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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-05-17 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING May 17, 2006 In accordance with District Code Section 2.08.010, the TDPUD minutes are action only minutes. All Board meetings are recorded on audio tapes which are preserved perpetually and made available for listening to any interested party upon their request. The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order at 7:02 PM in the TDPUD Board room by President Hemig. ROLL CALL: Directors Joe Aguera, Ron Hemig, Patricia Sutton, Tim Taylor and Bill Thomason were present. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Nancy Waters, Mary Chapman, Ian Fitzgerald, Steve Hollabaugh, Sanna Schlosser, Alan Harry, Neil Kaufman, Kim Szczurek, Kathy Neus, Ed Taylor, Barbara Cahill and Peter Holzmeister CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Steve Gross OTHERS PRESENT: Pat Davison, Juanita Schneider, John Eaton, Pete Abel, Pettit Gilwee and two other members of the public PUBLIC INPUT .. There was no public input. CONSENT CALENDAR Director Sutton asked that the item be removed from the Consent Calendar and placed under Action Items ACTION ITEMS CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTIONS SETTING WATER AND ELECTRIC STANDBY CHARGES AND REQUESTING THAT NEVADA AND PLACER COUNTIES COLLECT STANDBY FEES ON THE COUNTY TAX ROLLS. No board action. Item postponed. CONSIDERATION OF A REPORT AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON WATER SYSTEM FINANCE OPTIONS Director Sutton moved to not include the 1996 COP in any financial instrument. There was no second. The motion was not carried. Director Hemig moved and Director Aguera seconded, a motion to: 1. Approve the multi-year pipeline replacement program 2. Approve refunding the 1996 COP 3. Approve in concept issuing long-term debt related to the Donner Lake water system cost overrun in the amount of approximately $1,500,000 4. Approve in concept the adoption of a Donner Lake billing surcharge in the amount of $6.65 per month 1 Minutes May 17, 2006 5. Approve including acquisition of emergency power generators and updated SCADA equipment in a current water system debt issuance. 6. Express the Board's intent to issue new long-term water debt in the amount of approximately $27,000,000 7. Express the Board's intent to increase water rates by 6% in 2007 and 2008 (or by 5% in 2007 and 2008 and 3% in 2009). 8. Direct staff to agendize employment of bond counsel and seeking proposals for underwriter. ROLL CALL: Directors Sutton and Thomason, no; All other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF A REPORT ON PROPOSALS RECEIVED TO CONDUCT A BROADBAND CUSTOMER SURVEY Director Aguera moved and Director Taylor seconded, a motion to authorize the President of the Board to enter into a contract with Satisfaction Development Systems (SDS) for the provision of a customer survey as outlined in their proposal at a cost not to exceed $10, 000.00; and to meet with SDS to determine what type of information the board would like to receive through the survey. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF A METHOD FOR FINANCING THE PURCHASE OF A LINE TRUCK CONTRACT THROUGH CMAS Director Aguera moved and Director Taylor seconded, a motion to authorize the General Manager to purchase the new line truck using available Electric Department General Fund moneys in an amount not to exceed $170,000. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF A REPORT ON PROPOSALS RECEIVED FOR POSSIBLE AWARD OF A CONTRACT FOR ACQUISITION OF AN AERIAL ORTHOPHOTOGRAPHY/LIDAR PRODUCT Director Taylor moved and Director Thomason seconded, a motion to authorize possible award of a contract for acquisition of an Aerial Orthophotography/Lidar product: 1. Select Merrick & Company Inc. as provider for Photo and Elevation data acquisition services of LI- DAR and Aerial Orthophotography for a proposal fee of$141,909. 2. Award is contingent on both Truckee Sanitary District and Town of Truckee also selecting Merrick & Company as provider. 3. Cap the expenditures at $59,500 per agency. 4. Approve Merrick's additional Color Infra-Red, Wall Photo, Photo Book and GIS Features to aid in Environmental Impact Assessments in the amount of $33,732. 5. Fund from the approved LIDAR / Orthophoto acquisition budget of $45,000, Work Order 06-950 and from movement of budget money from one service provider (Tadpole, $14,500, cost center 1.9.740 Professional Services-data services) to the LIDAR / Orthophoto acquisition budget. This brings the funding total for the District share of the acquisition to$59,500. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF POSSIBLE SALE OF DISTRICT OWNED LAND AT HILLTOP: APN'S 19-300-16 AND 19-300-17. President Hemig told the board he had a conversation with Perry Norris of the Truckee Land Trust regarding the possible sale of the 8 acres near Cottonwood, APN's 19-300-16 and 19-300-17. Mr. Norris said the Land Trust would be interested in the parcels. They would need to perform their due diligence which may bring a purchase time frame to late summer or fall. The Board agreed to wait for the Truckee Land Trust to make a decision on this purchase. No action taken. 