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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-02-03 Min - Board .�-. REGULAR MEETING February 3, 1986 The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by President Maass in the TDPUD Board Room. ROLL CALL: Directors Cooley, Corbett, Hamilton and Maass were present. Director Sutton was absent , being with her husband who had injured himself and was in the hospital. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Tom Buckhouse , Ron Reynolds, Debi Black, Mary Chapman, Peter Holzmeister and Susan Craig, CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Counsel John M. Phelps , and Special Counsel Martin McDonough, OTHERS PRESENT: Among those present in the audience were Mo Gardner , Dick VanLandingham and Peggy Hamilton. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director Corbett moved , and Director Cooley seconded , that the Board approve the minutes of December 16, 1986 , January 6 and 10, 1986. All Directors, aye , by voice vote. SO MOVED. Director Cooley asked that page one of the minutes of January 20, 1986 be corrected to show him making the motion concerning the groundwater ordinance matter rather than Director Hamilton. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the Secretary be directed to prepare the minutes of January 20, 1986 in final form as corrected. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. STATEMENT OF GENERAL FUND AND BILLS FOR APPROVAL Bills from Sierra Pacific Power and Pacific Bell were briefly mentioned. With respect to vehicle maintenance costs, Mr. Holzmeister advised that a full report will be available soon for the Directors' review. President Maass noted that the print-out provided by the Bookkeeping Department of preauthorized payments made since the last meeting is very helpful, but asked that the heading, which he felt was misleading , be changed from,"List of checks for Board approval," to something along the lines of , "Preauthorized payments in accordance with District policy." Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that the bills presented for consideration be approved for payment. All Directors, aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. MANAGER'S REPORT 1000,111, Responding to an inquiry posed at the last regular meeting, Mr. Holzmeister presented to the Board for inspection a punch lock tool used by the -1- --- Electric Department for pulling cable. District Engineer Buckhouse advised that there were several power outages over the past weekend in downtown Truckee , at Louisiana Pacific, Riverside Drive, Lucky-Longs , and Donner Lake, caused by blown fuses, snow unloading and the wind. There was no evidence of any permanent damage, he reported. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. CORRESPONDENCE No correspondence was discussed by the Board. However, the Chairman made note of a letter written by Director Corbett in which he said, "In my opinion, the Board feels. .. ," and President Maass reminded him that unless specifically directed by the Board to express its feelings or opinions , Directors should respond on a personal basis. COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no committee reports. CLOSED SESSION - NEVADA COUNTY GROUNDWATER ORDINANCE - UPDATE AND STATUS REPORT ON SPPCo HEARINGS BEFORE THE PSC IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9(C) This item was taken out of sequence as Special Counsel McDonough was present and planning to return to Sacramento after the meeting. The meeting was recessed to Closed Session at 7:15 P.M. for the purpose of discussing the Nevada County groundwater ordinance in accordance with Government Code Section 54956.9(c). RETURN TO PUBLIC SESSION The meeting was returned to public session at 7:44 P.M. The Chairman noted that the Board and Counsel discussed pending litigation with the County respecting the groundwater ordinance, and reaffirmed its direction for Counsel McDonough to file a lawsuit against the County because of its enactment. Mr. McDonough indicated the matter would be filed with the Court this week. CONSIDERATION OF ARTHUR ANDERSEN'S RECOMMENDATIONS RE IMPROVING ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES Office Manager Chapman explained Arthur Andersen's recommendations to increase interest earned through improved cash procedures. With respect to Item V-A-2 , she advised that the $24,000 balance in the FmHA-79-1 checking account has been deposited in an interest-accruing account as suggested. Their recommendation V-A-3 to maintain a daily cash receipts cut-off at -2- noon was not cost effective for the PUD, Mrs. Chapman noted; it would interfere with the lunch hours and the amount of cash taken in between 8:00 A.M. and 11:30 A.M. is not enough to justify the additional work effort. Presently, it is procedure to deposit cash received over the counter on the previous day, in the night drop and the daily mail, prior to 3:00 P.M. Regarding Item V-A-1 , Mrs. Chapman advised that the LAIF staff provides daily deposit and withdrawal information to the State Controller's office, who prepares the interest calculations and issues the interest checks. The program operates based on even thousand dollar increments and they cannot reinvest interest checks, as they would have to send us a check for the difference. At the present time, they are apparently unwilling to do so. The delay in receiving interest checks is a common complaint. It was suggested to the Office Manager that the District write a letter to LAIF stating the complaint. They will direct the letter to the Controller's office and perhaps it will serve as additional motivation for them to do something about the problem. