Carmel Area Wastewater District/Pebble Beach Community Services District

Pebble Beach Company    

 

WASTEWATER RECLAMATION PROJECT

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

 

MINUTES

 

Meeting of October 22, 2004

Pebble Beach Community Services District Boardroom

3101 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach, CA

 

1.  Call to Order

Richard Andrews, PBCSD General Manager, serving as facilitator, called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.  All members or alternates were present, including: Joyce S. Stevens and Charlotte F. Townsend, Carmel Area Wastewater District Board of Directors (CAWD); David R. Hendrick and Gary D. Hornbuckle, Pebble Beach Community Services District Board of Directors (PBCSD); and Mark Stilwell, Executive Vice President, Pebble Beach Company (PBCo).

 

Others in attendance:

Robert R. Wellington, Legal Counsel, CAWD/PBCSD

Michael Niccum, P.E., District Engineer, PBCSD

Ray von Dohren, P.E., General Manager, CAWD

Barbara Buikema, Accountant/Controller, CAWD

Tom Peterson, Production Superintendent, Monterey District, California-American Water Company (“Cal-Am”)

Mike Magretto, Field Operations Supervisor, Cal-Am

Andrew Bell, District Engineer, Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (“MPWMD”)

David Laredo, Legal Counsel, MPWMD

Vinod Badani, Vice President, Western Region, E2 Engineering Consultants

 

2.    Visitors, public comment and/or changes to the agenda:

There were not comments from visitors, and no changes to the agenda were requested.

 

3.    Minutes:

There were no questions or corrections regarding the Minutes.

 

It was moved by Gary Hornbuckle, seconded by Joyce Stevens and unanimously carried, to approve the minutes of the Reclamation Management Committee meeting held on September 10, 2004, as submitted.

 

4.  Operations & Maintenance of the Project:

 

4-A.   Treatment Plant Operations & Maintenance (“O&M”)

The Committee received a written status report from CAWD Treatment Plant Superintendent, Mark Scheiter, dated October 21, 2004 regarding treatment plant operations.  The report indicated that the tertiary treatment facilities had operated normally through the September report period, and that no major maintenance problems had occurred.   CAWD General Manager, Ray von Dohren said that he had nothing to add to the written report, except to comment on the Treatment Plant Superintendent’s observations about his recent trip to a WaterReuse Association Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.  He said information had been provided at the conference indicating that the vast majority of golf courses in the Phoenix area use reclaimed water and only 3 of the 108 golf courses in the area rely on potable water to meet their irrigation needs.  The area is apparently also dealing with issues similar to those experienced in Pebble Beach, as there are high salinity levels approaching 2,000 parts per million (“ppm”) total dissolved solids (“tds”) in much of the reclaimed water that is applied to Phoenix area golf courses.  Mr. von Dohren indicated this compares to 600 ppm tds in the CAWD water.  It was reported that while attending the Water Reuse Conference in Phoenix, Mr. Scheiter also consulted experts to assist in refining equipment and performance specifications for the planned CAWD microfiltration / reverse osmosis advanced treatment facility that will be developed as part of the Expanded Reclamation Project.    

 

There being no questions or comments, the written and oral reports regarding Treatment Plant O & M were received for information purposes and no action was required or taken by the Committee.

 

4-B.   Distribution System O&M

PBCSD District Engineer, Michael Niccum, reviewed his written Distribution System Operations Report, dated October 22, 2004.  Mr. Niccum indicated that the distribution system had operated normally and that all required maintenance had been performed.  He reported good progress in the installation of a cathodic protection system on three sections of the recycled water distribution pipeline considered most susceptible to corrosion. He said the sections are located in the vicinity of the Pebble Beach Golf Links, including portions of the pipeline near the golf course maintenance building and 10th green, near the 15th fairway and Whitman Lane and Forest Lake Road near the Driving Range.  Mr. Niccum said the contract price is $103,000 and the contractor had earned $30,900 as of October 22.

 

Mr. Hornbuckle asked how it could be determined if the cathodic protection project is effective in keeping the distribution pipeline from corroding.  Mr. Niccum responded that the cathodic protection system would apply an external source of weak direct electrical current to the pipeline through anodes wired to the pipeline.  He said the anodes located away from the pipeline are referred to as sacrificial anodes, and will be monitored regularly to confirm the electrochemical corrosion processes that naturally occur in steel pipelines take place in the anode rather than the pipeline.  He said when the process is occurring properly the anodes will corrode and be destroyed by the process rather than the pipeline.

                                 

There being no further questions or comments, the Distribution System O & M Report was received for information and no action was required or taken by the Committee.

 

4-C.   Consolidated Financial Statements

 

Consideration of Reclamation Project financial statements for the period of July 2004 through September 2004 was deferred until the Committee’s next regular meeting, as Project Accountant, Barbara Buikema advised the Committee that financial data necessary to compile the statements had not been received from the MPWMD.  

