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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-07-16 Min - Board JULY 16 , 1974 The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee-Donner Public Utility District was called to order by the president at 7 : 30 p.m. in the conference room of the district . ROLL CALL: J. Craig, absent, arrived five minutes late; P. Sutton, present ; D. Anderson, absent , arrived ten minutes late; R. Anderson, present ; R. Waters , present. SPECTATORS PRESENT: Marigrey Fish, Mr. & Mrs . Gene Gini , Ray Craig, George Bryson (Sierra Sun Reporter), Mrs . McDonough. EMPLOYEES AND CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Lyell Cash, Kinzie, Krajewski , Craig, ' Silva, Martin McDonough, Special Counsel , Joe Joynt, Counsel, and Jim Murphy, Alexander Grant Partner. MINUTES OF JUNE 18 and JULY 23, 1974 Because the directors had not received copies of the minutes of June 18 meeting, it was moved by Director Sutton and seconded by Director Craig that the approval of these minutes be tabled until the next regular meeting. However, this motion and second were withdrawn and it was agreed that the approval of the minutes should be placed at the end of the agenda. BILLS FOR BOARD' S APPROVAL Before continuing with this item on the agenda, Director Sutton requested that the hiring of Mr. Cash, the Interim Manager, be placed on the agenda. President Waters said that this matter will be taken up in an executive session later this evening after the agenda items are completed. Attorney Joynt advised, after being consulted by the chairman, that the decision formed in executive sessions prior to to- night' s meeting should be made public. Roy Waters announced that Mr. Lyell Cash was employed by this district on July 12 at a fee of $2 ,500 per month for a period of approximately three months to serve as Interim Manager. He also announced that Mr. Cash is retired City Manager of the City of Ukiah. The board' s action was by a 4-1 vote. Director Sutton asked what was going to happen to the contract the board was to enter into with Mr. Cash regarding his services. Mr. Waters said this matter would be taken up in executive session. Director Sutton was concerned that this subject did not appear on the agenda, which she had specifically requested. She requested that the president place the approval of Mr. Cash' s contract anywhere on the agenda. Mr. Waters said the subject would be placed at the end of the agenda, in an execu- tive session. The bills for Board' s Approval were taken up at this time. J. Craig questioned the REA payment which was explained as a quarterly loan pay- ment. The professional bills to McDonough, Kienlen, and Cook were explained by Mr. Krajewski as being billed to Dart Resorts plus overhead. Director D. Anderson questioned the accrued sick leave and vacation payments to Mr. Paulus which has already been paid and appears on the list of bills paid. Directors Craig, Sutton, and D. Anderson felt this should have been approved by the board prior to it being paid. Mr. Waters said the subject of payments of this nature would be taken up in executive session. The janitorial bill to employee Ken Sharp was discussed. Mr. Krajewski informed the board that Mr. Sharp is presently conducting the janitorial services of the office on his present wage of $5. 86 per hour. The manager was directed to look into janitorial services available to the district; possibly a high school student. In the meantime , Mr. Sharp can handle the janitorial work until the matter is resolved. Approval of the bills was tabled until after the executive session was held and the amount paid to Mr. Paulus was discussed. UTILITY TRUCK- BID OPENING The bids were opened for a utility truck and the results are : • 133 Bid Opening . . . continued Utility Body Company, Berkeley $27 ,492 . 39 1 ,649. 54 taxes 330 days delivery $29,141 . 93 Pac Power, Walnut Creek $262858 . 00 1,611 . 48 taxes 330 days delivery $28 ,469 . 48 Pac Power, ALTERNATE BID $272250. 48 All Steel utility body Heil Equipment, Sacramento $332437. 25 _--, 2 ,162 . 05 taxes 375 days delivery $35, 599 . 