Water Commission (now under Utilities Commission)

CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES Frank Martinez, President Robert Shannon, Secretary Arthur Levine, Vice President Gloria Cordero, Commissioner Naomi Rainey, Commissioner Christopher J. Garner, General Manager Richard Anthony, Deputy City Attorney REGULAR MEETING - 9:00 A.M. FINISHED AGENDA & FINAL MINUTES The Water Commission minutes are prepared and ordered to correspond to the Water Commission agenda. Agenda items can be taken out of order during the meeting. The agenda items were considered in the order presented. CALL TO ORDER The Board of Water Commission regular meeting was called to order by President Martinez at 9:00 A.M. This regular meeting was held via teleconference pursuant to Executive Order N-29-20 issued by Governor Gavin Newsom. ROLL CALL Executive Assistant to the Board, Sandra Fox took the roll call and confirmed a quorum. Also present: Christopher J. Garner, General Manager; B. Anatole Falagan, Assistant General Manager; Tai Tseng, Assistant General Manager - Operations; Sandra Fox, Executive Assistant to the Board. Commissioners Gloria Cordero, Robert Shannon and Frank Martinez Present: Commissioners Naomi Rainey and Art Levine Excused: Page 1 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES PUBLIC COMMENT 1. 21-001WA January 7, 2021 Board of Water Commission public comments. President Martinez opened the public comment period and asked if any written public comment had been received. Ms. Fox advised no written public comment had been received for the January 7, 2021 Board meeting. President Martinez then inquired if there was any public on the line who would like to speak. Hearing none, he closed the public comment period. PRESIDENT'S REPORT President Martinez announced that the closed session regarding the General Manager’s evaluation would be postponed to the January 21, 2021 meeting due to the absences of Commissioner Levine & Rainey. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Garner provided a COVID update for the department. He noted to date there had been fifteen cases of COVID in the department. He reported to the Board that LBWD staff is continually receiving alerts to continue to be safe and follow the CDC protocols to wear masks and safely distance. He reported on the new California legislative law that employees are to be alerted regarding any staff positive COVID infections. He advised the notice will identify the bureau where the affected employee works and will include updates on any subsequent staff who might need to be quarantined. He reported deep cleaning protocols are being applied in the affected departmental areas and to equipment. Commissioner Shannon inquired who had provided this protocol. Mr. Garner responded that staff had received the directive from the Human Resources Department. He reported to the Board how potential COVID cases at the Treatment Plant could affect operations. He advised that Mr. Tseng and his staff had come up with a staffing Page 2 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES contingency plan for the Treatment Plant operations. He commented on the past question about bringing in contract employees to assist at the Treatment Plant in case of any COVID-related staffing issues. He noted that at this point staff was looking to avoid bringing in outside employees during this time. Mr. Garner reminded the Board of the State of the City address that will take place virtually on January 12, 2021. President Martinez made comments regarding his concern for the staffing issues at the Treatment Plant (not just COVID-related but in case of any other unforeseen circumstances that might affect the operations. He advised he would like to hear more about the Treatment Plant staffing plan. Mr. Garner responded and advised that Mr. Tseng could provide a report to the Board at the next meeting regarding the Treatment Plant staffing plan. Mr. Garner provided an update on the ongoing Water Replenishment District matter regarding their General Manager recruitment process. 2. 21-004WA Recommendation to approve November 19, 2020 Board meeting minutes. President Martinez called for a motion to approve the November 19, 2020 Board meeting minutes. President Martinez called for a motion. President Martinez called for any public comment. Hearing none he called for a roll call vote. A motion was made by Secretary Shannon, seconded by Commissioner Cordero, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Gloria Cordero, Robert Shannon and Frank Martinez Excused: 2 - Naomi Rainey and Art Levine Page 3 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES 3. 