Zone 7 Meeting - February 16, 2022
2. Open Session and Report Out of Closed Session 3. Call Meeting to Order and Roll Call 7. PPWTP Upgrades and Ozonation Project Quarterly Progress Presentation 8. Declaration of Fix a Leak Week for March 14-20, 2022 9. Water Treatment Filter Performance Discussion for the Del Valle Water Treatment Plant 10. Award of Contract for Environmental Planning Services for Routine Maintenance Program, Phase 2 12. Items for Future Agenda - Directors MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ALAMEDA COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING The following were present: DIRECTORS: SANDY FIGUERS DIRECTORS ABSENT: NONE ZONE 7 STAFF: VALERIE PRYOR, GENERAL MANAGER COUNSEL: REBECCA SMITH, DOWNEY BRAND Item 1 - Closed Session Item 2 - 2. Open Session and Report Out of Closed Session - nothing to report Item 3 - 3. Call Meeting to Order and Roll Call President Ramirez Holmes called the meeting to order at 7:16 p.m. Item 4 - 4. Public Comment - none Item 5 - Director Palmer had a revision to the minutes of January 19, 2022, on page 5 where it said, "Director Palmer added that it is not the only source of new water." That terminology should have been, "Director Palmer added that it is the only source of new water." She also had a revision to page 6 where it said, "this Committee came about as a bylaw change for ACWA." It should have said, "this committee would need to be the result of a bylaw change of ACWA." Director Palmer made a motion to approve the minutes of January 19, 2022, as amended and Director Smith McDonald seconded the motion. The minutes were approved, as amended, by a roll call vote of 7-0. Director Palmer made a motion to approve the minutes of February 2, 2022, and Director Figuers seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a roll call vote of 6-0 with Director Ramirez Holmes abstaining. Item 6 - Director Green pulled Item 6b. Director Palmer moved to approve Items 6a, 6c, 6d, 6e and 6f and Director Figuers seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a roll call vote of 7-0. Director Green pulled Item 6b because she felt it is a tremendous amount of money for the campaign and feels it will limit some of the people that might otherwise run for the Board. Valerie Pryor, General Manager, gave a summary of the staff report and stated that the amount is required by the Registrar of Voters and depends on the number of registered voters. The amount is not set by Zone 7. Staff did estimate the amount was going to be $4,013, but after the agenda was distributed the Registrar of Voters determined that it would be $4,402. She also added that there is no cost to run if the Candidate does not want a Statement of Qualifications printed on the ballot. President Ramirez Holmes suggested that Director Green bring this up during Item 12, Items for Future Agenda. Director Smith McDonald stated that, since the Board was on the subject, she would not be running for re-election in June. Director Palmer added that the last couple of times she ran for election she paid close $4,000 each time but received around $1,500 back. President Ramirez Holmes added that she wants to make sure people understand there is zero cost to run for the Board. Director Palmer made a motion to approve Item 6b and Director Smith McDonald seconded. The motion passed by a roll call vote of 7-0. Item 7 - 7. PPWTP Upgrades and Ozonation Project Quarterly Progress Presentation Mona Olmsted, Associate Engineer, gave a quarterly status report on the Patterson Pass Water Treatment Plant (PPWTP) Ozonation project. Ms. Olmsted stated that the project continues to be on track to be online this spring and is approximately 90% complete. Ms. Olmsted added that the budget is under control at 86% spent. Change orders to date total $3.6 million, which is about 4.7% of the original construction contract amount, and the budget is doing well overall. Ms. Olmsted shared construction progress photos and mentioned that training for the maintenance and operations staff is being scheduled for next month. President Ramirez Holmes asked Ms. Pryor if there is a ribbon cutting ceremony in the works. Ms. Pryor replied that staff are planning a ribbon cutting ceremony sometime in June. Item 8 - 8. Declaration of Fix a Leak Week for March 14-20, 2022 Ms. Pryor presented the staff report with a resolution for the Board to declare Fix a Leak Week for March 14th through 20th stating that staff are trying to raise awareness of water leaks inside and outside of homes. The average household leaks can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year. During this week, Zone 7 and its retailers will be doing quite a bit of outreach and social media posting about how to check for leaks and fix them. Waterwise Wendy will have her Fix a Leak campaign