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10 - Permit Technician Position Costa Mesa Sanitary District …an Independent Special District Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services. www.cmsdca.gov Memorandum To: Board of Directors Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager From: Anna Sanchez, Administrative Service Manager Date: September 26, 2013 Subject: Permit Office Operations – Organizational Changes Summary Coupled with a recent organizational assessment of the permit office operations and the need to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), staff recommend ed organizational changes to meet the changing needs of the District. The recommended reclassification of the permit technician to an associate engineer position was considered by the Board at study sessions held on August 20 and September 9. The Board requested staff present a revised Permit Technician job description for review. Staff Recommendation The Board of Directors approves the revised Permit Technician job description. Analysis Staff presented a recommendation to reclassify the permit technician position to an associate engineer position for various reasons, including operational efficiencies and the ability to comply with CEQA. The District was made aware of the need to comply with CEQA by District Counsel after the budget had been adopted. In drafting the guidelines for District adoption that meet CEQA, staff realized a need to authorize a technical staff person to conduct the necessary ITEM NO. 10 Board of Directors September 26 , 2013 Page 2 of 3 environmental assessments. Typically, public officials and/or decision -makers, such as en vironmental professionals, planners, engineers, and/or consultants are responsible for interpreting the adequacy of environmental impact reports and studies required under CEQA in order to form publicly acceptable and legally defensible conclusions. A t the September 9 th Study Session, the Board directed staff to incorporate the environmental review and CEQA determination recommendation responsibilities into the existing permit technician job description . Environmental review and CEQA determinations would b e prepared by the permit technician position under supervision of the District Engineer, with District Counsel as another reviewing body. As per District Counsel, the majority of District work would not require environmental review, with the exception of t he District’s Capi tal Improvement Projects. Additionally, CEQA streamlining and implementation courses are available in Temecula, through UC San Diego Extension, and UC Riverside Extension. These courses will enable the participant to learn how to evalua te an activity and apply appropriate CEQA review in order to form legally defensible conclusions for Board approval. However, at the September 13 th Costa Mesa Liaison Committee meeting, the City of Costa Mesa has agreed to cross -train District staff on ho w to evaluate an activity and apply appropriate CEQA review. Strategic Plan Element & Goal This item complies with Strategic Element 5.0, Administrative Management , which states: “Objective: To create, maintain and implement policies and procedures to ensure sound management of the District .” “Strategy: We will conduct periodic reviews, refine and implement policies and procedures, and assure the General Manager has the direction and tools necessary for successful District operations.” Legal Review Di strict Counsel has reviewed this report. Financial Review The District anticipates 4.5 of additional annual hours will incur by the District Engineer for reviewing the environmental review and CEQA determination recommendations made by the permit technician position. This would incur an anticipated additional annual cost of $450 , based upon the number of CIP projects budgeted over the next year. Board of Directors September 26 , 2013 Page 3 of 3 Additionally, the permit technician would need further training on the appropriate implementation of CEQA. These courses range in cost from $350 to $700. The course held in San Diego incurs a registration cost of $350; however, th e permit technician would be required to attend this course every Tuesday evening from 6pm to 9pm for a six week period. Because the permit technician position is a non -exempt position, the time to attend this course would incur approximately 6 hours of o vertime per week, in addition to mileage and meal reimbursement. T he UC San Diego course would incur a total cost of approximately $2,150.00. The course offered by Northwest Environmental Training Center held in downtown San Diego incurs a registration cost of $700 for a two day course. Total cost for this training is estimated at approximately $1,000.00. The final and best alternative to training staff on CEQA is the cross -training offered by the City of Costa Mesa. The City has agreed to cross -train District staff on CEQA determination at no cost to the District. Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the entire agenda packet for the September 26 , 2013 Board of Directors Regular Board Meeting at District headquarters and on District’s website. Alternative Actions 1. Maintain the existing Permit Technician position classification. 