2 Minutes May 17, 2006 WORKSHOP ITEMS DISCUSSION OF A DRAFT DISTRICT MISSION STATEMENT AND STATEMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The Board wants time to review the notes, mission statement, objectives and goals from the workshop. This item will return as an action item on a future agenda. DISCUSSION OF DISTRICT POLICY AND PROCESS OF BILLING DEVELOPERS FOR WORK PERFORMED BY THE DISTRICT Mr. Holzmeister gave a presentation titled Work Order Billing Problem: • The District charges people for tasks: overhead to underground conversion, relocate panel, single phase to three phase, hydrant repair, fire service lateral, etc • The District needs to keep timely records • Recordkeeping has not been adequate because it is too decentralized and not well defined • Resources insufficient in the past. New staff has been added and is helping to catch up • Billable work orders could have various configurations o Pre-establish a fee for some jobs o Cost estimate jobs in some cases: collect the estimate up front with no further payment o Actual cost, develop estimate, collect a deposit, and record & bill actual costs (or refund) • Need a centralized control from a request to perform a job to the sign off on the work order, with forms given to the finance department. • Next steps for staff: close old billable work orders, submit revised policy to the Board for review and implement a paperwork control system that works. Pat Davison of Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe expressed an interest in working with District staff on the work order time line, process and fee structure. The Board asked staff to come back with a process and policy for action. DISCUSSION OF A DRAFT CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT Board comments were: • Portions of the Code should be directed at employees only, and not the board who are mandated by state law • Should there be a section regarding employee purchase of surplus materials • Request to see other agency Codes The board asked this item be continued to another workshop to give them an opportunity to read the code more thoroughly and receive examples. ROUTINE ITEMS CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES: MARCH 29, APRIL 5, 19 AND 26, AND MAY 3 AND 6, 2006 Director Thomason moved, and Director Taylor seconded, that the Board approve the minutes of March 29, April 5, 19 and 26, and May 3 and 6, 2006. ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. 3 Minutes May 17, 2006 -� TREASURER'S REPORT Approval of the report: Director moved, and Director seconded, that the Board approve the month ended April 2006. ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED Approval of disbursements: Director moved, and Director seconded, that the Board approve the April 2006 disbursements report. ROLL CALL: Director Sutton, no; All other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. STAFF REPORTS No action taken. CLOSED SESSION CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR PURSUANT TO SECTION 54956.8 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE. PROPERTY: 15670 DONNER PASS ROAD. NEGOTIATING PAR- TIES: PETER L. HOLZMEISTER AND TINO AND MARY SERRANO. UNDER NEGOTIATION: PRICE AND TERMS OF SALE. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION No reportable action. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 PM. TRUCKEE DO ER ZUTI DISTRICT A J. Ron , Pr sident Prepared by Barbara Cahill, Deputy District Clerk bhc 4 Minutes May 17, 2006 Agenda Item # 15 L TRUCKEE DONNER Public Utility 4, District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Peter Holzmeister Date: May 10, 2006 Subject: General Manager monthly report Personnel: We are now actively involved in the compensation study by responding to requests from Koff & Associates. I plan to meet with representatives of Koff on Monday, May 151 along with other members of the management staff and representatives of IBEW. We will keep the Board informed as progress continues. At the request of IBEW, I met with the electric lineman apprentice committee to help resolve a few procedural matters. The meeting was successful the apprentice committee is moving forward in good style. Steve Gross and I are still working with IBEW to resolve an old grievance related to promotions to foreman positions. The grievances have been before an arbitrator for a couple of years at this point. At the suggestion ° ,)f the arbitrator the two sides are trying to resolve a dispute over the Districts' promotional procedure. Finance Master Plan: We have a computerized finance master plan utilizing a spread sheet to project costs and revenues into the future. The product is not user friendly. When Tami Hoedeman resigned, we