on the website, staff will be doing a project with students and participating elementary schools to do the Fix a Leak Week activity book. President Ramirez Holmes stated that she looks forward to the campaign and seeing it through social media. Director Green made a motion to approve the resolution and Director Palmer seconded it. The resolutions passed unanimously 7-0 by a roll call vote. Item 9 - 9. Water Treatment Filter Performance Discussion for the Del Valle Water Treatment Plant Colter Andersen, Production Manager, gave a presentation on water filtration statistics illustrating how the ozone project at the Del Valle Water Treatment Plant (DVWTP) has changed the filtering ability at the treatment plant. Director Palmer asked about the net energy usage. Ms. Pryor stated that energy usage can be found in the quarterly finance reports, and overall, there is a net increase because it takes a lot of energy to break up the oxygen molecules; however, it is offset by chemical savings. Director Gambs asked if the customers will notice a difference in taste and odor. Mr. Andersen replied that the ozonation process breaks up the algae taste and removes the fishy, musty smell. With ozone being in the raw water, it will remove all the taste and odors because of how strong of an oxidizer it is. Director Sanwong asked how groundwater is treated. Mr. Andersen replied that groundwater is not treated because it does not have any pathogens in it. Sodium hypochlorite is put into groundwater as a disinfectant residual, which is mandatory by federal and state law to be in the distribution system as one of two elements to keep the public safe. Director Green asked how much carbon dioxide CO2 is used. Mr. Andersen stated that he did not have that number in front of him and it changes as there is more production in the summer and less in the winter, but he would provide it at a later time. Director Green asked if it was a significant enough number when looking at the agency's carbon footprint or if it was considered minor. Mr. Andersen confirmed it was minor. The presentation has been placed on the Agency's website. Item 10 - 10. Award of Contract for Environmental Planning Services for Routine Maintenance Program, Phase 2 Elke Rank, Water Resources Planner, discussed the need to award a contract for environmental planning services for Zone 7's routine maintenance program, phase two. Ms. Rank stated that Zone 7 conducts a lot of routine stream maintenance activities including fixing bank failures, cracking or sliding roads, erosion control, vegetation management, and more, which require regulatory approvals. This routine maintenance program, as well as the associated programmatic permits, has become the preferred mechanism for the regulatory agencies to do routine maintenance. Director Sanwong asked if other projects other than Los Medeiros could benefit from this program. Ms. Rank replied that sometimes it is not always clear when a permit is needed and with this program in place, it is all encompassing, so the agency would never be in a situation where it did not obtain a permit and risk a fine. Director Palmer moved to approve the item and Director Green seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a roll call vote of 7-0. Item 11 - Director Palmer submitted a written report but also stated that she was part of a working group for the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) on February 14. She also attended ACWA's water management committee on February 16. Director Gambs stated that it has been reported that had Sites Reservoir been built, it would have captured approximately one million acre feet of water, and as Zone 7 has made the decision to be a stakeholder, it is good to know the decisions the Board is making are going to make sense. Item 12 - 12. Items for Future Agenda - Directors Director Green would like a report on the history, mechanisms possible, and what other districts or cities do to subsidize the fees collected by the Registrar of Voters for the election of Board Members. President Ramirez Holmes stated that she would defer that to Ms. Pryor for a future Board meeting report. Item 13 - Ms. Pryor highlighted a few items from the General Manager's report including the drought emergency and drought operations, saying even though there have been a couple of wet months, we are still in a drought and conservation will continue to be important to us. Ms. Pryor pointed out that for the last fiscal year, Zone 7 made an additional contribution to the long term pension liability and the pension trust fund of around $200,000. Item 14 - President Ramirez Holmes stated that it is anticipated the Board will meet in person starting in March, and she adjourned the meeting at 8:43 p.m.
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