 No Roll call shows mr. Jaffe is gone, but everyone else is present No, public hearing. We have three things on the consent agenda anything to get pulled by the directors of the public I Do not I Can't find the but I don't think I have anything I Don't have anything to pull so if no one's pulling any then I'll move the approve the consent agenda And I'll second it motion and a second on favor This brings up oral communications any item not on tonight's agenda for the public to talk about Thank you, Becky Steinburn a resident of Aptos I just want to thank your staff for a good budget presentation I got here through kind of the middle of it, but I thought it was very good and I just wanted to point out. I talked with mr. Dufour Afterwards there there was some discussion about the quail run tank supplying pressure for cathedral and Vistamar court and so my question was what about the epimony toy on tank that I know was put in to Supply gravity fed water for those areas so he cleared up my question, but I just want to make make sure that The you folks haven't forgotten. There's a good tank up there on the top of the hill above money toy on camp and And I was interested to find out that the water from that tank stops At the top of the hill there on Cathedral Drive. Otherwise the pressure would be too great So that was interesting news to me from mr. Dufour I also had some questions for mr. Dufour about the status of the granite way well and I have observed there are two buckets Containers that have just kind of showed up behind the pipe So many people are wondering what's going on with that well And in fact I did email mr. Dufour and he assured me at a public meeting at the Rio Sands Motel when there was discussion about with supervisor Zach friend. He called it a monitoring well So if any of you have a good relationship with him You might want to just clear that up because mr. Dufour did assure me that it is a production while at granite way Outside of that I just was sorry to see the 50-foot geyser come up in the middle of the Aptos Village project last week and Yours your good staff responded and assured me that the lines will have to be Disinfected because many of the soils in that project are contaminated So he says the second time it's happened to and they didn't call you right away Anyway, it was quite a bit of excitement in Aptos Village. Thank you very much. Thank you Any director comments Stop, okay reports Board planning calendar 5.1 Yeah, I mean not a lot really to say today. I think Tracy may want to add a few words I Had mentioned at the last board meeting I'd mentioned at the last board meeting that we had set aside Public service employees recognition week The that that is happening actually next week May 7th through the 11th And I did want to we had kind of had a tentative plan We've nailed some of that down and it looks like we'll be having our Managers hosted breakfast, which is something that we've done several times for staff that'll be on Friday morning the 11th And we hope to be able to have an ice cream social that's planned for Monday afternoon May 7th Probably starting at around 345 So those are the two events if board members are interested in attending that We would love for you to show when's the breakfast the breakfast we usually get that started at 8 a.m Yeah, I'll be sending it We haven't sent staff the notice yet either just because there was some Questions about what we were gonna be doing and when we had some last-minute decisions about who was gonna be at Aqua and so that changed some of our thought process a little bit So hopefully we can get that notice out to both you and all of our staff tomorrow Great, and I'll just note that on the 17th of May is the MGA meeting and Then again, of course on the 23rd will be the GSP meetings and it might If the board would like Be whom to have maybe a presentation by Cameron or Georgina or somebody from hydrometrics come and present just to give an update of where they're at with the sustainability indicators and How it's progressing I mean I could certainly give you a you know my my perspective, but the Group is starting to to dive into it a little bit. We tackled sea water intrusion What's acceptable what's unacceptable where's that bottom line and we haven't gone we'll go through What's the the least acceptable thing or you know where they draw the line in the sand and then come back to all of them and say What are we really aiming for though? So it is starting to Not as a member of the audience and And It Was it has few glitches that I thought maybe could be corrected that we should make an effort to make sure And that is that it was hard to hear Cameron period. So a lot of people Especially a lot of people who are inexperienced members of the panel had a hard time hearing him and understanding him and So that added to it. I think it'd be and I think it would really be a good idea to have Cameron come and Review where they're going with that. I agree. I agree. Yeah. Yeah, based on director Christiansen's input what I'm gonna recommend to the Committee and Miss Steinberg and you probably appreciate this. I think What we realize is the people from the public sit behind the speaker with that with they're facing the back of the speaker So who's ever gonna be speaking say we have the hydrologist or engineers up there? Maybe they should sit at the other table looking out. So simple things like that if we need to ramp it up Yeah, for him, so I just Microphone is always good. I just wanted to point out just it's not something for me It's just I just noticed that the June 5th meetings at the community foundation just as a heads up. It looks like So still 6 p.m. I