HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-10-25; Encina Joint Advisory Committee Ad Hoc; Minuteso
ENCINA JOINT POWERS
MINUTES OF THE JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1978
AT THE
ENCINA WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY CONFERENCE ROOM
Ed Stiles, Chairman Stanley Mahr, Vice Chairman
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Stiles called the meeting to order at 9:07 A,M.
ROLL CALL
Present;
Vista Sanitation District
City of Carlsbad
Buena Sanitation District
San Marcos County Water District
Leucadia County Water District
Encinitas Sanitary District
County of San Diego
JAC Administrator
JAC Counsel
Encina Joint Powers
Absent:
Vista Sanitation District
City of Carlsbad
San Marcos County Water District
Leucadia County Water District
Guests:
Blade Tribune
C M Engineering Associates
Encinitas Sanitary District
Dan Carr
Mary Casler
Ed Stiles, Bill Dominguez
Stanley Mahr
Dick Hanson, Eric Elliott
Mark Schneider, Jack Filanc
Jim Frandsen
Ron Beckman
Roy H. Gann, Esq.
Las Evans, Mary Taylor
Joe Zapotocky
A. J. Skotnicki
Jim McKay
Stan Van Sickle
Gil Davis
John Murk
Jack Kubota
JOIOT ADVISORY OITTEE MEETING '*
MINUTES - OCTOBEgS, 1978
2. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 27, 1978
Chairman Stiles asked for the approval of the September 27,
1978 minutes as submitted.
Ms. Casler moved that the minutes be approved as submitted.
Seconded by Mr. Carr, the motion carried unanimously.
INFORMATION
3. STATUS REPORT FOR RWQCB INDUSTRIAL WASTE SURVEY
Chairman Stiles asked Mr. Evans to report on the RWQCB Indus-
trial Waste Survey.
'Mr. Evans said that we have been pursuing the conditions of
our cease and desist order which required the industrial
waste survey and we have to submit a progress report by No-
vember 1. He said there was a draft in the agenda packet.
At the present time, we are completing Task 1 which is an in-
ventory of all industrial waste dischargers or potential dis-
chargers in all of the agencies. No agency has really met the
deadline of October 15 and, therefore, it was extended to Octo
ber 27. At that time, San Diego County's Industrial Waste
Section will evaluate that inventory.
He noted that the only thing we really had a problem with was
Task 8 which was to contact chemical manufacturers and try to
get names of their customers and make sure who was receiving
chemicals which might be a problem. We found that there was
an infinite number of chemical suppliers but they were very
reluctant to give lists of their customers. He felt that we
would probably end up abandoning Task 8.
The entire survey is to be completed by December 15 and Mr.
Evans felt that we would probably meet that time schedule.
Chairman Stiles asked if the problem with Burroughs had been
settled.
Mr. Beckman said that he had met with Burroughs on October 24
and had invited County staff. Positive direction was given
to Burroughs on how to clean up their act. He expected that
the number of violations, if any, that occur in the future
will be greatly diminished from their record of the past sev-
eral years.
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4. JAC MANAGEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING OF OCTOBER 12, 1978
5. JAC MANAGEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING OF OCTOBER 19, 1978
Chairman Stiles said that member agencies had attended these
meetings, nothing had been accomplished and another meeting
was scheduled for November 9.
Mr. Hanson asked counsel if there was anything in the laws
that would preclude a non-general purpose government from
operating the treatment plant.
Mr. Gann answered that if all of the joint agencies, under
the joint powers provision of the government code, decided
they wanted a special district to operate the plant, he was
unaware of any proscription against that.
Mr. Gann addressed the JAC and said that, at the next Manage-
ment Subcommittee Meeting, we may get off dead center. He
had a brief conversation with Mr. Carr and felt that Mr. Carr
may well have another approach that's feasible.
The Management Subcommittee Meeting was rescheduled to Tues-
day, November 14, at 2:00 P.M. at the Encina Water Pollution
Control Facility.
6. LETTER FROM LUCILLE V. MOORE, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS - FILLING OF AUTHORIZED POSITIONS
Mr. Evans stated that a response had been received from Mrs.