employed a new Senior Accountant /Analyst. Tricia Phillips will be assigned the task of getting the finance master plan into excellent working order. Structuring Human Resources: Mary Chapman and I, along with input from Nancy Waters, are clarifying the tasks and priorities of the Human Resources Administrator. There are certain HR matters that we have not been able to spend time on that can now be addressed. The list includes updating job descriptions, drafting new HR policies for submission to the Board, and managing the recruitment and promotional processes. Nancy will be busy with MOU negotiations, administering fringe benefit programs, serving on the Labor / Management Committee, working on the compensation study with Koff and Associates, maintaining personnel files and other such tasks. Financing for new water debt: Mary Chapman, Ed Taylor and I have been working on the water financing issue. We are consulting with Sandra McDonald along the way. This matter will be on the Board's agenda on May 17. Mission statement: I spent time during the past few weeks talking with Bob Rauch about the mission statement workshop. The effort paid off in that we had a productive day. This is a matter that is on the agenda for May 17 as a workshop item. We now need to carefully and thoughtfully implement the mission, goals and objectives through the budget process and through a review of District policies. —Work order billing procedures: The letter from Phil Schacht has caused us to hold a few staff meetings to review our policies and procedures regarding accounting and billing customers for work we perform for them. This too is a matter that will be on the May 17 agenda. Corporation yard: I am trying to get back to the corporation yard. I see that happening during the summer. For now I am diverted by other matters. Agenda Item # U r-' TRUCKEE r � DONNER Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Stephen Hollabaugh Date: May 12, 006 For the month of: May 2006 ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER, ELECTRIC UTILITY MANAGER POWER SUPPLY ENGINEER— Updated by Stephen Hollabaugh WAPA (Western Area Power Administration): I am still working with WAPA concerning having the Stampede Generation delivered to Truckee verses having the benefit go to Sierra �- Pacific. This generation will be a great asset to our power supply portfolio. Stay tuned to future updates. Making progress with a Federal agency can sometimes take time. NCPA: I attended a NCPA Utility Directors meeting May 11th. A number of issues are being brought up in the legislature that may have impacts on Local Control of public power systems. I will follow up on some of these items and see how they might affect the District. NWPPA E&O Conference: I attended the 2006 NWPPA E&O conference the last week of April. A number of vendors and utilities attended. There were some new construction ideas that we will look into. Power Supply: The month of April has been very wet and cold. Our load has been up compared to the forecast by about 6% year-to-date due to the weather and temperatures in Truckee. I have been able to meet our load needs with our Constellation contract and buying some amount of energy from the market at good prices. This helps in two ways. Our load is up and we are able to buy more energy at a lower price than our Constellation contract. Our WAPA contract has been performing well due to the water releases. I have been able to use this kWh value to buy power from the market to meet our customers load needs. Through April, the District has bought about 6% more energy than forecast and paid about 4% less than budgeted. Taken together, the District is about 10% under forecasted expenditures. (See the attached Purchased Power sheet that is meant to be a summary snapshot for Management and the Boards information) Page I of 2 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING — Updated by Joe Horvath 5111106 have been working on and supervising the electrical line extension designs for numerous developments projects. In addition, I have been preparing a design to extend a three phase overhead circuit to the Prosser Lakeview area from Sugar Pine Estates via Alder Creek Drive. The Alder Creek Road right-of-way is on land owned by the USDA Forest Service. I continue to prepare and modify electrical construction standard drawings and construction standard units (CUs) for job cost estimating and material staging requirements. I am programming new recloser controls for the District's Donner Lake and Tahoe Donner Substations and incorporating them into our existing electric SCADA system. ELECTRIC OPERATIONS & CONSTRUCTION — Updated by Jim Wilson 05112106 Electric Outages: Since March there have been no significant outages although we did see a couple of blinks on Easter Sunday during the heavy snow event. Work in Progress: Near the "Rock" on Brockway three spans of overhead lines were removed after completing underground cable installation. Work continues at the Donner Crest subdivision and transformers and secondary conductors are being powered up. Underground primary cables have been pulled for the Aspenwood project at Hilltop. Poles have been changed in preparation for service to the new Plumas Bank building. Insulators were replaced on the overhead line feeding Martis Dam. " Vacant Positions: The District still has three journeyman lineman positions open. To date we have received only one application. We are continuing our search for journeyman linemen in an attempt to fill the three open positions. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS - Updated by Ian Fitzgerald As in past months, the GIS department continues to produce at a high productivity level. While continuing to perform the basic maintenance of existing GIS software, hardware, and data, this month has seen even more upgrades and additions to the enterprise system. Firstly, the Server / Network upgrade is shaping up nicely. All new equipment arrived this last month, and as of this writing, the server hardware setup is complete and ready for software upgrades, network integration, and testing before going live in approximately 2 weeks time. On the data end of things, a large collaborative effort between the three large public agencies in the Truckee region began this last month with the release of an Request for Proposal for the acquisition of LIDAR and Aerial Ortho photography. Details of this project are available in this weeks agenda. Final proposals are expected by 5PM today, Friday May 12tn On a final note, the district was approached by a UNR student by the name of Kevin Johnson, also a Truckee resident about a possible internship with the GIS department. I have personally spoken with PUD management and UNR staff, and am currently writing up a job description which will be presented to the union for approval. This would be a temporary, summer internship for the months of June, July, and August. We believe this would benefit both the GIS and Engineering departments greatly, allowing all work to be performed in a more timely fashion considering the work load expected for the summer and the current work load seen today. Page 2 of 2 Truckee Donner Public Utility District chased Power April-06 April-06 06-YTD 06-YTD 06-Annual Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget Load Data Total Load-MWH(including transmission losses) 12,541 11,476 56,068 52,898 150,168,128 Peak MW 23.8 21.5 Total Load-MWH%Actual---Above or(below)Budget 9.3% 6.0% Purchases(All in MW) Total Schedule All MWH Purchases-from All Suppliers 12,899 11,476 57,367 52,898 150,168,128 Load Scheduled-Other-NCPA etc.(Market Purchases) 4,123 Load Scheduled-Constellation Energy(Block,Call, Put) 8,776 Expenditures Constellation Power Supply Cost$ $468,297 $624,415 $2,678,106 $2,161,719 $8,059,465 Sierra Pacifc Power Co.Transmission Costs$ $6,648411 $67,869 $299,322 $254,518 $893,023 NCPA Power Supply Cost from Market Purchases $129,307 $ - $186,629 $ - NCPA Scheduling $6,199 $6,200 $24,796 $24,800 $74,400 NCPA Market Purchases-Paid from WAPA Acct at NCPA ($129,307) $ - ($186,629) $ - Total Expenditures $540,980 $698,485 $3,002,224 $3,133,321 $9,026,888 %over/(Under)Budget$ -22.55% -4.18% $/MWH(Purchased) $43.14 $60.86 $53.55 $59.23 $60.11 Estimated' Agenda Item # TRUCKEE� !! . Public Utility District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Ed Taylor Date: April 12, 2006 Subject: Water Department Monthly Staff Report Water Department Capital Projects - The following is a brief summary of the projects currently underway: • District Pipeline Replacement—2006—The CEQA process was completed on April 5, with the approval of a mitigated negative declaration. Bid Openings for the project were held on April 19. On May 3, the Board rejected all bids for Contract A. The Board also awarded Contract B to Longo Incorporated. A preconstruction meeting for Contract B was held on May 12. Longo Incorporated anticipates beginning construction during the week of May 22. • Donner Lake Paving— One of the remaining issues at Donner Lake involves pavement restoration of four streets: Cedar Point Drive, Devil's Peak Road, Mt. Judah Drive and Red Mountain Road. Per the encroachment permits issued by Placer County and The Town of Truckee, the District is responsible for a pavement overlay on these streets. Jessica is working on the Contract Documents for this project. The current project schedule is given below: June 7, 2006—Board Authorization to Begin Advertising for Bids June 28, 2006—Bid Opening July 5, 2006—Award of Contract • Donner Lake 6323 Tank Landscaping — Per the Encroachment Permit issued by the Town of Truckee, the District is responsible for some tree planting at landscaping at the Donner Lake 6323 Tank site. This work was not part of the contracts awarded (and completed) last year. Jessica is working on the Contract Documents for this project. The current project schedule is currently under development. • District Pipeline Replacement— 2007— I