Fri, Sep 19, 2025·Sacramento County, California·Boards and Commissions

Flood Control Agency Board Meeting on Projects & Legislation - September 18, 2025

0:02

Good afternoon, welcome to the September 18th, 2025 meeting of the Secretary of Flood Control Agency Board of Directors.

0:09

Uh would the clerk please call the roll.

0:11

Thank you.

0:12

Director Desmond, Director Hume.

0:14

Here.

0:14

Director Kennedy.

0:15

Here.

0:16

Director Rodriguez.

0:17

Director Munoz?

0:19

Here.

0:20

Director Jennings.

0:21

Director Kaplan.

0:22

Here.

0:23

Director Holloway.

0:24

Present.

0:25

Director Johns.

0:26

Here.

0:26

And Director Hill.

0:28

Here.

0:29

We do have a seven-member quorum.

0:32

Thank you.

0:33

Your message.

0:34

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:35

This meeting of SafeCA is being broadcast live and will be recorded and re-aired on Metro Cable Channel 14 on Sunday, September 21st at 12 p.m.

0:46

And we'll be available on Safecus website within 48 hours after the meeting.

0:51

Thank you.

0:52

Thank you.

0:52

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:57

I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands one nation undergo.

1:05

Indivisible with liberty and just for all.

1:11

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

1:13

Do we have any public comments at this time?

1:15

I have not received any.

1:16

All right.

1:17

Then with that, we will uh recess into closed session.

1:22

Hearing room two.

1:57

Don't mind us, guys.

2:05

Call this meeting of the Secretary of Flood Control Agency back to order.

2:09

Please call the roll.

2:11

Director Desmond.

2:12

Director Hume.

2:14

Director Kennedy.

2:15

Here.

2:16

Director Rodriguez, Director Munoz.

2:19

Director Jennings.

2:20

Director Kaplan.

2:21

Director Holloway.

2:23

Present.

2:23

Director Johns.

2:24

Director Hill.

2:26

We do have a seven member quorum.

2:28

Thank you.

2:29

Council, is there anything to report out of closed session?

2:31

Nothing reported this time.

2:32

Thank you.

2:33

Next item, please.

2:34

Our consent matters and items one through seven are in order.

2:37

Are there any questions from the board on items on consent?

2:41

Move it.

2:43

Do we have any public comment?

2:45

I have not received any.

2:46

Okay, we have a motion.

2:47

Did you get who the second sector was?

2:49

I think yes, I did.

2:50

Thank you.

2:51

Uh all those in favor?

2:53

Aye.

2:54

Opposed.

2:54

Abstain.

2:56

Next item, executive director's report.

2:59

Thank you, Chair Kennedy.

3:00

Jason Campbell, Executive Director.

3:02

Got it right this time.

3:03

So I'll wait for the presentation.

3:05

Sorry.

3:06

It's coming.

3:08

Thank you.

3:15

So as far as the federal government, we obviously have a number of things going on in the country, but in DC, they are still struggling with the budget for fiscal year 26.

3:26

So currently Congress continues and uh the House has approved.

3:30

What we typically look for is the energy and water development bill.

3:34

Senate has not moved anything on that bill.

3:36

Uh we do also hear that there's uh continuous discussion regarding a CR for fiscal year twenty-six.

3:42

We'll have to wait and see what happens with that.

3:44

And Gary and I are anticipating move uh rolling to DC in the first week of October to discuss budget items as well as many other project related activities.

3:55

Unfortunately, we don't know if uh there's gonna be anybody there because if there is a shutdown, we will have to reschedule our trip.

4:02

But for the most part, we're anticipating that things will come together.

4:07

On our American River Common Futures 2016 project, you can see that the erosion contract 3A is moving forward, contractor is mobilized.

4:16

You can see the access path is on the top of the levee where the orange fence is on the picture on the left.

4:22

Uh you can see the ramp that is pretty steep because it's uh 30 foot drop from the top of the levee to the water, and then also the overall uh the turbidity curtain and other work is moving forward, you know.

4:35

Hopefully, uh things will go fast and then get out of the the levee system before the end of the uh construction season.

4:42

Uh you it's good to note that these areas are very confined, and there is typically one-way traffic for these large pieces of equipment, and this is not unique for the other segments that are getting ready to be uh uh working on.

4:57

So moving on, uh the discussion regarding uh California Senate Bill 639.

