Utilities
Board Meeting - July 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, July 2, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. This meeting was preceded by notice duly published in the Hastings Tribune on Tuesday, June 30, 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, Kully, Dewalt, Shoemaker
Also Present: Schultes, Meyer, Vrooman, Ptak, Leonhardt, Cogley, Crecelius, Hartman, Cox, Stange, Sekora, Odom, Goebel, Tony Hermann (Hastings Tribune), George Anderson, Mike Bauder, Dennis Bauder, and Cody Smith
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.
Chuck Shoemaker said he has a conflict of interest with the next item and turned the gavel over to Jeanette Dewalt to conduct this portion of the meeting. Ron Sekora gave a presentation on the Out of District Water & Sanitary Sewer Fee for a new building located at 206 South Hastings. Cody Smith and George Anderson addressed the Board and asked for a waiver of the fees as a new service is not being requested and the current building has already paid the fees. The amount in question is $4,612.50.
Motion by Kully, seconded by Hunt, to waive the Out of District connection fee for sewer and water regarding the property owned by Tri-City Industrial Investors, L.L.C., at 206 South Hastings Avenue in the amount of $4,612.50 for the following reasons: (1)Lots 2 and 3 of Globus Subdivision had been replatted into Lot 1, Globus Second Subdivision for which Lot 3 had previously been assessed for sewer and water; (2) that the existing sewer and water service on the former Lot 3 is being transferred to a new structure to be built on Lot 1 Globus Second Subdivision by Tri-City Industrial Investors, L.L.C.; and (3) no new tap of the existing water and sewer mains are necessary or required. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Hunt, Dewalt. Nays; None. Shoemaker abstained. Motion carried.
Marv Schultes reported that the YWCA Kid's parade and activities will be held at Fisher Fountain on July 4th at 10:30 a.m.
Al Meyer reported that WEC-1 had a brief outage from June 12-16 to repair a main stop valve on the turbine. WEC-2 has no issues at this time.
Lori Hartman reported :
- Mike Hernandez, Director of Electric Production, was in Hastings, but a family issue arose in Minnesota that needed his attention, so he returned to Minnesota to attend to it. He plans to be back in Hastings next week.
- Line Crew Chief position filled internally by Damian Carda. Damian has worked for HU for 27 years.
- Lead Plant Mechanic at WEC filled by Nick Kelley. Nick has worked for HU for five years.
- Extended offers to two Waste Water Plant Operators at PCF. They both plan to start July 13th.
- Extended an offer to a Mechanical Engineer, who plans to start in August.
- Fuel handler (external hire, Wayne Kimminau) started at WEC on 6/29.
- Currently interviewing for Stores Clerk at the Warehouse.
- Currently interviewing for two mechanic assistants at WEC.
- Currently submitted a requisition for a Lineman.
Board Chairman Shoemaker reported that he read in the Omaha World Herald the challenges that the private gas company in Omaha has with replacing cast iron and bare steel pipe. He asked Schultes if Hastings has the same problems. Schultes said that Hastings has replaced the cast iron and bare steel many years ago after the 1979 natural gas explosion downtown.
Shoemaker asked if re-injecting water through Hastings Utilities' injection wells could cause similar problems like the earthquakes in Oklahoma which have been perceived to have been caused by fracking and injection of fluid. Staff reported that since Hastings Utilities' is not cracking the infrastructure and applying pressure, no damage should occur.
Shoemaker asked if the US Supreme Court ruling on mercury will affect any future changes in place for the WEC-1. Staff reported along with Board Member Hunt that the case was pushed back to the lower court and that the improvements are already underway and are planned for completion by April 2016.
Kully reported on an article he read in an APPA mailing. The article was on a city that had converted to LED street lights and their energy savings. He said this article re-enforces the Board's decision to convert all the street lights to LED and he thanked former Board Member Scott Krieger for pushing the LED conversion.
Dewalt referred to an article in the Grand Island Independent about a lawsuit for improper voltage into a home. The Board discussed liability insurance that Hastings Utilities has in place.
Shoemaker reminded the Board that he had testified to the Natural Resources Committee regarding the proposed Title 261 rules and guidelines. Revisions will be made to the rules and another public hearing will be held, where Hastings Utilities should have representation.
Shoemaker reported that the Organizational Consultants have been meeting with City Staff, Board Members and Hastings Utilities Staff and a report is expected in the near future to be made to the Committee overseeing this process, which includes Board members Shoemaker and Dewalt.