Moore. We still have two vacant positions and the County is
holding interviews October 25 to replace Ron Waters as Super-
intendent of the plant. Assuming that one of our personnel
gets that job, then we will be down three people and, unless
we notify the County that we will take care of these people
if we go to another form of operation, they will not fill the
positions.
Mr. Frandsen said that all the County needed was a letter from
the JAC or the City of Carlsbad stating that these people will
remain part of their staff or part of the JAC staff.
Mr. Schneider felt that this letter should be written.
Chairman Stiles said that, after hearing what had to be prom-
ised, it was agreed that we should give this a little further
thought. You can't guarantee that the City of Carlsbad, as
administrator, will keep these people when you assume that
someone isn't satisfactory.
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Mr. Dominguez said that these people would be hired subject to
Civil Service Commission rules.
Mr. Frandsen said that they were subject to these rules and if
an employee didn't meet the requirements, they would be let go.
What the County is really interested in is that we retain the
position and not really the person.
Mr. Dominguez explained that what the County wants, because of
the things that have happened during the past couple of years,
is some assurances that the positions, which are filled now,
be retained in any transition that occurs subject to Civil Ser-
vice Commission rules.
Mr. Schneider said that this type of letter would present a prob-
lem if we possibly went to contract for somebody to operate the
plant.
Mr. Hanson asked if, when the manpower shortage was critical,
it were possible for the agencies to loan the employees to the
facility and deduct their salaries from their share of opera-
tions costs.
Mr. Gann said that this solution, from a legal, standpoint should
cause no problem.
Mr. Schneider asked Mr. Evans if we were having any problems be-
cause of the lack of personnel.
Mr. Evans answered that the problems were being caused because
we were doing a lot of special projects.
Mr. Hanson asked why we didn't go to the outside exclusively for
help instead of using the operators on these special projects.
Mr. Evans said the decision was made by the JAC to do the job
ourselves.
Mr. Beckman said that, if we made the finding because of the
cease and desist order, we were under emergency operating condi-
tions and there is amazing power given to the administrator. We
could, within the confines of certain emergency procedures, prob-
ably broaden the ability to hire private enterprise. He said he
would have to check this against Carlsbad's procedures.
Mr. Murk said that all of the features designed into the digester
were not hooked up. He would like to see it put back into ser-
vice just as it was designed. As a suggestion to resolve the
completion of Digester 2, he suggested using the contractor, who
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MINUTES - OCTOBER 25, 1978
bid Digesters 1 and 3, be used because of his competitive nature.
Since he will be essentially doing the same thing on Digester 3
without the electrical work and his total cost is about $56,000,
maybe some arrangement could be made with him to come in and fin-
ish up this job right.
Mr. Mahr stated that we had both an operator in the County and
an administrator and now it seems that we are getting ourselves
mixed between the operator and the administrator as to who is
going to operate the plant.
Mr. Dominguez asked Mr. Mahr to keep in mind that the constraints
for putting on personnel have arisen as a result of the JAC's
decision to go independent two years ago. This was one of the
principal concerns of the entire negotiation that the County
would at least be covered so they wouldn't wind up with a mass
assault from the Employees' Association.
Mr. Hanson asked why, if we needed a pipe fitter, we didn't hire
one and not make it the responsibility of the operators to do the
necessary piping. He realizes that operators were jacks-of-all-
trades but he also realized that we had some pretty tight time
constraints. Aside from this personnel problem, we have deadlines
to meet by December 15.
Ms. easier moved that the General Manager be authorized to go out
and hire a contractor if this is alright with the City of Carls-
bad as administrator. Seconded by Mr. Dominguez, the motion unan-
imously carried.
7. ZONE CHANGE FOR PHASE III CONSTRUCTION
Mr. Evans reported that at a series of Public Hearings, the last
one being held Tuesday, October 24, the City of Carlsbad's Plan-
ning Commission and the City Council granted a zone change so
all Encina property is public utilities which is consistent with
Carlsbad's General Plan.
The next step will be to file a Specific Plan for the development
of the Phase III project. There will also be a series of Public
Hearings; one before the Planning Commission and one before the
City Council on that matter.
