Utilities
Board Meeting - September 11, 2014
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
A regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held at the Hastings Utilities Board Room on Thursday, September 11, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. This meeting was preceded by notice duly published in the Hastings Tribune on Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 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, Shoemaker, Kully, Dewalt
Also Present: Schultes, Meyer, Ptak, Vrooman, Cogley, Hartman, Goebel, Odom, Cox, Leonhardt, Crecelius, Quinn, Stuart, Tony Hermann (Hastings Tribune), and guests Mary Peterson (Guarantee Electric), Denny Smidt (Smitty's Electric), Bill Hitesman (Central Community College), David Goebel (Vosator), and Electric Department Employees – Baumgart, Campbell, Jensen, J. Propp, S. Propp, Kirschner, Sheppard, Carda, Hoins, Munter, Rojewski
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. He also declared a quorum of members present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
During the public comments, Jon Rojewski (representing the Electric Department Linemen), spoke on the displeasure on the recent promotion to the Electric Distribution Superintendent position. He distributed a copy of the job description to the Board and went over points where the employees do not feel the newly promoted person is qualified or experienced for the position.
Mary Peterson (Guarantee Electric) spoke against the recent promotion to the Electric Department Superintendent because of lack of qualifications and experience for the job. She also stated that she does not feel a Hastings Utilities' employee should run an electrical business on the side.
The Chairman then declared the public comments segment closed.
Bill Hitesman (Central Community College) thanked the Board and their staff for a great job in getting the gas switched over from Source Gas to Hastings Utilities. He stated that the reason he was speaking to the Board today, beyond thanking them for a smooth transition of gas service, was to garner support from the Board for Central Community College's feasibility study for the possible construction of a large wind turbine to be built on their Hastings campus.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Dewalt, to support Central Community College's feasibility study for the possible construction of a large wind turbine to be built on the Hastings campus. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Dewalt, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; Krieger. Motion carried.
Al Meyer reported that the North Denver Station Unit 4 was operated for two days this week. It performed well and valuable training was gained by the operators. Scheduled maintenance outages for WEC-1 and WEC-2 are still on schedule for September 29-October 6 and October 9-November 10 respectively. The boiler feed pump part for WEC-2 is scheduled to be delivered by the end of September. The PPGA Board is working on a refined coal agreement and will be considered by their board at their September 15th meeting, with the agreement coming to the HU Board for consideration at their October 2nd meeting. Al reported that the coal supply situation has improved some but supplies are still much lower than they need to be.
Committee Reports – Nothing to report from the Chamber Retail Committee. This item was taken care of at the last meeting and can be removed from future agendas for 2014 until budget consideration next year. Comparability Committee – The committee met on September 9th. Attorney Ptak is reviewing the report and another committee meeting will be scheduled as soon as his review is complete and the Insurance Committee meets. There was nothing to report from the Merit Award Committee or the Bidding Policy Committee. The Street Lighting Committee will be meeting on September 16th.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully, that the following items on the Consent Agenda be approved:
- a. Review, correction or approval of minutes of August 28, 2014
- b. Review of payroll for period ending September 6, 2014
Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Hunt, Dewalt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, that upon the recommendation from staff, to approve Resolution No. 2014-04 naming the City's representative and alternate to the Management Committee of the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN). Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker, Dewalt, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, that upon the recommendation from staff, to award a contract for WEC-1 Mercury Removal System (Contract No. HU 2014-08 FC-36, Budget Item 2.10) to ADA-ES Inc. of Naperville, Illinois, in the amount of $698,100, which includes applicable sales tax, and to recommend to the City Council that the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to enter into said contract accordingly, and to approve associated Work Order PL-663 - Mercury Removal System and HCI Monitoring at WEC-1. Estimated Cost: $1,298,842. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Dewalt, Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Dewalt, that upon the recommendation from staff and the street lighting committee, to change the URL (Underground Residential Light) Agreement from five years to ten years for the developer to develop the property. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Dewalt, Shoemaker, Krieger, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Dave Stuart gave a presentation on the design of the Aquifer Storage Project and the associated brochure. The Board recommended to staff that the brochure be included with the utility bills this year. Staff plans to mail it with the November utility bills.
Moved by Dewalt, seconded by Krieger, to approve checks issued September 5, 2014, with the exception of check 24065 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. and check 24106 to Sullivan Shoemaker PC LLO. Roll Call: Ayes; Dewalt, Krieger, Shoemaker, Kully, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve check 24065 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. in the amount of $7,572.42. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker, Dewalt. Nays; None. Kully abstained. Motion carried.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Krieger, to approve check 24106 to Sullivan Shoemaker PC LLO in the amount of $2,063.12. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Krieger, Hunt, Dewalt. Nays; None. Shoemaker abstained. Motion carried.
The July 2014 Monthly Report was presented and discussed.
Chairman Shoemaker asked the Board to consider amending the Roberts Rules of Orders for the Board of Public Works which would provide more flexibility in reconsidering matters, etc. The City Council amended their Rule of Procedure by City Ordinance some years ago. Chairman Shoemaker asked Attorney Ptak to bring to the Board the Council's Rules of Procedure for Board consideration in doing the same or similar rules.
Under Miscellaneous and Future Agenda Items, the one item listed is a Discussion of WEC-1 Upgrades including Natural Gas Option. Schultes stated that this would be discussed at budget time.
Moved by Dewalt, seconded by Krieger, that this Board go into Closed Session, which Closed Session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest and for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual, which individual has not requested a public meeting, in order to discuss certain matters relating to personnel and that said Closed Session will consist of a strategy session relative to negotiations and litigation. Roll Call: Ayes; Dewalt, Krieger, Kully, Hunt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The meeting closed to the public at 10:56 a.m. The executive session consisted of Board Members, Council Liaisons, the Board's Attorney, Manager and limited staff.
Moved by Dewalt, seconded by Krieger, that the meeting be reopened to the public at 12:15 p.m., and that no decisions were made nor official actions taken during said Closed Session. Roll Call: Ayes; Dewalt, Krieger, Hunt, Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 12:16 p.m.