2. Refer the matter back to staff for more information. Attachment A: Permit Technician job classification with expanded scope Reviewed by: Stacey Cuevas Finance Manager PERMIT TECHNICIAN S ALARY RA N GE $23.06 - $30.90 Hourly $3,996.55 - $5,355.75 M onthly $47,958.56 - $64,269.05 A n nu a lly D E S CRIPTION JOB SUMMARY : U n der g e n er a l su p ervisio n , p e rforms pl a n r e vi e w for the calcul a t i o n and coll e cti o n of s e w e r f e es and the i s suance of sewer per m i t s, establishes new a c counts in the trash collection p r ogram includi n g coll e cting partial ye a r service f e es, u p dates ye a rly tax r o ll, a s sists contr a ctors a n d t h e p ublic in sewer service and trash collection m a tters a nd p e rfo r ms relat e d duties as re q uir e d. CLASS CHARACTERISTICS The Permit T e c h nician class is r e s p onsible for pro c essing permit a pplicatio n s a n d issuing p er m its in acc o rd a nce with e s ta b lis h ed req u ir e ments and conduct environmental impact assessments under supervision of the District Engineer . E X A MPL ES O F DUTIES ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS : These functions may not be present in all positions in this class. When a position is to be filled, the essential functions will be noted in the announcement of position a v ailability. M anagement reserves the ri g ht to a d d, modify, ch a nge o r r e scind work a s sig n me n t s as n ee d ed. A s sis t s t he p ub li c at t he f r o nt c o u n t e r , p r o c e s s e s f o r m s , p e rmi t a p p lic at i o n s , a nd pl a ns n e c e s s a ry f or t he issu a nce of c o nstructi o n p e rmits; R e s p on d s to in q uiri e s a n d provides information rel a t e d to p ermit p olicies a nd proce d ur e s ; R e vi e ws p e r m it a pplicati o ns, p lans a nd sp e c ificatio n s for com p liance with a pplica b le co d es and sta n dards; may iss u e p ermits for mi n or pr o jects o r f o r large c o nstruction pr o jects re q uiri n g fe e s and bo n ds, c a lc u lates fees in acc o r d ance with est a bli s h e d fee sc h ed u les, inp u ts i n for m ation into the c om p u t e r an electronic database ; Pre p ares a n d or g a n iz e s mo n t h ly r e ports of permits iss u ed, fees c o llect e d and types of p r o jects f o r use by District staf f ; v e rifies insurance s t a t us for con t ract jobs; W o rks with the District En g ine e r in the p lan c h eck p r o c e s s; is resp o nsible f o r reviewing d e v e lopm e nt pla n s to ascertain t h e amo u nt of n ew p lum b ing fixt u res and c o llects t h e ap p r o pri a te f e es; W o rks with m an a ge m ent determini n g t h e mo n t h ly oc c up a ncy r e port a nd c a lc u lating the p ayment to the trash h a uler; Prepares environmental impact assessments, negative declarations, and notices of exemptions for District projects as per California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under supervision of the District Engineer; Monitors federal, state, and local environmental regulations, prepare routine documents, reports, and filings, and maintain project records; R e vi e ws r e qu e sts for t r a s h c o lle c t i o n a n d s e w e r s er v i c e r e f u nds a n d follows p r e s cri b ed p roce d ures in processi n g refu n ds; U n derst a nds the District's Sewer Atlas a n d h o w sewer c h arges are a ppli e d to pro p erti e s . U n dersta n ds and takes into consid e r a t i o n as a ppro p riate sewer li n es o w n ed b y the Ora n ge Cou n ty Sanitati o n District; U n derst a nds t h e District’s Sewer Lat e ral Assistan c e Program i n cl u ding t h e a p plicable f e e w a iv e rs and w o rks with resid e nts in p articip a t i n g in t h e program; Pre p ares an n ual trash a nd sewer charg e s, a n d corre c tio n s o f t h e s a m e, thr o u g h the O r an g e C o u nty Tax Collector by updating computer infor m ation, field investigation to verify information, mailing out exemption f o rms and or d ering n e w assess o r p a rcel pa g es; a nsw e rs q uestio n s on a mo u nts assess e d; U n derst a nds t h e District's tr a s h c o llecti o n program a n d t h e s pe c ial r e c yc ling p ro g r a ms; a n swers p ho n es in a c o urt e ous a n d p rof e s sio n al m a nn e r a nd pr o v i d es informati o n a s re q uested. Exhi b its p atience and un d ersta n ding in d ea l ing with resid e nt co m plai n ts; C o ordin a t e s final insp e c ti o n cl e ar a nces; d e ter m ines t h at a ll f e es h ave be e n paid p ri o r to permit issua n ce and/or occupancy and utility releases; coordinates the microfil m ing of plans and blueprints; and Provid e s tem p orary and v a c a ti o n reli e f in simil a r occ u pati o nal fields. TYPICAL QUALIFICATI O N S: EDUCATION, TRAINING AND/OR EXPER I ENCE Education a n d/or exp e rie n ce e q uival e nt to g r a du a ti o n from high scho o l a n d one year o f p e rmit issua n ce experie n c e in a mu n ici p al d e p artm e nt which re q uired the interpr e tation a n d ap p lic a t i o n of rul e s and r e gul a t i o ns, or f o ur y e ars of incr e asingly resp o nsib l e cl e rical experie n c e r e quiring the a p plication of policies and pr o c e dures. License a n d/or Certificate Cl a s s C California Driver's L ic e nse. Revocation o f li c e n se d uri n g e m ployme n t m ay result in disciplin a ry acti o n or re a s sig n ment. REQUISITE KNOWLEDGE AND SK I L L LEV E LS Buildi n g and zo n ing cod e s, pla n ning re g ulatio n s a n d ordin a nces, o r en g in e eri n g r u les a nd reg u lations; busin e s s lic e nse p o lici e s a n d proced u res; a nd p er m it processing a n d f e e struct u r e s . REQUISITE AB I L I TIES R e ad a n d interpret rul e s a n d r e gul a t i o ns a nd a p ply t h em to p e rmit iss u ance proce d ur e s ; p e rform b a sic mathematics co m putations; maintain rel a t e d files a n d records; u nd e rstand and follow ver b al a nd written directi o ns; m eet the pu b lic in sit u ations req u iring d ip lom a c y a n d tact; co m municate eff e ctively b o th orally and in writi n g; est a blish and m aintain co o perative w o r k ing relationships. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: A d ditional R e quirem e nt: Prior to e mpl o y m ent, the p r o s p ective can d idate m u st succ e s sfully com p lete a t h orou g h backgr o u n d review, includi n g bei n g fing e rprinte d . Dis a ster Ser v i c e W o rk e r: In accor d ance with Governm e nt Co d e Secti o n 3 1 00, C o sta M e sa S a nitary District Em p loyees, in t h e event of a disast e r, are c o nsidered disaster service work e rs and m ay b e ask e d t o respond accordingl y .