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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-05 Min - BoardREGULAR MEETING MINUTES June 5, 2019 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the TDPUD Boardroom by President Ellis. 2. ROLL CALL Directors: Joe Aguera, Tony Laliotis, Christa Finn, Vice President Jeff Bender and President Bob Ellis. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Joe Horvath, Ian Fitzgerald, Steven Poncelet, Neil Kaufman, Keith Renshaw, Sanna Schlosser, Trisha Ruby, Brian Wright, Regina Wise, Brandon Perry, Michael Holley, Anabel Sanchez, Becky Mazzer, Melissa Kelffman, Karen Rehkop, and Shanna Kuhlemier. CONSULTANTS PRESENT — Steve Gross, District Counsel and Pam Hobday. OTHERS PRESENT — Ron Hemig, Art Chapman and David Tirman 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Director Laliotis led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA — none. 5. PUBLIC INPUT President Ellis called for public comment, seeing none. President Ellis closed public comment. 6. DIRECTOR UPDATE Director Laliotis stated, that on June 5th ,the 2" d AdHoc Committee meeting was held for the General Manager recruitment process. The AdHoc Committee will report out to the Board in detail on June 19, 2019. Director Finn stated: • The desire and need for the District to have a Climate Action Mitigation Plan. • Specifically looking at greenhouse gas emissions and a plan to mitigate risk. • Municipalities use these plans as a tool for the business models. • Questioned; the Town of Truckee is updating the General Plan and Climate Action Plan, should the District have one also? • Could inform items such as the Facilities Master Plan, on the agenda tonight. • Will talk with Director Bender about the strategic workshop on renewables. Director Bender stated, with recent news articles on feminine hygiene products. He requested that Board approve an item providing feminine hygiene products "in front of the house, as well June 5, 2019 as back of house" approach. Similar to what ski areas are doing and what government agencies should be doing. Asked District Counsel Gross for the process. District Counsel Gross stated, the Board could not vote on the item tonight, it would need to be agendized at a future meeting and voted on by the Board prior to implementation. Stated, that while no bidding requirements would be applied due to the dollar amount, a public process for approval requires formal Board action. Board consensus was to bring District purchase and implementation of feminine hygiene prod- ucts back to the Board for formal action. Director Ellis announced participation at the ground breaking for the new Raley's. Mayor Tirman did a great job and included all the dignitaries into the presentation. PUBLIC HERING (S) 7. Conduct a Public Hearing for the Review of the Water Utility Public Health Goals Report. At 6:00 p.m., or soon thereafter as possible, a public hearing will be held for receiving written and/or oral comments from members of the public. Brian Wright provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis opened the public hearing for any person wishing to speak in support or oppo- sition to the Water Utility Public Health Goals Report. President Ellis closed the public Hearing. Director Comments: • District is in compliance with all Federal, State, and local requirements. • Science in still changing regarding arsenic in groundwater supply. Historically, the Mar- tis Valley has maintained low levels of arsenic. • To sample for water quality, contact the District and staff will ensure participation. • There are lessor technologies, however, they are not as robust. • Thanked staffs efforts for the great job and good water. 8. Conduct a Public Hearing Related to CSCDA Membership and SCIP Program Participa- tion. At 6:00 p.m., or soon thereafter as possible, a public hearing will be held for receiving written and/or oral comments from members of the public. Regina Wise provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis opened the public hearing for any person wishing to speak in support or oppo- sition in the District's participation in the SCIP Program. President Ellis closed the Public Hearing Board Comments: • Appreciated staff following through on this process. • Allows for public financing, but not administering the program. 2 June 5, 2019 Director Bender moved, and Director Laliotis seconded, that the Board approve the staff rec- ommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. Director Bender pulled Item number 11 for further discussion. CONSENT CALENDAR 9. Consideration of a Real Estate Contract with Sierra Sotheby's. Authorize the General Manager to execute a contract with Sierra Sotheby's, Ron Hemig for real estate agent purposes, terms and conditions to be negotiated by the General Manager and subject to General Counsel approval. 10. Consideration of a Contract for Solar Awning Engineering and Design Services. Authorize the General Manager to execute a contract with Simple Power Solar for engi- neering and design services for the District Solar Awning Project, in an amount of $14,790 plus a 10% change order authorization for a total not to exceed contract amount of $16,270. 12. Consideration of Annual Resolutions for the Donner Lake Assessment District. 1)Adopt Resolution 2019-13 requesting Nevada County to collect the Donner Lake Assess- ment District No. 00-1 annual assessments for fiscal tax year 2019-2020; and 2) Adopt Resolution 2019-14 requesting Placer County to collect the Donner Lake Assess- ment District No. 00-1 annual assessments for fiscal tax year 2019-2020. 13.Consideration of Annual Resolutions for Special Tax: Old Greenwood and Gray's Cross- ing Communities Facilities Districts. a) Adopt Resolution 2019-15 requesting Nevada County to collect the special taxes for the Old Greenwood 03-1 Communities Facilities District; and b) Adopt Resolution 2019-16 requesting Nevada County to collect the special taxes for the Gray's Crossing 04-1 Communities Facilities District. