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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-21 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING April 21, 2010 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 Perm- tualiv and made available for listening to anv 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 6:01 PM in the TDPUD Board room by President Bender. ROLL CALL: Directors Joe Aguera, Jeff Bender, Ron Hemig, John Hillstrom and Tony Laliotis were present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE President Bender led the Board and public in the Pledge of Allegiance. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Mary Chapman, Rosana Matlock, Steven Poncelet, Stephen Hol- labaugh, Nancy Waters, Mark Thomas, Kathy Neus, Neil Kaufman, Michael Holley and Bar- bara Cahill CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Steve Gross OTHERS PRESENT: Juanita Schneider, Dan Warren, and 20 students and adults from the Truckee High School Envirolutions Club CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were no changes to the agenda. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. DIRECTOR UPDATE Director Hillstrom said he going to Washington DC next week to represent the Northern California Power Authority. It should be interesting. Director Hemig wanted to go back and take one more look at the Board meetingA on pril7th public input with Josh Susman. "I looked back, read letter and watched the meeting, and tried to understand why it all happened the way it did. I thought about the fact of the people who would have signed up •-, for the Civility Project and its list of standards. One standard is "Show Respect". In retrospect, looking at that time, I was personally upset with the comments that were made, and when my name was mentioned, I really got upset because in my business in real estate all I've got is credibility- that is my business. I think I over-reacted at that point. Minutes: April 21, 2010 And it is appropriate for me to follow one of the other items in the Civility Project which is "Apologize" if I was out of line, and I feel I was, and I do not want to be. I want us to follow the Civility Project. Respect cuts both ways. In looking at the CATT letter and a lot of heated attitudes as to what happened at that meeting. This process that we have as a public board; we issue an agenda and have the backup out within a day or two. Our District, the board people, we work on the agenda over a five day period of time. Everybody in the past has been able to make that work. CATT had an issue that they felt this was a compressed time line, and they did not get the appropriate time to deal with this. I wonder if that is an indication that they were not showing respect to our District. If this were such an important item to this group, which it obviously was, the GM compensation plan, I think they could have found a way to make the schedule work and been at our meeting on Wednesday night. With 5 days worth of time, plus your time President Bender as you met with CATT, to engage us in any type of dialog we might have wanted to have at that meeting. But instead they asked us to stop our process. It was either inconvenient or not possible. But whatever it was, if it is a high priority, you make it work. So all I am saying, respect works both ways; we would hope other entities or individuals try to work within our system. I know we are flexible. I know if someone calls up and needs a lot of time, we will give it to them to give a quality decision. I think this could have been handled in a different way, but nobody from that group came to our meeting. I just want to raise that. ,.. The last piece of respect which is the most important in my mind is that the General Manager became irrelevant to this whole dialog. He had three months of meetings to talk about his future and it took a long time. I would be embarrassed if I were the General Manager and it took three months to figure out what you were going to do with me. I would probably be calling up to see about other jobs. And then finally, we get to the point of having an action and prepared to make that decision. And then we were asked to stop it again- that was the request. I find that not.respectful to Mr. Holley or any person in that position. I think as a Board member, we have to think of all aspects of the term Respect. And I think somehow the GM position might have been the one left out of this point of view. Again, if I am Mr. Holley and we cannot decide what to do with Mr. Holley, he has lots of options. It was only a few years ago when we couldn't decide what to do with our previous GM's salary. Then with a 3 to 2 vote, we did not give him one, and he left. For one and a half years, we floundered trying to figure out what to do, and we were lucky to get this guy. There is another way this could have gone. Let's just make sure the Board and District recommits to trying to accommodate everything we can within reason and do the best we can to be open as possible, but not to the point we stop our process. That is the standard we set for everybody. There were many items on that CATT letter that had nothing to do with the GM. They want information and want to understand. Let's make sure we engage with CATT and answer all their questions." 2 Minutes: April 21, 2010 �- CONSENT CALENDAR APPROVE SETTLEMENT WITH R.W. BECK This item involves the mitigation settlement with R.W. Beck. APPROVE THE SETTLEMENT WITH PACIFIC RIM CONSTRUCTION This item involves the mitigation settlement with Pacific Rim Construction in regards to the District Pipeline Replacement Project- 2008. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING A NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF THE PUMP MAINTENANCE PROGRAM FOR THE GLENSHIRE DRIVE AND SANDERS WELLS Authorizing the acceptance of the well pump maintenance program and directing filing of the notice of completion. Director Aguera moved, and Director Hemig seconded, that the Board approve the consent calendar. ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED ACTION ITEMS CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION TO COMMEND THE MEMBERS OF THE TRUCKEE HIGH SCHOOL ENVIROLUTION CLUB This item commends the Envirolu- tion Club for their leadership in educating the Truckee community on the benefits of conservation and striving for a sustainable future. Director Laliotis moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board adopt Resolution 2010-06 commending members of the Truckee High School Envirolution Club for their leadership in educating our community on the benefits of conservation and striving for a sustainable future. ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ABOUT PROPOSITION 16, "NEW TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS — INITIATIVE CONSTI- TUTIONAL AMENDMENT" This item involves a discussion about Proposition 16 and a Resolution about the Board's stand on the ballot initiative. Director Aguera moved, and Director Laliotis seconded, that the Board adopt a resolution opposing Proposition 16, the "New Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers— Initiative Constitutional Amendment." ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO AUTHORIZE SHERMAN & FELLER TO PROCEED WITH SUIT ON TWO DELINQUENT COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICTS PARCELS This item involves authorizing Sherman & Feller to proceed with suit on two delinquent Community Facilities District parcels. Director Hemig moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board authorize Sherman & Feller to proceed with the judicial foreclosure suit on assessor parcel numbers 19-800-21 and 19-890-02. ROLL CALL: All Directors aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED 3 Minutes: April 21, 2010 -- WORKSHOP DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE REVISIONS TO THE DISTRICT CODE This workshop involves updates, additions, and clarification of District Code Sections. Mary Chapman gave a presentation: • District codes were completely revised during a lengthy process that spanned parts of 2008 and 2009 • Completed a review of all of the Codes— "tune-up" o Reviewed for continuity of terms, phrases and formatting o Incorporated changes made by the Board since last review o Added many operating procedures that are more appropriately included in the District Code o Duplicated code language between Electric Service and Water Service • Title 2 Administration o Deleted old travel policy; new policy was adopted in January, 2009 • Title 3 Finance and Accounting o Changed review of facilities fees from annually to every budget cycle and after completion of a master plan o Re-wrote procedures for collection of delinquent assessments • Title 4 Personnel o Changed reference from "Cell Telephones" to "Personal Communication Devices" o Modified language requiring adherence to State laws when using personal communication devices while driving • Title 5 Customer Relations o Added a procedure for when a customer declares bankruptcy which is consistent with the bankruptcy laws o Added a procedure for when a property goes into foreclosure or"short sale" o Modified language to state that delinquent notices will be mailed on the same business day a bill is printed with a previous balance o Added language to include that copies of the delinquent notices will be sent to third parties and co-signers o Limited the number of written payment agreements a customer can have to two per calendar year o Added that payment arrangements must be made through the office and that no payments will be accepted in the field o Added language that when a customer chooses to abandon their water service they will be treated as a new service when they request to be reconnected o Extended the time period customers can amortize their delinquent account from 12 months to 24 months • Title 6 Water Service o Modified language listing the requirements for new construction o Added section regarding responsibility of customer to pay costs to abandon a temporary service o Clarified requirements for the District to issue a "Will Serve Letter' o Added language clarifying responsibility when the District's facilities are tampered with or damaged 4 Minutes: April 21, 2010 • Title 7 Electric Service o Modified language listing the requirements for new construction o Revised portions of the line extension policy to match the water code o Added language that regulates the placement of an electric service o Added language clarifying responsibility when the District's facilities are tampered with or damaged o Added language stating if a meter fails, a back billing to a customer will be estimated and will not exceed 6 months • Miscellaneous Fee Schedule — included in Appendix A o #24 & #26 Fees for testing electric meters o #32 &#41 Updated minimum electric and water deposit amounts o #44 Non-refundable application fee for abandonment or relocation of unused reserved easements o #50 Administrative costs/fees • Next Steps o Hold another workshop for additional discussion and questions; incorporate additional changes including those brought up by the Board o Set a date for a Public Hearing on changes to the Miscellaneous Fee Schedule o Hold the Public Hearing and possible Board action Public input: • Revisions entail a lot of work and research • Michael Holley has been instrumental to review the code Board discussion: • Why aren't facilities fees reviewed each year with the budget • There needs to be a better level of distinction on meters that fail • What is the difference between the solid state meter and the electro-mechanical meters- what if the District has a different type of meter in the future • Staff has my support- this is a huge amount of work • Be consistent- spell out General Manager throughout; also sometimes it is District, sometimes TDPUD • Is the agenda posted at the library • Good staff works to refine inconsistencies • Staff works with the code and needs to abide by the rules • This is a lot of paperwork to review • Would be good to have a second workshop ROUTINE BUSINESS TREASURER REPORT: MARCH, 2010 Approval of the report: Director Hemig moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the treasurer's report for the month ended March 31, 2010. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED. 5 Minutes: April 21, 2010 •-, Approval of disbursements: Director Aguera moved, and Director Laliotis seconded, that the Board approve the March 2010 disbursements report. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MARCH 17 AND APRIL 7, 2010 Director Hillstrom moved, and Director Hemig seconded, that the Board approve the minutes of March 17 and April 7, 2010. ROLL CALL: All Directors, aye. SO MOVED CLOSED SESSION The closed session items were pulled per request of General manager Michael Holley. CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9, SUBDIVI- SION (B), POTENTIAL LITIGATION, ONE CASE- RW BECK CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9, SUBDIVI- SION (A), EXISTING LITIGATION: PACIFIC RIM CONSTRUCTION, INC. V. TDPUD CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9, SUBDIVI- SION (B), POTENTIAL LITIGATION, TWO CASES ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM. TRUCKE ER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT Jeff Be er, resident Prepared b p Y Barbara Cahil, eputy District Clerk 6 Minutes: April 21, 2010