have begun examining the planned pipeline replacement work for 2007. It is expected that some work will be in Tahoe Donner, with other portions in Sierra Meadows, Glenshire and possibly Prosser Lakeview. The GIS budget for 2006 includes LIDAR mapping of the entire District. Completion of this mapping will provide a single topographic map that covers the entire service area and 1 will greatly aid in the future production of design drawings. I am also investigating the possibility of using rehabilitation and/or lining methods to repair some of the failing pipelines. Four pipeline segments have been identified that are good candidates for a lining/rehab project. Water Department Capital Projects— Construction Inspection Mark Harrigan has been upgraded to the position of Inspector for Pipeline Construction. He will function in this position until the Fall of 2006. • Brockway Road Transmission Pipeline — Construction began on May 8. The project is currently on schedule and no change order items have been identified at this time. Developer Projects: Developer Projects—Office Engineering Mike Connell has spent time working on projects submitted by developers. As of May 12, there is no backlog. Current turn-around time is about 2-3 days. We are currently awaiting resubmittal on a number of projects. Developer Projects—Construction Inspection A number of pre-construction meeting have been held for developer projects and some projects have begun construction. Paul Rose and Mike Connell currently handling inspection of developer projects for 2006. Other Issues A presentation was made regarding the water pipeline at the intersection of Brockway Road and Martis Valley Road at the at the April 5 Board meeting. I will bring this issue back to the Board once bids have been opened. Water Department — Operations & Maintenance Maintenance: The distribution crew did snow removal the first part of April. The second part of the month time was spent on leak repair, hydrant repairs and open trenches. The leak list at this time is down to 11 as of May 81h, with 5 leaks repaired last month. I have taken one of the people doing meter repairs, and moved him to USA marking and in his spare time will be doing some meter maintenance. The other person that was doing meter repairs was moved to doing inspection work full time for the summer. Operations: The Operations Crew put Red Mountain Pump Station and Donner Lake Tank on line. They also spent time doing demo work on the Armstrong pump station which was replaced last year by Richards pump station. In April. we also pulled Martis well for pump repairs. This well should be back on line by Board meeting time. Water Quality: Water Quality has been working on the backflow program, along with his weekly sampling program. He has now started some inspection work again. Agenda Item # ,.E DONNER PUblic Utility District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Alan Harry, Manager Telecomm Services / Support Services Subject: Staff Activity Report; April 106 Date: May 10, 2006 Broadband/FITU: During the month of April 2006, the District's Broadband Initiative was discussed at regular and special Board meetings. At these meetings, the Board of Directors and I discussed the need to conduct a new market study to reevaluate the community's dedication to the project. Staff will bring a report to the Board in May to discuss the possible hiring of a market research firm to conduct a new customer survey. Further, staff met to discuss and prepare a Phase 1 of the project. This phase will be brought back to the Board in late May/early June for discussion and possible action. Support Services: In addition to day to day maintenance, purchasing, and warehousing activities, during the month of April 2006 Support Services: ➢ Filed for and received a Building Permit from the Town of Truckee for the installation of a new stand-by generator for the District's Donner Pass Road facility; ➢ Cleaned up all waste and debris caused by the late snow and heavy rains that occurred during the 1 st quarter of the year; ➢ Rearranged the 'tire barn" so as to increase its use as a storage facility for staged materials; ➢ Put into service the final vehicles approved during the 2005 budget process; ➢ Repainted and installed new window coverings in the conference room located in the southwest corner of the District's Donner Pass Road facility. With the good weather finally upon us roof repair, facility painting, interior and exterior facility improvements will commence. 