Loading...
Minutes - Board - 2021-01-12COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION JANUARY 12, 2021 NOTE: THIS MEETING WAS CONDUCTED UTILIZING TELECONFERENCING PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54952.2 AND THE GOVERNOR'S EXECUTIVE ORDERS IN EFFECT WAIVING SOME OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THAT SECTION. Members present Arlene Schafer, Art Perry, Bob Ooten, Brett Eckles, Mike Scheafer Members absent None Staff present Scott Carroll (General Manager), Noelani Middenway (District Clerk and Public Information Officer), Kaitlin Tran (Finance Manager), Dyana Bojarski (Administrative Services Manager), Gina Terraneo (Management Analyst 11), Nabila Guzman (Management Analyst 1), Edward Roberts (Code Enforcement Officer) Others present Judith Gielow, Citizens Advisory Committee Member Seth Greiner, Citizens Advisory Committee Member Joe Jenkins, EEC Environmental Meeting called to order at 9:31 A.M. A. OPENING ITEMS Procedural: 1. Roll Call - (If absences occur, consider whether to deem those absences excused based on facts presented for the absence — such determination shall be the permission required by law.) President Ooten called the meeting to order at 9:31 A.M. District Clerk and Public Information Officer, Noelani Middenway, noted that President Ooten, Vice President Scheafer, Secretary Schafer, Director Perry, and Director Eckles were present at this time. B. PUBLIC COMMENTS COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 2 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 Procedural: 1. Public Comments President Ooten opened public comments. Ms. Middenway stated that the District received no written public comments and no members of the public requested to speak. Hearing no public comments, President Ooten closed public comments. C. ITEMS OF STUDY Action, Receive and File: 1. Code Enforcement Officer Report — December 2020 Recommendation: That the Board of Directors receive and file this report. Code Enforcement Officer, Edward Roberts, presented the report. He stated that he conducted seven proactive scavenging investigations throughout the District's service area. He referenced the map included in the staff report that details the locations of the scavenging investigations. He noted that the concentration of scavenging takes place on the westside of the District's service area. He added that the other investigations are in the Mesa Verde and Mesa Del Mar neighborhoods. President Ooten commented that there seems to be more scavengers than in the past. Mr. Roberts stated that, in December, people may have been scavenging items to generate income. Director Eckles inquired if Mr. Roberts witnesses repeated scavengers after issuing a verbal warning. Mr. Roberts shared that he has been working for the District for about six years and has noticed that the District's service area contains a transient community with regular offenders. He noted that if an offender sees the District's Code Enforcement vehicle, then he or she will evade the area. He reported that there is a small population of re -offenders who have no regard for law enforcement. He added that the re -offenders are aware that there are little to no ramifications for scavenging, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Director Eckles inquired if Mr. Roberts encounters offenders that are residents or homeowners. Mr. Roberts stated that, when he first started working at the District, there were professional efforts to collect publicly disposed materials and transport them to COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 3 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 locations outside of the District's service area. He noted that he has little to no contact with homeowners. He added that he always asks the scavengers for their place of residence to gather background information during a contact. Vice President Scheafer inquired if more residents are disposing of their recyclables in the Mixed Waste Carts because the Orange Coast College (OCC) Recycling Center is closed. He stated that scavengers might be aware that there is a bigger volume of recyclables in customers' trash carts. Mr. Roberts stated that he has witnessed a proliferation of glass bottles in customers' trash carts, which have a higher recycling value. He stated that scavenging efforts have not diminished since the OCC Recycling Center closed. He proposed that another market or means for redemption must be available for scavenged recyclables. He continued discussing his report and reviewed trash cart enforcement. He shared that, during the holiday season, he issued less enforcement as an effort to avoid alienating the District from the community. He stated that he performed the majority of enforcement in early December and issued 81 notices regarding the storage of trash carts in public view. Director Perry commented that the number of notices appears lower than normal. Mr. Roberts stated that he primarily issued enforcement during the first few weeks of December and relaxed his enforcement during the holiday season. There was no further discussion, and the report was received. Action, Receive and File: 2. Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) Self Audit Recommendation: That the Board of Directors receive and file this report. Management Analyst I, Nabila Guzman, introduced EEC Environmental who conducted the Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) audit. She stated that an SSMP audit is performed every two years. She presented Joe Jenkins of EEC Environmental, who provided a presentation of the audit. Mr. Jenkins provided an introduction of EEC's staff who were involved in the audit: Joe Jenkins, Jim Kolk, and Keith Silva. He stated that EEC has done multiple SSMP audits for the District in the past (2011, 2013, 2018) and for other cities. He reviewed the audit requirements, which state that an audit must be conducted every two years, must be a comprehensive review of the SSMP document, must compare the SSMP to the State's waste discharge requirements and actual District practices, must be more than just a checklist, and that it is an opportunity for program improvement by highlighting the