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded, that staff be directed to prepare a letter from the President of the Board to the LAIF concerning this matter. All Directors , aye , so moved. STATUS REPORT RE DISTRICT'S GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY Office Manager Chapman reported that Mort Levinson of Levinson Brothers Insurance is shopping around for a company to insure the District , and by February 15th they will have a company on board to write a policy through. Manager Holzmeister noted that requests for proposals have been sent to several risk management consultants. The Board will be updated at the next regular meeting. CONSIDERATION OF PETITION FOR ABANDONMENT OF UNUSED, RESERVED EASEMENT - BUTLER/DRAPER - LOTS 122 AND 123, UNIT 2, TAHOE DONNER Mr. Holzmeister stated that District policy calls for a petition to be filed and a $150 fee to be paid by the party requesting an easement abandonment. The owners of the parcels have complied with this requirement, and staff has reviewed the request of Mr. & Mrs. Butler and Mr. & Mrs. Draper. The petitioners wish to construct a residence over and across the existing easement, and are working with the County of Nevada to combine the parcels. The electric and water systems are in place at the location; water services are not located within the easement and power poles are in place. Staff recommends that the District release its interest in the side lot line easements between parcels 122 and 123, and retain the front and rear easements. SO MOVED by Director Hamilton; seconded by Director Corbett. All Directors, aye , by voice vote. CONSIDERATION OF LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT FOR MODULAR HOMES - LOTS 130 AND 131, UNIT 11, TAHOE DONNER (AP#44-560-13 AND 14) -3- •-� Manager Holzmeister said that the request of Modular Homes for a lot line adjustment/easement realignment is similar to the previous item, but staff has suggested that the petition for abandonment and the $150 fee be waived. Following an on-site review, staff recommended releasing the District's interest in the existing side lot line easements between Parcels 44-560-13 and 44-560-14 , and accepting the easements offered for dedication in Document 85-20606 of Nevada County records. It was explained that a residence was constructed on Lot 130 which encroaches into the 5' side lot easement. The easements will remain 5' on either side of the common lot line, however an abandonment of the original easement is required, followed by dedication of a new easement based upon the realigned lot line. It would have no affect on the District's facilities. Directors Corbett, Maass and Hamilton noted their disagreement with waiving the fee and petition called for by policy. Director Hamilton moved that the District approve an abandonment , but collect the $150 fee. After some discussion regarding modification of the present policy to include items of this nature, he withdrew the motion. Manager Holzmeister suggested the PUD's standard policy concerning easement abandonments be modified to include provisions for lot line adjustments. The Board agreed, and the matter is to be scheduled for the next meeting. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION APPROVING SPECIFICATIONS AND ISSUING A CALL FOR BIDS ON CONSTRUCTION OF NEW COMPLEX Mr. Holzmeister advised that the County building permit has not yet been issued, and the matter was put over to the February 18th meeting. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION APPROVING SPECIFICATIONS AND CALLING FOR PROPOSALS ON THE 1986 PUMP STATION EXPANSION The Manager noted that the pump station upgrade was discussed by the Board late last summer and during the early fall , and reminded them that Dart restricted funds are set aside for this purpose. Consulting District Engineer Keith Sauers detailed the proposed project for upsizing the Innsbruck Avenue pump station, Soma Sierra pump station, Donner Trails pump station, Airport pump station and Airport Well pump. He has not finalized his estimate of the total cost , but indicated it would be in the area of $350,000. It was determined that there will be a balance of approximately $380 ,000 in the Dart restricted fund after interest is applied. The proposed timeline was discussed, and Mr. Sauers stressed the importance of completing the work prior to peak summer demands. Also talked about at length were legal requirements for expending over $100,000 (the necessity of adopting an ordinance) and whether or not scheduling a public hearing to discuss the proposed ordinance was a requirement. Counsel Phelps stated !^ there is no law requiring a public hearing, although the District has usually done so in the past. -4- , ..., Director Cooley was in favor of holding a hearing to consider approval of the project, and stated it bothers him to close one of the District's "open door" policies. Mr. Holzmeister noted that a public hearing was held for discussion of the proposed 1986 budget, and this project was included in the budget. Director Hamilton complained that he only received the contract documents on the morning of the meeting date and did not have adequate time for a thorough review. He asked that the daily liquidated damages for not completing the project by the deadline be changed from $250 to $500. Director Corbett started to make a motion to adopt the ordinance, but discussion ensued and it died for lack of a second. Director Hamilton moved, and Director Corbett seconded , that the Board adopt Ordinance No. 8601 approving the 1986 pump station expansion project at a cost to the District of no more than $400 ,000 , related plans , specifications and contract documents as amended (the daily liquidated damages for not completing the project to be $500 rather than $250) and issuing a call for proposals. ROLL CALL: Cooley , no , stating he felt a public hearing should be held; Sutton, absent; all other Directors, aye. SO ORDAINED. Requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act were discussed and it was determined there is no need to file a notice of exemption in this instance. Director Hamilton expressed his displeasure at repeatedly receiving material requiring action by the Board on short notice , and stated he would not vote favorably in the future unless he had adequate time for review. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, Director Hamilton moved that the meeting be adjourned; seconded by Director Corbett. SO MOVED by voice vote at 8:44 P.M. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT a es A. Maass, President Prepared by: Susan M. Craig, Deputy DistriZV C erk 5-14 z� -5-