assume but Right and gotta be out by 9 that shouldn't be an issue, but yeah thing to know. Yeah This room was not available. And so I don't forget. I'm not gonna be here for the 15th Okay, but I'll post it on my door and do it in my apartment May 15th, yeah Okay, okay, that'd be great. I'm flying at 6 a.m. The next morning to go get my daughter from college I'd like to see on the calendar is Scheduled is our pipe test report. You know how that's going? Okay, whenever that Is ready, but it'd be nice to see that are you talking about reporting out on not yet Yeah, it's an item on a board. Okay, great current status. Yeah, okay And the next is the status of the meter. Am I kind of work whenever that's appropriate? Okay Yeah Yeah, that'll come out when it's when it's ready Just put that on the calendar, huh You know, I've been dying to see that model I've been just Turn the crank and watch the water come All right, let's move right along. We have no will serve letters I think the next thing is the general manager performance review and compensation consideration. Yeah, so thank you for this opportunity That the main focus of this memo is really about what is the appropriate pay for the general manager position? There's a second component that's related to me. It's hard to separate the two but the focus is really on What? Is what may be considered the appropriate? Pay for that for the this this position and let me talk about process for a minute. So Tracy our human resource manager to my left here Surveyed these different agencies. You see them listed here. There's 23 and that's how the salary average salary and different other parameters were Estimated and then Average salary being here and then a compaction study to from a data state database shown here and Tracy if I'm wrong on anything, let me know of these various 23 similar agencies all this is 2016 data But they spread or compaction shouldn't have changed that much if anything it probably got a little wider Front and that and that's from the general manager position to the next highest salary so when we talk about compaction and look at those numbers, that's where this is coming from this table and When we talk about salary average salary and benefits. It's coming from this table however, before I dive into that one thing I wanted to I think it's really key to the discussion and that is you know when you're considering GM position And I consider all these positions leadership positions, but that petition position in particular you Want to be competitive in the marketplace not only for people To bring them in but to sustain them to and you know make no doubt about it. We're trying to Have in a house capability that can be grown and done that and serve that role but you also want the opportunity to potentially look out and be attractive, but what I wanted to show and this is the why behind it being competitive and leadership impact on staff engagement basically the best leaders in Gender three times more staff engagement than the worst leaders and this is from Sources are cited down here. So that's great Good leadership gets better engagement. What's that really mean? And I could have tried to do this in a a different way that relates to customer service because that's really what we're about but I I did it it took the data directly from one of the large workforce studies that's done and what they say is that And these are over, you know, usually thousands of companies and people and that sort of thing The engagement matters if you look at a profit operating profit thing poor performing leaders or average low traditional engagement companies Turn a profit about that and with high engagement. It's three times that much. So the nut of this is Good great leadership can Increase states staff engagement by three times which results and and I look at this when I see this three times Better value for our customer so we don't want to sell that part short that's and and actually I presented this to Some people at Aqua and JP IA and it helped inform their process to start a leadership program which is very exciting which they have going on today and They actually took this model the model that was presented there in the top of that So let me let me get to it So what the result of the salary survey show is that the current district GM salary is this The average GM salary of the 23 similar agencies surveyed is that and the difference The current district GM salary is 8.3 percent below the average salary of the 23 agencies surveyed Now interestingly, that's one main component people look at and it says here the other Parameters considered in that table are on on par roughly with the districts So the other parameter that she usually looked at is the percent compaction and that's the difference of the GM position to the next highest level and That in our situation is 11% compacted and Generally, there's a 25% spread between the GM position and the next highest paid position now interestingly enough And I think it's it's supports each other if you take the current GM salary and Put it at the average it brings this spread to 23% so almost directly in line On both factors so kind of supporting evidence on that Let's see See my other Let me look at my notes for a second So, okay, so great. So that's that's the the genera out generality of it applying to the GM position now the other component of this is is my performance rating by the board and Staff the managers they did a 360 anonymous Rating and they've done this for three years you've done this on me for three years in a row And I'm very appreciative of the feedback. There was some great feedback ranging from Well, I don't want to get in the