positives of the SSMP. He described the SSMP audit process, which involves a kick-off meeting with District staff, a review of the SSMP and relevant documents, staff interviews, and report preparation. He added that the report identifies major and minor nonconformances, corrective COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 4 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 actions, and recommendations for program enhancements. He stated that the District has a very comprehensive SSMP compared to other cities that EEC has reviewed. He discussed EEC's findings of the SSMP audit, which include an increasing trend in sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). He noted that the District's increase in SSOs remains below the State average for similar sized agencies. President Ooten inquired about the SSO chart and noted that SSOs are not delineated by their reason or cause. Mr. Jenkins stated that he can provide that information. He reported that three SSOs were caused by fats, oils, and grease (FOG), two were caused by lift station issues, and another three resulted from a combination of roots and rags. He shared that, during their interviews, District staff indicated that certain changes were made to prevent SSOs, such as added cleaning crews and annual inspections of air release valves. President Ooten inquired if the District will be fixing leaking air release valves. Mr. Jenkins confirmed that they will be fixed. President Ooten stated that the District used to have a contractor that performed a significant amount of cleaning, but when the District switched to in-house cleaning the amount of SSOs decreased. He inquired if EEC could provide data regarding SSOs and the type of cleaning and equipment used. Mr. Jenkins stated that EEC can compare the data on contractor versus District cleaning crews. He continued his presentation and discussed the District's SSO recovery percentage in comparison to the percentage of water that reached local waterways. He reported that, traditionally, the District has had a good SSO recovery percentage, but it was low in 2019. He noted that the recovery percentage improved in 2020. He stated that the District has the necessary training and equipment to respond to SSOs. He discussed the District's preventative maintenance program, which is based on an 18-month cleaning frequency. President Ooten shared that, when he worked for the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), they hired a lot of contract cleaning companies, but OCSD staff had no method of checking on the work of hired contractors. He stated that OCSD implemented a system to evaluate the contractors' work by closed-circuit televising (CCTV) the areas they cleaned. He suggested that the District implements a similar system. Mr. Jenkins commented that CCTVing is a good method for checking the work. He discussed more preventative maintenance measures, such as lift station maintenance, the root foaming program, education and training, and keeping an equipment and replacement parts inventory for all lift stations and cleaning trucks. COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 5 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 He reviewed the District's SSO response, which includes response plans and emergency contingency plans, staff training, and resources such as back-up pumps, generators, utility trucks, and sandbags. He stated that the SSMP development is complete as of December 2020. He noted that to develop the SSMP, the District utilized geographic information systems (GIS) to conduct hydraulic modeling and identified zero hydraulic deficiencies. He discussed inflow and infiltration at certain lift stations. President Ooten inquired if the District has ever experienced an SSO caused by inflow or infiltration. Mr. Jenkins stated that he is not aware of any SSO being caused by those factors. President Ooten recommended including information on inflow and infiltration in the SSMP. Mr. Jenkins confirmed that EEC can include that information. He stated that the SSMP includes lift station and force main rehabilitation projects as well as repair of structural defects. He described previous rehabilitation and replacement projects. He reported that the District currently has no known Grade 5 structural defects and capacity issues. He noted that the number of hot spots reduced from 95 in 2010 to 18 in 2020. He shared that there is available funding for the District's planned capital improvement projects (CIP). He added that the breakdown of funding for each CIP is presented in a pie chart in the audit. President Ooten suggested adding more detail to the pie chart to better delineate which project numbers relate to which costs. Director Perry inquired if the requested information will be available for the January Board meeting. Mr. Jenkins confirmed that the information and data will be available by then. He discussed the District's FOG Control Program, which is operated and managed by EEC. He stated that program success depends on the rate of FOG -related SSOs. He noted that there has been a slight increase in the last two years in FOG -related SSOs, but that most of them have resulted from residential issues. He reported that EEC and the District have successfully managed food service establishments, but that more effort needs to be placed on the residential FOG education program. He described the components of the FOG Control Program, including inspections, installation of grease interceptors, and identifying FOG -related hot spots and appropriate FOG disposal sites. He recommended researching an alternative FOG disposal site for residents, since the OCC Recycling Center is closed. He reviewed the identified nonconformances, which include the lack of an accurate organization chart, the incompletion of the 18-month cleaning frequency goal in fiscal year 2018-2019, the incompletion of the overflow emergency response plans for four COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 6 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 pump stations, the inaccurate reflection of the system evaluation and capacity assurance status, and the incompletion of nonconformances identified in the 2018 