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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - EVWD Board of Directors - 02/24/2009Amoved March 10, 2009 -A,., 464 401wrr EAST VALLEY WATER DISTRICT February 24, 2009 REGULAR BOARD MEETING Director LeVesque called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m. Director Sturgeon led the flag salute. PRESENT: Directors: Morales, Le Vesque, Sturgeon ABSENT: Directors: Goodin, Wilson STAFF: Ron Buchwald, District Engineer; Brian Tompkins, Chief Financial Officer; Justine Hendricksen, Administrative Manager LEGAL COUNSEL: Steve Kennedy GUEST (S): Charles Roberts (Highland Community News), Margaret B. Cisneros, Larry Malmberg APPROVAL OF AGENDA M /S /C (Sturgeon - Morales) that the February 24, 2009 agenda be approved as submitted. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Director LeVesque declared the public participation section of the meeting open at 3:05 p.m. Director LeVesque welcomed Ms Cisneros and invited her to speak before the Board. Ms Cisneros stated that she was surprised by the amount of her recent bill and placed a call to the office to discuss her concerns; the automated phone system answered her call and placed her in the customer service queue; Ms Cisneros' call was never transferred to an attendant and she was not able to leave a message for the customer service department; she eventually hung up. On the following Monday Ms Cisneros encountered the same problem with the District's phone system; out of frustration Ms Cisneros called the City of Highland to assist her; the City of Highland called the District and left a message for a return call to be placed to Ms Cisneros; no call was made. Ms Cisneros eventually located the Engineering departments phone number and made contact with the District. Ms Cisneros is concerned that there is only one main/emergency phone number available for customers to contact the District; that there should be an additional phone number available and that the District's automated phone system needs to accommodate customers with rotary phones. Ms Cisneros would like the District to offer alternative payment center locations and authorize additional agencies to accept payments on behalf of the District. Ms Cisneros voiced her appreciation to the Board regarding the professional and courteous manner she was afforded when speaking to Ms Baxter and Ms Bateman regarding her situation. Board Minutes February 24, 2009 Mr. Tompkins offered his apology to Ms Cisneros for the problems she experienced relating to the Districts phone system and non - returned phone calls. Mr. Tompkins acknowledged that there was a programming error in the District's phone system; that the programming error has been corrected. Mr. Tompkins apologized to Ms Cisneros for not returning her phone call as he misunderstood the City of Highland's message as it related to Ms Cisneros. The Directors thanked Ms Cisneros for bringing her concerns to the Board. There being no further verbal or written comments the public participation section was closed. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES FOR JANUARY 29, 2009 Director Morales made two corrections to the January 29, 2009 minutes. 1. Page two, first paragraph, last sentence the word "is" should be replaced with "are". 2. Third page, fifth paragraph, needs to be changed to "Director Morales stated that in order to make any decisions there needs to be a drop dead date for each of the individual projects included in the District's Capital Improvement Plan". MIS /C (Sturgeon- Morales) that the January 29, 2009 Special Meeting Minutes be approved with noted corrections from Director Morales. APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 10, 2009 Director Morales made one correction to the February 10, 2009 minutes. 1. Page four, last paragraph, last sentence, the word "poster" should be changed to "posters ". M/S /C (Sturgeon - Morales) that the February 10, 2009 Board Meeting Minutes be approved with noted correction by Director Morales. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2009 Directors Morales and Sturgeon made two corrections to the February 17, 2009 minutes. 1. Sentence four needs to reflect that the "Board of Directors ", not the General Manager, requested Congressman Lewis' help and guidance and would like to propose a possible solution for the District. M/S /C (Sturgeon - Morales) that the February 17, 2009 Special Meeting Minutes be approved with noted corrections by Directors Morales and Sturgeon. 2 Board Minutes February 24, 2009 DISBURSEMENTS M/S /C (Sturgeon - Morales) that General Fund Disbursements 4218411 through 4218578 that were distributed February 11, 2009 through February 18, 2009 in the amount of $1,332.676.54, and Payroll Fund Disbursements for the period ended January 30, 2009 in the amount(s) of $168,084.64 and $18,874.60 totaling $1,509,635.78 be approved. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING BOTTLED WATER REQUEST FROM THE HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER M/S (Sturgeon- Morales) that the District donate bottled water to the Highland Senior Center for their Golf Tournament and become a Tee Sponsor. Mr. Kennedy stated that the Board can not approve the Tee Sponsor portion of the motion as is it not part of the agenda and suggested that the Tee Sponsor be brought back at a later date or be deferred to the General Manager for approval. Director Morales is concerned with reversing the Boards previous position to only provide bottled water at events where EV WD participates in and/or sponsors. Director LeVesque stated that he would support the request to donate water to the event; that we have a retired EV WD employee working for the Highland Senior Center; that one or more of the Directors would be attending the event. wkd M /S /C (Sturgeon- Morales) that the District donate bottled water for the Highland Senior Centers Golf Tournament Ms Hendricksen will provide the General Manager the details relating to Tee Sponsorship for the event. GENERAL MANAGER / STAFF REPORTS Ms Hendricksen stated that the General Manager had met with Congressman Calvert's staff yesterday and will be meeting with staff from Congressman Lewis' office today regarding the Seven Oaks Dam. Mr. Tompkins stated that he recently attended a seminar regarding GASB 45. GASB 45 deals with future obligations for post employee benefits. He is looking into programs that will provide an actuarial calculation and provide evaluations for the Districts post retirement benefits. Director LeVesque would like to know if any of the organizations that the District is a member of would offer this type of benefit. Board Minutes February 24, 2009 The District Engineer reported on the District's operations to date; that the North Fork project is moving forward but is a little behind schedule; that the Date Street project should be completed this week as long as it doesn't rain. Information only. CONSULTANTS REPORTS No reports at this time. COMMITTEE REPORTS a. Legislative (Standing) — Directors Morales stated that the Legislative Policy is coming along and that it will be presented to the full Board in the near future; that the California State Budget is very fragile at the moment; that the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act pre - applications are due February 27, 2009. b. Budget (Standing) — A special meeting is scheduled for March 4 at 3:00 p.m. c. Public Outreach (Standing) — The committee will be meeting in a couple of weeks. Mr. Malmberg stated that Congressman Baca is his legislative representative and suggested that the District make contact with his office. Director Morales stated that the District reaches out and keeps in contact with all elected officials. Information only. .7_.• _ 1IK/ u1u1�1► Y�1. y�It 1 RIX03271.7014111141 Director Sturgeon offered his appreciation to senior staff for everything they do for the District. Director Sturgeon stated that he recently attended a rate hearing in Escondido and was surprised by the proposed rate increases. Information only. THE SAN BERNARDINO AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, BUSINESS AFTER HOURS MIXER, CASTAWAY RESTAURANT, FEBRUARY 26, 2009 ACWA's 2009 LEGISLATIVE SYMPOSIUM, SACRAMENTO, MARCH 18, 2009 THE WATER EDUCATION FOUNDATIONS "BINATIONAL DROUGHT SCIENCE CONFERENCE, HILTON SAN DIEGO RESORT, MARCH 26-27,2009 ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 3:41 p.m. Robert E. Marti , Secretary Donald D. Goodin, Presid ne t K . r -_ Board Minutes February 24, 2009