21-002WA Authorize the General Manager to execute two separate contracts for on-call grant funding application and management services with (1) Engineering Solutions Services and (2) Villa Civil, each in the amount of $100,000 for one year with the option to extend for two additional one-year periods. BUREAU: Legislation & Grants President Martinez introduced agenda item 3. Ms.Croci provided the staff report. Commissioner Cordero inquired if the $100,000 was to be split between the two vendors. Ms. Croci responded. Commissioner Cordero made additional comments regarding how the contract would be administered. Ms. Croci responded. Commissioner Shannon inquired about the total expenditure for the additional two year extensions. Ms. Croci responded that the total for each year would be $100,000. President Martinez inquired how much of the previous $100,000 had been spent. Ms. Croci responded that it varied for each of the years. She advised the last year expenditure had been about $60,000. President Martinez inquired if these were new firms. Ms. Croci responded that Engineering Solutions Services had had a previous contract; and that Villa Civil was a new vendor. President Martinez asked if the previous vendor had submitted a proposal. Ms. Croci advised they had submitted a proposal, but had not been Page 4 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES selected. President Martinez made closing comments regarding grant funding for the department. He called for any public comment. Hearing none he called for a roll call vote. A motion was made by Commissioner Cordero, seconded by Secretary Shannon, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Gloria Cordero, Robert Shannon and Frank Martinez Excused: 2 - Naomi Rainey and Art Levine 4. 21-003WA Adopt Specification WD-18-20 and authorize the General Manager to execute an agreement with Core & Main to furnish and deliver resilient seated gate valves to the Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) in an amount not to exceed $176,000 for a one-year period, and to exercise the option to renew for two additional one-year periods in an amount not to exceed 7% for each renewal period. BUREAU: Operations President Martinez introduced agenda item 4. Mr. Salas provided the staff report and reviewed a presentation with the Board. President Martnez called for any Commissioner comments or questions. He commented on the bid submittals. President Martinez called for a motion. He called for any public comment. Hearing none he called for a roll call vote. A motion was made by Secretary Shannon, seconded by Commissioner Cordero, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Page 5 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES Yes: 3 - Gloria Cordero, Robert Shannon and Frank Martinez Excused: 2 - Naomi Rainey and Art Levine NEW BUSINESS President Martinez called for any new business. He called for a motion to excuse Commissioner Levine and Commissioner Rainey. Commissioner Cordero made the motion to excuse Commissioner Levine and Commissioner Rainey from the January 7, 2021 Board meeting. President Martinez called for a roll call vote. The vote was 3 yes - 2 absent (Levine; Rainey). ADJOURNMENT President Martinez read the closed session language into the record for the Existing Litigation - closed session conference with legal counsel relating to existing litigation pursuant to Paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9 of the California Government Code. He called for any public comment. Hearing none he adjourned the Board to the closed session at 9:32 A.M. He reconvened the Board meeting at 9:43 A.M. and advised he had nothing to report from the closed session. The Board meeting was adjourned at 9:44 A.M. to the January 21, 2021 teleconference board meeting. Page 6 of 7 CITY OF LONG BEACH THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE/WEB, 9:00 AM MINUTES NOTE: If written language translation of the Commission agenda and minutes for non-English speaking persons is desired, please make your request by phone to the Office of the City Clerk at (562) 570-6101, 72 business hours prior to the Commission meeting. Kung nais ang pagsasalin ng nakasulat na wika ng agenda ng Komisyon at ang minutes para sa mga taong hindi nagsasalita ng Ingles, mangyaring isagawa ang iyong hiling sa pamamagitan ng telepono sa Opisina ng Clerk ng Lungsod sa (562) 570-6101, 72 oras ng negosyo bago ang pagpupulong ng Commission. Si desea obtener la traducción escrita en otro idioma de la agenda y actas de la comisión para personas que no hablan inglés, haga su solicitud por teléfono a la Oficina de la Secretaría Municipal al (562) 570-6101, 72 horas hábiles antes de la reunión de la comisión. Page 7 of 7