30 The bids were referred to the staff who will examine the bids and report back to the board with the lowest and acceptable bid. Rex Anderson moved that this be done . RESOLUTION 7406 - AUTHORIZING SOUTHERN PACIFIC EASEMENT The district applied for an easement under the Southern Pacific tracks in March 1972. It would include an easement for an existing six-inch line and the proposed ten- inch line to feed the W. River Street area. For this service, Southern Pacific is asking for $100 which Mr. Krajew- ski said was an annual expense. Since there was some question to whether this was an annual or one-time expense , the matter was referred to the district' s attorney who will prepare the proper resolution to specify this. Director Sutton requested that the location of the water line be placed in the resolution. The permit itself is to be reviewed by Mr. Joynt , also. Director R. Anderson moved that Resolution 7406 be tabled until the next regular meeting. Seconded by Sutton. All aye ; motion carried. EASEMENT REQUEST ON RIVER AVENUE WEST An easement request has been received by Mr. Paulus regarding property near South River Street. Mrs. Mae Bretthauer from Donner Pass Real Estate and representing Mr. Von Fluu, the owner, has approached Mr. Paulus requesting an easement through the PUD property located at the end of South River Street ; the district granted an easement through this parcel last year to the Nevada County for the Truckee Mobilehome Park. In a memorandum to the directors , Mr. Paulus recommended that the easement not be granted as it does not in any way benefit the district or enhance the PUD property. Director D. Anderson was asked by the Chairman if this matter would be in conflict and if he should continue with the discussion. Director D. Anderson answered that he did not feel to be in conflict of interest, but would refrain from discussion if the Chairman so ruled. He did not refrain from discussion as he did not feel in conflict. Roy Waters recommended this matter be turned over to counsel for further information. The board did not have any indication of what width easement was wanted or the location. The board also desired an opinion from Dan Cook as to the district' s potential use of the land. Director D. Anderson suggested selling the land to the owner for access . Director Sutton moved that this matter be tabled. WATER TO GATEWAY AREA Ken Kra'Jewski advised the Board that Sierra Pacific Construction Co. has begun work on water lines from the Northside Well to Donner Trails Tank. It is necessary to increase line ties in the Gateway area to assure adequate flow through the District system at the Donner Trails tank to ultimately feed the Tahoe Donner subdivision. He stated that all line sizes and ties were approved by Dan Cook and the work is in compliance with the supplemental water agreement between the district and Dart Resorts . The water will be off in the affected area on MOnday, July 22 , 1974 from 7 : 30 a.m. until approximately 1 : 00 p.m. Newspaper and radio publicity will be used and efforts will be made to tag each customer' s home with the notification. wo - Jul 16 1974 ley Page T Y Water to Gateway Area . . . continued Directors P. Sutton and Craig wondered if the Tahoe Donner water needs would be met with the water going through the district ' s system. Ken Krajewski confirmed that it is going to be impossible to distinguish which water is for Tahoe Donner and which water goes to the surround- ing subdivisions . John Craig did not think the specified water flow would be met as guarenteed to the Real . Estate Commission at the time of the supplemental agreement. POWER OUTAGES Director Sutton asked Mr. Krajewski to explain the power outages that occured on Monday, July 15. Pictures were presented to the board showing a semi-truck, due to brake failure, entangled in both power and telephone lines . The result was a broken pole and the Tahoe Donner subdivision was without power for most of the day. The accident occured on the corner of Northwoods and Northwoods in Tahoe Donner. On West River Street , a truck hit a power pole which was able to stand in use until repairs could be made later Monday afternoon. The pole I was hit at approximately 1 : 00 a.m. on Monday morning. Director Sutton inquired about reasons for numerous noticable power I dips over the 4th of July weekend. Mr. Krajewski said he had not been in town that weekend, had recieved no complaints , and was unaware of i any dips in power, but would look into the matter. MARTIN MC DONOUGH, MANAGER' S QUALIFICATIONS Mr. McDonough explained that there were no statutory laws setting forth the procedure to be followed when hiring a manager , nor any statutory qualifications for that manager. Mr. McDonough said there are standard qualifications for a manager, and that REA' s checklist f is useful. Procedures for interviewing the applicants were reviewed by Mr. McDonough. He said that the board can, by statute, interview the applicants in a confidential manner. He also suggested having Mr. Cash, or Mr. Cash k and a board