Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

A regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held at the Hastings Utilities Board Room on Thursday, February 13, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. This meeting was preceded by notice duly published in the Hastings Tribune on Tuesday, February 11, 2013, and by notices duly posted in the lobby of Hastings Utilities, 1228 North Denver Avenue, and the City Hall, 220 N. Hastings Avenue, and was therefore open to the public.

Present: Hunt, Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker

Absent: Dewalt

Also Present: Schultes, Meyer, Sanders, Odom, Ptak, Cox, Leonhardt, Schawang, Stuart, Heyen, Crecelius, and Laura Bernero (Hastings Tribune)

Chairman Shoemaker stated that the Board of Public Works is subject to the Open Meetings Laws and acknowledged that the Open Meetings Law poster has been posted in the room.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

There were no public comments.

Dave Stuart gave an update on the construction progress at the Pollution Control Facility. It is still scheduled to be substantially complete on April 1, 2014.

Don Cox gave an update on the volatility of the gas pricing in February. Record low temperatures across the nation were to blame for the price spikes.

Al Meyer updated the Board on an unscheduled outage at WEC-2 on February 12th. The unit tripped off by a problem with the induced draft fan. Repairs are being made and the unit is scheduled to be back on line by Friday, February 14th. It will be inspected again during the April scheduled outage.

Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve the following items on the Consent Agenda

• Review, correction or approval of minutes of January 30, 2014
• Review of payroll for period ending February 8, 2014

Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.

Discussion was held on a Utility Services Agreement with the Nebraska Dept. of Roads for the relocation of the poles on Baltimore Ave. from 12th St. to 14th St. for the reconstruction of the roadway to 9" of concrete. The utility's overhead/underground policy was also discussed and will be reviewed at an upcoming meeting.

Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, to recommend to the Mayor and City Council the approval of a Utility Services Agreement with the Nebraska Dept. of Roads for the relocation of the poles on Baltimore Ave. from 12th St. to 14th St. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Krieger, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.

Discussion was held regarding a Mutual Confidentiality Agreement with Orefco , a company who can provide an alternative to help meet Hastings Utilities' environmental compliance issues at WEC-1 regarding the MATS (mercury air toxic standard) which became effective February 2012. It was noted

that an April of 2016 compliance extension has been granted by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and the Confidentiality Agreement will allow both parties to negotiate a final agreement by that extended compliance deadline.

Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve a Mutual Confidentiality Agreement with Orefco. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.

Kevin Schawang presented the format for which the Board's Agenda packet could be delivered digitally if the Board desired that option. After discussion, the Board decided to keep delivering the paper packets and also post the packet on the Hastings Utilities Website and email the packet to the Board for a trial period before a final decision is made.

Moved by Krieger, seconded by Hunt, to approve checks issued February 7, 2014, with the exception of check 21985 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. and check 22021 to Sullivan Shoemaker PC LLO. Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Hunt, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.

Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve check 21985 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. in the amount of $1,890.36. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Kully abstained. Motion carried.

Moved by Kully, seconded by Krieger, to approve check 22021 to Sullivan Shoemaker PC LLO in the amount of $408.62. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Krieger, Hunt. Nays; None. Shoemaker abstained. Motion carried.

Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully, to approve the following work orders:

EL-279 Relocation of an existing overhead power line along Baltimore Ave. from 12th St. to 14th St. Estimated Cost: $ 7,575

EL-282 Installation of a three phase underground electric line and padmount transformer to serve the new Russ's Market Building north of 6th St., west of Lexington Ave. Estimated Cost: $41,734

EL-284 Installation of single-phase underground electric lines and padmount transformers to serve new residential lots along Baltimore Ave., north of North Shore Dr. Estimated Cost: $40,503

Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.

The discussion of Mission Statement and Core Values was postponed to the next meeting.

There were no new items added to the Miscellaneous and Future Agenda Items.

Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, that this Board go into Closed Session, which Closed Session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest in that said Closed Session will consist of a strategy session relative to litigation. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.

The meeting closed to the public at 11:45 a.m. The executive session consisted of Board Members, Council Liaison, the Board's Attorney, and staff.

Moved by Kully, seconded by Krieger, that the meeting be reopened to the public at 12:10 p.m., and that no decisions were made nor official actions taken during said Closed Session. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Krieger, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.

There were no further Board Member comments.

The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.