Minutes - City/Districts Liaison - 2009-04-10C
AKesa Consolidated
water District
CITY /DISTRICTS LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
FRIDAY, April 10, 2009
8:00 a.m.
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
628 W. 19th Street
Costa Mesa, California 92627
City Committee Members: Allan R. Mansoor, Mayor
Allan Roeder, City Manager
Fariba Fazeli, Senior Engineer
Mesa Committee Members: Fred Bockmiller, First Vice President
Lee Pearl, General Manager
CMSD Committee Members: Arlene Schafer, President
Robert Ooten, Vice President
James Ferryman, Director
Rob Hamers, Manager /District Engineer
Tom Fauth, Assistant Manager
Joan Revak, Board Secretary/Program Manager /Clerk of the District
Karl Dulake, Maintenance Supervisor
Orange County Sanitation John Linder, P.E., Engineering Manager
District Adam Nazaroff, Associate Engineer III, Engineering
& Construction Division, Engineering Department
Jim Burror, Engineering Supervisor /Planning Division,
Engineering Department
General
The meeting was opened by CMSD President Arlene Schafer, thanking all for attending
on Good Friday. President Schafer welcomed the guests from OCSD and requested
each attendee identify themselves and the agencies they represent.
CITY /DISTRICTS LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING April 10, 2009
MINUTES Page 2
Approval of Minutes from January 9, 2009 Liaison Committee Meeting
Mayor Mansoor requested the minutes of the January 9, 2009 Liaison Committee meeting
be revised as follows:
Under "Poseidon (Mesa), second paragraph, deleting "but are looking forward to
the City considering the latest proposal." and adding, "open to continuing discussions with
Mesa as Mesa is taking the lead on this project."
Under "Approve Minutes of City /District Liaison Committee Meeting of November
14, 2008 (CMSD), adding to the second sentence "for approval by a vote of the
Committee members."
Ms. Revak noted and will revise the minutes accordingly.
Motion to approve the minutes as revised was made by Director Ferryman and seconded
by Director Ooten. Motion carried unanimously.
Poseidon (Mesa)
Is Mr. Roeder stated since the last meeting, the City received correspondence from the
Mesa Verde Community, Inc. with a series of questions relative to the Poseidon project.
The reply states the City is interested in the project, however, Mesa is the "lead" agency in
working with Poseidon.
The City Council has taken no official action regarding the desalinization project since
their action of November 1, 2005, opposing construction of a pipeline in Costa Mesa
based on information available at that time. Mayor Mansoor's response to the Mesa
Verde homeowners group expressed, from his point of view, is the City will not be taking
any action or entering into any negotiations until such time as MCWD takes action on the
project.
Infiltration and Inflow (1 /1) in OCSD and CMSD Sewers (CMSD)
Mr. Hamers stated the CMSD gave up its time on the Agenda to have OCSD make its
presentation. A brief history is the OCSD normal daily flow at their plants is 240 million
gallons per day (mgd), however, during the winter season it raises to twice as much,
approximately 480 mgd because of storm and ground water entering into sewer systems
tributary to them. This increase in flows places a large strain on their operations and they
have embarked on millions of dollars worth of flow monitoring and cooperative
projects /programs to decrease the amount of water that ends up in their pipelines.
The water gets into the system in two ways; termed 1 /1. Infiltration is when water hits the
grass, infiltrates down into the soil and gets into the sewer system through leaks, cracks,
poor joints, etc. The other I stands for inflow and inflow means flooded streets or other
surface water that can get in through manhole openings — there are usually 5 holes in a
CITY /DISTRICTS LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING April 10, 2009
MINUTES Page 3
• manhole cover. Through their studies and sewer system modeling, OCSD believes the
majority of water entering in the Costa Mesa area is Inflow, and the volume is significant.
The OCSD representatives presented information and provided handouts supporting their
findings. Mr. Hamers closed the discussion by stating the City can now consider these
issues when contemplating storm drain improvements.
Master Plan of Storm Drains (City)
Fariba Fazeli reported the City master plan of storm drains was updated by the City in
2006. The master plan calls for several upgrades throughout the City and the Council
approved a priority 20 -year capital improvement program that is estimated at $18M.
Ms. Fazeli reported the City is making inroads on storm drain improvements and also
charges developers storm drain fees to support the program. Ms. Fazeli will work with
OCSD in an attempt to assist in identifying areas where inflow is present.
The contingent from OCSD left the meeting with thanks from President Schafer for their
attendance and insight provided into the problems faced by OCSD and CMSD.
Status of Sewer Repair /Parkway Tree Removal Policy (City)
• Mr. Roeder stated the City is separating the issues of onsite sewer lateral jurisdiction and
City tree root impacts on sewer laterals, both subjects recently covered together in a draft
MOU with the CMSD.
The City will draft a joint resolution for review by Alan Burns, CMSD legal counsel, to
obtain concurrence on the CMSD having complete jurisdiction over on -site private sewer
laterals. The City will continue working on City tree root impacts to sewer laterals and will
advise as the City develops its policy.
Upcoming Special Districts /City Budgets
Mr. Roeder requested this item on the agenda to hear from each entity with regard to the
economy and their budgets. Mr. Roeder stated the City will be going to Council next
Tuesday in a special Council meeting to receive direction on preparation of the 2009 -10
budget. Mr. Roeder characterized it as bad, not serious or catastrophic. Sales tax
revenues which are the City's leading revenue source of 42% is off about 15 %. Transient
occupancy tax is off 14% and property tax is marginally above being flat. Staff will go to
Council and make recommendations on how to reduce about $18.5M from the operating
budget, about 15% total. City staff developed a 10 -point strategy to be considered by the
City Council.
Mr. Hamers reported the CMSD is funded almost exclusively by user fees and the budet
appears stable. Mr. Pearl reported similarly for Mesa and also detailed reductions in
personnel and other areas to reduce expenses.
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CITY /DISTRICTS LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES
Drought (MCWD)
April 10, 2009
Page 4
Director Bockmiller detailed the statewide drought. The recent rainfall has helped but not
to the degree of raising storage volumes or making other substantive impacts. Mesa is
active in working with its customers on water saving provisions.
Friends of the Delta (MCWD)
Mr. Pearl spoke briefly about the regulatory provisions and political concerns affecting the
Delta and the impacts on the transmission of water to Southern California.
Classroom Recycling Projects (CMSD)
Mr. Hamers distributed a document titled "School Recycling Projects Sponsored by the
Costa Mesa Sanitary District" and reported a focus of the District is to promote to students
the importance of recycling and protecting the environment. The District's projects are
educational, exciting, hands -on and tailored to the students' ages and class length.
Included in the programs are: plastics recycling, waste -free lunch day, general recycling,
vermi- composting, tours of CR Transfer Materials Recovery Facility and Frank R.
• Bowerman Landfill and a sewer science workshop.
Public Comments
No members of the general public were in attendance.
Other
Director Ooten requested Mutual Aid Agreements be included on the next Liaison
Committee agenda.
Mr. Roeder requested a copy of the LOU Agreement CMSD has with MCWD. Ms. Revak
will provide a copy to Mr. Roeder.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Liaison Committee is scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday, July 10, 2009
at Costa Mesa City Hall.
President Schafer adjourned the meeting at 9:30 a.m.
Gary M_ ahan, Secretary
Costa Mesa Sanitary District
Arlene Schafer, Presi,- ent
Costa Mesa Sanitary Nstrict