member, go through the applications and narrow down the I number of qualified persons to half a dozen or so. He also suggested a committee of board members to do this . j Mr. McDonough said that many persons want to have tenure in a job; he suggested hiring a man in two job capacities , i .e . , manager and �! chief administrator. If the board desired, the job responsibility of manager could be eliminated and the man' s other capacity could be used. Pat Sutton asked Mr. McDonough if the board should finance the travel expenses for the applicants . Mr. McDonough said the board should decide one way or another before asking the applicants to appear before the board. He said that the board does have the power to pay for the travel expense of the applicants . When asked if it were a standard practice to pay expenses , Mr. McDonough said the paying of travel expenses is a common practice. Joe Joynt asked Mr . McDonough if the board could pay the moving expenses of the chosen manager. Mr. McDon- ough said it was at the discretion of the board and could be done as part of the compensation to the manager. He said, though, that his experience has been that public utilities do not pay moving expenses . Director Sutton asked if the California Municipal Utilities Assoc. or the American Public Power Assoc. had some sort of placement services or know of people available for the job . Mr. McDonough did not think ' - they had any formal placement services. Mr. McDonough said a call to Washington, D. C. , could be helpful and he could tell the board who to call there. In REA, Mr. Fitch, the Western Area Director, is in general charge of the systems in the Western states . He knows all of the manager' s in his system and may know of someone. i t I REA REPRESENTATIVE JAMES R. COULOMBE Mr. Coulombe was not present at tonight ' s meeting as he had other obli- gations . Pat Sutton said that Mr. Coulombe was present at the office for the majority of today, but had to leave to pick up reservations in 9i 35 Page Three - July lb, 1974 James R. Coulombe . . . continued Portola. He did talk with Mrs. Sutton and Mr. Cash during his visit, and was available to talk with other directors had they wished to do so. ALEXANDER GRANT AUDITORS Mr. Jim Murphy from Alexander Grant was present . He stated that around the first of July, Tom Paulus called requesting a verifi- cation of his sick leave and vacation pay. He said the Board of Directors wished this done . This was done along with a cash count of cash on hand in the office on Monday, July 15, Mr. Paulus ' last day. D. Anderson asked Mr. Murphy to what extent are the financial matters usually reviewed in instances similar to this . He said that unless the board has a suspician, there is not much more that the auditors can do than what they have already done . They verified that the money that is supposed to be in the office is there. Mr. Murphy said that when a person has total control of the finan- cial matters as did Mr. Paulus, the district could audit itself "to death" and not find anything. He said that it is nearly impos- sible to find anything improper because it is so easy to hide. Mr. Murphy did not recommend having the manager doing the accounting functions of the district as it did not present enough control. Director Sutton asked Mr. Murphy if his firm would be in the posi- tion to make a recommendation on what type of billing machine the district would purchase if that is decided. He said that they could and that they have helped other companies do the same thing. Their job would include helping the district find the best machine available for the type of work, help with the installation, and then work out any problems . John Craig asked what type of employee training has to be done when changing systems , Mr. Murphy said that the smaller electronic systems can be operated by employees that have received traning. Regarding additional audit work on the books , the board decided not to go to the expense of auditing the books further. Mr. Murphy said for the money, he would rather help the district set up a "' new accounting system. Mr. Craig asked Mr. Murphy if he thought the district needed a full-charge bookkeeper to handle the district' s accounts. Mr. Murphy said that this was a must. The monthly salary of a full-charge bookkeeper was estimated at $900-$1, 000 per month. Mr. Murphy said that a degree in accounting is not always necessary. John Craig asked if the board should let the new permanent manager decide what to do with the bookkeeping . or if the board should make a decision before then. D. Anderson