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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-05-02 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING -- May 2, 2001 In accordance with District Code Section 2 08 010, the TDPUD_minutes are action only mutes All Board meetings are recorded on audio tapes which are preserved perpetu ally and made available for listening to any interested party upon their request The regular meeting of the Board t Directors of the Truckee Donner Board room by President Maass. Utility District was called to order at 7:04 PM ' he ROLL CALL: Directors Joe Aguera, James Maass, Patricia Sutton, Nelson VanGundy and Ron Hemig were present. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Stephen Hollabaugh, Joe Horvath, Mary Chapman, Alan Harry, Peter Holzmeister, Neil Kaufman, Ed Taylor and Susan Craig. CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Attorneys John Murphy and Dennis DeCuir; Engineering Consult- ant Keith Knibb. OTHERS PRESENT: Among those present in the audience were Charlie White, John Byrne, Juanita and Frank Schneider, Marge Adkerson, Leonard and Laura Wait, Dirk Mellema, Roger Terneuzen and Lin Zucconi. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. CONSIDERATION OFER RELATING TO FORMATION OF THE DONNER LAKE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 00-1 Director Van Gundy excused himself from the room because of a possible conflict relating to the Donner Lake issues. Karen Lowell and Mr. Holzmeister have finalized the Donner Lake Water System Assessment district Engineer's Report. To date, the following has taken place: • The preliminary engineer's report was prepared and adopted by the Board. • Ballots were mailed announcing a protest hearing. • Some property owners called and made requests for review of their proposed assess- ments. • The protest hearing was conducted and there were a number of requests for further re- view of proposed assessments. Manager Holzmeister reviewed with the Board reductions granted to about 40 property owners. Some of these properties will not be served by the new system; some lots were combined; there were several parcels with very small rental units; 28 of the parcels along South Shore Drive are split between two counties and should receive only one assessment. The Recreation and Park District's assessment was reduced because the facilities are used for only a portion of the year. 5/2/01 Pagel Relating to small multi-family dwellings, a formula was developed that allotted the main house on a parcel a full dwelling unit equivalent and each additional unit received a half DUE assess- ment. There were appeals of proposed assessments from Geraldine Bonano, Donner Lake Village, parcels that are vacant and parcels served by private wells. These appeals were denied. Mr. Holzmeister explained how the Wolfe Estates/Donner Lake Woods proposed assessments were calculated. A copy is attached for reference. He is not recommending any change in these assessments. Relating to formation of Donner Lake Assessment District No. 00-1, Director Aguera moved, and Director Hemig seconded,oth� �t t the Board a L CALL: Van Gundy, absent; all other Directors,opt the final report f the sr including the recommended modifications. d aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION MAKING DETERMINATIONS, CONFIRMING AS- SESSMENTS AND ND OF IMPROVEMENTSS A A TAKING CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO DON ER LAKE WATER ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 00-1 Special Counsel John Murphy reviewed the proposed resolution. If adopted, the Board will be deciding to levy assessments according to the engineer's report; acquire the Donner Lake water system; and accept lump sum payment during a 30-day period and establish the procedure for so notifying property owners. .-� Director Hemig moved, and Director Sutton seconded, that the Board adopt Resolution No. 2001-09 making determinations, confirming assessments and proceedings, ordering the acquisition and construction of improvements and taking certain other actions relating to Donner Lake Water Assessment District No. 00-1. ROLL CALL: Van Gundy, absent; all other Directors, aye. SO RESOLVED. PUBLIC HEARING — Opportunity for the owner of the Donner Lake water system to ap- pear and be heard regarding the District's intent to acquire, by eminent domain,the water system of the Donner Lake Water Company The Manager explained that this is a hearing for Bob Fortino, owner of the Donner Lake water system, to address the Board regarding the District's intent to consider condemnation of the system. It is not a public hearing in the usual sense of that term; however, any member of the public is permitted to address the Board on this issue. The public hearing was opened at 7:40 PM. Frederick Girard, counsel for Donner Lake Water Company, voiced objections and denials relat- ing to the adoption of a resolution of necessity. A letter containing these issues is attached for reference. Special Counsel DeCuir reviewed the proposed resolution declaring the public interest and ne- cessity for the acquisition of certain properties, being the water system of the Donner Lake Wa- ter Company. He went over each section and noted amendments that will be made to the final document. Mr. DeCuir distributed copies of the Public Utilities Commission's resolution and or- der authorizing implementation of mandatory