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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-02-04 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING February 4, 1991 The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order by President Aguera at 7 : 04 PM in the TDPUD Board Room. ROLL CALL: Directors John Corbett, Richard Curran, James Maass, Pat Sutton and Joe Aguera were present. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Andy Hyde, Tom Buckhouse, Mary Chapman, Peter Holzmeister and Susan Craig. CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Virginia Horler and Pam Babee of Raucher, Pierce, Refsnes; Sean Tierney and David Casnocha of Brown & Wood; Counsel John M. Phelps. OTHERS PRESENT: Scott Andre, James Porter, several high school students. CONSENT AGENDA At the request of Directors Sutton and Aguera, both items were removed from the consent agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IN FINAL FORM AS CORRECTED; JANUARY 7, 1991 S Director Aguera suggested a correction to the draft minutes and, thereafter, Director Sutton moved that the minutes of January 7 , 1991 be approved as amended; seconded by Director Maass. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT WITH MBNA AMERICA FOR CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT Director Sutton asked to be advised as to what "MBNA" stands for. Also, she expressed concern about the extent of authorization the draft agreement grants to the bank. Counsel Phelps noted the draft is probably the bank' s standard agreement, and it might be possible to rewrite it so that it would take the entire Board to encumber the District rather than an "incumbent or combination of incumbents. " Director Sutton moved that the Board adopt Resolution No. 9102 authorizing agreement with MBNA America as rewritten by Counsel Phelps; seconded by Director Maass. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO RESOLVED. PUBLIC HEARING - DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A SEPARATE WATER RATE FOR SMALL DWELLING UNITS MEETING CERTAIN CRITERIA Manager Holzmeister explained that a customer suggested establishing a special rate for very small dwellings meeting certain criteria. The Board discussed the matter at a previous 2-4-91 1 meeting and decided it would be appropriate to conduct a public . hearing. The public hearing was opened at 7 : 16 PM. Director Maass recommended charging 70% of the domestic base rate plus the appropriate zone charge for small units that have no provisions for washer, dishwasher or outside hose bib, and have no leaking plumbing fixtures. Discussion ensued. Director Sutton questioned the accuracy of the zone charges, and the Manager advised that they are being reviewed by John Springer as a part of the rate study. Director Aguera said he thinks the District should also leave open to owners the option to meter. Director Corbett mentioned the possibility of reducing the zone charges by 70% also. There was no comment from the public. Director Maass Moved that the public hearing be closed at 7: 34 PM; seconded by Director Sutton. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Director Maass moved that the Board adopt Ordinance No. 9102 establishing a fixed monthly rate of $14 .64 plus the appropriate zone charge for small units under 300 square feet meeting certain criteria. The motion was seconded by Director Corbett. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO ORDAINED. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. PUBLIC HEARING - CONSIDERATION OF AN ORDINANCE ADJUSTING COMPENSATION FOR THE GENERAL MANAGER AND RENEWING EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT The public hearing to discuss the Manager's compensation was opened at 7: 36 PM. The Chairman made note of Director Maass' memo of January 29 , 1991 comparing the Manager's salary adjustments with the other employees ' increases during the period January 1985 to January 1990. He proposed a salary adjustment effective January 1, 1991 of 10%. Director Curran stated he doesn't see any correlation or significance between the employees' salaries and the Manager' s salary - $30, 000 per year as compared to $70, 000 per year. Director Sutton noted that Mr. Holzmeister has had increases amounting to $11,496. 18 since 1984 (including deferred compensation) . There was some discussion of the deferred compensation plan. Mr. Holzmeister explained that the pension plan is a defined benefit; the deferred compensation plan is a defined contribution. Director Sutton said that the original contract with the Manager set forth a contribution to the deferred compensation plan of $1, 100 per 2-4-91 2 year. In 1989 it was increased to a contribution of 8% of Mr. Holzmeister's salary ($5, 296. 02) . Director Maass noted that this is not spendable income. Director Sutton said it is, however, part of his salary. There was no comment from the audience and, at 8: 47 PM, Director Corbett moved that the public hearing be closed; seconded by Director Maass. ROLL CALL: Corbett, Maass and Aguera, aye; Sutton, abstain; Curran, no. SO MOVED. Director Sutton stated she doesn't think the Manager' s increases should be tied to the increases of the Union employees as he is the representative who negotiates with the Union on behalf of the District. Director Sutton questioned whether or not it is in the best interest of the District to enter into a contract since the Manager serves at the pleasure of the Board. She said she doesn't like management contracts and thinks Mr. Holzmeister is the first Manager who has had one. Director Corbett moved that the Board adopt Ordinance No. 9101 renewing the contract with the General Manager and increasing his base salary by 10%; seconded by Director Maass. Director Curran stated he's not opposed to giving the Manager a raise; he said he feels Mr. Holzmeister has done a good job and is entitled to an increase, but thinks a 10% increase is outrageous since the Board just raised the water rates. Also, at the present time the employees are negotiating a new Union contract. It may be detrimental to increase the Manager' s salary at this time. Compensation received by managers of other special districts was briefly discussed. Director Sutton noted she will vote "no" on the motion because she is opposed to having a management contract with a General Manager; she said she might consider a raise without a contract. Responding to a question posed by Director Sutton, Counsel noted there is a paragraph in the contract dealing with the Manager serving at the pleasure of the Board. Director Sutton said she thinks perhaps there is a legal problem with the termination clause. Director Sutton stated the country is economically depressed at this time. Lots of people in town aren't working; raising the Manager's salary doesn't seem like a reasonable action for the Board to be entering into, she said. ROLL CALL vote to