asked who, in the meantime, will catch the books up as Becky Craig is presently posting entries for April and the financial statements for June should be out by now. Becky Craig told the board that the books will be caught up by the end of July. Mr. Cash said that if the books are not caught up by the time the new manager is hired, then that would be a good time to hire someone to catch the accounts up. He said that if the books are caught up when the manager is hired, then that would also be a good time to look into another method of accounting to make the bookkeeping easier. Mr. Murphy -was asked if the sick leave and vacation pay received by Mr. Paulus was verified by his firm. He said that they did review the total number of hours in the pay-off but did not actually calculate it into money amounts. Although the board requested that the auditors confirm the days in accordance with applicable reso- lutions and ordinances , this was not done by the Alexander employees because these instructions did not reach them. D. Anderson did not feel that would be the auditors function. Mr. Murphy said that he was not aware of any policies for employees . He said that the first thing the board should do when it has the time is to adopt a set of personnel policies and publish them so that this problem does not come up again. Director Sutton wanted to see a recommendation from the auditing firm regarding a financial statement that shows revenues received. Mr. Cash told the board that he hoped he could present the board with the accounts that have been underbudgeted and explain why they were Page Four - Jul lb 1974 a , 3(o Alexander Grant . . . continued overspent and work out a combined operation from there. He stated that when the accounting is caught up , the monthly financial state- ments would mean more to the board. It was agreed that whenever Becky Craig needs assistance with a problem regarding the accounts , she may call the auditors . MINUTES OF JUNE 18 , 1974 Roy Waters gave the directors copies of the minutes of June 18 , 1974. Director D. Anderson asked that at the bottom of page one and recon- r-- vened in the School District office. " be added after the sentence beginning, "The meeting adjourned for ten minutes ." Director R. Anderson moved that the minutes of June 18 be approved as corrected. Seconded by D. Anderson. All aye ; motion carried. f i i MINUTES OF JULY 25, 1974 Director Craig requested that on page two, Qualifications of a Manager, the last sentence in the second paragraph under the heading, be added "Mrs. B. Craig" so that people would not think that that was his wife. It read "Mrs. Craig" prior to the request. It was moved by Director Craig and seconded by -Director R. Anderson that the corrected minutes be approved. All aye ; motion carried. f FIBREBOARD BILLING The directors were sent copies of a letter from Fibreboard Corporation regarding the change in billing to the lumber mill. They were in the past billed as if the kilowatt hours used were under one point of delivery; however, there are three separate points of delivery to the mill. The single point of delivery billing is to Fibreboard' s advantage as it results in a lower rate schedule . Fibreboard has objected to the separate billings and wrote a letter of protest requesting that a new rate schedule be prepared to benefit both _ Fibreboard and the district . Fibreboard felt combining the three points , as Mr. Paulus recommended be done in earlier -correspondence , would be costly for both parties . The matter was referred to Mr. Cash and Mr. Joynt. Director Sutton requested a copy of the existing rules and regulations for electric service Oarticularly those referring to disconnection of power for non-payment on account. Mr. Cash said he would like to gather this information and put it into one package or booklet for employees , directors , and consumers. D. Anderson thought that many times this is done under one ordinance. Mr. Cash did not feel this was feasible due to the many amendments that would be made. Joe Jo nt attorneyfor the district, resented a letter that the 'y Board Equalization. Assembly district received from the State z• q y Bill 1575 has passed the legislature and will become effective January 1, 1975. The Bill provides for the collection of a tax amounting to . 