Board Meeting - March 30, 2017
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, March 30, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. This meeting was preceded by notice duly published in the Hastings Tribune on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 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, Dewalt, Kully, Baack
Absent: Shoemaker
Also Present: Meyer, Cogley, Vrooman, Leonhardt, Hernandez, Cox, Barfknecht, Odom, Crecelius, Hartman, Eley, Mayor Stutte, Ptak, and Tony Hermann (Hastings Tribune)
Acting Chairman Dewalt 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. She also declared a quorum of members present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
There were no public comments.
Al Meyer reminded the Board of the Ribbon Cutting at the Hastings Wind Turbine today. The tour is at 4:00 p.m., Ribbon Cutting at 4:30 and a Business After Hours Social at the Elk’s Club at 5:00 p.m.
Meyer stated that the WEC-1 scheduled outage will begin on March 31 and will last approximately two weeks, followed by the WEC-2 outage shortly after (approximately April 21). The WEC-2 could experience an extended outage because of market conditions.
Lori Hartman reported on the following personnel activities:
- Currently a job opening for Secretary III at the WEC. Interviews will start next week. Over 40 applications were taken for the position.
Acting Chairman Dewalt congratulated Ron Anderson on his retirement on April 14th after 37 years at Hastings Utilities’ Whelan Energy Center.
Committee Reports
a. Comparability – waiting for reorganization to shake out
b. Update on Hiring of Manager of Utilities – nothing at this time
c. Chamber Retail Committee – nothing at this time
d. Deposit Policy Committee – Brian Strom is coordinating a committee meeting
e. IT Strategy Committee – Matt Baack said that he missed the last committee meeting so he asked Mayor Stutte to give the report. Stutte reported that meetings have been held with both Utilities and City Departments and the committee feels like some issues that need to be addressed are common and aligned through every department. The committee will continue with needs assessments and start demoing software to see what’s out there, and then proceed with a RFP’s. Stutte thanked all who have attended the meetings and said that their help was invaluable.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Baack, that the following items on the Consent Agenda be approved:
a. Review, correction or approval of minutes of March 16 and March 20, 2017
b. Review of payroll for period ending March 18, 2017
c. Review and approval of checks issued March 24, 2017, with the exception of check no. 33593 to Kully Pipe & Steel Corp.
d. Approval of the following claims:
- General Operating Fund against the Electric Fund – $2,568,304.94
- General Operating Fund against the Combined Fund - $2,287,865.30
Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Baack, Hunt, Dewalt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Baack, to approve check no. 33593 to Kully Pipe Steel Corp. in the amount of $303.03. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Baack, Dewalt. Nays; None. Kully abstained. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, to approve the following work order:
EL-378 Installation of a 3-phase overhead transformer bank to serve an irrigation pivot north of Idlewilde Rd. west of Southern Hills Dr. Estimated Cost: $900
Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Dewalt, Baack. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Discussion on the proposal from Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth, P.C. of Grand Island, Nebraska, to perform the Annual Audit for years ending September 30, 2017, 2018 and 2019 took place. At the last meeting, the Board felt they were comfortable with the cost of the annual audits but would like to negotiate the quarterly reviews. Mark Barfknecht contacted their office and they said that since they are not familiar with Hastings Utilities’ finances, they would not be willing to negotiate this amount. They said that after performing the quarterly reviews if they find savings, they would pass that on. They do not perform quarterly reviews for any other entity. They suggested an alternative would be to negotiate costs for agreed upon procedures. This could be considerably cheaper while still giving the Board assurances on a quarterly basis. They would be willing to come visit with the Board to see if that is an alternate they would like.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, to approve a contract with Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth, P.C. of Grand Island, Nebraska, to perform the Hastings Utilities Annual Audit for the years ending September 30, 2017, 2018 and 2019 for an amount of $12,500 (2017), $12,700 (2018), and $12,900 (2019). Amendment to motion: This approval will only include the Annual Audit and will not include as this time the Quarterly Reviews as was included in their proposal of March 2, 2017. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Baack, Dewalt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
A discussion took place on an agreement for NPPD to provide operational planning and realtime assessment of Hastings Utilities’ 115 kV transmission system. Meyer said that NPPD is capable of performing this task and Hastings Utilities does not have the capabilities for this.
Moved by Kully, seconded by Baack, to approve a Transmission Assessment Services Agreement with Nebraska Public Power District. Roll Call: Ayes; Kully, Baack, Dewalt, Hunt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, that upon the recommendation from staff and Black & Veatch, to award a contract to Siemens, Wendell, North Carolina, in the amount of $1,978,605, which includes applicable sales tax, for WEC-1 5 KV Switchgear and 480V SUS Replacement, and that the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to enter into contract with said company accordingly; and to approve associated Work Order PL-679 for an estimated amount of $3,668,500. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Baack, Dewalt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
Meyer presented the November 2017 Monthly Report.
Discussion took place regarding the action taken at the City Council Meeting March 27, 2017 regarding a positive vote on first reading of Ordinance No. 4473…To amend sections regarding City Department Heads, duties of the City Administrator, repeal unnecessary sections, and to amend Chapter 32, Article 1 regarding the Board of Public Works. Acting Chairman encouraged citizens to now visit with the Mayor and Council with any concerns or ideas with this structure change as outlined in the ordinance. Jeff Kully publicly stated that he’s interested in finding efficiencies by combining departments but that he is not in favor of the Manager position being moved as defined in this ordinance.
Under Board Member Comments, Willis Hunt said that he feels the city has an opportunity by doing some city financing within departments. He would like to see the departments using resources that we have which can be paid back over time, as the Utilities and City monies must be kept separate.
Under Miscellaneous and Future Agenda Items, the Board changed the date for the Review of Capital Budgets to April 27th and the Presentation on Sludge to a meeting in June. The Board also asked for the new auditor’s to address the Board on April 27th if that works for them.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Baack, 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 negotiations. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Baack, Kully, Dewalt. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The meeting closed to the public at 10:07 a.m. The executive session consisted of Board Members, Mayor Stutte, Council Liaisons, Dave Ptak, Al Meyer and Don Cox.
Moved by Hunt, seconded by Kully, that the meeting be reopened to the public at 10:43 a.m, and that no decisions were made nor official actions taken during said Closed Session. Roll Call: Ayes; Hunt, Kully, Dewalt, Baack. Nays; None. Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 10:43 a.m.