conservation and rationing, placing a service 5/2/01 Page 2 moratorium on new connections, ordering the filing of a service improvement plan, audit of Don- ner Lake Water Company's books and business practices, and immediate correction of deficient facilities. He also provided a copy of the California Department of Health Services' letter written to Lahontan WQCB re the DLWC improvement project. It includes information relating to the CEQA exemption for emergency replacement of the lake intake and information on system de- mands, expected water outages and fire flows. Copies of these documents are attached. Manager Holzmeister explained the plan to eliminate the Donner Lake boil water order and sys- tem rehabilitation. To eliminate the boil water order, the following would occur: modification of the lake intake; replacement of the transmission line and storage tank; installation of a tempo- rary mobile filter plant; modification of the intertie. The three-year program for system rehabilita- tion would be as follows: abandon the lake intake and institute use of groundwater; development of a new well to increase source capacity; construction of a transmission line and pump station to tie Donner Lake to the TDPUD system; construction of a transmission loop around the lake and storage tanks in two pressure zones; replacement of all distribution lines (with the exception of Wolfe Estates and Donner Lake Woods); size the system for fire protection; operate and maintain the new Donner Lake water system from Truckee. The audience was invited to address the Board. There were no comments and the hearing was closed at 8:32 PM. CONSIDERATIONHE WATER SYSTEM OF THE ION OF NECESSITY TO ACQUIRE BY EMI- NENT DOMAIN DONNER LAKE WATER COMPANY Director Hemig moved, and Director Sutton seconded, that, subject to amendments by Special Counsel DeCuir, the Board adopt Resolution No. 2001-10, a resolution of necessity declaring the public interest and necessity for the acquisition of certain properties, being the water system of the Donner Lake Water Company. ROLL CALL: Van Gundy absent; Aguera, Hemig, Sutton and Maass, aye. SO RESOLVED. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A SHORT-TERM INTER-FUND LOAN FOR FUNDING TO ACQUIRE THE DONNER LAKE WATER SYSTEM Now that the Board has approved the Resolution of Necessity to acquire the Donner Lake water system by eminent domain, the District will ask the court to grant immediate possession. This will require a deposit with the court the amount of money believed to be fair compensation. Eventually, the cost of acquisition will be rolled into the long-term financing of the water system, but that financing is not yet arranged. Director Hemig moved that the Board authorize the deposit an amount not to exceed $800,000 from the Electric Building Fund to the Donner Lake Water System, said loan to be paid off at the time long-term financing is arranged and paying an interest rate based on the LAIF rate during the term of the loan. ROLL CALL: Van Gundy, absent; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. Director Van Gundy returned to the meeting. CONSIDERATION OF A DRAFT AUDIT REPORT OF THE DISTRICT'S FINANCIAL STATE- MENTS FOR THE YEAR 2000; POSSIBLE ACTION This item was put over to the next meeting. BROADBAND BUSINESS PLANNING PROCESS 5/2/01 Page 3 • Consideration of a report on visit to Glasgow, Kentucky; possible action • Consideration of authorizing staff to secure proposals for design engineering, financ- ing and bond counsel services • Consideration of adopting a master service element and authorizing the submission to Nevada County LAFCo The Board watched a video about the broadband business operated by the public utility in Glas- gow, Kentucky. Director of Telecommunications Services, Alan Harry, noted that the Glasgow Electric Power Board entered the broadband business because it was in need of a SCADA system, the com- munity was not satisfied with the incumbent cable TV provider and data services are a logical extension of the electric industry. The EPB now has approximately 75% of the cable TV market and 42% of its customers subscribe to data customer serviceThey have the lowest cable television rates High speed data service is a tool to recruit ever and are able to give top notch new industry. Roger Terneuzen of USAMedia noted there are many public utilities that have failed in the tele- communications business. He mentioned Eugene, Oregon as an example. Also, he presented a news article, "Study Sees Hard Road For Cable Over builders." a copy is attached. It was noted that the District's telecommunications business planning process began three years ago with two related goals in mind: (1) develop an advanced SCADA system that would allow us to manage our water and electric systems more efficiently and (2) create a "smart community" in Truckee. Navigant Consulting was retained to prepare a business case analysis to define how the District could develop an advanced broadband system to meet those goals. in that process staff learned about the inadequacy of current levels of service in Truckee, that there is a in Truckee for access to high-speed data services and that there is considerable in- terest in having improved cable television service. When the first business case analysis was developed, it suggested that the District build a fiber optic backbone network with coaxial cable reaching to the customers. On this system we