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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-04-01 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING April 1, 1985 The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order by Vice President Maass at 7:02 P.M. in the TDPUD Board Room. ROLL CALL: Directors Cooley, Corbett, Hamilton and Maass were present; Director Duffy was absent due to business in San Jose. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Tom Buckhouse, Peter Holzmeister and Susan Craig. ! CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Counsel John M. Phelps. OTHERS PRESENT: Among those present were Wendy Riley, Dave Toussaint, John Scott, Bill Lange, Christine Napolitano and Dick VanLandingham. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director Corbett moved, and Director Hamilton seconded, that the minutes of March 4, 1985 be approved as written. All Directors, aye, by M085/56 voice vote. SO MOVED. Director Corbett asked if the laws regulating closed session matters had changed recently. After some discussion, Counsel Phelps indicated he would check and report back to the Board. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Cooley seconded, that the Secretary be directed to prepare the minutes of March 11 and 18, 1985 in M085/57 final form as written. SO MOVED by voice vote. BILLS FOR APPROVAL AND STATEMENT OF GENERAL FUND There were no questions relating to either the Statement of General Fund or the bills presented for consideration. Director Cooley moved, and Director Hamilton seconded, that the bills be approved for payment. All M085/58 r---- Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. MANAGER'S REPORT Conference - Organizational Excellence Manager Holzmeister reported on an Organizational Excellence conference he attended recently in Fresno which was based on the book, "In Search of Excellence." He noted the elements of excellence - action orientation; close to customers; autonomy/entrepreneurship; employee orientation; values; missions, goals and competence; structure; and political relationships. Mr. Holzmeister indicated he would be asking permission to conduct a survey of customers' perceptions, wants and needs, and also will be asking the Board to re-evaluate the missions and goals established prior to his employment with the District. U. S. Product Safety Commission The Manager advised he received a letter last week from the U.S. Product Safety Commission in Washington. The Commission has designated May as electric safety awareness month, and has asked electric utilities to cooperate by making customers aware of electrical hazards. They have provided a questionnaire to guide homeowners and residents in locating and correcting hazards. He stated he would like to make the questionnaire ,--. available to the District's customers and indicated the cost would be minimal compared to the benefits. Authorization to proceed was given by consensus. PUBLIC INPUT Customer billing Bill Lange and Christine Napolitano introduced themselves. They reside in Olympic Heights at 11927 River View Court, and are served both electricity and water by the District. Mr. Lange said they have lived on River View for five months and, during that period, have received four adjustments on their PUD bills which necessitated either calling or Pg. 1 visiting the District in order to determine the reason for the adjustment. The first adjustment was in the amount of $15 for a hook-up fee; the second, a $15 fee, was a mistake; the third, in December, was a credit resulting from the previous month's mistake. His last month's bill showed a $25 adjustment. Upon contacting the District he learned this charge was for tampering - both meter seals were broken. The adjustment was to test the meter to make sure it was running correctly (which it was) , and to reseal the meter. Mr. Lange stated he did not tamper with the meter, and was not told he was responsible for the meter. He suggested the bills state the reason for adjustments. He also expressed concern because he didn't feel responsible for someone else tampering with the meter. Manager Holzmeister noted that it is the District's standard procedure to implement the $25 charge in cases such as this, and that a letter of explanation should have been sent. He explained the problem the District has experienced with electrical theft and the resultant policy. He agreed that, when tested, the Lange/Napo1itano meter tested at 100% accuracy. Director Cooley moved that the Board waive the $25 charge for testing and resealing in this instance as the letter of explanation was not M085/59 sent to Mr. Lange by the District; seconded by Director Hamilton. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. CORRESPONDENCE There was no correspondence discussed by the Board. COMMITTEE REPORTS Director Maass noted the District received a letter requesting notification of all committee meetings of the TDPUD in accordance with California Government Code Section 54952.3 He noted this particular section does not apply to committees where less than a majority of the Board is in attendance. He quoted from the Attorney General's opinion which states that a legislative body, as defined in the section, does not include a committee composed solely of members of the governing body of a local agency which are less than. a quorum of such governing body. In general terms, the concept of the Brown Act does not apply to meetings of committees of less than a quorum of the legislative body of the local agency. This is because the findings of such a committee have not been deliberated upon by a quorum of the legislative body, and consequently, the opportunity for a full public hearing and consideration of the committee's findings and recommendations by a quorum still remains. Hence the public's rights under the Act are still.protected. It was concluded that public notification of committee meetings is not required by the Government Code. CONSIDERATION OF STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS AND POSSIBLE AWARD OF BID ON TAHOE DONNER SUBSTATION IMPROVEMENTS At the last meeting, Mr. Holzmeister reported, the Board considered the bids submitted for the Tahoe Donner Substation and staff's recommendation to reject the bids for the purpose of including the Martis Valley Substation and refining the specifications. The matter was referred back to staff for further recommendation after hearing the concerns of the second lowest bidder, Densil Dawson. Since that meeting, staff discussed the entire issue with Mr. ---� Dawson. Mr. Holzmeister recommended that all bids for the Tahoe Donner Substation improvements be rejected; that all bidders be reimbursed $100 for the cost of a bid bond; that the Tahoe Donner Substation project be bid in 1986; and that the specifications be modified and the Martis Valley Substation project be bid this spring. He indicated if the recommendation is followed, the District will save in excess of $10,000, as the roadway was over designed and the specifications should be amended, and Mr. Dawson's concerns will also be satisfied. After some discussion, Director Hamilton moved, and Director M085/60 Corbett seconded, that the Board reject all bids for the Tahoe Donner Pg. 2 I Substation improvements and rebid the project in 1986 as revised; that the specifications be modified and the Martis Valley Substation project be bid this spring; and that. the bidders be reimbursed the cost of their bid bonds. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. Counsel Phelps noted that the record should clearly show that the District has no obligation to refund the cost of the bid bonds to the contractors, but is doing so in this instance because the specifications approved by the District were incorrect. Bidders are to be asked to provide proof of the amount expended for their bonds. SALE OF DISTRICT OWNED LAND - POSSIBLE DIRECTION Mr. Holzmeister referred to his memo of March 29th which sets forth two possible procedures for selling the 1.9 acres of land at the intersection of Highway 89 and Donner Pass Road. A copy has been attached to these minutes for reference. Negotiation is the first procedure suggested. A public notice stating that the District will sell the land, will be appointing a qualified real estate agent to represent the District, and. will be holding a public hearing before initiating the process in order to receive public comment would be placed in the newspaper. The public hearing would be held; the process would be modified if public comment so justified, real estate agents would be interviewed and one selected; guidelines would be provided to the agent; the agent would negotiate the sale and bring the proposal to the Board for consideration. The second procedure suggested was bidding and negotiation. The District would advertise for bids; accept bids and sell to the highest bidder over $500,000. If no bids were received over $500,000, the steps set forth in the first procedure would be followed. Mr. Holzmeister recommended the first procedure because it allows for public scrutiny and input and calls for a professional to represent the District's interests. Director Maass noted that the Brown Act allows the District to meet with the negotiator and close a deal in closed session after the parcel of real property has been identified in open session. He indicated his approval of Procedure I. Director Hamilton stated he is in favor of setting the criteria in closed session and then letting different agents bring proposals that the Board could reject or approve within a certain time frame. In this way, he said, the District would not be open to public criticism. Director Cooley suggested approving Procedure I after deleting Items 5 and 6 (Item 5 - interview real estate agents; Item 6 - choose an agent and give guidelines for negotiation) . Mr. Holzmeister noted one disadvantage - when an agent works at selling, he expends some money advertising and generating interest in prospective buyers. He didn't think an agent would spend money unless guaranteed a commission on the sale. He suggested going forward with steps 1 through 4 of Procedure I at this time. Director Maass ascertained that there are several names and addresses of individuals interested in the parcel on file with the District, and directed that letters be sent notifying them of the impending sale. If there is no response, he directed that a large "For Sale" sign be M085/61 placed on the land and that real estate agents be formally contacted. There was some discussion regarding a previous Board's decision to reject the proposal of Truckee River Bank to lease the property due to several bid irregularities. REQUEST TO NAME STREET AT SENIOR CITIZEN COMPLEX - POSSIBLE DIRECTION Director Maass noted receipt of the March 21, 1985 letter from Counsel Phelps which states that in order for the County to accept an application for a new name for a private roadway, the District must obtain permission from neighboring land owners, in this instance Frank Aiello. Pg. 3 Respecting the roadway that leads to the Senior complex from Highway 267 (Estates Drive) according to the County Planning Department no road sign exists because it is a private drive and the County will not place signs on private drives. Director Cooley moved that the District obtain the street sign specifications from the County and have it made and erected; seconded by Director Maass. ROLL CALL: Duffy, absent; Corbett and Hamilton, abstain; Cooley and Maass, aye. MOTION FAILED. CONSIDERATION OF CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT FORMAT PREPARED BY COUNSEL Counsel advised that he has made several changes to the proposed construction agreement format first presented in October of 1984. He stated- it is adequate for almost all types of District construction contracts, and by having a standard format, a complete review would not be necessary each time a contract was entered into;_ 90% of the contract would remain the same, thus saving on consultant costs. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the M085/62 Board approve the construction agreement format as prepared by Counsel on March 29, 1985. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION ACCEPTING AN EASEMENT FROM DALE W. COX (RELOCATION OF POWER POLE) This matter was put over. CONSIDERATION OF R. W. BECK PROPOSAL TO ANALYZE RATE FILING OF SIERRA PACIFIC POWER COMPANY On March 21, 1985, R. W. Beck and Associates presented a proposal for electric rate studies. The estimated cost of Area I, having to do with i the resale rate application filed by Sierra Pacific Power Company, was $100,500; estimated cost of Area II - a retail electric rate study - was ` $19,000. Mr. Holzmeister asked that the Board consider Area I, Phase I, at this time, and noted that Sierra Pacific filed its rate request in Washington this date. He noted the PUD has worked with John Springer of Beck previously and was impressed with his thoroughness. If the filing cannot be negotiated, Mr. Springer will work with Martin McDonough, Esq. in preparing his arguments for the FERC hearings. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the MO85/63 Board approve Area I of Beck's proposal in the amount of $10,500. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. SPPCo WATER RESOURCE PLAN Counsel Phelps made note of the Sierra Pacific Water Resource Plan which sets forth the needs of the Truckee Meadows area. This includes water within the District's sphere of influence and may have some impact. A copy has been provided to Mr. Holzmeister for review. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, Director Hamilton moved that the meeting be adjourned; seconded by Director Cooley. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED at 8:03 P.M. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT By . for L Martin Duffy, President ,Z-4 C� Susan M. Craig, Deputy strict Clerk Pg. 4 i i