adopt Ordinance No. 8901: Corbett, Maass and Aguera, aye; Curran and Sutton, no. SO ORDAINED. • PRESENTATION BY CONSULTANT VIRGINIA HORLER ON WATER SYSTEM FINANCING; POSSIBLE DIRECTION 2-4-91 3 Manager Holzmeister reviewed the Tahoe Donner leak project . timetable and explained how this project will interrelate with the master plan and Prop 55 projects. He noted that the financing needs to be tied up soon. Virginia Horler and Pam Babee of Raucher, Pierce, Refsnes were present in the audience and discussed with the Board the water system financing plan in general terms. Ms. Babee reviewed the debt financing, proposed debt, operating and maintenance expense, net revenues, debt service, Prop 55 loan repayments, Tahoe Donner restricted fund, debt service coverage, water sales increase and standby charge increase. Ms. Horler went over the financing flow chart and financing structure. She said the certificates of participation will total approximately $10, 500,000; she reviewed the capitalized interest, reserve fund and coverage. Source of revenues will be water sales and standby charges. Sean Tierney of Brown and Wood explained various legal documents involved - the trust agreement, installment purchase agreement, assignment agreement and preliminary official statement. Director Sutton noted that three projects the Board hasn't yet considered - the Olympic Heights pipeline, Herringbone booster bumps and telemetry system - have been included in the proposed debt financing plan. She also said the Board hasn't discussed • increasing the standby charges. She suggested relating the standby charges to improvements in Tahoe Donner. Mr. Holzmeister asked Ms. Horler to prepare net cash flow analyses showing the impact on water rates if standby charges are only increased to $70 or $80 rather than $95. Manager Holzmeister suggested that, if the Board is going to consider the idea of increasing standby charges, an engineering report be authorized and a public hearing be set for March 11. The Board will consider these matters at the February 19 meeting. RESOLUTION REQUESTING ELECTION DATES BE CHANGED TO NOVEMBER OF EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS Director Sutton mentioned that special districts receive more attention when elections are held in odd-numbered years. She said she can't support the change since there's been nothing in the newspaper; she'd really like to see some publicity. Also, she said she'd like to see something mentioning that all Directors ' terms will be extended by one year if the change is made. Director Maass moved that the Board adopt Resolution No. 9103 changing election dates to November of even-numbered years, the same day as the statewide general election; seconded by Director . Corbett. ROLL CALL: Corbett, Maass and Aguera, aye; Curran, abstain; Sutton, no. SO RESOLVED. 2-4-91 4 CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSAL FROM SAUERS ENGINEERING REGARDING THE ARMSTRONG HIGH PRESSURE EXTENSION PROJECT Manager Holzmeister briefly explained the Armstrong high pressure pipeline extension project and Sauers Engineering's proposal to provide engineering services for the project. Director Maass moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that Sauers Engineering' s proposal in the amount not to exceed $8, 100 be accepted. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO MOVED. STANDBY CHARGES Counsel Phelps mentioned that perhaps the Board should authorize the engineering report relating to standby charges. He noted the Brown Act says items must appear on the agenda unless the Board determines the need to take action took place after the agenda was prepared. Appropriate action for the Board to take would be to amend the agenda in accordance with Government Code Section 54954 .2 (b) (2) . Director Corbett moved that the Board determine that the need to take action on authorizing an engineering report relating to standby charges arose after the meeting agenda was posted, and that the agenda be amended to allow discussion and action on an engineer's report; seconded by Director Maass. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye, with the exception of Director Sutton who abstained. Director Sutton asked whether the Board should determine whether or not it' s in the public interest before authorizing an engineer to prepare a report on increasing standby fees. It was noted that Counsel Phelps' memo states that, before initiating the process, the District must have prepared by a qualified engineer a report which contains the following information: a) a description of the charge and the method by which it will be imposed; b) a compilation of the amount of the charge proposed for each parcel; c) a statement of the methodology and rationale followed in determining the degree of benefit conferred by the service for which the charge is made; and d) all of the factors upon which the charge is based and/or calculated. Director Corbett moved that Keith Sauers be authorized to prepare an engineering report as described in the memo from Counsel dated January 8, 1991, at a cost to be determined by the Manager; seconded by Director Maass. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CORRESPONDENCE There was no correspondence discussed by the Board. • BILLS FOR APPROVAL 2-4-91 5 After brief discussion, Director Maass moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the bills presented for consideration be approved for payment. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. STAFF REPORT A copy of the staff report has been made an attachment to these minutes. APPA conference in Nashville Mr. Holzmeister mentioned the APPA national conference being held in Nashville on June 14, 15 and 16. No bid due to bonding requirements A prospective bidder on the service truck for the Water Department has notified the District they are refusing to bid because of the bid and performance bond requirements. Counsel noted he conducted a survey about a year ago and found the PUD is the only District in the area with such stringent requirements on purchasing supplies and equipment. After a short discussion, the Chairman directed the Manager to check with CMUA about proposing legislation to change the bonding requirements presently imposed upon the PUD. Gateway tank project . Attached to the staff report is a status report from Andy Hyde on the Gateway tank project. CLOSED SESSION At 10: 12 PM the Board adjourned to closed session in accordance with Government Code Sections 54956. 9 (b) (1) and (c) to discuss pending litigation. RETURN TO PUBLIC SESSION The Board returned to public session at 11:44 PM. No action was taken as a result of closed session. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by consensus at 11:45 PM. UCREE D NFjUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT J se h R. Agu a, Pr ident J i Prepared by • Susan M. Craig, eputy District Clerk smc 2-4-91 6