
MOTION: was made by Vice-President Brown and seconded by Director Corlett to approve the Minutes of the June 13, 2016 Regular Board Meeting and Public Hearing with revisions and to approve payment of Accounts Payable totaling 1,781,391.19. Motion was carried, unanimously. (Ayes: Brown, Cordell, Corlett, Cortichiato, Griffin. Nays: None.) PLANT AND EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE P & E The District received four ( 4) bids for the fencing of two District FENCE BIDS properties (Bowman/Guam and former Watkins property) on June 30, 2016: Contractor Valley Wide Construction Alexis Fence San Joaquin Fence Total Fence Solutions Bid Amount 75,299.00 80,847.70 83,355.90 103,170.85 Valley Wide Construction was the low bidder. Valley Wide Construction has a current Class A (General Contractor) Contractor's License ( 92 664 4), which enables them to perform the work under California State Law, and is registered with the Department of Industrial Relations as a Public Works Contractor. Last month the Board rejected the bids and directed staff to rebid the project as two separate properties. MOTION: was made by Director Cordell and seconded by Vice President Brown to award Bid Schedule II (Bowman/Guam Property) to low bidder San Joaquin Fence in the amount of 31,140.90. Motion was carried. (Ayes: Brown, Cordell, Cortichiato. Nays: Corlett. Abstain: Griffin) Jim Worth reported that the wording in the contract is to award the project to a single bidder and therefore prevents awarding Bid Schedule I for the Watkins Property. Bid Schedule I needs to be rebid. The Board agreed by consensus to rebid Bid Schedule I. All work performed by Valley Wide Construction for the construction of ACCEPTANCE OF one 100' tower and two 50' towers and associated foundations has been WORK: VALLEY completed. There was one (1) Change Order and the adjusted Contract WIDE Amount for same is set forth as follows: CONSTRUCTION Original Contract Amount Contract Change Order No. 1 Adjusted Contract Amount 119, 827. 09 6,300.00 126,127.09 Contract Change Order No. 1 was attributable to the additional work required to install a grounding grid at all three (3) sites. Work was completed on June 17, 2016, and passed final inspection from Kern County on June 21, 2016. The committee had recommended accepting the Contract Work performed by Valley Wide Construction in the amount of 126,127.09. 2
MOTION: was made by Director Corlett and seconded by Vice President Brown to accept the contract work performed by Valley Wide Construction for the construction of one 100' tower and two 50' towers and associated foundations for the Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) Project in the amount of 126,127.09. Renee Morquecho reported that the District has not received the Release from Valley Wide Construction, but is expected to receive it within the next couple of days. AMENDED MOTION: was made by Director Corlett and seconded by Vice-President Brown to accept the contract work performed by Valley Wide Construction for the construction of one 100' tower and two 50' towers and associated foundations in the amount of 126,127.09 with the caveat that the Release is received. Motion was carried. (Ayes: Brown, Cordell, Corlett, Cortichiato. Nays: None. Abstains: Griffin) ADMINISTRATION/EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ADMIN/EXEC The Ballot was presented for the California Special Districts CSDA BALLOT Association (CSDA) 2016 Board Elections. The committee recommended candidate Sandi Miller to be the representative to the CSDA Board of Directors in our Network, Seat B (2017-19 term) and Seat C (term ending on December 31, 2017) MOTION: was made by Vice-President Brown and seconded by Director Cordell to vote for Sandi Miller as Representative to the CSDA Board of Directors for Seat B (2017-19 term) and Seat C (term ends December 31, 2017). Motion was carried, unanimously. (Ayes: Brown, Cordell, Corlett, Cortichiato, Griffin. Nays: None.) SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ACT SGMA President Cortichiato presented Resolution 16-08 for authorizing RESO 16-08 becoming a general member in the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement creating the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority. The Board of Directors reviewed the proposed Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement creating the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (included in the Board Packet). I Don Zdeba reported that the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) in the Board Packet is a result of several meetings. This Agreement must be approved by all eligible Groundwater Sustainable Agencies (GSA): City of Ridgecrest, County of Inyo, County of Kern, County of San Bernardino, and Indian Wells Valley Water District (General Members). Associate Members include the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management and United States Navy Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The JPA calls for the formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Committee which will involve other stakeholders. 3
MOTION: was made by Vice-President Brown and seconded by President Cortichiato adopting Resolution 16-08 Authorizing becoming a General Member in the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement Creating the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority as presented. Director Griffin commented that he has concerns for the District and its customers, the inclusion of mutuals, and avoiding litigation. President Cortichiato confirmed Director Griffin's commented that mutuals will be involved and heard. Vice-President Brown commented that all will be included. comments and Director Cordell commented that mutuals should be water partners. Director Corlett commented that mutuals should be incorporated as associate members. Public making comments included Judie Decker, Donna Thomas, Elaine Mead, Don Decker, Derrick Hoffman (Legal Counsel for Meadowbrook Dairy), Carol Wilson, Ron Kicinski, Anita Imsand, and Renee Westa Lusk. For the record, Donna Thomas, of Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District (EKCRCD), provided handouts to the Board of Directors: 1) Citing SGMA Legislation Section 10723.2 that "GSA shall consider interests of all beneficial uses and users of groundwater" including Agriculture Users, Domestic Users, Public & private water systems, Local land use planning agencies, Federal government, Tribes, Environmental users, Disadvantaged communities, and surface water users, 2) A letter from the State Water Resources Control Board dated June 22, 2016 stating "The State Water Board considers Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District to be a local agency for purposes of Water Code section 10735. 2, based on the documentation that you provided...," and 3) SWRCB GSA Eligibility. Derrick Hoffman, Gresham Savage Attorneys at Law representing Meadowbrook Dairy, provided to the Board of Directors a letter suggesting changes to the JPA. Changes include a new Section 7.05 - Groundwater Sustainability Plan Development Committee. Mr. Hoffman also urged the language to define "meaningful participation". The Motion was carried by the following roll call vote : Director Cordell: Director Corlett: Director Griffin: Vice-President Brown: President Cortichiato : Yes No No Yes Yes GENERAL MANAGER AND STAFF UPDATE General Manager Don Zdeba updated the safety record to 545 consecutive days without a recordable injury. GENERAL MANAGER & STAFF UPDATE SAFETY, PRODUCTION & NEW SERVICES 4