specifics But honest feedback on both sides things I'm doing well or at least perceived as doing well and things I need to improve on and we went over those in closed session But what I did was able you can because it's numerical on 17 of the questions Graded and convert those to a percentage performance to steal it down to one number and so When I first started the number was what is that 83% or something like that and it steadily gone up to 94% I think was the current rating and You see a progression here This graph is really important to me and one of the reasons I do these kind of things I've been doing 360 surveys for probably I don't know. I'm gonna say running on six to seven years and What they reflect whether you're running at a department or an organization or whatever I think they're more reflective They're just as reflective of the people giving the performance review and reflective of the organization In my opinion and there's there's some information to support that so I In my viewpoint This is really a reflection of how the agency has grown the people have grown. I think We're good. Maybe a little better and good. We're certainly not excellent But we have the right people in place and that's the key that is absolutely the key to get there And we are on that trajectory. There aren't they're gonna be bumps. There's good at there We're always stuffed, you know, imagine a 45 member family or something what that would be like, but I Love this because I think it shows not only maybe some self-improvement, but improvement for the organization So I have other a few other things But I'll Leave it at that for right now Thank you. Okay, and I just wanted to point out a couple things one is just we do have an amazing crew of managers too and and to me, it's really important to see that they all want to keep working Here and with you because I think we need all that talent. We got a lot lot to do and I really appreciate all of them and I especially appreciate How you treat everybody with respect the people that work for you the customers the board And I absolutely never doubt your integrity. So thank you. Well, I second that one I mean, I think that's a measure of the whole organization and the speed with which we completed the budget discussion Fact is part of that Part of how well things are running for every, you know in the district because of you all and Ron I Think it's a really good idea to have a open review every year just to see where we are and a 360 review I'd never heard of before but it's Really illuminating Any public comment on this item? Thank you back his steinbruner. I I think this is interesting and if I were in your place I'd feel a little awkward having the general manager come and Ask for a raise and put forth all the information to support it I think I would feel more comfortable if I were in your shoes deciding this in closed session rather than in front of him We can't legally. Oh, you can't be an open session. I see we can do the review But no salary has to be in sunshine. All right. All right. Well, that's good information I I also think it's interesting that it's That the general manager himself is presenting this information and not your director of human resources I've never seen that done before and I Just want to make that comment. I Haven't always Felt I get straight answers from Correspondents to your general manager, but I appreciate that Sometimes he's in a very difficult position to give Clear answers but In terms of how the Pirated water connection on granite way was handled with the Aptos Village project I feel that need that that needed to be handled differently and He Mr. Duncan wrote letters to the people rape payers of yours who were trying to report the Water that was being used Unmetered without any backflow prevention And they were brushed aside It wasn't honest communication. So I just want to put that in the hopper and be very honest And that's all I have to say. Thank you You Well, I mean I'm I'm okay with the the particular salary Adjustment, and I am too Yeah, I am too I'm waiting for discussion, but you know, I guess the only the only thing that I would add that is a little bit of a concern is that the Water manager for the city of Santa Cruz Which is sort of the bigger us is one ninety eight one seventy one I don't I think we should go up the question in my mind Right, do we go to the average one thing I might suggest and I'll just put it out there because it could I'm a believer in performance is the ultimate mark Here's the current salary there are steps between the All the things in that range ranges I don't know up to about three thousand five hundred bucks But this is what I wanted to show you and that's each manager can progress over that but this is something that was identified in the a year ago not actually That that I was needed improvement upon and it's that basically the fundamentals of Administration for an agency and I took that to heart. I applied you've got to have like over four hundred points to even get in There it's years of experience and Other things and so I've been studying for this test not so much lately because I've been busy, but I Plan on taking it and so and hopefully passing it And part of the and this is kind of the topics a they cover and all that and I think it'll serve the district well in our customers For me and you know, maybe other people to Have something like this. So I just float it Whatever maybe part of it could be contingent upon a successful Implementation of that or certification Well, I was basing my approval that that raise based on the salaries of the managers and that compression that compression data and It create I think