Minutes - CAC - 2023-05-10COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
MAY 10, 2023
CAC Members present
Jeff Arbour, Daniel Baume, Cindy Brenneman, Rosemarie Chora, Dickie
Fernandez, Dean Fisher, Sue Lester, Michael Tou, Annette Watson
CAC Members absent
Francesca Normington
Board Members present
None
Staff present
Scott Carroll (General Manager), Noelani Middenway (District Clerk & Public
Information Officer), Gina Terraneo (Management Analyst II), Mark Esquer
(District Engineer), Kaithn Tran (Finance Manager)
Others present
Mike Balliet, Michael Balliet Consulting
Rob Miller, District resident
Meeting called to order at 6:00 P.M.
A. OPENING ITEMS
Procedural: 1. Call to Order
Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) Vice Chair Lester called the meeting to
order at 6:00 p.m.
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 2
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMrrTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
Procedural: 2. Roll Call
District Clerk & Public Information Officer, Noelani Middenway, conducted
roll call. She noted that CAC Members Baume, Brenneman, Chora,
Fernandez, Fisher, Lester, Tou, and Watson were present, while CAC
Members Arbour and Normington were not present at this time.
Procedural: 3. Public Comments - Speakers will be limited to three minutes. The
three minutes per speaker time allotted may be extended for good cause by a
majority vote of the committee.
CAC Vice Chair Lester opened public comments.
District resident, Rob Miller, commented on the challenges experienced by a
Costa Mesa soup kitchen in complying with trash and organic waste
regulations. He shared that for -profit businesses are donating leftover food
to non-profit organizations and receiving tax benefits. He noted that some
of the donated food is unusable which requires the non-profit organizations
to pay for its disposal.
General Manager, Scott Carroll, stated that, under Senate Bill 1383
regulations, this issue is under the purview of the City of Costa Mesa. He
noted that the District will share Mr. Miller's comments with the City.
CAC Vice Chair Lester provided an overview of the District's trash services.
She shared that she volunteers for the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center
and expressed interest in working with the soup kitchen.
CAC Member Chora stated that CalRecycle has agreements in place with
organizations that donate food and accept donations to coordinate cost
share.
Hearing no additional comments, CAC Vice Chair Lester closed public
comments.
B. ITEMS
Action: 1. Appoint Chair and Vice Chair
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 3
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
Recommendation: That the Citizens Advisory Committee appoint a Chair and Vice
Chair to serve for a term of two years ending March 2025.
CAC Chair Lester introduced the item.
Motion: To appoint Sue Lester as Chair and to serve for a term of two years
ending March 2025.
Motion by Cindy Brenneman, seconded by Rosemarie Chora.
Final Resolution: Motion carries 8-0-0-2
Ayes: Daniel Baume, Cindy Brenneman, Rosemarie Chora, Dickie Fernandez,
Dean Fisher, Sue Lester, Michael Tou, Annette Watson
No: None
Abstain: None
Not Present: Jeff Arbour, Francesca Normington
Motion: To appoint Michael Tou as Vice Chair and to serve for a term of two
years ending March 2025.
Motion by Sue Lester, seconded by Cindy Brenneman.
Final Resolution: Motion carries 8-0-0-2
Ayes: Daniel Baume, Cindy Brenneman, Rosemarie Chora, Dickie Fernandez,
Dean Fisher, Sue Lester, Michael Tou, Annette Watson
No: None
Abstain: None
Not Present: Jeff Arbour, Francesca Normington
Mr. Carroll stated that Ms. Middenway will contact CAC Chair Lester and Vice
Chair Tou to set up a meeting and establish a work plan for the CAC.
There was no further discussion.
Action: 2. Approve the Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of March
8, 2023
Recommendation: That the Citizens Advisory Committee approves the meeting
minutes as presented.
CAC Chair Lester introduced the item.
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 4
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
Motion: To approve the Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting minutes of
March 8, 2023 as presented.
Motion by Michael Tou, seconded by Cindy Brenneman.
Final Resolution: Motion carries 7-0-1-2
Ayes: Cindy Brenneman, Rosemarie Chora, Dickie Ferndndez, Dean Fisher,
Sue Lester, Michael Tou, Annette Watson
No: None
Abstain: Daniel Baume
Not Present: Jeff Arbour, Francesca Normington
There was no discussion.
