Public Utilities Revenue Bond Oversight Committee

MINUTES

Monday, January 14, 2008
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
1155 Market Street (between 7 & 8th Streets) 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
 

1. Call to Order and Roll Call
 
Chair Aimee Brown called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. and roll call was taken. Present: Ms Brown, Patrick Sweetland, Brian Browne, David Sutter and Kyle Rhorer; Lisbet Sunshine and Stan Jones were not present. There was a quorum.

2. Public Comment - Members of the public may address the RBOC on matters that are within the RBOC’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda.

There were no comments from the public.

3. Discussion and possible action relating to report from Contracting Working Group Subcommittee regarding future work scope for expedited review of PUC indirect cost calculations

Mr. Sweetland gave overview of the January 9, 2008 Subcommittee meeting. He stated that the members are narrowing down concepts and crafting a direction by researching other city agencies in order to make sure they are evenly comparing indirect cost calculations. Mr. Sweetland stated that he anticipates coming back to full committee soon with the full report in order to get endorsement or direction. He confirmed that the Subcommittee has determined that the focus will be on indirect costs and the methodology behind allocation. He stated that although it is likely that Mr. Kuo’s contract will be amended, they prefer to keep their options open with contractors. Mr. Sutter suggested that the work scope include taking a closer look at the change order process including audit change order procedures and negotiations for contract changes. Mr. Sweetland agreed that Mr. Sutter’s suggestion is an important one that needs further investigation, but noted that the current in progress work scope in is set to focus on the indirect costs. Mr. Sutter stated that it would be favorable to make sure appropriate procedures on contract claims are in place before any major construction contracts are issued.

Ms. Brown asked staff if the final Kuo bill has been received. Mr. Brown, SFPUC staff, confirmed that the final bill was received and last tallied at $92K.

Mr. Browne stated that he did not attend the last Subcommittee meeting as he had a scheduling conflict.
There were no comments from members of the public. 
 
4. Discussion and possible action relating to the Draft Annual Report

Ms. Brown asked the Committee if they had comments for the latest draft annual report. Mr. Sweetland submitted comments and recommendations to staff. Mr. Rhorer stated that his recommendations had been added and he did not have additional comments for the report. Mr. Browne stated that the report should read more in the third person in order to sound less editorial and changes were made and staff to specific paragraphs. Mr. Sweetland suggested that the Committee vote to pass the draft report with the discussed changes in order to have the report finalized by the end of January. Moved by Mr. Sweetland, seconded by Mr. Sutter; passed unanimously.

5. Chairs Report
          a. Discussion and possible action relating to election of officers

Ms. Brown stated that it was time to appoint officers for 2008 RBOC term. Mr. Browne nominated Mr. Sutter for Chair. Mr. Sutter declined the nomination. Mr. Sweetland nominated Ms. Brown to continue as Chair. Ms. Brown asked Mr. Roux, Deputy City Attorney, if a Chair can have successive terms. Mr. Roux confirmed that according to Article II section 2, the terms are one year and they can be successive terms. Ms. Brown accepted the nomination. There was no public comment. Mr. Rhorer seconded the nomination and the Committee voted 4-1 (Mr. Browne opposed) approving Ms. Brown as Committee Chair for the 2008 term.
Ms. Brown then nominated Mr. Rhorer as Vice Chair, Mr. Sweetland seconded the nomination. Mr. Rhorer stated that he would be willing to accept if Mr. Sutter was not able to take the position. Mr. Sutter confirmed that he is unable to accept additional responsibilities as circumstances may not allow him to be as available as a Vice Chair would need to be. Mr. Browne stated that in his opinion, anyone is capable of providing leadership, and that he felt that Mr. Rhorer would make an excellent Vice Chair. There was no public comment. The committee voted unanimously in favor of Mr. Rhorer becoming the vice chair for the 2008 term.

6. Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes of the meeting held on December 10, 2007

Mr. Sweetland noted that the December 10, 2007 minutes were missing a vote under item 4. He proposed that the action to approve the minutes be postponed until the next regularly scheduled RBOC meeting in order to give staff the opportunity to correct the minutes. The committee agreed to add the December 10, 2007 meeting minutes to the February 11th meeting agenda.

7.  Report from SFPUC staff on capital projects removed from the WSIP program.

Michael Brown, SFPUC Finance staff, provided a brief explanation of a worksheet which included projects removed from WSIP from 2003, as well as non WSIP bond funded projects. He asked that staff add what bond issuance goes to each projects including when they started and when they finished. Mr. Browne asked staff to add which bond issuance goes to each project, including when they started and when they finished.

Public Comment: Mr. Lawrence stated that there were recent proposed changes to WSIP and he would like to see the new scope of work associated with those changes.  Ms. Brown asked that a presentation from appropriate staff on this topic. She also asked staff to send out the proposed changes to the Committee members.

8. Discussion and possible action relating to RBOC members requests for information from SFPUC staff

Ms. Brown requested an update on proposed changes to WSIP, including new scope of work, and what changed and why. Ms. Brown asked staff to send a link to all committee members for the WSIP updates. Ms. Brown requested staff to send committee members the formal memos, when they become available, of Ms. Leal’s departure and Ed Harrington’s transition to the SFPUC. Mr. Browne asked staff for status on the lawsuit filed by PG&E against the PUC. Mr. Yew stated that he would forward the contact information for an update on the litigation.

9. Discussion and possible action for future agenda items

WSIP Overview possibly in March, carry over of 12/10/07 meeting minutes, WSIP Project managements risk assessment presentation, Bob Kuo billing, Contracting Committee report, update on Bond issuance.

10. Adjournment

Ms. Brown adjourned the meeting at 11:09 a.m.