Metered water production at the wells for the month of June was 227, 722, 900 gallons ( 698. 9 acre-feet). The number the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is using for comparison is metered water through the distribution system or consumption, and non-revenue water which is water lost to leaks, flushing activities, blow-offs, etc. For the month of June, the number is 183,163,000 gallons (562.1 acre-feet). This is a 28.2% decrease compared to June 2013, the baseline year the SWRCB is using for comparison. For the eleven-month report period that began June 2015, the District is at 24.3%, 8.1% below the revised assigned conservation rate of 32%, but 4. 3% above the 20% rate approved by the Board at the June meeting and submitted to the State Board. Staff is awaiting confirmation from the State Board that the submitted rate has been accepted. For the month of June, the District's reported R-gpcd was 169, a 10. 5% increase from June 2015, but an 18.4% decrease from June 2014. There were three new connections during the month of June. Total number of new connections for this fiscal year, which ended June 30th is 43, contributing 209,459 in revenue. Don Zdeba reported the following Public Outreach: PUBLIC Corrununity Collaborative meeting at City Hall on July 5th. Mr. OUTREACH Zdeba did not have the conservation results for the month of June available to report. He did mention Board approval to submit a 20% conservation rate to the State Water Resources Control Board for the period beginning June ist and ending January 31st, 2017. Mr. Zdeba also gave an update on the District's AMI Project and reported progress made towards establishing the Groundwater Sustainability Agency for the Indian Wells Valley through a Joint Powers Agreement. The Mid-Year Board Workshop is scheduled for Tuesday July 19th at 9:00 BOARD a.m. President Cortichiato asked the Board to consider agenda items WORKSHOP for the Workshop. The following will be placed on the Agenda: Presentation: Implementing Budget Based Rates Mitigation for Water Use Purchase Policies Joint Powers Agreement Representative 2015 Cost of Service Study Rate Increase General Manager Goals and Priorities Board of Director Goals and Priorities Renee Morquecho reported that OpTerra is in the design phase at this OPTERRA SOLAR time. A meeting was held Thursday July 7, 2016 to review the 50% PROJECT design drawings. BSK is doing borings at all project sites. The biologist, Ed Larue, has been on site and will be doing monitoring in the field tomorrow. California Department of Fish & Wildlife has not yet issued the Incidental Take Permit. The project is scheduled to break ground in September. Jennifer Keep reported that estimated year-to-date revenues as of June FINANCIAL 30, 2016 are 10, 298, 021 and estimated expenses are 9, 737, 669, so STATUS estimated revenues exceed estimated expenses by 551, 352, which is better than budget by 537,051. 5
The towers are complete. Staff met with Ferguson and their AMI PROJECT subcontractor last week and is now working with them on setting up the network, installing conduit, and other tasks related to the telemetry. The Water Supply Department has installed the collector UPS's (Uninterrupted Power Supply) at C-Zone and Sunland. Jennifer Keep reported on the following conservation items: ~ State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Water Waster Report - There were 42 water waste reports during June 2016. Seven of those resulted in a formal Second Notice and one resulted in a formal Third Notice with a 50 penalty. ~ Cash for Grass - Fifty seven yards have been completed resulting in removal of 60, 918 square feet of turf (60, 918). There are 31 yards (28,854 square feet) in the process of being converted leaving 290,087 Cash for Grass funds available from the revised 382, 000 budget. There has been one large water user inquire about the increase to 10,000 square feet for high water users. ~ XERIC Ambassador Consultations: Three consultations were scheduled and completed for the month of June. A new request for consultation was received and needs to be scheduled. There are no consultations scheduled for July. ~ Staff reached out to the top 25 residential users for the month of June. Six responded with identified leaks. CONSERVATION Meeting was recessed at 7:56 p.m. and re-convened at 8:00 p.m. Jason Lillian reported that both plants are being used at this time ARSENIC with no major issues. Plant 1 produced 32,688,000 gallons and Plant 2 FACILITIES produced 59,713,000 gallons. For the month of June, nine services were repaired and 45 were replaced. There were four blowoffs for a loss of 6, 829 gallons. No valves were turned. The State Water Resources Control Board reported that they have completed the technical review and are waiting on the finance review for the purchase of the No-Dez truck. OPERATIONS REPORT BOARD COMMENTS/FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Director Corlett asked for a copy of the Special District Management Association ( SDRMA) safety report for the District. Zdeba reported that SDRMA was impressed with the improvements of front office. There were some items that staff has prioritized are updating SDRMA monthly. Risk Don the and BOARD COMMENTS Director Cordell reiterated on the "meaningful participation." As far as the mutuals, well owners, and other users all Board Members have agreed to include their participation and will make sure it happens. With no Board or Public comments, President Cortichiato recessed the meeting and adjourned to Closed Session at 8:05 p.m. CLOSED SESSION The meeting was reconvened in Closed Session at 8:09 p.m. CLOSED SESSION 6
The meeting was recalled to Open Session at 8:28 p.m. There was no action taken which would require disclosure under the Brown Act. ADJOURNMENT ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. :;cfu~~t ted, Rose Koch Recording Secretary APPROVED: August 8, 2016 7