0 Page 1 Agenda Item # i • w DONNE: PUblic Utility District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Scott Terrell Date: May 10, 2006 Note: Since most of these projects are ongoing, Staff continues to report the basic information and highlights the activities that have occurred during the reporting month. When a project/activity is completed it is reported,then deleted from this report. Conservation/DSM/Economic Development/Public Benefits Landscape Water Conservation Workshop Series 2006- Staff is working with Villager nursery August 12 on a Landscape Water Conservation Workshop. Staff is working with Trout Creek nursery to find a date for their workshop. Smart & Living EXPO- Staff has been meeting for the last several months organizing a green building conference titled "Smart Living Exposition" that will be held in Reno October 7. This is an annual event which grew out of the Smart & Sustainable Living EXPO held at UNR last year. The Truckee Community will be invited to this event through a TDPUD bill stuffier this Fall. Staff attended a meeting April 14 at the UNR Redfield Campus to help plan the 2006 EXPO. Green Building Tour- Last year's tour took place October 8 and included both Truckee as well as Lake Tahoe. This is a big event building upon last year's very successful event where the tour grew from about 50 people per year to over 75. The green building movement is growing which is creating more interest in the tour. Staff assists every year in updating the Green Building Resource Guide. It is becoming a Regional Guide this year and will include Truckee, Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada. The information is very helpful to our customers who want to learn more about GB measures. Planning for next year's tour will begin early this year. Green Building Assistance- Staff has been talking to several developers over their possible interest in incorporating green building measures into their subdivisions and other projects. So far I have talked to the developers of WinterCreek, Hilltop, DMB Highlands Group, Forest Service, Town of Truckee, Recreation & Parks District new Community Center, Park Service new Museum, new Sierra College campus planned for Truckee in 2008. The Sierra College Board approved making the campus a LEED Silver green building rated building and has asked staff to participate in the design process. Staff has now been asked to participate in the design of the Mill Site/Railroad Yard neighborhood project. Staff has been in touch with 0 Page 1 several of the green building project developers to stay in touch and help out anyway needed to advance the green elements of these projects. Affordable Housing- I have offered to work with WHATT in Truckee to make their projects more affordable through energy and water management strategies. I have attended some affordable housing conferences and meetings including one with a green building emphasis. Staff has been in touch with most of the area developers regarding their plans to design and build affordable housing units. Staff is in touch with Rachelle Pellisier re: WHATT's proposed affordable housing plans. Public Benefits Program- TDPUD staff prepared a Public Benefit's report for TDPUD PB programs from 1998 through 2004 for NCPA in preparation for a report CMUA is presenting to the legislature. The purpose of the CMUA report is to show the legislature that CA's public utilities have been aggressively implementing their PB programs as compared to the picture the IOU's are painting about the publics. TDPUD Staff has processed about 470 Conservation Cash Rebate program applications to date. Schools Energy & Water Conservation Education Program- This program is designed to teach both energy and water conservation to 6t' grade children and includes energy and water conservation measures the kids can install in their parent's homes. Sue Mock is responsible for teaching this program for the School District. Livingwise kits have been ordered and received for this School year. Staff gave two resource planning and efficiency presentations March 2. Ground Source Heat Pump Program- Staff is currently looking into new ideas on how to educate and promote this technology to our customers. Staff has been contacted by several developers, architects and building engineers, etc. due to their interest in possibly pursuing GSHPs for projects they will be building. Staff has been working with Meline Engineering to evaluate the potential for a GSHP system for the building. They have conducted two studies which look promising and staff has asked them to �-- prepare a proposal to do the engineering and write specifications for the project. This project is on hold until funding is available for it. Fuel Cells- Steve H. and Staff attended a fuel cell presentation given at TDPUD June 15. Delmar Networks offered a turn-key 5 Kw fuel cell for $15,000 to demonstrate fuel cell use in Truckee. Staff is currently looking at the value of such a project and whether we have now or in the future an appropriate site and application for this demonstration. Del Mar Networks has provided us with a Buy and Try option of using and demonstrating the technology at our facility for 3 months without obligation. Staff hopes to bring this fuel cell to TDPUD. This project is on hold until funding is available for it. Energy Surveys/High Bill Assistance- Staff completed 0 commercial and 1 residential energy-use analyses and/or energy survey(s) this month. Staff also responded on-site to 2 residential "high" bill complaint(s). There are currently several customers Staff is working with to help them understand and control their energy costs.Staff fields many questions by phone. Communications/Public Relations/Education Newsletter- Staff with the assistance of Gilwee PR completed the current newsletter which went out in Spring. The articles in the newsletter included: TDPUD water system, customer service programs, energy and water conservation, green building activities, the Truckee biomass project and a welcome to the two new Board members. Staff is currently working to complete the Spring newsletter. Articles in this newsletter include: Water Line Construction During 2006, Customer Service Programs, Serving Water in Truckee's Environment,Green Building and Tips for Conserving Water This Summer. Staff will begin working on a bill stuffer and the next newsletter. 0 Page 2 Community Event Marketing- Local organizations have been in contact with TDPUD staff regarding helping them publicize their 2006 activities. Bill stuffers distributed and planned for distribution this year include: Earth Day, Truckee Home and Building Show, Truckee Day, July 4 Beach Party, Truckee River Day, Kidzone Treasure Chest, Nevada County Fair, Lake Tahoe Summer Music Festival, Smart Living EXPO,Truckee Green Building Tour and a Power Content Label. Power Content Label- State law requires that all California public and private utilities supply their customers with a Power Content Label quarterly. The last PCL was mailed out 01, 2006. Water Bottle- The new TDPUD water bottle is getting a lot of attention. There have been requests for bottles to take to meetings and other events Staff has 2,000 TDPUD water bottles along with 2,000 labels to be applied to any water bottles being filled with pure, clean Truckee water. If you know of any groups or organizations that could benefit from the use of TDPUD water bottles please let staff know. Truckee Home & Building Show- Staff has been helping the Home Show staff organize another great event. Staff will give a green building presentation May 27, 2-4 p.m. at the Show and guide a Green Building Tour from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The theme again for the Show this year will be green building. Staff met with Pam Neff, Home Show organizer, to discuss bringing in more green building type businesses into the event. Community/Statewide Involvement Town of Truckee Green Building Committee- Staff was appointed to the Town of Truckee Green Building Committee. The Committee is currently working on several new projects including looking at voluntary guidelines and more educational activities and information for consumers and local building professionals. Staff attended the April 3 meeting due to an out of town meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for May 1 to discuss adopting the Build It Green New Home Construction Guidelines for educating the community on green building. Sierra Green Building Association- Staff participates in the Sierra Green Building Association in Truckee. The group educates and assists building professionals in their pursuit of building energy- efficient, economical and human and environmentally-sensitive buildings in the region. Many local building professionals are actively pursuing green building design. SiGBA organized a series of seminars and other events to assist consumers and building professionals last year. The Sigba Executive Committee meets monthly. Staff attended the April 11 meeting. Regional Sustainability Grant Proposal/Study- Staff met with a group of people in No. Nevada, Lake Tahoe and Truckee to put together a proposal that will bring in funding from the National AIA group in Washington DC to conduct a sustainable economic development study for this region. The group was recently notified that the National AIA awarded the grant/study to this region. Staff meets regularly with this group and helped form a Planning Committee made up of representatives throughout the Region which will attend the first meeting scheduled for May 15. Green Building & Economic Development- This subject is gaining a lot of interest in the Truckee/Tahoe area as an economic development tool. I have created several power point presentations on green building which cover this topic and many more. California Municipal Utilities Association Energy Services, Marketing and Legislative Committees- Staff attended the CMUA Energy Efficiency & Marketing Committee meeting in Riverside April 3, 4. The group met and discussed several issues including a lot of impending energy •Page 3 legislation. The CMUA group is also working to create a stronger relationship with NCPA and SCPPA members to work collaboratively on programs and projects. The group is planning to work collaboratively on promoting green building throughout most of the public utility service areas in California. NCPA Public Benefits Committee- Staff joined the newly formed NCPA Public