Board of Directors Agenda
Sacramento, CA 95833
Annual Meeting of the Corporation and
Regular Meeting Board of Directors
February 1, 2017
4:00 p.m.
(Meeting in 1st floor Large Conference room.)
Upcoming Regular Meetings
- March 1, 2017
- April 5, 2017
- May 3, 2017
1. Call to Order of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation
The Board Chair will call the meeting to order if a quorum is present. Announcements by the Board Chair or Executive Director may be made at this time. Board members may make announcements at this time as well.
2. Public Comments
Opportunity for members of the public to address the Conservancy’s Board of Directors.
3. Approval of the Annual Meeting of Corporation Minutes
The Board Chair will request approval of the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation on March 2, 2016.
Download March 2, 2016 Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation (PDF, 198 KB)
4. Election of Officers
Election of officers of the corporation. The elected Board Chair will discuss with Board members their thoughts regarding the election of officers and committee assignments for the year. The election of officers will be held. Committee assignments may be made.
5. Establish time, date and location of regular Board meetings
The time, date and location of regular meetings of the Conservancy’s Board of Directors will be the first Wednesday of February, April, June, August, October, December at 4:00 p.m. at the offices of the Conservancy, 2150 River Plaza Dr., Suite 460, Sacramento, California.
6. Adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation
Official adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation.
Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
7. Call to Order of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
The Board Chair will call the meeting to order if a quorum is present. Announcements by the Board Chair or Executive Director may be made at this time. Board members may make announcements at this time as well.
8. Public Comments
Opportunity for members of the public to address the Conservancy’s Board of Directors.
9. Approval of the minutes
*All items listed under the Consent Calendar, including minutes, are considered and acted upon by one Motion. Any Board member may request an item be removed for separate consideration.*
The Board Chair will request approval of the minutes and consent items of the Board of Directors meeting of December 7, 2016.
10. Authorization to amend signature cards and related financial institution authorizations
Documents necessary for the Conservancy to conduct business with its financial institutions need to be updated from time-to-time, especially when officers are elected.
As has been done in prior years, this action authorizes the Conservancy’s Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Assistant Secretary to sign bank signature cards and related authorizing documents for the Conservancy’s Wells Fargo Bank, Wells Fargo Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors, City of Sacramento Treasurer’s Office, U.S. Bank, and T. Rowe Price accounts.
11. Natomas Central Mutual Water Company Annual Meeting of Shareholders
The Natomas Central Mutual Water Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held Tuesday, February 14, 2017, at the Four Points by Sheraton, 4900 Duckhorn Dr., Sacramento, CA 95834. Authorization for the Conservancy’s Executive Director to vote the Conservancy’s shares in the Board Election is requested. The Conservancy has generally voted its shares with farmers with whom it works.
12. Silva big barn repairs
This item requests the Board ratify the expenditure of $15,930 to repair the Silva big barn food due to severe wind damage. A recent wind storm ripped off a 60-foot section of the roof and pulled loose another 104-foot section. The Conservancy, its contractors, and its tenant farmers all store items of value in this barn which necessitated this emergency repair. The two estimates attached total more than $10,000 which exceeds the Executive Directors’ signing authority. Staff anticipate repairs to be completed before the next rains.
13. Authorization for Farm Air to utilize landing strip on TNBC’s Bianchi West tract
The only remaining agricultural aircraft operator in the Natomas Basin is Farm Air Flying Service, Inc. TNBC and its tenants use Farm Air, and without the firm operating in the Basin, costs would likely rise, and delays in planting crops could also result. (Rice is frequently seeded by air.) Farm Air has requested permission to use TNBC’s Bianchi West tract landing strip for use in serving its customers, including TNBC and its tenants.
Before acquiring the Bianchi West tract, TNBC completed Phase One and Phase Two environmental testing on the airstrip. This was done in order to ascertain the level, if any, of toxicants in the soil at the landing strip site. (The studies revealed acceptable levels, so TNBC moved forward with its acquisition of the tract.) With this baseline data, TNBC can keep track of the status of soils on and around the runway.