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Director Bender moved, and Director Finn seconded, that the Board approve the consent cal- endar. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. ACTION 11.Consideration of Reorganization and Salary Range Adjustment of Administrative Ser- vices. Brandon Perry provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. President Ellis closed public comment. Board Comments: • Input regarding combining two management positions. • Appreciates the savings of the position. • Human Resources will continue to handle risk management. 3 June 5, 2019 General Manager Holley provided background on the Human Resources position. Upon Hol- ley's hire Human Resources was part of the Administration Department. Due to Holley's back- ground in labor negotiations, the position was placed under the General Manager. Until re- cently that is where the position has been housed. Stated a desire to allow the new General Manager to have the ability to reorganize the department as needed. • Questioned if there would be a need for additional staff to support Human Resources? General Manager Holley answered staff does not believe that the position requires a full time assistant. Therefore, utilizing existing staff would suffice. • Concern with additional duties of managing staff. General Manager Holley stated there are two managers currently to absorb management du- ties as needed. • No anticipated changes in staffing due to this organization at this time. • Questioned the independence of Human Resources and potential conflict of interest. General Manager Holley stated that employees still have access to senior management and the union representation. Had discussions with the union on the same vein, and a meet and confer is still available if this becomes an issue. • The two managers in place are qualified and capable to handle these positions and the savings of the position is a benefit to the District. President Ellis moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the staff recom- mendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 19. Proposed Electric AMI Meter Opt -Out Program. Joe Horvath provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment. Tullin Valdez, resident, stated: • Questioned what net metering is? At the request of President Ellis, Joe Horvath answered, power is generated both in and out. This would equate to solar customers and meters. • Stated he was on an equal payment plan, questioned if the meter would need to be read monthly? Joe Horvath stated, the District reads meters monthly, regardless of programs. • Questioned the water meters, and wanted to ward off smart water meters. Encouraged the Board to put an opt -out option for water meters prior to implementation. At the request of President Ellis, General Manager Holley answered, the District already has radio based water meters in place and has had them for about 10 years. The water meters are battery powered and transmit every six hours. • Questioned the cost neutrality of low income programs and what is being proposed for an opt -out program. General Manager Holley answered, the District has a rebate program for income qualified in- dividuals paid for by the public benefits program as required by the State of California. • Questioned if there is a plan in place for low income residence whom want to opt -out? General Manager Holley stated due to the previous Board policy of cost neutral, staff did not analyze that. That question and answer is in the Board's purview. 4 June 5, 2019 Courtney Henderson (sp?) questioned, the cost of opt -out. Curious about the program and the issues of not having the availability of outage information without AMI program. Charlie Riley, local business owner, stated: • Is a proponent of smart meters and the District's AMI Meter Project. • Pro -choice and acts in an environmentally sound manner. • Questioned the cost of the opt -out program. Knows what staff cost, and the cost is too low compared to staff time. Questioned how the District can move a person at this low of a cost. • As a rate payer, doesn't want to pay for the opt -out program. • Knowing that cell phones are 1,000 times worse than smart meters, and people are not giving cell phones up. • The community needs to look at the future. Furthermore, rate payers should not have to pay for the small group that wants to opt -out. • The District does a great job. President Ellis stated, the District will review cost and adjust accordingly when hard cost are available. President Ellis closed public comment. Board Comments: • Well thought out program. • How do renting situations work? General Manager Holley answered, when property changes occupancy, an AMI meter is put back in the system. The next renter could opt -out. The District does not change property ele- ments without owner consent, so a renter would need owner consent. Becky Mazzer, Billing Specialist answered the "true up" procedure from the audience (un-au- dible). • Winter reads of the mechanical meters is going to be problematic. District Code reflects the accessibility of meters. • Costs need to be tracked and adjusted as needed. • Staff is tracking costs of implementation of the opt -out program. Will report out at a future meeting. • Estimated monthly opt -out fee is lower than anticipated. • Concern about missing readings. The program will encompass the process of missing a meter read. Regina Wise answered, emergency situation is reported to New Construction and notification is completed immediately through phone call. Envision this to be similar. • Provided accolades for staff efforts. • The Board requested PG&E's costs. Joe Horvath answered that PG&E is not charging cost of service. Tullin Valdez stated, SMUD charges $127.00 dollars to opt -out and $14.00 dollars a month. President Ellis stated that SMUD does not have the snow conditions that we have. 5 June 5, 2019 Charlie Riley stated he is a PG&E customer and when they cannot get into the meter, in return, the "true up" was a considerable amount off of the estimated amount. Reiterated his opinion that other rate payers should not pay for an opt -out option. • The un-accessibility will be a limitation on property, not road conditions. • This program is meant to be as fair and open to the public and staff as possible. Board Consensus was to move forward with staff's recommendation with implementing the program as outlined in the staff report and presentation. 