Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-01-16 Min - Board • January 16, 1989 REGULAR MEETING The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order by President Maass at 7 : 06 P.M. in the TDPUD Board Room. ROLL CALL: Directors Aguera, Corbett, Sutton, White and Maass were present. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Debi Black, Tom Buckhouse, Mary Chapman, Paul Colburn, Peter Holzmeister and Susan Craig. CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Counsel John Phelps. OTHERS PRESENT: Among those present in the audience were Shalla Kuhlimier, Mike Milloy, Marc Bernall, Matt Young, Rick Ingebritson, Shawn Stock, Kevin Horner, Kevin Gum and Todd Saylor. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director Sutton moved, and Director White seconded, that the minutes of December 5, 1988 be approved as written. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Director White moved that the minutes of December 19, 1988 be . approved as presented; Director Corbett seconded the motion. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Several correction were suggested and, thereafter, Director Corbett moved that the Secretary be directed to prepare the minutes of January 3, 1989 in final form as corrected. The motion was seconded by Director White. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. STATEMENT OF GENERAL FUND AND BILLS FOR APPROVAL After a brief review of the bills presented for consideration, Director Corbett moved that the Board approve the bills for payment; seconded by Director White. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. MANAGER'S REPORT Water quality report In their packets the Board was provided with the monthly water quality report. Civil Engineer Andy Hyde answered several questions posed by Director Sutton relating to testing performed by the District. She asked that Mr. Hyde report the results of the radioactivity test on the water system to the Board at a future meeting. PUBLIC INPUT 1 . There was no public input. CORRESPONDENCE Director Maass mentioned the letter from the County of Nevada regarding ad valorem tax. Director Sutton asked that the Board be copied with the letter from the District addressed to Judd Dygert regarding the availability of water. After some discussion about material copied to the Board, the Manager indicated he would mail copies of correspondence to the Directors at least once a week in case they weren't able to come into the office to pick it up. COMMITTEE REPORT Finance Committee Director White noted that the packet included a copy of the memorandum dated January 12 from the Manager concerning the meeting held on January 9. The committee discussed the policy on budget management, policy on investing cash, policy on miscellaneous bad debts, cost of service study, vehicle use policy, items for • inclusion on W-21s or 1099 ' s and review of the letter from Wayne Richardson Company. Several of these items will appear later on the agenda. STATUS REPORTS ON HIRSCHDALE AUDIT AND SERVICE APPLICATION PROCESS A letter was received from Terry Lowell containing a status report on Phase I of the Hirschdale audit and his proposal to complete Phase IS for a maximum of $5, 900. Director White moved that the Mr. Lowell be authorized to proceed with Phase II of the Hirschdale audit; seconded by Director Sutton. ROLL CALL: Director Corbett, abstain; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. Mr. Hyde reported that the District received a letter of approval of the water system from Jess Morehouse of the State Department of Health Services. The approval is contingent upon a number of factors and is not effective until the items are resolved. The contractor is aware of the items and has already taken care of some of them; most are minor in nature. The exception is the foot valve in the pump which will involve removing the entire pump assembly if it must be repaired or replaced. It was noted that Jess Morehouse of Health Services is currently not accepting phone calls because, he says, the state legislature did not fund his activities beyond January 1, 1989. There was some discussion concerning the State Health Department' s alleged reluctance to do business without assurance of funding, and the Chairman directed the Manager to contact Assemblyman Chandler to determine the actual situation. 2 ® The State and County require that the two existing wells supplying the old water system be abandoned before the new system is finally approved. The old system is controlled by Tony Rivara. Regarding the arbitration initiated by Joe Suter, contractor, Counsel Phelps said he received a request and will send formal notification within the next week or so. Director Sutton complimented Mr. Hyde on the Hirschdale service application forms saying they should accomplish what the District needs. She asked to be copied with the letter from Gunther Sturm regarding Hirschdale. PUBLIC HEARING - CONSIDERATION OF AMENDING MISCELLANEOUS SERVICE FEE SCHEDULE AND RETURN CHECK FEE As he mentioned during the budget review, Mr. Holzmeister noted that the miscellaneous service fee schedule should be adjusted in order to generate additional revenue. Office Supervisor Chapman reported that she re-evaluated the process of connecting and disconnecting a new customer with an existing service. She estimated the costs associated with establishing and closing an account to be $37 . 51 at regular pay, $107 . 16 at time and a half, and $133 . 41 at double time. • The Chairman opened the Public hearing at 7: 45 P.M. Mrs. Chapman answered questions posed by the audience and reviewed the procedure followed to reconnect or transfer a service to a new customer and to disconnect that customer when he moves out of the District. Director Corbett moved, and Director Sutton seconded, that the public hearing be closed at 8: 14 P.M. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Director Sutton moved that the fee for a connect or disconnect of an existing service during office hours be increased from $15 to $20. MOTION FAILED for lack of a second. Director White moved that the fee for a connect or disconnect of an existing service during office hours be increased to $40; seconded by Director Aguera. ROLL CALL: Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. Director White moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the fee for a connect or disconnect of an existing service at time and a half be increased to $100. ROLL CALL: Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. Director Corbett moved, and Director White seconded, that the fee for a connect or disconnect of an existing service at double time • be increased to $130. ROLL CALL: Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. Director Corbett moved that the Board adopt Ordinance No. 8901 3 amending the miscellaneous fee schedule as noted above, and that • automatic transfers from tenants back to owners remain at $15. Director White seconded the motion. Director Sutton stated that she feels some of the District' s costs are built into the electric rate system and this seems to be a double charge. Also, she indicated concern over the time and a half and double time rates because of the lack of policy for certain kinds of situations. ROLL CALL vote on the motion: Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye. SO ORDAINED. Mrs. Chapman advised that the fee the District charges when a customer presents a check that the bank subsequently returns due to insufficient funds in the customer' s account hasn't been reviewed for a number of years. The current fee is $5; she suggested increasing it to $10. Director Aguera moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the Board adopt Resolution No. 8901 amending the billing policy pertaining to the fee charged for each check returned for insufficient funds. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO MOVED. PUBLIC HEARING - REVIEW AND POSSIBLE DIRECTION REGARDING THE EAST SOUTH RIVER STREET WATER LINE COST RECOVERY ALLOCATION Director Sutton said she thinks the notice given to East South • River Street property owners concerning the cost allocation for installation of the water line was very short. She noted the letter was mailed on January 12, 1989. It was her opinion that the matter should not be finalized at this meeting. Morgan Jones, representing Karl Kuttle and John McManus, stated that District staff was unavailable to Discuss the allocation with him prior to the Board meeting. Grace Robertson concurred. She went on to say she asked for information regarding the Board's position on the cost allocation and certain other data and was told it would be provided; to date she hasn't received anything. Mrs. Robertson commented that she thinks the District might be double billing for utilities on some of her property. The Chairman directed the Office Supervisor to review Mrs. Robertson's recent billings for the trailer, green house and Victorian house to make sure there are no double billings. Director Corbett moved that the public hearing regarding the East South River Street water line cost recovery allocation be rescheduled to 7: 30 P.M. on February 6. All Directors, aye, by consensus. SO MOVED. GRACE ROBERTSON'S LETTER OF 12/30/88 • Mrs. Robertson, in her letter of December 30, 1988 , asked for a copy of a letter wherein Mr. Heller requests service from the District and a transcript of a statement made by Mr. Holzmeister to the effect that Bruce Grow disconnected her spring from the 4 ® trailer park. Mr. Holzmeister said the District does not have a letter from Mr. Heller, but does have the service installation record showing that fees were paid. Regarding the statement that he said Bruce Grow disconnected her spring from the trailer park, Mr. Holzmeister noted that he never made such a statement. He said Dan Cook made the statement that he (Dan Cook) accompanied a District employee and helped make the disconnect. It was not known which District staff people were directly involved. Mrs. Robertson also stated in her letter that she never received the revised proposal to solve the problem with service to the trailer park. Mr. Holzmeister said the District sent her a copy of the proposed solution prior to the meeting where it was adopted. Mrs. Robertson indicated she had talked to her attorney about these matters. Counsel Phelps noted that it appears there is the potential for litigation, and under the circumstances, the matter may be discussed during closed session. After some discussion, the Chairman directed the Manager to provide Mrs. Robertson with a copy of the agreement pertaining to the water line on East South River Street that was adopted by the Board and also with copies of any correspondence relating to the disconnected spring on her property. Director Maass commended the Water Committee for its hard work in • attempting to resolve this issue. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSAL FROM CONSULTANT TO ASSIST DISTRICT IN PREPARING INSURANCE SPECIFICATIONS Mrs. Chapman said it has been many years since the District has had a consultant evaluate levels of insurance thoroughly. $2, 000 has been budgeted to cover the cost of working with a risk manager to evaluate the District' s levels of insurance thoroughly. A risk manager would be able to assist with preparing specifications, evaluate the proposals submitted, work with the insurance companies to make sure the District is actually getting good coverage, and to explain the policies. She contacted Ruth Jones who is a risk management consultant for small utilities. Ms. Jones submitted a letter of proposal describing the scope of her services. It was Mrs. Chapman's recommendation that the Board authorize Ms. Jones retention to assist with preparation of insurance specifications. After some discussion, Director Corbett moved that the Board accept Ruth Laidlaw Jones ' proposal of January 4 , 1989 to assist the District in preparing insurance specifications. The motion was seconded by Director White. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT POLICIES - BUDGET MANAGEMENT - COLLECTION • OF MISCELLANEOUS ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE - SAFETY POLICY After a brief review of draft #2 of the budget management policy, the Chairman directed that the Finance Committee redraft the budget 5 control policy and bring it back to the Board for consideration. The miscellaneous billing collection procedure was reviewed and, thereafter, Director Corbett moved that the policy be approved. MOTION FAILED for lack of a second. The Chairman directed the Finance Committee to redraft the proposed policy regarding collection of miscellaneous accounts receivable. After discussion of the proposed safety and loss control policy, the Chairman asked that it include a provision that the Safety Committee would report to the Board on an annual basis. It will be considered at the next regular meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, Director Corbett moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:50 P.M. The motion was seconded by Director Aguera. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT By c—N Jame A. Maass, President { Prepared by Susan M. Craig, Deputy District qXerk smc 6