5:06

It has made its way to the governor's desk, but what that does is it extends the deadline for the urban level of protection certification that the land use entities have to prepare and submit to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

5:21

So along with that, uh we're hoping that the bill gets signed, but also there are a number of actions that your entities will be taking uh certifying portions of the systems.

5:33

Uh, and again, a number of levy systems are ready to get certified.

5:37

I know that the city has taken one action and that there are others uh scheduled for the coming months.

5:44

One of our activities to make sure that we uh are able to achieve that certification is a swingy ranch pump station.

5:51

We've uh presented this a number of times.

5:53

The original picture on the left is the pump station as it was when we took on the project, and then to the right, you can see this is uh actually probably a week and a half old, but nice big pit.

6:05

You can see the the workers uh in the bottom of that pit.

6:09

So that it's a fairly significant size uh wall that's being poured for the sump work continues, and we're hopeful that they're gonna be able to get the that up out of the ground and get the releve rebuilt before the end of the season.

6:24

That being said, that is uh the extent of the report this week or this month, I should say.

6:31

Director Kaplan.

6:34

Yeah, can you bring me up to speed, seeing some news reports about the weir and what's going on and the instability in the land?

6:42

Um I'd love to give you a bunch of details, but I don't have them.

6:46

Uh ultimately the WIER has some uh effort that's being put forth for the Corps of Engineers to make some corrections.

6:54

Uh there's some unsuitable soils and other things like that that they're having to address.

6:59

So we, as I mentioned in uh previous meetings, the uh Corps of Engineers is evaluating separate uh courses of action.

7:09

They have different very, they have variant uh costs associated as well as time impacts, but they're working through those details.

7:17

I I couldn't really give you what those details are at this point and any kind of detail that makes sense.

7:24

Um again, they are continuing to work on the rest of the weir.

7:27

The fish passage is also still continuing its construction process, so they're they will uh hopefully get that recovery schedule and that also the the change order and whatever they're working with with granite construction uh in front of us so we can share with you.

7:42

Would you mind just kind of keeping it as a tickler on your executive director's report to to keep us in the know and when the time is right, uh give us a presentation uh when you know more about it?

7:53

Yeah, we we do have to be a bit careful when we start talking about construction activity with the core.

7:59

We can't direct and we also cannot you know really make changes in their approaches because it's their contract relationship with the contractor.

8:07

But that's why I said for executive director information, just so we stay in the know.

8:12

Absolutely.

8:12

Well, we'll keep you uh in the uh no in regards to what cost impacts and schedule impacts would be coming forth.

8:19

Okay, thank you.

8:20

Just the facts, ma'am.

8:22

Okay, sir.

8:24

Anybody else?

8:26

All right, do we have any public comment?

8:28

I do not.

8:30

Thank you very much.

8:31

That takes us to correspondence.

8:34

We do have the 630 SB639 SAFCA support letter for the governor.

8:39

And other than that, we're adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown

Engineering And Infrastructure51%

Procedural36%

Budget and Finance13%

Summary

September 18, 2025, Secretary of Flood Control Agency Board of Directors Meeting

The Board of Directors convened for a regular meeting, which included a closed session with no reportable action, routine approvals on the consent calendar, a detailed executive director's report on agency projects and legislative matters, and the authorization of a support letter.

Consent Calendar

Items 1 through 7 were approved unanimously by the board without discussion. No public comment was received on these items.

Discussion Items

Executive Director's Report: Executive Director Jason Campbell provided updates on several fronts. He reported that federal budget discussions for fiscal year 2026 are ongoing, with a potential government shutdown possibly affecting an upcoming trip to Washington D.C. He highlighted progress on the American River Common Futures project (Erosion Contract 3A), noting contractor mobilization and site logistics. An update on the Swingy Ranch pump station construction was also provided, showing significant excavation work.
Legislative Update: The director discussed California Senate Bill 639, which extends the deadline for Urban Level of Protection certifications, and noted the bill is awaiting the Governor's signature.
Weir Inquiry: Director Kaplan requested an update on news reports regarding instability and unsuitable soils at the weir project. The Executive Director stated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating corrective actions with potential cost and schedule impacts, but detailed information was not yet available. Director Kaplan asked for future updates to be included in the executive director's reports.

Key Outcomes

The consent calendar (items 1-7) was approved via a unanimous vote.
The board authorized a letter of support for California Senate Bill 639 to be sent to the Governor.
The Executive Director was directed to provide future updates on the weir project's status and impacts as information becomes available from the Corps of Engineers.