Utilities
Board Meeting - April 2, 2015
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, April 2, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. This meeting was preceded by notice duly published in the Hastings Tribune on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 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, Vrooman, Cogley, Ptak, Leonhardt, Crecelius, Hartman, Heyen, Stuart, Stange, Odom, Goebel, Will Vraspir (Hastings Tribune), and Glenn Dostal (HDR Engineering)
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.
There were no public comments.
Marv Schultes introduced Glenn Dostal from HDR Engineering. Mr. Dostal announced that HDR Engineering’s entry in the ACEC/Nebraska 2015 Engineering Excellence Awards competition received an Honor Award. HDR Engineering’s “Hastings Utilities Enhanced WRCF” project was given this award at the Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet on February 25th, at which several Hastings Utilities PCF employees were present. Mr. Dostal said that the Hastings project will not only help meet current environmental regulations, but should be able to keep in compliance with possible future regulations for nominal costs.
Al Meyer gave an update on the WEC-1 outage. The unit went off line for the scheduled maintenance outage on March 20th and is planned to be back on line April 27th.
Mr. Meyer informed the Board that he was in New York City last week meeting with bond rating agencies preparing for a bond refinancing for PPGA bonds.
He also reported that the maintenance outages at the Whelan Energy Center have allowed the coal pile a chance to increase to a normal level.
Lori Hartman reported on hiring and personnel activities.
Chairman Shoemaker reported that Jeanette Dewalt is interested in hearing the December 2014 Monthly Report presentation and was not able to attend today’s meeting. The Board agreed to postpone the presentation.
Mr. Hunt thanked the Chairman for the letter which was mailed to John Turnbull (Upper Big Blue Natural Resource District) on funding help for the nitrate remediation project. Shoemaker also gave credit to Al Meyer and Marty Stange for drafting the letter.
Chairman Shoemaker announced that Thomas Belau will be retiring from Hastings Utilities on April 24th after 35 years of employment. He thanked him for his service.
The Street Light Committee has met numerous times and would like to start the process to convert the entire city to LED street lighting. Financing the conversion will be discussed under Agenda Item 10 and Work Order SL-95.
The Cola/Market Adjustment Committee and the In Lieu of Tax Transfers on Whole Electric Sales Committee have not yet met. Council Liaisons Odom and Goebel were asked to serve on both committees.
Moved by Kriger, seconded by Kully, that the following items on the Consent Agenda be approved:
Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Hunt, to bring from the table the consideration of approval of a recommendation for UNL Research Agreement for Hastings Vadose Zone Study. Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Hunt, Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The Board discussed the letter that was sent to the Upper Big Blue Natural Resource District (UBBNRD) to request financial and technical assistance for the UNL Research Agreement for the Hastings Vadoze Zone Study.
Discussion was held on alternative financing for this study. A discussion on the NDEQ 319 Grant application was presented by Marty Stange. He stated that a Groundwater Watershed Management Plan would be required before funding would be available for this type of project. The Little Blue Natural Resource District (LBNRD) is preparing a Groundwater Watershed Management Plan but will not be complete until later this year or into 2016.
The Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) grant process is being investigated and when information becomes available, it will be presented to the Board.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, to postpone consideration of approval of a recommendation for UNL Research Agreement for Hastings Vadose Zone Study to the meeting of April 30, 2015. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Krieger, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The North Baltimore Floodway Study was discussed. Ptak reported that his latest conversation with Dave Wacker on this subject was that the study is supposed to be complete by the lst of May.
Steve Cogley gave a presentation on the Natural Resources Commission’s Water Sustainability Funding program. A public hearing in the WSF rules and guidelines will be held in Lincoln on April 28, 2015. The Board discussed developing a coalition of first class cities promoting that complying with the EPA’s mandate concerning nitrate concentrations in drinking water be eligible for bonus points in the Commission’s project grading system. The Nebraska League of Municipalities has suggested the possibility of attaining testimony from Mike Linder, the former Nebraska DEQ Director, at the public hearing. Linder is particularly familiar with EPA drinking water requirements and mandates. Chairman Shoemaker suggested that we may want to ask Mayor Powers to present testimony at the hearing. Board member Kully asked if Hastings might improve its chances of receiving funding if the UBBNRD and/or LBNRDs made the funding request on behalf of Hastings.
The Street Light Committee has recommended borrowing money from the Gas Rate Stabilization Fund (Combined Department) to fund the replacement of all high pressure sodium, induction, and mercury vapor street light fixtures with LED street light fixtures in the city limits of Hastings. The terms recommended by the committee would be to borrow up to $1,600,000 to be repaid over a five year period at an interest rate of one percent. The committee asked the Board to approve the concept and staff and legal counsel can come back to the Board if further details need to be worked out.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, to authorize the transfer of an amount up to $1,600,000 from the Gas Rate Stabilization Fund to the Street Lighting Department to be repaid over a five (5) year period at an interest rate of one (1) percent. The purpose of the transfer is to fund the conversion of the street lighting system to LED fixtures. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Shoemaker, Krieger. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Hunt, to table the presentation of the December 2014 Monthly Report to the next meeting. Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Hunt, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully, to approve checks issued March 20, 2015, with the exception of check no. 25994 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp., subject to attorney review of the gift policy. Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve check 25994 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. in the amount of $2,406.09. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Kully abstained. Motion carried.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully, to approve the following claims:
Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Hunt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Krieger, to approve the following purchase orders:
Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully to approve the following work order:
Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
There were no Board Member comments.
There were no new Miscellaneous and Future Agenda Items.
Moved by Krieger, seconded by Kully, 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. Roll Call: Ayes; Krieger, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The meeting closed to the public at 11:16 a.m. The executive session consisted of Board Members, Council Liaisons, Marv Schultes, Al Meyer, Lee Vrooman, and Lori Hartman.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Krieger, that the meeting be reopened to the public at 12:20 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.
The meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m.