0001 of a mill per kilowatt hour. The tax will have to be added to the customer' s monthly bill and shown as such. Quarterly the tax will have to be reported and paid to the State Board of equalization. As yet, in Mr. Joynt ' s opinion, the money collected does not have a specific use ; it will be deposited in a special account of the Board of Equalization and decided by legis- lature what it will be used for. A meeting is scheduled for July 25 r-- in Sacramento which explains the tax and its collection. The board decided that the interim manager should be directed to attend the meeting and subsequently a notice will be circulated explaining the tax to the consumers . Director D. Anderson brought the subject of signing the PUD checks up for discussion. Prior to July 15 , Mr. Paulus and the chairman of the board co-signed the checks . Director D. Anderson suggested having two board members sign the checks rather than the interim manager. Mr. Waters objected to this as he wished that the manager and a director signed the checks . After much discussion, it was decided to have Roy Waters, Rex Anderson and Pat Sutton, any two combination of the three, sign the checks . It was moved by Director D. Anderson l cr. Page Five - July 16, 1974 3f7 Check signing . . . continued and seconded by Director Craig that Directors Roy Waters , Pat Sutton and Rex Anderson be authorized by the board to sign the district checks. Any two combination of the three may sign the checks . ROLL CALL: J. Craig, aye ; D. Anderson, aye ; P. Sutton, aye ; R. Anderson, aye ; R. Waters , aye. So moved. Attorney Joynt was asked to check into the bonding of the interim manager. He was sure that the bond on the prior manager would cover Mr. Cash. Director Sutton brought up the passage of A.B. 2890 which was ini- tiated by the District and presented to the Assembly by Assemblyman Chappie. On July 11 , the governor signed the bill . Mr. Joynt was not sure if the bill will become effective 30 days after the signing by the governor or January 1, 1975 . Mr. Joynt has written to Assembly- man Chappie , and the board asked that Mr. Cash also write him thank- ing him for his participation in this matter. INTERIM MANAGER' S CONTRACT Mr. Cash presented a service contract for adoption by the board, a copy of which is attached as part of the minutes. The contract has been examined and approved by Mr. Joynt for legal form only, not content. Director R. Anderson asked what would happen if the district needs Mr. Cash' s services longer than the prescribed length of time (July 15 to October 15) . Mr. Cash said that should the recruitment procedure take shorter or longer than 90 days , then he would be happy to make the adjustment. Director Craig moved that Mr. Cash' s contract be approved. Seconded by Director D. Anderson. ROLL CALL: J. Craig, aye; D. Anderson, aye; P. Sutton, aye; R. Anderson, aye; j R. Waters , aye. So moved. Mr. Joynt advised the board that the Clerk of the Board must attest all contracts. Previously the manager of the district has served as Clerk. Chairman Waters appointed Rex Anderson as temporary Clerk and Ex-Officio Secretary to the board. All aye ; so appointed. Director D. Anderson moved that the regular meeting be adjourned. Seconded by R. Anderson. At 11 : 05 , the meeting adjourned for a ten- minute break and reconvened into executive session. Following the Executive Session, the Board reconvened the meeting to regular session. BILLS FOR BOARD' S APPROVAL Director D. Anderson moved that the bills be approved with the exception of the two amounts to Tom Paulus for sick leave and vacation payments which will be discussed at future meetings . Seconded by Director Craig. ROLL CALL: J. Craig aye ; D. Anderson, aye ; P. Sutton, aye; R. Anderson, aye; R. Waters , no. Roy Waters announced that a special meeting will be held prior to the next payday to approve the checks for the employees . Director Sutton opposed this as the board had earlier agreed that payroll did not have to be approved by the board prior to payment because the employees are paid according to the union contract which is approved by the board. Director Sutton said if a meeting was held, she would not be in attendance. In this case, Mr. Waters said that the employees will not be paid until following the next regular meeting. It was moved by Director Craig and seconded by Director R. Anderson that the meeting be adjourned. Roy Wa s , president of t e Board 0 Merri yn Kinzi Recording ecretary Page Six - July 16 , 1974 13� STATEMENT OF GENERAL FUND Bank Balance - 7- 1- 74 12 ,623. 22 Deposits 38 , 359. 97 Approved Billings 7 , 570 . 38 Petty Cash 40 . 73 IBEW union dues 84. 50 Delta 14. 13 State Board of Equalization Franchise Tax 1,083.04 REA 159737. 32 Nevada Pump S.M. pump 300 .00 Sun Printing (3. 85) POWWA Tom Paulus sick leave payoff 31026 . 77 " vacation 11310 . 70 (29 , 163. 