SSMP audit. He noted that, based on staff interviews, the overflow emergency response plans will be completed soon. He discussed EEC's recommended program enhancements, which include adding more measurable goals to quantify the effectiveness of the SSMP, updating the SSMP to reflect the upcoming rehabilitation projects, identifying training opportunities for staff, creating and implementing key standard operating procedures, updating sewer standards to include new technologies, conducting emergency bypass training for high -risk lift stations, conducting periodic SSO simulation training, standardizing the term "hot spots" rather than "enhanced maintenance locations" throughout the SSMP, developing a standard operating procedure for interactions with the City of Costa Mesa, and continuing residential education to address FOG -related hot spots. President Ooten inquired if Mr. Jenkins is familiar with OCSD's pilot study that placed different amounts of water in a manhole to observe levels. Mr. Jenkins confirmed that he is familiar with that study, but that he is unsure if District staff has seen or experienced that exercise. President Ooten stated that OCSD's pilot study reports are available with accompanying pictures. Director Perry inquired if EEC has a list of the companies that collect residential FOG. Mr. Jenkins stated that the list is provided on the District's website. Director Perry inquired about where those companies dispose of the collected FOG. Mr. Jenkins stated that some companies have their own recycling and rendering facilities and other companies bring it to OCSD for disposal. Director Perry inquired if the District could apply FOG disposal towards their solid waste diversion rate. General Manager, Scott Carroll, stated that he is unsure if CalRecycle recognizes FOG as a diversion material. He noted that he will research the matter. Secretary Schafer inquired about the page numbers of the SSMP audit. She commented that she had trouble navigating the page numbers in the report. Mr. Jenkins stated that the page numbers should be centered at the bottom of each page. COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 7 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 Director Perry inquired if EEC is recommending that the District hire more field staff. Mr. Jenkins stated that hiring additional staff is one recommendation to help the District achieve their 18-month cleaning frequency goal. Additionally, he noted that alternative recommendations include obtaining more resources, hiring more contract work, and reevaluating the 18-month cleaning frequency goal. President Ooten discussed page two of the SSMP audit and recommended changing the phrase "District representatives" to "District Board." He stated that it is important to mention former long-time District Engineer, Rob Harriers, who wrote the SSMP that was adopted by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and subsequently adopted by the State. He requested for District staff to create an implementation plan for the SSMP audit to track the non conformances. He noted that EEC provided a lot of valuable suggestions for the District. Mr. Jenkins noted that the target completion dates for each nonconformance are included in Appendix F of the audit, and that the implementation plan will be incorporated into the new SSMP. President Ooten stated that the implementation should be a short, separate document for the Board to easily review. Vice President Scheafer inquired if the District plugs their manholes. President Ooten stated that District staff generally leaves at least one vent hole open. He noted that, during an SSO, water will most likely come out of a manhole. He added that, by leaving one vent open, an agency can estimate the amount of leaked sewage from an SSO. Mr. Carroll stated that the District does not plug and seal all manholes since that would create gas issues. He noted that the District only plugs manhole covers on streets prone to flooding. Vice President Scheafer thanked Mr. Carroll for the clarification. Director Perry and President Ooten expressed their support for the SSMP audit. There was no further discussion, and the report was received. Action: 3. Proposed Amendments and Consider Approving Recertification of the Sewer System Management Plan COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 8 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 Recommendation: That the Board of Directors direct staff to bring back the Amended Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) on January 25, 2021 to consider adopting the amendments and recertifying the SSMP. President Ooten stated that this item is a red -line iteration of information that has been added or changed in the SSMP. Mr. Carroll stated that a lot of changes, deletions and additions were made to the proposed amended SSMP. He noted that, when there is a significant number of changes, the SSMP must be recertified. He added that the Board is being asked to review and comment on the proposed changes. He stated that the item will be presented to the Board for approval at the January Board meeting. Director Eckles inquired if the SSMP will be presented on January 25th or January 28th for approval. He noted that the recommendations for Items 2 and 3 contain different dates. Mr. Carroll confirmed that it will be presented on January 25tn President Ooten sought clarification on performance measurements. He expressed concern for certain goals and their completion times. Mr. Carroll described the performance measurement for the District's 18-month cleaning frequency goal. President Ooten reiterated his concern regarding District staff striving to meet measurements without cleaning properly. Mr. Carroll stated the performance measurements program is not used to reprimand employees for not meeting their goals. He added that the purpose of the program is to evaluate and strategize goals that are not being met. President Ooten requested for this topic to be an upcoming discussion item. Director Perry suggested hiring additional field staff. Mr. Carroll shared that the District is conducting an analysis to determine if more field staff is needed. He noted that he will be presenting this item to the Board in a few months. Director Perry inquired if the District is using the term "enhanced maintenance locations." Mr. Carroll confirmed that the District uses that term instead of "hot spots." COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 9 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 .._.._..