it creates a space for everybody to advance There's a proper balance between the people are being supervised and the manager and by the way, we are the re-approved the salary that Ultimately the evaluation and the salary of the general manager and not the human resources director so Anyway, I feel that is one of the that is one of the reasons I think this would add to it I think that I think that we already have as an organization the direction To excel in these areas. So I think getting a certification would be it would be icing on the cake. So to speak but So I I Think you should be able to do that. I don't know how of this the managers in this district could Have the time right now to pursue a certain action certification Well, it's definitely beside your nightbed and you know, your wife says enough I just appreciate that you're Willing to try to improve and accept that you need to be you know, you have areas of improvement I have not seen that in too many managers and I do appreciate that I think that's a great leadership skill just that For me that puts him at the average, but I don't think he's an average manager I don't think so. I'll just make the motion to go ahead and go with the Motion and a second don't think this is roll call all in favor. Hi post Thank You Ron We go to 6.3 At the last meeting I presented to the board an informational item It was presented in the packet as an action item But as you'll recall on the April 17th meeting I prefaced my presentation. It was late in the night But the real reason was we wanted a little bit more time to talk to our employee groups in regards to some of the details on this Recommendation for district organization and staffing review So I'll cover briefly the bases if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know The first position that we took a look at Was the equipment mechanic position? That's a long-standing position with the district it's a single position and We have one incumbent who's been working with this district for a number of years very qualified individual with a great skill set we recognized that that particular job description needed summary vision and it was prompted by a classification study that actually was initiated way back I believe it was in 2012 or 2013 before I started with the district It had been started by a consultant and it was shelved We took some time to Talk about bringing that study back and then it took a little bit longer through the analysis than we anticipated Quite some time through that process We gathered all kinds of information in regards to that particular position and we recognized through that study That we have a need as an organization to Maintain an equipment mechanic classification as it stands based upon the large number of Equipment and tools that this position is responsible for maintaining and keeping safe and in working order But we also recognize that the incumbent in the position Has had as in HR speak a gradual accretion of duties Which really prompted us to take a look at created a new job classification Through that reclassification process We didn't want to eliminate the equipment mechanic due to the need, but we really recognized that his duties had changed over time And so we are proposing a new job description of equipment utilities mechanic To recognize that work that he's doing in our system Through that process in the discussion We also recognized that maybe the organizational structure needed to be looked at in regards to our operations and maintenance Distribution currently the equipment mechanic is a direct report to the ONM manager But that position spends an awful lot of time, especially with it with the change in duties With a focus on some of the utilities Spends a lot of time working directly with the operations supervisor and so through that process We really recognize that it might make sense to be able to have that as a direct report in a supervisory capacity to the To the operations supervisor instead of a direct report to the ONM manager the ONM manager will still hold some Responsibility and overview of some of the details That the equipment utilities mechanic will be responsible for for instance fleet purchasing recommendations and you know decisions that Encompass the entire unit But we really felt that it made more sense to have that direct reporting relationship to the operations supervisor We anticipate a retirement in that very critical position as operation supervisor And so through that discussion organizational review We really recognize we needed to make some changes and revisions to that job description to make sure that it was up to Date for any future recruitments that we we see coming up So with that said I am proposing by motion that the board Approve the job class family for mechanic by creating the new classification of the equipment utilities mechanic There's a recommended salary placement that's attached to that as identified in the salary schedule in the packet also Looking to approve the existing classification revisions of the equipment mechanic and the operations supervisor and Approve their revisions to the existing organizational structure as identified in the proposed org chart with which is also listed As attachment number five We've made some corrections there weren't any changes made to the job descriptions We worked really closely with the equipment mechanic in developing the job description the new job description as well as revising the existing job Description that's part of the process that we go through as we work closely with the incumbents As the subject matter experts to make sure that what we're putting in the job description So subsequent