would operate our water and electric SCADA systems and provide high-speed data services and im- proved cable television service. The business case analysis showed that this set of services is needed in Truckee and would be financially supported by the revenue streams. The District then retained Vectren Consultants to perform a validation study of the Navigant study. Vectren verified the conclusions of the Navigant study and suggested that the District consider adding voice telephone service to the mix of services offered on the broadband net- work. This recommendation increased the estimated capital cost of the broadband system from the original $8,000,000 to approximately 14,000,000. It also concluded that the revenue streams resulting from the provision of services would support the investment and operation of the broadband system. The addition of telephony pushed the investment significantly higher and introduced a new ele- ment of risk. It also began to tie TDPUD to Vectren for the long-term. Paul Norsel, a member of the LAFCo review committee, raised questions about the assumptions in the Vectren report that needed to be answered. Staff began a new due diligence process that included a trip to Glas- gow, Kentucky to see a broadband system with several years of operating experience by a pub- lic power agency. Director Van Gundy, Alan Harry and Peter Holzmeister came away from Glas- 5/2/01 Page 4 Glasgow with the view that it would be advisable to return to the basic plan: SCADA and smart community. Eliminate telephony for now. What this would accomplish is: • Returns the District to its utility roots. The SCADA system is needed for utility operations. • Returns TDPUD to the "smart community" concept wherein high-speed movement of data is the goal. • Reduces the investment back to about$8,000,000. • Reduces the business risk posed by the new and immature CLEC world. • Permits the District to deal with design consultants other than Vectren. • Eliminates the need to consider funding participation by Vectren and a long-term stream of payments to Vectren. The Board directed Mr. Harry to update the proposed expense and revenue projections. Fur- ther, Director Hemig moved that the Manager be authorized to initiate dialogue with various consultants regarding design and financing of the broadband system. The motion was seconded by Director Van Gundy. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. F A LETTER OF CREDIT AND LINE OF CONSIDERATIONURPOSES OF APPROVING O IMPLEMENTING THE WHOLESALE POWER CONTRACT CREDIT FORFOR BETWEEN THE DISTRICT AND IDACORP ENERGY Mrs. Chapman presented revised copies of the documents that must be executed in order for U. S. Bank to issue an irrevocable standby letter of credit to Idaho Power Company on the Dis- trict's behalf. Counsel Steve Gross will be issuing an opinion letter regarding the District's ability to enter into these agreements. The Administrative Services Manager stated she believes there is no problem with the District meeting the financial requirements. Director Van Gundy moved, and Director Hemig seconded, that the Board adopt Resolution No. 2001-11 approving the agreement with U. S. Bank National Association to issue an irrevocable standby letter of credit to Idaho Power Company. ROLL CALL: all Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDIN- STALLATION OF CONDUIT ON ION OF I THE NEW BRIDGE ACROSS 1NG A CONTRACT WITH -8 NEAR DONNER STATE STALLATION PARK CalTrans is replacing the existing Donner Park Overcrossing Bridge with a new structure this spring. The District has existing conduits in place on either side of the bridge for future electric distribution and telecommunications circuits that were installed as part of joint projects with Wil- liams Communications and Southwest Gas. In order to tie the conduits together in the most economical way possible, conduits should be installed on the new bridge during this construc- tion project. This will allow for future undergrounding of existing overhead circuits at a fraction of the cost of a conduit installation project initiated after the bridge is built. Director Aguera moved, and Director Van Gundy seconded, that the Board authorize the Gen- eral Manager to sign the utility agreement with CalTrans providing for the installation of electric and communication conduits in the new bridge at the 1-80 — Donner Park Overcrossing. All Di- rectors, aye, by voice vote. 5!2/01 Page 5 CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 1, 7 AND 21 AND APRIL 4, 2001; POSSI- BLE ACTION Director Hemig moved, and Director Van Gundy seconded, that the Board approve the minutes of March 1, 7 and 21 and April 4, 2001. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. TREASURER'S REPORT Approval of monthly report Approval of disbursements Director Hemig moved that the Board approve the monthly Treasurer's report. The motion was seconded by Director Van Gundy. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Director Van Gundy moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the dis- bursements. ROLL CALL: Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CLOSED SESSION Since there was no new information to discuss in closed session, the Board postponed these items. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:12 PM. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT Ja es A. Maass, Pr ident P pared b Susan M. raig, Deputy District Clerk smc 5/2/01 Page 6