72) PAYROLL 7-15- 74 DT OT STANDBY GROSS NET Sharp 164. 08 35 . 16 58.60 840 .91 549. 41- ($67. 39 - Janitorial) Paulus - final 813. 75 651. 10 Lopez 26 .60 99 . 25 711 . 55 497.60 Reynolds 49 .90 66 . 50 701 .60 523. 54 Silva 10 . 73 639 . 93 507. 53 Krajewski 623. 87 471. 14 Straub 18.66 566 . 02 403. 85 Grow 19 . 96 551 . 96 428 . 85 Morgan 8. OS 480 . 61 345 . 88 Connell 433. 26 309 . 48 Drace 10 . 70 428. 70 321. 63 Barry 389 . 84 318. 53 Craig 53. 01 380 . 37 283. 02 Kinzie 33. 73 338. 21 268. 94 Kirchner 268. 40 194. 72 Rose 3. 00 290 . 28 221. 30 (6 ,296 . 52) 190 .68 242 . 90 224. 35 8459 . 26 Bank Balance - 7- 16- 74 15 ,522 .95 BILLS FOR BOARD' S APPROVAL Anixter Pruzan washers , clamps , pins 12350 . 72 Allied Automotive towels , battery cable 14. 44 Alpha Hardware misc. 310 . 57 Cook Associates inspection fees 1, 720 . 51 Crown Life 109 . 04 Collection Consultants 43. 16 Daycoa vapor lamps 309 . 39 Dictaphone maint. agreement 23. 28 Geo. E. Hunn socket sentry 139 .92 Hydro Search 65% completed 11133 .96 IBM ribbons 19 .08 Joe' s Truckee Auto vehicle maint. 374. 29 Kiplinger sub . renewal 28 .00 Martin McDonough prep. for EIR meeting 332 . 83 Murray, Burns , & Kienlen " ititit315 . 30 Curtis Noll screw caps 25 . 86 Multigraphics frames & plates 56 . 69 Nevada Safety Supply safety glasses 17. 69 Osburns Super Service gas 9 . 95 011ies Texaco gas 91 . 30 O'Hair Supply repair clamps , gate valve 1109S . 00 Pacific Telephone telemetering 75 .60 RTE transformers 1 , 205 .96 Specialty Oxygen 5 . 40 Superior Switchboard test switch 65 .92 San Francisco Chronicle interim manager ad 40 . 68 Tahoe Donner Martin McDonough' s room 16 . 80 Taylor Tires tires , repairs , balancing 97. 76 Truckee Tahoe Lumber material for meter testing room 177. 10 U. S. Leasing postage machine 25 . 26 Walker' s Togger boots for K. Sharp 14. 79 Walt' s Exxon gas 32 . 50 The Western Hdwe . & Tool safety straps , misc. 68. 78 %-.pacjt Jag Bills -for Board's Approval continued Page Two - July 16 , 1974 Wedco conduit 17. 71 Western Nevada Supply couplings 411 . 20 Vai l' s Pharmacy film, earplugs , copper sulfate 21 . 61 Sangamo 3 ,281 . 36 Sun Printing 3 . 85 (13 ,083. 26) Bank Balance after payment of above 29439 .69 I CONTRACT FOR CONSULT I G SI_;RV I CES This :`agreement made this 16th day of 19749 by and between the Truckee - Donner Public Uti 1 i ty District , acting; by and through its Board of 'Directors , hereinafter referred to as ,I)istrictl , aiid I.1-el.l C . gash , �-turzicipal Consultant , hereinafter reforred to as "Con-- suitant" . 1�r 1 TN L S IS F. 'I' l l 4MAW 1 4/0 i WHEREAS, the District does not , at the present time , have a permanent Manager and is in need of, on an interim basis , assis- tance in the administration of the affairs of the District , and WHEREAS , Consultant is experienced in the administration of electric and water utilities and the personnel required there- fore . NOW, THEREFORE, the parties agree as follows : For consideration hereinafter set forth , Consultant will furnish to District the following services : 1) He will act as interim Manager for District and con- duct the day-to-day affairs of District , subject to the laws and ordinances pertaining thereto , and under the direction of the Board of Directors, during the term of this Agreement . 2) He will coordinate the activities of the District . 3) He will analyze and make recommendations regarding budgeting matters , District operations , and administration. g g 4} He will coordinate the activities relating to the recruitment of a permanent Manager . S) He will handle such other matters not hereinabove f specified which may be requested by District . 6) In consideration thereof , District will pay to Consultant the sum of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2 , 500 . 00) per month and will furnish to Consultant a District car for his use in conducting the affairs of District . 7) The term of this agreement shall be from July 1S , 1974 , to October IS , 1974 , inclusive . 8) It is understood that Consultant is an independent ntractor and that District is not responsible to Consultant for�c o , , Workmen s Compensation Insurance , retirement , Vacation or Sick time or any other items of fringe benefits ordinarily payable to an ' employee . IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties hereto have hereunto set • - 1- 144 -4 4 } ^- A t r a , their hand the day and the year first above written. +e TRUCKEE-DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT { Press ent t e oar IDir-ectors LYELL C. -,CASH t. Cons tant ATTEST: Cler an Ex- icio Secr tart' - 2- f