discussions didn't change anything necessarily, but we did work out some questions that they had just in regards to Some of the structure and reporting The one change that you will recognize in here from the original package is that through discussion with the incumbent we actually landed on a Salary placement that is a little bit different from the normal classification reclassification step placement. That's usually done at a promotional Organizational structure and that's dictated by our MOU agreement And usually when someone goes through a promotion, which this move would necessitate then we have a 3.5 percent Promotional rate to move to the next Range salary range in this particular case because this Study was initiated years ago Was shelved brought back and took an awfully long time for us to make feel very comfortable through our analysis We didn't feel that he should be penalized because of that timeline process, and he was very very patient through the process So the recommendation in terms of his particular salary placement on that range would be to keep him at the level That he's currently at on the salary schedule Any public comment on this item What's your pleasure folks? I will move approval of all four motions Okay, it was second That means we're all set all in favor. Hi post that's unanimous So we want to have one additional item, which is a written a communication from Tom Stumball read it Comments or questions or changes to it? Thank you, Becky Steinbrenner After the budget Part of the meeting ended. I actually went to mr. Stumball's house. He wanted to come and read this letter into the record And I'm a little worried about his health. He wasn't there, and he has been having some difficulties, so I'm sure that he will be fine, and he will come speak with you at your next meeting about this communication but he is as a rate payer very concerned about a lot of the questions that he sees in the The relationship between Soquel Creek Water District and the Aptos Village project developers The water demand offsets cannot be verified for the work at Cabrillo the Facilities manager at Cabrillo at the time mr. Joe Nugent Did in fact say that there were a lot of problems He had to call back the crews many times because the work just wasn't done, and he didn't know if it ever got done He doesn't work there at Cabrillo anymore. He just recently took a job at Monterey Peninsula College but I spoke with him and He basically said well he really wasn't involved in the project. It was kind of dumped on his lap and Doug Deaver Kind of shepherded it through but that there is no paper trail for this. I think bears scrutiny and investigation and I've asked you for that and you refused and I I really think that there needs to be Better verification of the water demand offset credits. I am personally concerned about the $10,000 payment to Magnolia tree investments That supposedly are for water demand offset credits, and this is a large company owned by Chinese It looks like Chinese investors in Fremont So I'm in the process of getting public records information about that But more to mr. Stumbaw's letter. I I think as a rate payer He would really like to see this whole thing investigated and He lives right next to all this work, and it's difficult for him to watch and he is very diligent as mr. Duncan knows at saving water and It bothers him a lot So I hope that mr. Stumbaw will come and address you about this at your next meeting And I think that he does want a written response to his letter from staffer the board Thank you very much So Have we looked into this and are we comfortable that the offsets were done? Yeah, let me let me respond I think it's important to for the benefit of our customers because I think that there's some misinformation there Miss Steinbruner first of all Joe Nugent when I heard what you'd said before So I approached Joe before he left and he gave me a very different story to what you're saying So I will also Say that we do have verification papers it may not be What you want to see but it is a verification It is verifying that the toilets and urinals were done and our own staff Roy Sykes Reviewed many of those and including myself. I even went there during part of the Retrofit and and saw them in the upper part of the campus near where they do the farmers market Just to to see it in action But the ultimate proof is the restrooms one can go to the restrooms see the the high efficiency pictures that are there Besides the paperwork that we keep so Thank you. I just like to comment too. I did one of those WDO low-flow toilets that point eight gallons and on my house of my son staying in to go to college and We got a letter from the district for saving water just one toilet You know it does make it you don't think that it makes any kind of a difference But if you look at the water demand and the pumping rate through the through the years When the WDO program started up water use Water demand did decrease by almost it was projected to be double what it is now And it's half of what it is for the same number of people so Somewhere that conservation wasn't just people hauling water Washing dishes and little buckets and things like that It was this water demand offset program really made a significant difference. And so and Cabrillo College was a huge number of toilets. So it had to have contributed to this You know this effort So that's why we aren't as worried People wanted those toilets they weren't going to put up with a sham a sham Payment to you know not get the toilet. They really make a difference So if there is nothing else on that one, there is no closed session. And so we are adjourned. Thank you everyone