1 CITY OF RIALTO
REGULAR MEETING OF THE WATER SUBCOMMITTEE
February 28, 2024 - 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, February 28, 2024.
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CALL TO ORDER Call to order at 10:10 A.M.
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ROLL CALL The roll call was taken by Senior Administrative Analyst, Nicole Hemmans.
Subcommittee Members / City Staff:
Mayor Deborah Robertson
Councilmember Ed Scott
David Carmany, City Manager
Arron Brown, Assistant City Manager
Robert Messinger, Deputy City Attorney
Stephen Dopudja, P.E., Interim Utilities Manager
Toyasha Sebbag, Assistant to the City Manager
(arrived after roll call)
Nicole Hemmans, Senior Administrative Analyst
Additional Attendees:
Peter Luchetti, Rialto Water Services (RWS)/Table Rock
Meagan Matson, Rialto Water Services (RWS)/Table Rock ( left meeting)
Dr. June Hayes, Resident
Soheil Sadighi, RWS/Veolia (left meeting)
Marlon Brosco, RWS/Veolia (left meeting)
Chandrasekar (CV) Venkatraman, RWS/Veolia (left meeting)
Presenters:
Gregg Brandon, Owner , Triad Consulting & System Design Group David Skusek, Triad Consulting & System Design Group
Jeff Hutchinson, Triad Consulting & System Design Group
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PUBLIC COMMENTS Public comment received on February 28, 2024:
♦ None
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES-
Regular Meeting of January 24,2023
NEW BUSINESS ITEMS
WS-24-1180 – Presentation by
Triad Consulting & System Design
Group on the water and
wastewater facilities upgrade
project. (RECEIVE AND FILE)
Minutes Prepared By: Nicole Hemmans, Senior Administrative Analyst Meeting Date: January 24, 2024 - Minutes Approved.
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Presentation on the water and wastewater facilities upgrade project presented by
Gregg Brandon, David Skusek, and Jeff Hutchinson with Triad Consulting & System Design Group.
(RECEIVE AND FILE)
Questions & Comments
♦ Dr. Hayes ask if the chain link fence surrounding the facilities will be the high-tech chain link fence that is harder to break into? o Per Mr. Brandon, yes, the chain link fence included in the security project will be the more secure chain link fence. ♦ Mr. Dopudja advised that the estimated cost of the security project providing a full spectrum of security would be $5 million. However, he also notes that there are opportunities to reduce the cost if there isn’t funding to support the full project.
♦ Councilmember Scott asked how will the security project be funded? o Per Mr. Brown, the project will rece ive funding of $3 million from the general fund and have also inquired with grant consultants, Soto Resources, regarding funding opportunities for this project. ♦ Councilmember Scott inquired if it was possible to increase funding from the general fund to ensure the security projects full completion, expressing desire to avoid it being halfway done.
♦ Mayor Robertson inquired whether staff has identified the security deficiencies at the facilities and quantified the time and cost that has incurred in address ing the issues since the inception of the concession agreement, owing to inadequate security measures? o Mr. Dopudja advised that the loss due to inadequate security has not been quantified.
Councilmember Scott suggested that staff collaborate with Police, Fire, 3 and Public Works departments to
gather the data Mayor Robertson is in
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♦ Councilmember Scott suggested that staff collaborate with Police, Fire, and Facilities and Maintenance departments to gather the data Mayor Robertson is inquiring about before presenting this item to the city council.
♦ Councilmember Scott asked if the Anaergia site at the wastewater facility treatment plant have perimeter security?
o Mr. Dopudja advised that the Anaergia site has its own perimeter fencing and that the proposed Rialto security upgrade would provide video security coverage around the perimeter of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) site, which includes
between the WWTP and Anaergia..
♦ Councilmember Scott asked Mr. Luchetti if there is a cost savings on insurance for increasing security at the facilities and requested for Mr. Luchetti to provide an amount.
o Per Mr. Luchetti, there is a savings on insurance for upgrading the security. The insurance company also provides a risk assessment/audit report on the facilities . Mr. Luchetti will provide what the cost savings is at a later time.
♦ Councilmember Scott asked if security signage will be added to the facilities? Mayor Robertson added that currently there isn’t any. o Mr. Brandon advised that signage around the facilities would be installed and confirmed that currently there isn’t any security signage.
♦ Dr. Hayes inquired if the security cameras are safeguarded against damage from being shot?
o Mr. Brandon advised that while the camera functions might be vulnerable to damage from gunfire, the overall security system is designed to capture such incidents, which would trigger further security measures and notifications.
♦ Councilmember Scott asked where are the cameras going to be monitored?
o Mr. Dopudja advised that Veolia will be monitoring from an operation standpoint, but the Police department may want to have a connection directly into their department when
notifications are detected.
♦ Councilmember Scott requested staff c onfirm that the new police station is technologically equipped to support the new
enhancements to the security system at the facilities.
o Mr. Dopudja advised that the security project plans were shared with Chief Kling and Chief Parks for comment.
4 ♦ The Water Subcommittee propose this item be presented to City Council for further consideration.
WS-24-1181 – Provide Feedback
on Contract with 120Water for
services with Lead and Copper
Rule Revision (LCRR). (ACTION)
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Request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the City Council and Rialto Utility Authority Board entering into a not -to-exceed contract in the amount of $164,650 for 120Water to provide services in compliance with Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR).
(ACTION)
Questions & Comments
♦ Councilmember requested staff provide the cost for residents to test their water from inside their homes and recommend a program where the city help to supplement the cost of lead water sampling kits. ♦ Mr. Brown suggested staff can order the in-h ome sample tests for approximately $30/per test and make them available for residents to pick up from City Hall or Farmers Market.
♦ Councilmember Scott suggested providing the tests to the Realtors for distribution to the residents, however, Mayor Robertson would prefer for the distribution to be documented. T herefore, picking up a sample from the city would be best , such as Farmers Market, Earth Day, and city events where the distribution can be recorded.
♦ Dr. Hayes suggested including literature educating t he residents on LCRR and sample testing.
♦ Mr. Dopudja advised the Water Subcommittee that the inventory deadline is October 16, 2024, in order to meet compliance. ♦ Mayor Robertson and Councilmember Scott propose this item move forward for city council for further consideration.
WS-24-1182 – Provide feedback
on staff and elected appointments
for negotiations regarding Cactus
Basin. (ACTION)
Request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on staff and elected appointments for negotiations with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors regarding recharge and operating agreement to the Cactus Basins.
(ACTION)
5 Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Robertson requests information on which elected officials are presented at negotiations with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. She suggested there should be two elected officials sitting in the workgroup. Staff will confirm.
♦ Councilmember Scott inquired if there will be only one meeting? o Mr. Dopudja advised there will be a series of meetings. ♦ Water Subcommittee propose the following representatives for negotiations with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors regarding recharge and operating agreement to the Cactus Basins:
Mayor Robertson, Councilmember Scott, Stephen Dopudja, and Toyasha Sebbag.
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WS-24-1183 – Request feedback
on the city paving moratorium’s
impact on septic-to-sewer
conversions and water meter
lateral repairs.
(ACTION)
Request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the city’s paving moratorium’s impact on septic-to-sewer conversions and water meter lateral repairs. (ACTION)
Questions & Comments
♦ Councilmember Scott explained that the 5- year pavement moratorium was put in place due to utility projects digging into the streets right after completion of the streets being paved. To prevent this , a 5- year moratorium was put in place on street paving . However, the moratorium was put in place for everyone. T herefore, if a resident has a sewer line break, they can’t dig into the street due to the moratorium. Same for new projects and residents wishing to convert from septic to sewer.
♦ Mr. Dopudja explained this item seeks a modification to the paving moratorium.
♦ Water Subcommittee advised for staff, in collaboration with the legal & maintenance and facilities departments, to return with
recommendations on modifying the pavement moratorium municipal code that accommodates residents’ requests to connect to the c ity sewer.
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6 WS-24-1184 – Request feedback
on the Growing Water Smart
Technical Assistance Grant funds.
(ACTION)
Request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the Growing water Smart Technical Assistance Grant funds of $10,000.
Questions & Comments
♦ Councilmember Scott asked if the modification to the city’s landscape ordinance being proposed pertains to public landscape or residential landscape ordinance?
o Ms. Sebbag advised that it pertains to both public and residential landscape.
♦ Councilmember Scott commented that his issue with the proposal is that it requires residents to keep up with requirements that they can not afford to do, such as the drought tolerant landscaping.
♦ Mr. Dopudja advised that the intent of the $10,000 funding would be used towards implementing a guideline to the Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) that looks reasonable to what the city visualizes and for residents to utilize.
♦ Mr. Luchetti commented that the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) is a great plan that was really well done and can be utilized as a guideline, as well.
♦ Staff recommendation is to utilize the interns to oversee the project and hire a landscape architect to put together landscape median plant pallets that are aligned with the city council’s vision of how landscape medians should be designed in the city. On e example would be to redesign the Baseline median project.
♦ Mayor Robertson and Councilmember Scott expressed they support staff’s recommendation.
WS-24-1185 – Utilities Manager
update (ACTION).
Utilities Manager update provided by Stephen Dopudja.
Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Robertson wants to know when will the paving projects for the city start?
o Per Mr. Dopudja, coordination meetings between Utilities, Maintenance & Facilities, Engineering, and Community
Development pertaining to paving projects in the city are just st arting to occur . The purpose of the coordination meetings are to identify projects that are overlapping and start a process that will provide a schedule to council showing how projects are correlating.
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7 UPCOMING MEETINGS/OTHER
DISCUSSION ITEM
ADJOURNMENT
♦ None
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♦ Meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
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