 

5.  Status reports concerning Phase II (Expanded) Reclamation Project:

 

5-A.   Advanced treatment facilities:     

General Manager von Dohren reported orally regarding the status of planning for the advanced treatment plant component of the Expanded Reclamation Project, including microfiltration and reverse osmosis facilities.  He said a small MF / RO pilot unit was being assembled at the CAWD treatment plant, and would be operational in the near future after operational protocols were completed in about a week.  Mr. von Dohren said the setting up of operational protocols takes longer than the physical assembly of the operating equipment.  He indicated that the dilution analysis for determining concentrate discharge levels was also moving along.  Mr. von Dohren said that CAWD would later in the day execute a final form of agreement with the Denise Duffy & Associates (“DDA”) consulting firm to conduct a review and investigation of the environmental affects of the advanced treatment concentrate discharged through the CAWD outfall line into Carmel Bay.  In addition, he said the DDA firm would also assist in identifying any revisions that may be necessary to CAWD’s waste discharge permit for the Reclamation Project and assist with processing the appropriate revisions through regulatory agencies. 

 

There were no questions or comments from the Committee.

 

5-B.   Forest Lake Reservoir:

PBCSD District Engineer Michael Niccum reviewed a written report, dated October 22, 2004 that he had prepared regarding the status of planning for the Forest Lake Reservoir component of the Expanded Reclamation Project.   He advised the Committee that on October 29 the PBCSD Board of Directors would be asked to authorize invitation to bidders for the project.  Mr. Niccum indicated the PBCSD Board will also asked to approve a policy for prequalification of bidders and an agreement with E2 Consulting Engineers to provide construction management engineering services through the bid phase.  He said the bidding period would be about 3 months, and hopefully a construction contract could be awarded in late January, with construction beginning no later than March.  Mr. Niccum said that schedule would offer the best opportunity to be able to start filling Forest Lake Reservoir with tertiary treated water next winter.  In response to Ms. Stevens’ question whether the prequalification process would include public notification, Mr. Niccum indicated that the project would be advertised, that plans would be available at building exchanges in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas, and that any contractor could apply to seek prequalification to bid on the project.  He said that all contractors judged to meet the District’s qualification criteria, which are based on standards recommended by the state Department of Industrial Relations, would be able to bid on the project.

 

There were no further questions or comments from the Committee.

 

5-C.    Financial Planning

Mark Stilwell provided an oral report of the Pebble Beach Company’s progress in raising funds through the sale of potable water entitlement rights to finance Expanded Reclamation Project improvements.   He said 250 water sales contracts for about 65 acre-feet of water applicable to properties within the Del Monte Forest were pending, with an estimated value of $13 million.   He indicated this was about 60% of the estimated $22.0 million that would be needed for the project.  Mr. Stilwell said property owners have been steadily submitting water purchase contracts since PBCo made its announcement of the availability of water entitlements in late August.  He said there were still a number of property owners who had in the past expressed interest in purchasing water who had not yet responded to PBCo’s formal announcement, and their requirements would amount to about 15 acre feet of water if they ultimately followed-up on the initial amounts they had specified.  Overall, based on the current level of interest he indicated that he was hopeful the target of 110 acre-feet of water sales could be achieved by the end of November.

 

Mr. Stilwell said the second major aspect of putting the whole financing package together would involve successfully concluding the current negotiations involved in drafting the various implementation agreements among the parties.  He said recent progress had been made, that the MPWMD had expressed interest in concluding work on the agreements and that an all-hands meeting including representatives of all of the parties would be scheduled in the near future to get the documents ready for consideration of the respective boards of directors.  Mr. Stilwell expressed the hope that the parties would be able to meet the MPWMD Board’s goal of taking final action on the implementation agreements at its meeting scheduled on November 15.  Ms. Stevens commented that it might be difficult for the CAWD Board to take action by that date.  David Laredo indicated that it was his sense that if other parties could not meet the November 15 date the MPWMD Board would consider holding a special meeting on the matter at a later date.  In response to a question from the Committee, Mr. Laredo said that in the future when the PBCo believes it has sufficient funds to proceed with the project and notifies the MPWMD that it intends to make a supplemental financial commitment to the project to provide funds necessary for construction of the improvements, there will be a 30 to 60 day process to close all of the water purchase agreements that are in escrow at that time.  As part of the escrow-closing process the MPWMD would also have to commit to prepare water permits to be issued with each of the water purchase agreements.  He noted that both CAWD and PBCSD would have a similar notice period, before issuing their required commitments to construct the project.    There were no other comments or questions and the Committee did not take any action regarding the financing plan for the Expanded Reclamation Project.

 

6.   Miscellaneous Information or Announcements from Members, Staff or Visitors:

Andrew Bell reported that the MPWMD Board had adopted a resolution commending CAWD regarding its efforts to provide surplus tertiary treated wastewater to assist in mitigating water quality and quantity problems in the Carmel River Lagoon.

 

Mr. Stilwell advised the Committee that the written comment period regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Pebble Beach Company’s Forest Development Plan would conclude on November 10.

 

There were no other miscellaneous reports or announcements from Committee members, staff or visitors.

 

7.    Closed Session

The Committee did not meet in a closed session.

 

8.    Adjournment & Next Meeting Date:

 

There being no further business at 11:15 a.m., it was moved by Joyce Stevens, seconded by Gary Hornbuckle, and unanimously carried to adjourn to the Committee’s next regular meeting on Friday, December 3, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. in the PBCSD Boardroom at 3101 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach. 

 

(Note: due to scheduling conflicts of Committee members and staff the meeting noted above was subsequently rescheduled by the Committee Secretary to January 7, 2005.)

 

                                                                                                            Respectfully submitted:

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                            Richard Andrews

                                                                                                            Secretary to the Committee