1 CITY OF RIALTO
REGULAR MEETING OF THE WATER SUBCOMMITTEE
March 08, 2023 - 10:00 A.M.
MINUTES
The Regular meeting of the Water Subcommittee of the City of Rialto was held in the Civic Center Council Chambers located at 150 S. Palm Avenue, Rialto, California 92376, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
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CALL TO ORDER Call to order at 6:00 P.M.
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ROLL CALL The roll call was taken by Executive Assistant, Angela Perry.
Subcommittee Members / City Staff:
Mayor Deborah Robertson
Council Member Ed Scott
Arron Brown, Acting City Manager
Robert Messinger, Assistant City Attorney
Tom Crowley, Utility Manager
Toyasha Sebbag, Assistant to the CM
Tanya Williams, Assistant to the CM
Nicole Hemmans, Senior Administration Analyst
Angela Perry, Mayor & City Manager’s Executive Assistant Patricia Lozano, Council & City Manager’s Executive Assistant
Other Attendees
Steve Dopudja, Consultant
Peter Lucetti, Table Rock
Rolf Ohlemutz, Rialto Water Services
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PUBLIC COMMENTS None.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES-
Regular Meeting of January 25, 2023
January 25, 2023, Minutes Approved.
2 NEW BUSINESS ITEMS
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WS-23-249 - Update and presentation
on Lake Rialto Habitat Management
Community Open Space Project (Lake
Rialto)
PowerPoint presentation provided by Steve Dopudja and Tom Crowley.
Questions & Comments
The Subcommittee had concerns about the feedback from departments and would like to see the list of those that attended the staff meeting.
Mayor asked about the stormwater.
o Steve provided an explanation about the water that falls on the treatment plant.
CM Scott asked where are the pumps pumping to?
o Per Steve, onsite.
Major asked about it going over the channel.
o Steve provided an explanation on how it will flow.
CM Scott asked why is this a classroom versus a visitors center? o Staff will update the name going forward.
It was mentioned that IEUA would pay for the repaving /widening of Santa Ana.
o Mayor asked for it to be added to the review.
Peter mentioned that he is in discussion with IEUA and West Valley Water District on another project that passes through Rialto. o Mayor requested a separate meeting to discuss full
disclosure on this matter.
Mayor requ est for Kinder Morgan document be included on the agenda.
Mayor inquired if grant inf ormation was received from Bureau of Reclamation, as there are other grants that she is looking at.
CM Scott asked if there were any environmental cleanup needed at the site.
o Per Tom, there was concern mentioned about the flies.
Mayor requested a future agenda item on the arrangement with Edison disclosing what Edison gets based on what the City gets.
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WS-23-256 - Capital Program
Financing
PowerPoint presentation provided by Peter Lucetti, Table Rock.
Questions & Comments
Mayor inquired about the project list from Soto Resources and asked for an update on the AMI meters. Mayor asked about moving it.
CM Scott expressed his concern that all of the other projects that need to be done were missed when they went through the concession.
CM Scott asked the following questions:
o How much was the cost of the list of projects in 2012? o How many projects on the list were in the original
concession agreement?
o Why isn’t Ste ve Dopudja involved in the concession
agreement?
Mayor said that the projects identified in the concession agreeme nt should be noted on the Projects List.
Mayor asked what Legacy projects do we have?
o Peter advised that he has a detailed projects list.
o Mayor asked that it be updated to include the legacy projects.
Mayor is asking about the old items that would be of concern to the residents, particularly, the Advanced Metering Infrastruct ure (AMI)project.
o Peter said that it was decided not to do the automated meters, then it came back that they should do automated meters.
o Mayor wants to know what the residents get from the AMI project. Per Peter, they get more accurate meter reading.
Mayor said we haven’t given back to the residents.
CM Scott said , “we can’t meet coverage in water , but they want a bridge loan”.
What is the cost of the lease payment?
o Peter provided an explanation.
o CM Scott thought we were only taking 2 million out.
4 o Tom advised that it goes into the General Fund and the RUA Reserve.
CM Scott asked is there an interest or annual payment on the money? What if you can’t get permanent financing?
o Peter said financing is different than a grant.
CM Scott asked what happens if you can’t make the payment?
Mayor asked when do we see a rate increases?
o Per Peter, a rate strategy should be during this calendar year.
CM Scott asked staff if they know what those increases are?
Tom advised that at the next Council meeting they want to put a Bridge loan on the agenda.
o CM Scott said we went through and evaluated our assets – it should have come up then. Well 3A is new since 2010 – grant is 10 mil.
Mayor wanted to know who vetted for a DTSC grant and why do we need the project?
o Tom said mor e supply. AMI – we replaced 4,000 –
retrofittable and are now looking for funding of 6 mil for that project.
CM Scott asked why would we go after a 2M project when we need 8M?
Mayor asked if the AMI project w as in the state system and if it went through the SAWPA project?
o Tom stated no because of other project s that were
submitted.
Mayor asked if it was a requirement of SAWPA?
o Tom stated no.
CM Scott asked why go only after high priori ty projects and not all projects?
Toyasha advised that RUA staff meet with Soto Group bi-weekly, and they maintain a project list.
Mayor asked how we get more aggressive in going out for these grants and advised to go for the maximum amount when going for a grant. 5 Mayor asking about the Microgrid Project – have we applied under of Department of Energy as a research project? She wants a briefing regarding the battery use.
Arron mentioned that when the Microgrid went to Council the bridge loan was not discussed.
CM Scott said that a proposed rate structure should have come with this proposal. He cannot vote without that structure.
Peter said that they don’t have to put the bridge financing out, it can get pushed to 2024, but things will have to be put off. He said that they are trying to solve a big problem.
CM Scott asked if we knew that we needed temporary financing when the microgrid was brought to them
o Staff responded no.
Mayor would like to see another alternative. She said they n eed to look at the list to see if we need them.
Tom commented:
o Well3A is the lowest priority.
o Plant 1 and 2 and electrical – to make r oom for the solar panel
o Solid’s handling
o Digester #1 for lift station
o If we don’t do microgrid we would need to have backup on site.
- Mayor said this is not ready.
Peter will put a hold on al l projects for now and await further instructions.
Mayor said that everyone needs to work on this.
Peter said that the offsite meeting needs to be done.
CM Scott said you can’t do one discussion without the rate increase discussion.
CM Scott instructed staff to move forward with what was approved on at the last council meeting and that staff should have included Arron on these discussions.
6 WS-23-240 – Proposed Water Rate
Analysis
Presentation provided by Toya sha Sebbag pertaining to the Cit y o f Rialto’s proposed water rate analysis to be completed by June 2023.
Questions & Comments
CM Scott said that staff was asked to get comps from surrounding cities as it relates to the rates for water and sewer compared . He commented that he will not discuss at this time.
Mayor would like to know what the surrounding cities are paying for rates from all.
Mayor asked Angie to go back and listen to the previous meeting regarding this topic.
Mayor asked Arron to get a workshop date set to discuss this topic in more detail.
Arron advised the total package needs to be brought back.
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WS-23-235 – Utility Manager
Updates
Updates provided by Tom Crowley, Utility manager.
Questions & Comments
CM Scott requested for Utility Manager updates to be listed on the agenda so that they can be read prior to the meeting.
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ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 12:17 p.m.
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