Staff requests authorization to enter into an agreement with Farm Air Flying Service, Inc. to allow it to utilize TNBC’s Bianchi West landing strip. The authorization would include the following restrictions, among others:
- the authorization terminates December 31, 2017,
- only seed and fertilizer are permitted to be used on the landing strip,
- no pesticides may be used on the strip without the written authorization of TNBC’s Executive Director,
- only in-Basin sites may be served by Farm Air from the landing strip, and
a properly executed agreement must be in TNBC’s office prior to Farm Air’s use of the landing strip, and that the agreement contain TNBC’s standard indemnification, hold harmless protections, and that TNBC be named as an additional insured on the relevant Farm Air insurance policy or policies.
The Executive Director expects no authorization request for pesticide use on the landing strip. However, there could be special occasions that might warrant such authorization, but only for the use by TNBC or its contractors and tenants.
14. Financial statement review
A financial statement will be provided for the period ended December 31, 2016 (unaudited). Additional financial information will be provided.
Download the December 31, 2016 Financial Statements (PDF, 2 MB)
15. Conservancy endowment funds investment manager
The Conservancy’s endowment funds are managed by T. Rowe Price. Representative Phil Burger of T. Rowe Price will meet with the Board for the purposes of providing the Board with the 2016 annual report on the Conservancy’s endowment funds accounts.
16. Long Range Cash Flow Projection
Many years ago, the Board of Directors requested that the Conservancy staff periodically share with it the internal exercise staff conducted on long-range cash flow analysis, and that one of the runs on the cash flow analysis include a “worst case scenario.” Staff will present that scenario planning exercise to the Board, as the Board recently requested.
17. Rice Price Analysis update
Representatives from the Audit Committee will lead this discussion on the status of Board inquiry into rice leasing prices.
18. Guest speaker on rice industry economics
Rick Rhody, CEO Farmers’ Rice Cooperative, has been invited to address the subject of rice industry economics. Given historically low commodity prices, including for rice, price pressures on California rice growers has become especially challenging. The guest speaker will address this topic and entertain any Board member questions.
19. SMUD’s proposed Colusa-Sutter transmission line project
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has proposed a new 500-kilovolt electric overhead transmission line for the Natomas Basin. More specifically, the proposed line would run from west to east roughly through the central part of the Natomas Basin. The proposed path, mapped by SMUD in its recent announcement on the project, shows the path includes possible land owned by the Conservancy. Staff plans to submit comments on the project, pointing out likely impacts on Conservancy property, to the NBHCP and MAPHCP’s “Covered Species,” and to farming operations. Guidance and counsel will be sought from the Board on the matter. There is a 60-day scoping period which began January 6, 2017 and closes March 7, 2017.
20. Draft Addendum to EIR, Greenbriar
The City of Sacramento has posted a “Notice of Availability, Draft Addendum to EIR, Environmental Checklist, and Effects Analysis and Conservation Strategy for the Greenbriar Project.” The post notes, “The Effects Analysis…demonstrates that the Greenbriar Development Project would not compromise the effectiveness of the NBHCP operation conservation program.”
The original Greenbriar Project was approved by the Sacramento City Council on January 29, 2008. On that date the City Council certified the environmental impact report for the project and approved planning level entitlements. Conservancy staff will prepare a letter in response to the new Draft Addendum which does nothing more than remind the City of various obligations placed on the Plan Operator (the Conservancy) by the NBHCP and MAPHCP, and make sure the City has taken care to consider these obligations. Guidance and counsel will be sought from the Board on the matter. Comments are due to the City of Sacramento by February 13, 2017.
Download the Greenbriar Draft Addendum to EIR (PDF, 255 KB)
21. Executive Director’s Report
Various matters for Board members’ general information will be presented by the Conservancy’s Executive Director.
22. Executive Session
No Executive Session is scheduled.
23. Adjournment of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
Official adjournment of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors.