1 CITY OF RIALTO
REGULAR MEETING OF THE WATER SUBCOMMITTEE
January 30, 2025 - 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 Thursday, January 30, 2025.
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CALL TO ORDER Call to order at 10:00 A.M.
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ROLL CALL Assistant to the City Manager Toyasha Sebbag took the roll call.
Subcommittee Members / City Staff:
Mayor Joe Baca
Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott
Tanya Williams, Acting City Manager
Chief Brian Park, Fire Chief
John Rossi, Interim Utilities Director
Lona Laymon, Deputy City Attorney
Dr. Toyasha Sebbag, Assistant to the City Manager
Additional Attendees:
Peter Luchetti, RWS/Table Rock
Megan Matson, RWS/Table Rock
Jason Pivovaroff, Dopudja & Wells Consulting, Inc.
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CLOSED SESSION ♦ None
PUBLIC COMMENTS Public comment received on January 30, 2025:
♦ None
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of the Minutes of October 23, 2024, Meetings.
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NEW BUSINESS ITEMS
WS-25-0066 – Update on the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund.
(ACTION)
Staff provided an update that the Clean Water Revolving Fund Septic to Sewer Planning Application is in the comprehensive fundable list for FY 2025/2026 for grant funding. (RECEIVE AND FILE)
Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott requested for the meeting agenda layout return to the standard format of the Water Subcommittee with the only item under “Consent” being the minutes and all other items under “Discussion”.
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WS-25-0061 –Receive Verbal
Comment from Property Owner
regarding Sewer Service Fee
Reimbursement. (ACTION)
Staff request that the Water Subcommittee receive verbal comments as requested by property owner of 1071 W. Cheshire Street regarding sewer service fee reimbursement. (ACTION)
Questions & Comments –
♦ Utilities Director, John Rossi, asked for this item to be returned to accommodate the resident who was unable to attend due to the meeting being rescheduled.
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott asked staff if the subject home is within the boundaries of the area the City plans to convert using SAWPA grant funding?
o Dr. Sebbag confirmed that the subject property is within the area we plan on converting using SAWPA funding.
We are currently waiting on SAWPA to finalize grant
funding.
♦ Mayor Baca requested a timeframe on the Septic -to-Sewer project.
o Dr. Sebbag advised that we are currently waiting on
SAWPA to finalize the grant application with the State of California.
♦ The Water Subcommittee recommended that staff research and report on properties with similar sewer connection issues and confirm whether the sewer fee issue is related to the Shepherd case lawsuit.
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WS-25-0064 – Request for
Feedback on the Utility System
Fire Preparedness.
(ACTION)
Staff request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the utility system fire preparedness. (ACTION)
Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott would like a system implemented that marks an inoperable hydrant during emergencies. The current system does not have a process for flagging inoperable hydrants that are identified during an emergency. By the time the emergency is over the inoperable hydrant is forgotten about.
Mayor Pro Tem Scott
suggested bagging hydrants with a red bag when it is identified as inoperable to visually make everyone aware of the inoperable hydrant.
♦ Mr. Rossi advised that Veolia provided a report of the entire hydrant system, which listed two hydrants as inoperable. Since then, one of the hydrants has been repaired, and the other hydrant is scheduled to be repaired in March 2025.
o Mayor Pro Tem Scott requested for the report to be
presented to the City Council. Include escape routes out of the city and a comprehensive plan on what would happen if we had an emergency.
♦ Mayor Baca asked how many generators the City has.
o Mr. Rossi believes that Veolia/RWS has access to one generator.
o Fire Chief Park confirmed that we have portable battery packs, but we do not have a generator.
♦ The Water Subcommittee asked for staff to contact Soto Resources and Pete Agular to inform them of the high-priority funding needed for generators.
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott asked Peter Luchetti if the water and wastewater facilities have room for solar panels and batteries.
o Mr. Luchetti advised that there is room at the facilities for solar/battery combination.
4 o Mayor Pro Tem Scott asked Veolia staff to attend the next meeting to further this discussion and to answer some
questions he has on water quality.
♦ The Water Subcommittee’s feedback was for staff to return with answers to the questions raised in the discussion and for Veolia staff to attend the next meeting to provide an update on water quality.
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WS-25-0063 – Request for
Feedback on the Automatic Meter
Infrastructure. (ACTION)
John Rossi requested that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the Automatic Meter Infrastructure. (ACTION)
Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott requested for staff to provide a calculation of how much the customer ’s water bill will go up due to the accuracy of the meter reads.
o Mr. Rossi will ensure that information is provided to the City Council at the time that staff awards the
contract for Automatic Meter Infrastructure (AMI).
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WS-25-0065 – Request for
Feedback on the Update of the Dr.
June Hayes and Deborah
Robertson Habitat Nature Center.
(ACTION)
Staff request that the Water Subcommittee provide feedback on the Dr. June Hayes and Deborah Robertson Habitat Nature Center California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process. (ACTION)
Questions & Comments
♦ Mayor Baca instructed staff to obtain estimates for the long- term maintenance agreement.
♦ Mayor Pro Tem Scott requested that staff investigate funding opportunities to offset maintenance costs . Suggested reviewing Orange County projects (e.g., Huntington Beach) for insights into expected costs and funding strategies.
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WS-25-0067 – Utilities Director
Update. (ACTION)
Utilities Director Update provided by John Rossi:
Veolia’s Monthly Operations Report (MOR):
1. November 2024 (Reporting period September 2024)
2. December 2024 (Reporting period October 2024)
3. January 2025 (Reporting period November 2024)
5 Questions & Comments
♦ None.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS/OTHER
DISCUSSION ITEMS
♦ Confirmed the scheduling change for future standing Water Subcommittee Meetings from the Wednesday following the second City Council Meeting of the month to Thursdays at 10AM, beginning, Thursday, February 27,2025 at 10AM.
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ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:02 a.m.
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