ROUTINE REPORTS
8. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE REPORT
Mr. Evans said that the Design Review Committee has been meeting
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regularly and pointed out the rendering of the architect's con-
ception of what the Encina Administration building will look
like at the completion of Phase III. The architect attempted
to keep a Spanish motiff. There will be a new building placed
out near Avenida Encinas. The existing Operations building
will be converted to a generator building and shops area.
He continued that each agency has a member on the Design Review
Committee and he wasn't sure if they had a chance to get back
to the people on the JAC. They each have a full set of what
has been prepared so far; site plan, floor plan on the various
buildings, hydraulic profiles, process schematics, etc. You
can contact these people if you need more information or con-
tact Mr. Evans.
Mr. Evans asked Mr. Waters to report on the start-up of Digester
2-
Mr. Waters said he was starting to fill it with effluent and
bringing it up to temperature. Seed is being taken from Di-
gester 1. When C M Engineering Associates designed it, they
designed it so we could run it at two levels to contain the
foam. We'll probably start it at the lower level and see what
happens as far as the foaming goes. We should finish buttoning
up today, the piping and the header and the steamline will be
in today. The other compressors are not hooked up because the
parts and materials have not come in. We are using the com-
pressor which we bought for Digester 1.
Mr. Hanson said he was under the impression that we were going
to seed from San Elijo and that Digester 1 did not have good
seed.
Mr. Evans Said that Digester 1 is operating very well and seed-
ing from San Elijo is a very slow process. We could only haul
a few thousand gallons at a time.
Mr. Hanson asked if this wouldn't be more assurance to get it
started faster and more readily.
Mr. Evans said he would check with San Elijo.
9. SULFIDE CONDITION REPORT
Mr. Evans reported that there was nothing startling and that
we have no complaints.
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10. EXPENDITURE REPORT
Mr. Evans said that, at the end of two months, we are definitely
under the budget primarily because we have two positions unfilled.
ACTION
11. PHASE III DESIGN CONTRACT - COST CEILING
Mr. Evans reported that the Design Review Committee met on Octo-
ber 24 and reviewed in detail Exhibit "D", The Planned Step II
Engineering Services, which essentially describes what Brown and
Caldwell are going to design. Based on that scope of work, the
Negotiating Committee met with Brown and Caldwell and finally
reached an agreement'on cost ceiling.
Mr. Gann felt that, under the Seventh Supplement, Vista could
enter into the contract. The question is whether each of the
agencies would want the amendment sent to them for approval of
the total cost ceiling.
Mr. Carr asked if, rather than sending back a resolution, the JAC
Committee could, through their representative, send this to their
boards and ask for a letter of confirmation to that effect.
Mr. Gann agreed that this would be fine.
Mr. Mahr asked how much time we have before this had to be jelled.
Mr. Evans said that we had passed that time and we were in trouble
with the EPA. The only other thing we can do is get in trouble
with Brown and Caldwell because their fiscal year runs from Octo-
ber 1 to September 30. This is a ten-month contract so if we do
not authorize them to proceed on or before December 1, they will
ask to raise prices because they will be granting rasises in the
next fiscal year.
Chairman Stiles asked Mr. Evans to further explain.
Mr. Evans stated that we have a 14 month grant from the EPA.
Technically, that 14 month period ends August 1, 1978 and, even
if we authorize Brown and Caldwell to proceed with the ten-month
contract today, we would be nearly a month over on that deadline.
The longer we delay, the more of an extension we are going to have
to ask the EPA to give us.
Mr. Elliott asked if there was a cost breakdown to the various
agencies.
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Mr. Evans answered that the costs in the Construction Manage-
ment Plan would be accurate.
Mr. Gann said that if the agencies would just send a letter
he was sure that Vista Sanitation District would go forward.
Mr. Beckman said that five of the six agencies could get an
answer in less than two weeks and asked Mr. Dominguez how long
it would take to get an answer from the County.
Mr. Dominguez said that it could be accelerated and they could
have an answer by next Tuesday.
12. C M ENGINEERING CONTRACT OVERRUNS
Mr. Evans said that he authorized C M Engineering to spend
$1,373.33 in excess of what the City of Carlsbad and the JAC
had authorized them to spend. He felt that this overrun was
justified. It was his judgment to cause that to happen and he
asked for authorization to go to the Carlsbad City Council and
ask to amend the contract to authorize payment of that excess.