14. Consideration of a Contract for the SCADA Reliability Improvement Project Phase 5. This item concerns a communications cable construction contract with Curtis & Sons Con- struction for an amount not to exceed $1,281,732. Trisha Ruby provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Director Laliotis moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the staff rec- ommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 15. Consideration of a Contract for Pole Replacements for the SCADA Project 2019. This item concerns a pole replacement contract with TW Power Line Construction for an amount not to exceed $680,277. Trisha Ruby provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Vice President Bender moved, and Director Finn seconded, that the Board approve the staff recommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 16.Consideration to Adopt Resolution 2019-10, Memorializing the District's Values. Brandon Perry provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Board Comments: • Agreed with all of the values and understands the magnitude of implementation. • The workshop was well done. • Culture is very important. • The Executive Management Team and Pam Hurt & Associates worked very hard on the values. • Instrumental for the District. • Appreciates the descriptors. • Supports lobby placement of the values for the public and staff. • Kudos to all whom worked on the project. 6 June 5, 2019 President Ellis moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the staff recom- mendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 17. Consideration of a Contract for Property, Liability, and Worker's Compensation Cover- age. Brandon Perry provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Board Comments: • Tahoe City PUD used AQUA and has had a great experience. • Provided accolades to staff for the cost savings on insurance. • Grateful for staff efforts. Director Finn moved, and Vice President Bender seconded, that the Board approve the staff recommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 18. Consideration of a Contract to Prepare a Facilities Master Plan. Vice President Bender recused himself due to potential business opportunities. Neil Kaufman provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Board Comments: • Discussions on Steele property site. • Discussion on a climate action plan and the facilities master plan and which one should come first. • Dissension regarding completing the master plan prior to a climate action plan. • Providing a potential indoor facilities for electric repairs and water meter test bench. • Trails End Road is a private road which the District has access rights. • Need to maintain public access to the trail on the property, if possible. • This plan is overdue. Operations need facilities to be more efficient. President Ellis moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the staff recom- mendation. The motion passed (3-1), by a roll call vote. Director Finn voted no and Vice Pres- ident Bender recused. President Ellis called a recess at 7:25 p.m. and reconvened at 7:35 p.m. WORKSHOP(S) 20. Draft Wildfire Mitigation Plan. Joe Horvath provided a presentation which is available upon request. 7 June 5, 2019 President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Board Comments: • Excellent first step, appreciated staff getting on top of this. • Complex and interesting subject. • Continue to expand our renewable portfolio and climate change will help with this. • Still need a third party review, which is in the near future. • Being pro -active to have this completed for this fire season. • If the independent auditor has any changes, the plan will come before the Board for approval. 21. Discussion of the Process to Select an Annual Audit Firm. Regina Wise provided a presentation which is available upon request. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Board Comments: • Appreciates the quality of work with Moss Adams. • What are the recommendations or requirements for length of auditors. District Counsel Gross stated, that as long as the principle or senior auditor changes every six years, we can keep the same audit firm. Regina Wise stated, Moss Adams had stayed compliant in this requirement. Board Consensus was to extend the Moss Adams contract another year. The contract renewal will be on the next agenda for approval. ROUTINE BUSINESS 22. Treasurers Report: May 2019. a) Approval of the Treasurer's report of fund balances for the Month Ended April 2019. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Vice President Bender moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the staff recommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0). b) Approval of disbursements for May 2019. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. Director Aguera moved, and Vice President Bender seconded, that the Board approve the staff recommendation. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. 23. Approval of Minutes May 1, 2019 and May 14, 2019. President Ellis called for public comment, there were none. 8 June 5, 2019 Vice President Bender moved, and President Ellis seconded, that the Board approve the minutes. The motion passed unanimously (5-0). CLOSED SESSION - 9:34 p.m. 24. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957, Public Employee Perfor- mance Evaluation — General Manager's Performance Plan Review — no reportable action. ADJOURNMENT - 10:25 p.m. There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m. to the next scheduled regularly scheduled meeting of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District on June 19, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT Bob Ellis, President Respectfully Submitte Shanna D. Kuhlemier AC,District Clerk 9 June 5, 2019