Action, Receive and File: 3. Receive and File Waste Composition Studies #5 from
Michael Balliet Consulting
Recommendation: That the Citizens Advisory Committee provide comments
regarding the results of the Solid Waste Characterization Studies conducted on
April 3, 2023.
Mr. Carroll introduced Mike Balliet of Michael Balliet Consulting.
Mr. Balliet presented Waste Composition Study #1 and discussed the
breakdown of the waste collected. He noted that study #1 contained many
multifamily properties in its sample. He recommended providing more
educational materials to individual tenants. He presented Waste
Composition Study #2. He noted that the results of study #2 are a bit skewed
due to green waste (dirt and roots) in the sample.
CAC Chair Lester asked how the District targets areas that are contributing
to contamination.
Mr. Balliet stated that while the District is also flipping trash cart lids at
random to check for contamination, the waste composition studies provide
a global perspective on how certain routes are performing.
CAC Member Chora commented that the recent rain events may have
contributed to the clumps of soil found in the carts.
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 5
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
Mr. Balliet stated that the rain may have contributed to an increase in heavy
soil, but he noted that it should have been placed in the Organics Recycling
Carts rather than the Mixed Waste Cart.
Discussion followed regarding the District's overall contamination levels
compared to other local agencies.
CAC Member Baume asked how the District should be educating its
multifamily customers.
Mr. Balliet suggested encouraging the property owners to share recycling
information with their tenants through targeted outreach.
CAC Member Chora suggested more targeted outreach specific to the west
side neighborhood of Costa Mesa. She recommended advertising at grocery
stores to educate more customers.
CAC Member Arbour joined the meeting at 6:22 p.m.
There was no further discussion, and the report was received.
Action: 4. Preliminary Biennial Budget Review for Fiscal Year 2023-24 and 2024-
25
Recommendation: That the Citizens Advisory Committee provides comments
and/or suggestions regarding the proposed preliminary Biennial Budget for the
Fiscal Years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Mr. Carroll introduced the item.
Finance Manager, Kaitlin Tran, presented the preliminary budgets for Fiscal
Years 2023-24 and 2024-25. She stated that both budgets are balanced. She
discussed revenue amounts, solid waste and wastewater rates, and expenses
for salaries and benefits.
CAC Chair Lester inquired about the increases to the District's health benefit
plan.
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 6
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
Mr. Carroll stated that those increases reflect the overall cost increases of
existing benefits.
Ms. Tran continued discussing expenses for salaries and benefits and
operations and maintenance. She presented the accounts with the most
significant increases.
Discussion followed regarding the Classification and Compensation Study
for Fiscal Year 2023-24.
Ms. Tran discussed CR&R rates for Fiscal Years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Discussion followed regarding liquated damages for missed trash service
and cost -of -living adjustments (COLA) for CR&R.
CAC Member Watson asked if CR&R makes a profit from collecting
recyclables.
Mr. Carroll stated that CR&R sells the collected recyclables at market value.
Discussion followed regarding capital improvement projects, changes in
capital outlay, and the Asset Management Fund.
Mr. Carroll provided an update on the Elden Forcemain Redundancy Project.
There was no further discussion, and the report was received.
C. CLOSING ITEMS
Procedural: 1. Committee Member Comments
CAC Vice Chair Tou inquired about upcoming outreach materials issued by
the District.
Ms. Middenway shared that the District is drafting a postcard regarding food
waste odors.
CAC Chair Lester shared that the CAC Handbook has been revised to remove
term limits. She encouraged the CAC members to review the CAC Handbook
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT PAGE 7
MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD MAY 10, 2023
and reminded each member to attend at least one Board meeting per year.
She added that CAC members need to inform District staff if they are going
to be absent from a CAC meeting. She shared that the District's Compost
Giveaway Event, the City of Costa Mesa's I Love Costa Mesa Day, and the
Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center's baby shower event all take place on
Saturday, May 20.
Discussion followed regarding the I Love Costa Mesa Day event.
CAC Member Arbour shared that the County of Orange offers free compost
to County residents.
Ms. Middenway stated that the Board has requested a meeting with the CAC.
The CAC indicated that they would prefer an evening meeting with the
Board.
There was no further discussion.
Procedural: 2. Board/Staff Comments
No discussion.
Procedural: 3. Adjournment
CAC Chair Lester adjourned the meeting at 7:08 p.m. and stated that the next
CAC meeting is scheduled for July 12, 2023.
V
Sue Lester
Citizens Advisory Committee Chair