Benefits committee to work with other NCPA member utilities to optimize benefits through collaboration. The group is put out an RFP to solicit bids from consultants to create a database of PB measures and their kW and kWh benefit. Bidders were interviewed in June and a contract was awarded to KEMA Consulting. NCPA member utility energy services staff has had several meetings to move this project forward. The project has been completed. This project will clarify to the CA legislature exactly how much money in being spent by each public utility on each specific area of the state-mandated public benefits program. Staff attended the April 27 meeting in Sacramento. CA Regional Water Authority- Staff began attending RWA Water Conservation Committee meetings in April, 2005. The committee is made up of water representatives of most of the water agencies in No. CA. The group works together to optimize collaborative program benefits. TDPUD's involvement with this group is dependent on whether there are funds for our participation with them in 2006. Public Renewable Partnership(PRP)- Western Area Power Administration Staff formed a group called the Public Renewable Partnership made up of about 15-20 publically-owned electric utilities throughout the State. PRP applied and received $6,000,000 in grant funding from the California Energy Commission. The grant money included funding an assessment of whether a biomass plant could be built in the Tahoe-Truckee area that could provide a reliable supply of economical electric - generation for any interested utility. The grant money also includes setting up a small-scale 15 kW biomass demonstration project. The Commissioning/Start-up and operator training took place the first week of November. The Biomax 15 unit became grid-tied and operating as of the last week in December. McNeil Technologies is submitting the Final Report on this pilot project early January and we will continue to collect data through 2006. A report on the feasibility of the larger scale(1-3 Megawatt) biomass project in Truckee is ready for Board review. Shaun Mitchell with TDRPD and Staff spoke at the April 10 APPA Engineering & Operation's Conference in Sacramento on the Truckee Biomass Project. The presentation went well with about 40 in attendance. BIG PAC- I met with a newly formed group of public agency councils(PAC) who are discussing ways to work together in their 50 plus local governments on green building issues and promotion. This group has completed it's work on Statewide voluntary Green Building Guidelines adapted from Alameda County Waste Management Authority's GreenPoints GB guidelines. The Guidelines are now being disseminated to city and county entities throughout the state and have now been adopted by the Town of Truckee. Utility Energy Forum Planning Committee- The May 3-5 UEF Conference was very successful. Staff was in charge of the organizing the Forum's Green Building pre-conference workshop which was rated very highly by participants.Staff also spoke on Truckee's Green Programs. US Green Building Association- TDPUD is a member of the USGBC. Staff attends the USGBC Annual conference at least every other year. Staff interacts with the San Fran USGBC Chapter as San Francisco activities certainly affect Truckee as many of Truckee's second homeowners are from the Bay area as well as those shopping for real estate in Truckee. This year the annual GreenBuild conference will be in Denver in November. •Page 4 Agenda Item # 15 TRUCKEE ii DONNER Public Utility District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Kathy Neus, Project Manager Date: May 9, 2006 Monthly Activity Report Andregg has finished the survey of the distribution lines that cross Fly Caster's property off Glenshire Dr.; the purpose is to clean up easements for distribution and service lines The District's attorney is sharing the survey and legal description with fly Caster's attorney and we are currently waiting on input from them. Andregg has submitted to the Town the alignment of the new parcels for the new Corporation Yard. We had heard back from the Town asking for legal descriptions and legal plats; they have received the information and we are now waiting on whether or not the Town will approve consolidating three lots and making them two. I had been working on the sale of the surplus vehicles and the different computers, monitors and etc. There was actually quite a bit of interest in the surplus equipment all the way around. Now that all the equipment that was bid on was picked up I have been checking into whether or not there are any interested parties in the rest of the goods. Unfortunately since most of the remaining equipment is non-functioning there aren't any interested parties. I received three quotes for recycling the remainder. I have also updated the preliminary title for the Donner Lake office building, printed additional copies of the Phase I Environmental and other miscellaneous items to help with the sale of the property.