Chairman Shoemaker announced Service Anniversaries: Gaylen Kloepper – Water Department - 35 yrs., Jeffery Campbell – Electric Department – 30 yrs., Michael Kraftzik – Gas Department – 25 years, Donald Hegemann – Whelan Energy Center – 5 yrs., Billy Stromer – Whelan Energy Center – 35 yrs., and David Murrell – Whelan Energy Center – 36 yrs. He thanked them for their service.
Committee Reports:
Comparability – nothing to report at this time.
Land Leases – Hunt and Kully reported that they have received the lease information from staff and will get together next week.
Budgeted Labor – No new information at this time.
Moved by Dewalt, seconded by Kully, that the following items on the Consent Agenda be approved:
a. Review, correction or approval of minutes of June 11, 2015
b. Review of payroll for periods ending June 13 and 27, 2015
Roll Call: Ayes; Dewalt, Kully, Hunt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Dewalt asked that Lori Hartman's report be reported in more detail in the future minutes.
Ron Sekora gave a presentation on the Municipal Utility Plan for the Hastings Truck Route. The report included future location of utilities along Columbine Ave. and 42nd Street, with phase 2 including the portion south to 26th St.. Estimated cost for Phase 1 and II is $3,050,000. The Board asked that Dave Rippe with HEDC give an economic development update at the next meeting and that he be given a copy of this plan for the truck route. Staff will forward a copy to Mr. Rippe.
Staff reported that the Upper Big Blue Natural Resource District has agreed to pay up to 20% of the total cost not to exceed $50,000 towards the Vadose Zone Nitrate Study. An Inter-local Cooperation Agreement between the two entities will need to be signed.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Dewalt, to recommend approval to the Mayor and City Council to enter into an Interlocal Agreement with the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District for financial assistance for the Vadose Zone Nitrate Study. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Dewalt, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The Board discussed the recommendation from staff to approve an amendment to the Engineering Contract with HDR for a design update of RO Treatment Plant at Well 27, which is a budgeted item. Stange stated that we are nearing the urgent state to complete water treatment because the nitrates continue to rise in our drinking water.
Moved by Dewalt, seconded by Kully, that upon the recommendation from staff, to approve Engineering Contract Amendment No. 9 with HDR Engineering for Design Update of RO Treatment Plant at Well 27. (B.I. 3.02). Roll Call: Ayes; Dewalt, Kully, Shoemaker, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Dave Ptak reported that he had visited with Dave Wacker to see if there is any new information on the North Baltimore Floodway Study. Board members requested that Mr. Wacker be asked to contact DNR to see where they are at with the study.
The March 2015 Monthly Report was presented, along with a quarterly report presentation.
Dewalt left the meeting at 11:19 a.m.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Shoemaker, to approve checks issued June 26, with the exception of check no. 26911 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp and check 26881 to Global Recruiters. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Shoemaker, Kully. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Shoemaker, to approve check 26911 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp. in the amount of $979.82. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Kully abstained. Motion carried.
No action was taken on the payment of check 26881 to Global Recruiters.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Hunt, to approve the following claims:
- General Operating Fund against the Electric Fund - $2,320,412.49
- General Operating Fund against the Combined Fund - $2,273,830.75
Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Hunt, Shoemaker. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Vrooman gave a report on the number of meter pits to be removed and will provide additional information on the exact number of meter pits left to be removed in the future.
The Board decided to add the General Operating Fund against the Electric Fund and the Combined Fund claims to the consent agenda in the future.
A discussion took place on the Voting Delegates at the APPA Annual Conference.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Shoemaker, that the Voting Delegate for Hastings Utilities at future APPA Annual Meetings and at national or regional meetings of other utility associations be the Manager of Utilities or his appointee, until changed by subsequent action of the Board of Public Works. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Shoemaker. Nays; Hunt. Motion carried.
Shoemaker reported on his attendance at the APPA Annual Meeting held in Minneapolis last month. He especially found interesting the information given at a breakout session on compensation of public power employees. He said they reported that because of the internet and sites like "Linked In", it has made the retention of employees more difficult because of the job market competition and the increased availability of information about competitive compensation. He also reported on information that other public utilities are finding that relevant markets for compensation purposes should be considered on more than just a geographical basis, and that it is becoming more common that certain jobs will have higher compensation than the compensation paid to persons to whom those employees report, because of the skills needed for a specific job.
When information becomes available for the next APPA Annual Meeting, which will be around the first of the year, staff will put this on the agenda for discussion.
There were no additional board member comments.
Schultes reported that possible budget dates have been listed on the agenda for November 3 and 4th. Let staff know if these dates do not work for you.
There was no executive session.
The meeting adjourned at 12:04 p.m.