__.._-- President Ooten thanked District staff for the report and expressed support for their work. Director Eckles inquired about the Hot Spot Committee and why it was disbanded. Mr. Carroll stated that, in 2010, the District had about 95 hot spots that required high frequency cleaning due to roots and grease. He shared that the District formed the Committee, which included himself, Rob Hamers, Steve Cano, Joe Jenkins, and the wastewater staff, and they met every three months to discuss how to reduce the number of hot spots. He reported that the District noticed that a lot of root intrusion was happening in between the joints and cracks of the sewer system. He stated that top hat and short liners were implemented to address this issue and that improvements were made to line segments to block roots and reduce FOG. He noted that the District was able to reduce the number of hot spots significantly, but that the District is unable to eliminate all hot spots. He shared that it is more cost effective to clean the remaining hot spots more frequently than to make improvements to structural deficiencies. He stated that after this determination was made, the Committee was disbanded. President Ooten shared that he was a member of the Committee. He added that there is a Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) Committee that includes many Orange County agencies. He noted that Rob Hamers chaired that Committee for many years, which allowed the District to communicate with other agencies. He stated that the WDR Committee is still active. There was no further discussion, and the report was received. Procedural: 1. Oral Communications and Director Comments Vice President Scheafer shared that the City of Costa Mesa is conducting a workshop or meeting on organics recycling. He stated that Mr. Carroll informed him that District staff met with City staff yesterday to offer any assistance. He noted that Ms. Guzman will be attending the City's meeting this afternoon. He recommended for the District to reach out and stay connected with the City to ensure that they meet their requirements. He added that the District has a lot of experience in this area that could help the City achieve their goals. Mr. Carroll shared that District staff met with the City to discuss Senate Bill 1383. He noted that he will be presenting some recommendations from the District's Solid Waste Consultant, Mike Balliet, on how to meet this goal. He added that the District plans to continue meeting with the City on a staff level to foster coordination. He stated that Ms. Guzman will be reporting on the City's meeting. COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 10 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 Secretary Schafer commented that the Independent Special Districts of Orange County's (ISDOC) quarterly meeting is on January 28, 2020. She noted that Sheriff Don Barnes will be attending the meeting. Mr. Carroll announced that a new District Engineer, Mark Esquer, has been selected and detailed his qualifications. He added that a press release will be disseminated soon. President Ooten shared that he worked with Mr. Esquer at OCSD. He stated that he must leave the meeting for another appointment and exited the meeting at 10:44 A.M. Vice President Scheafer presided over the remainder of the meeting on President Ooten's behalf. Director Perry discussed the District's Christmas Tree Recycling Program. He inquired if the District could utilize the City of Costa Mesa's corporate yard to temporarily store trees in between routes. He proposed that, by dumping them at the City's Yard, CR&R might save some time in their collection process by not having to drive each load back to their facility. Mr. Carroll stated that he will ask CR&R if that would help them and then reach out to the City to find out if that is viable. Director Perry asked if the Liaison Committee Meeting is still taking place this Friday, January 15, 2021. Ms. Middenway stated that, to the District's knowledge, the meeting is still proceeding. Vice President Scheafer inquired if the meeting will be held via Zoom. Ms. Middenway confirmed that it will be on Zoom. She stated that she will be sending the meeting information to the Board once it is available. Director Eckles asked a few questions regarding Christmas tree collection. He stated that the program was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he noted that the pandemic has been ongoing for a while. He inquired about CR&R communicating with the District on this issue. He stated that it appears that there is no plan for Christmas tree collection as various parts of the District's service area have been serviced while other areas have been missed. Mr. Carroll stated that Christmas tree collection was not planned very well. He reported that CR&R uses a different truck for collection, and that they have not had enough drivers to fulfill the demand. He added that more Christmas trees were COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 11 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS STUDY SESSION HELD JANUARY 12, 2021 purchased this year than in the past due to the pandemic. He stated that he has no reason as to why CR&R did not communicate this issue with the District sooner. He noted that this item will be discussed in their performance audit. Director Eckles stated that the public would have responded better to this issue if they had known of CR&R's issues in advance. He recommended instituting a schedule for Christmas tree collection by segmenting the District's service area. Secretary Schafer suggested that the District's CR&R representative, Mike Carey, attend a future meeting to discuss this issue. There were no additional comments by the Board. Procedural: 2. Adjournment Vice President Scheafer adjourned the meeting at 10:50 A.M. Arlene Schafer Secretar y Bob Ooten President