Joanne W Chan

The meeting commenced with a roll call confirming a quorum, noting one director participated virtually under a just cause exception. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation, the board held a closed session regarding labor negotiators and another item, with no reportable action taken on the first item. In open session, the agenda was adopted. Public participation included comments regarding community input gathering for the 1658-acre Sunrise Ranch property development and concerns from an employee about contract underpayment relative to inflation. Key business included a presentation and resolution in appreciation of the Director of Finance, Jose, for his 14 years of service, noting accomplishments such as securing $47 million in funding for a water filtration facility upgrade and achieving multiple GFOA awards. The board also addressed the Water Professionals Appreciation Week, including highlighting employees through internal videos. Finally, the board adopted the consent calendar and began discussions on a finance department restructure, proposing to change the Director of Finance position to Finance Manager to better align functions with the Chief Financial Officer role.

The special meeting workshop focused on two primary business items: the water rate study and public outreach process, and the headquarters facilities master plan. Regarding outreach, survey results indicated high satisfaction with service reliability and reasonable current rates, though there was a general lack of understanding that the entity is a public agency. Key recommendations included emphasizing the public agency status, explaining the necessity of rate adjustments, detailing planned projects, and benchmarking rates against neighboring entities. The facilities discussion involved evaluating three main alternatives for headquarters upgrades: modernizing the existing building, constructing a new headquarters on site, or relocating the headquarters to a new site near the ROR treatment facility. Various sub-options were considered, including leveraging the existing FBR building space after cleanup. The estimated cost for the base modernization option was approximately $20 million.

The Finance Committee meeting agenda includes discussion items such as updates to the committee, review of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, consideration of a Professional Services Agreement with Shuster Advisory Group, LLC, for defined contribution plan consulting and investment fiduciary services, review of previous meeting minutes from September, October, and November 2025, and departmental reports including the Purchase Order Report, Monthly Revenue and Expenditures Report, Monthly Cash Disbursements Report, and Treasurer's Report for relevant months in 2025. The agenda also sets aside time for public participation.

The Committee discussed updates to safety and technology matters. Vice President Jenkins was appointed as the Committee Chair. Updates were provided on physical security, including the development of standard operating procedures for the Audio & Video Surveillance Policy, and the integration exploration between the burglar alarm, access control, and security camera systems. Updated job descriptions were posted to the website, which has been successfully upgraded to Drupal 10. Following a phishing simulation where staff clicked on email links, continued IT training was deemed necessary. The District was awarded $250,000 for the SCADA Master Plan Project via the FY 2024 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Progress updates were given on the IPaySmart implementation, Work Order Module implementation, and Agenda Link implementation. Additionally, IT is coordinating with Engineering to install fiber internet service at Roemer. A request regarding including an organizational chart with staff titles and pictures on the intranet was raised, with staff checking on the status.

The Safety and Technology Committee meeting agenda included discussion items such as updates on the Safety and Technology Committee activities. Specific technology updates detailed progress on cybersecurity initiatives, including hosting an Emergency Response Network of the Inland Empire (ERNIE) Cybersecurity meeting. Updates on the SCADA Master Plan showed completion of IT and Cybersecurity Requirements Specification documents, with the Controls Gap Assessment and Incident Response Plan under review. Progress on the Verkada Expansion and Integration Project noted that camera installations are nearly complete across sites. Other technology updates covered developing a scope for AV system upgrades in the Board room, scheduling core network switch replacements, planning for a .gov domain transition, and evaluating Tyler Technologies' Utility Payment API.