BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Government Code § 84308 Applies: Yes ☐ No ☒
(If “YES” Complete Attachment A - Gov. Code § 84308)
SUBJECT:
Title
Consider the December 6, 2024, Board Policy and Monitoring Committee’s Recommendation to Adopt Proposed Changes to Board Governance Policy Executive Limitation 6 (EL-6): Asset Management and Related Board Appointed Officer (BAO) Interpretations.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Consider input and recommendations from the December 6, 2024, Board Policy and Monitoring Committee meeting to:
A. Adopt Proposed Changes to Board Governance Policies Executive Limitations 6 (EL-6): Asset Management and Related Board Appointed Officer (BAO) Interpretations; and
B. Provide feedback and recommendations to staff, as necessary.
Body
SUMMARY:
Initially adopted in June 1999, Executive Limitation 6 (EL-6) serves as a governance policy of the Board providing clear directives regarding protecting and maintaining Valley Water’s intangible assets, including intellectual property and water rights, as well as physical assets, such as real property, facilities, and infrastructure. The current version of the policy was last updated in July 2015 and the BAO Interpretations were last updated in September 2014 (Attachment 1). As part of the comprehensive review of the Executive Limitations of the Board Governance Policies, staff evaluated Executive Limitations (EL) 6 - Asset Management and its related BAO Interpretations. Staff presented a number of recommended revisions to EL-6 to the Board Policy and Monitoring Committee (BPMC) on December 6, 2024. The BPMC provided its input at the December 6, 2024 meeting, and recommended that staff incorporate the committee’s input as appropriate and present the revisions to the full Board for approval.
The proposed revisions to EL-6 (Attachment 2) have incorporated BPMC’s input. These revisions are intended to clarify the existing EL-6 provisions to improve their practical application. Revisions of note include the following:
1) 6.1 - Clarified that the BAO must use reasonable discretion to protect Valley Water, the Board, and employees from potential liability, including procuring necessary liability insurance (currently covered in 6.6);
2) 6.2 - Clarified and broadened the types of intangible assets that must be protected, including Valley Water intellectual property, records, and electronic data (including electronic data in backup storage);
3) 6.3 - Clarified that emergency responses related to EL-6 pertain to restoring the functionality of Valley Water assets to ensure continuity of essential public services (i.e., water supply distribution and flood protection);
4) 6.4 - Clarified the management and maintenance of Valley Water’s Asset Management Program, which is critical to realizing the full potential of Valley Water assets;
5) 6.5 - Clarified that third-party requests to access or use Valley Water real property assets do not conflict with Valley Water’s current and future foreseeable use, and any terms and conditions allowing such third-party use are enforced;
6) 6.6 - Clarified the importance of Valley Water’s water right assets and requires that they are property maintained and protected; and
7) 6.7 - Clarified the type of inbound and outbound real estate transactions exempt from Board approval.
Because the revisions provide greater clarity to EL-6, the current BAO interpretations related to that Executive Limitation are duplicative, and therefore staff is recommending their removal. A clean copy of the revised EL-6 (with no BAO Interpretations) is included in Attachment 3.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY IMPACT:
There are no environmental justice and equity impacts associated with the recommended adoption of updated Executive Limitations. This action is unlikely to or will not result in human health or environmental effects and is not associated with an equity opportunity.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have the potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Current EL-6 and BAO Interpretations
Attachment 2: Revised EL-6 and BAO Interpretations (redline)
Attachment 3: Revised EL-6 (clean copy)
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Rita Chan, 408-630-2620