PREVIOUS ACTION. At the August 1, 2011 Board meeting, staff was directed to prepare Requests for Proposals for Educational Outreach services.
PREVIOUS ACTION. On December 6, 2010, the Board of Directors elected and appointed Director Xxxxxxxxxxx as President and Director Xxxxxx as Vice President for the 2011 Calendar Year.
PREVIOUS ACTION. The City Council conducted a Pension Workshop on September 27, 2017. Policy direction was provided to establish a Section 115 Irrevocable Pension Trust, along with pension funding options and a policy on the use of one-time money. City staff has since requested proposals and three firms have responded. Staff Report - Council The Escondido City Council has established a financial policy to adopt a structurally balanced budget for the City each year. A budget is structurally balanced if it does not spend more on ongoing costs than it receives in ongoing revenues. This policy is a necessary component of good financial management and financial discipline and assures consistent delivery of services to Escondido residents. Maintaining a structurally balanced budget has become more challenging each year due to rising pension costs, which are increasing at a faster rate than growth in ongoing revenues. The increased pension costs are largely the result of rising pension unfunded accrued liabilities (UAL). The UAL is the gap between pension assets and pension liabilities. One of the most critical assumptions in attaining full pension funding is the rate of return on investments. Prior to Fiscal Year 2016-17, XxxXXXX assumed an annual investment rate of return on pension assets of 7.5 percent. Unfortunately, XxxXXXX did not always achieve this rate of return and the outlook from the investment community and actuaries for a 7.5 percent annual rate of return was increasingly pessimistic. In fact, CalPERS investment returns in the last six fiscal years have been: CalPERS History of Investment Returns Year Investment Return 2012 0.1% 2013 13.2% 2014 18.4% 2015 2.4% 2016 0.6% 2017 11.2% When lower investment earnings occur, future contributions must increase to make up the expected difference. As a consequence of this performance, a long, low-interest rate environment, and movement toward a more “risk averse” portfolio, the CalPERS Board approved a plan on December 21, 2016, to reduce the assumed rate of return from 7.5 percent to 7.0 percent with the impact being phased in over a three-year period. This phase in began in FY 2018-19 with required employer pension contributions being calculated using an assumed rate of return of 7.375 percent. The CalPERS gradual decrease in the assumed rate of return of 50 basis points over the next 3 years will result in much higher employer pension contributions for the City as seen in the chart on the next page. This chart depicts by ...
PREVIOUS ACTION. XXXX has administered the delegated industrial pretreatment program for the metropolitan area since the early 1970’s, including establishing limits, permitting, monitoring and inspection of dischargers to the Metropolitan Disposal System (MDS). We received delegation for the program from the MPCA in 1983. MCES has over 800 different companies on permit throughout the metropolitan area, with 300 of those being significant industrial users (categorical dischargers) (2000). In addition to permitting industrial dischargers, MCES has permitted all area hospitals since the early 1980’s and requires each hospital to have a mercury reduction plan in place. Furthermore, pollution prevention and mercury reduction opportunities are regularly highlighted as part of the annual inspections of significant industrial users.
PREVIOUS ACTION. XXXX is a member of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA.) This national trade organization conducts much of its work through the use of committees, task forces and workgroups. Due to our concerns about mercury contributions to our facilities, MCES helped establish the AMSA Mercury Workgroup in July 1998. The initial task of the workgroup was to develop data and information about mercury discharges to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) in order to develop effective control programs. Part of that work has resulted in the preparation of a report titled “Evaluation of Domestic Sources of Mercury for the AMSA Mercury Workgroup” (August 2000). The evaluation found significant contributions of mercury from domestic-only wastewater. In addition to quantifying the mercury concentrations in household products and estimating contributions to POTWs, the evaluation identifies that a significant portion (approximately 82%) of the total domestic mercury load is attributable to excreted dental amalgam mercury (due to
PREVIOUS ACTION. By MPCA estimates, 1-2 percent of the mercury in surface waters statewide is from direct point source dischargers. The rest of the mercury comes from either direct atmospheric deposition to the surface water or from atmospheric deposition to land and subsequent runoff to the surface water. Results from a cooperative MPCA/MCES study indicates that as much as 90,000 grams per year makes its way into the Mississippi River from nonpoint source pollution (NPS) runoff and settles out in the sediment of Lake Xxxxx. That is one of the reasons MCES has committed $7.5 million over the five-year period to a grant program to reduce NPS runoff.
PREVIOUS ACTION. Infiltration and Inflow (I/I) has been identified as another potential source of mercury in sanitary sewer collection systems, because of the mercury found to be present in groundwater (infiltration) and stormwater inflow. The MCES has had an ongoing program to remove I/I from our own collection system for many years. In addition, MCES initiated a grant program for local communities to address I/I beginning in 1993. Under four separate offerings, the MCES has offered financial assistance to communities to identify, locate and remove sources of I/I within local sanitary sewer collection systems.
PREVIOUS ACTION. XXXX has inventoried the mercury containing devices at our facilities and has prioritized replacement with non-mercury containing items as appropriate. Removed mercury switches and other mercury-containing devices have been recycled. Some staff also conduct demolition activities at our facilities. These staff have been informed that all mercury-containing devices must be removed and recycled prior to demolition.
PREVIOUS ACTION. XXXX has experimented with contract language in capital projects that restricts the use of mercury-containing devices. For example, the South Washington County Wastewater Treatment Plant Request for Proposals (RFP) contained a prohibition on mercury containing devices except with MCES approval. Types of devices that would be allowed include fluorescent and ultraviolet lamps because they can be recycled.
PREVIOUS ACTION. MCES has eliminated the use of mercury-containing thermometers in our laboratory and in the wastewater sample refrigerators at the WWTPs. In addition, where possible, we have eliminated or reduced the frequency of use of some analytical methods because they contain mercury. For example, we have requested the elimination of NPDES permit requirements to analyze effluent samples for total Kjeldahl nitrogen, since the reagent contains mercury.