Mr. Gann asked if time constraints caused Mr. Evans to act. Mr.
Evans replied to the affirmative.
With regard to resolving our problems with the solids handling
system and any work necessary to get us out of a position of
being under a cease and desist order from the RWQCB, a state of
emergency is deemed to exist, Mr. Schneider moved that Mr. Evans
go to the Carlsbad City Council and ask to amend the contract
with C M Engineering Associates to authorize payment of that
excess. Mr. Dominguez seconded the motion and it carried unan-
imously.
Mr. Evans said we would probably have an emergency here as long
as we were under a cease and desist and we don't have a full
complement of personnel.
Mr. Evans said that we also have a contract with C M Engineering
for investigating dewatering systems. We have expended almost
all of the money with only $900 left. There is another system,
which is a belt filter press, that we would like to look at. To
evaluate this equipment, C M Engineering feels they will need an
additional $2,950. We've also overrun on several other portions
of the contract. The JAC needs to decide if C M Engineering
should spend the remaining $900 and finish up or whether or not
to authorize certain additions to the contract. What we need
to decide is how far we want to go. CM Engineering feels that
they can provide us the best project report with an authorization
of an additional $6,200. Mr. Evans said he would like to evalu-
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^ o
ate this belt filter press which will be here for 30 days and
it's something that Brown and Caldwell are recommending for
Phase III.
Mr. Mahr made a motion to check out all possibilities when it
comes to that type of machinery because if we get it we're
going to have to live with it and this much money spent in ad-
vance would be more than well spent just in the fact that it
will give us advance performance that we won't get otherwise.
Mr. Hanson asked what we were going to do with this data once
we get it.
Mr. Evans answered that Brown and Caldwell recommended that we
do away with the existing centrifuge which we have and, in
Phase III, go to belt filter presses. He said that the opera-
tors are absolutely against belt filter presses. They think
it's a piece of junk and if you bring in a piece of equipment
that your operators don't like, regardless of how good it is,
it's not going to work. He wants to bring that piece of equip-
ment out here for 30 days and see if the operators still think
it's a piece of junk.
Mr. Murk said that originally the study of dewatering devices
was to select a backup to the existing system that would help
in solving the digestion problems and make the plant look good
in the rerating project. As it has evolved, common sense dic-
tates that if we recommend "X" types of equipment out here, it
should be compatible with what Brown and Caldwell has designed
to maximize its use in the future or minimize losses. That
piece of equipment could be taken and incorporated in Phase III.
Mr. Dominguez asked if our concern in this testing program is
more related to the rerating of the plant than the ultimate
expansion of the plant.
Mr. Evans said that what C M Engineering was doing is making
a recommendation on some kind of dewatering system that will
facilitate rerating. However, whatever they put in should be
compatible with what Brown and Caldwell are going to recommend.
The motion made by Mr. Mahr earlier to authorize the expendi-
ture to check out all possibilities when it comes to machinery
was seconded by Mr. Dominguez and passed unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
Construction Management - Mr. Filanc asked if this was a fixed
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bid basis.
Mr. Evans said he sent a Request for Proposal to the seven firms
that were taken off the State's pre-qualified list. The firms
will submit proposals by November 17 and those proposals will
contain an estimate of.what they feel they would charge us for
the services. We will have to decide what services we want
after we review their proposals.
We will probably select an Evaluation Subcommitte at the Novem-
ber JAC meeting. That subcommittee will read the proposals and
decide which firms we want to interview. We will then interview
the firms, which are most qualified, select a firm and then sit
down and negotiate a scope of work and a fee structure. If we
agree, we'll probably hire that firm. If not, we will go to
the next one on the list.
Mr. Beckman interjected a word of advice in negotiating and
analysing proposals to be very careful that the elements of
the contract don't contain something that could be interpreted
as being the responsibility of a contractor or, otherwise,
you're confined to the lowest bid.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no futher business, the meeting adjourned at 10:45 A.M.
The next 'regularly scheduled JAC meeting will be on Wednesday, Novem-
ber 22, 1978 at 9:00 A.M. at the Encina Water Pollution Control Facil-
ity.
Respectfully submitted.
'aylor
to the JAC
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