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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-05 Min - Board MEETING MINUTES January 5, 2021 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. by President Finn. ROLL CALL Directors; Aguera, Bender, Harris, Vice President Laliotis and President Finn. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Brian Wright, Mike Salmon, Joe Horvath, Jillian Steward, Earl Smith, Neil Kaufman, and Shanna Kuhlemier. CONSULTANTS PRESENT – Steve Gross, District Counsel. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. CHANGES TO THE AGEND A – none. 5. PUBLIC INPUT Mark Zimring, Truckee resident and concerned citizen, provided a public comment read into the record: 2021 provided a harsh glimpse into the future of Truckee's electricity challenges. From cata- strophic fire risk shuttering transmission lines to record-breaking storms devastating infra- structure to natural gas prices more than doubling, TDPUD faces core challenges in deliver- ing on its core mission of reliability, sustainability and cost-efficacy. Those challenges also present unprecedented opportunities for innovation and leadership to drive resilience. But, this will take more than incrementalism. This will take real vision. Vision to invest in energy efficiency in the existing commercial & reside ntial building stock as if it is a core resource not a "nice to have". Vision to invest in local, sustainable power production. Vi- sion to recognize that reliance on base load natural gas is neither consistent with the climate change imperative nor fiscally responsible as natural gas prices cannot be hedged long-term. Vision to invest in a smart micro grid to support core commercial and public service corridors. Vision to build best-in-class demand response programs. Vision to demonstrate to the world that Truckee can and will lead. This is hard work, but it comes with huge upside. Multi-benefit projects like biomass plants can help to reduce catastrophic fire risk in the area and create local jobs. Energy efficiency can reduce utility bills and increase health & safety. Tourists will be able to flock to Truckee knowing that the next weather event won't blackout their vacations. If this vision isn't going to be realized in a place like Truckee, where the costs of inaction have proven to be clear and present dangers, where is it going to happen? Please, step up to the moment. The fall 2021 community working groups were disappointing. They suggested a hodge-podge of incremental potential priorities and a lack of cohesive vi- sion. Let's make 2022 a pivotal year--a year in which TDPUD builds a credible, compelling DocuSign Envelope ID: 838FF995-A201-4FF3-AF1B-3E980D70F48A vision for the future and takes concrete steps to pivot away from a business as usual trajec- tory that promises higher costs, less reliability and constant triage to keep up with evolving threats. 6. DIRECTOR UPDATE This item provides time for Directors to comment on any item within the purview of the District. 7. GENERAL MANAGER UPDATE General Manager Wright provided an update. COMMITTEE UPDATE 8. Informational update on the Community Broadband Committee. CONSENT CALENDAR 9. Designation of District Labor Negotiators for Negotiations with Un-Represented Employees. The Board designate Brian C. Wright, General Manager, Michael Salmon, Chief Finan- cial Officer, and Roe Vernon, SCADA Engineer as District Labor Negotiators for Nego- tiations with the Un-represented exempt employee group. 10. Consideration to Approve a Purchase Order with Survalent for SurvalentONE System In- terface License. Authorize the General Manager to execute a purchase order with Survalent Technology, for software licensing in the amount of $27,300 plus a 10% change order authorization for a total not to exceed contract amount of $30,030 plus any applicable taxes. 11. Consideration for Approval of the 2022 Wage Range Schedule for Represented Employees. Approve the 2022 represented salary schedule as presented. 12. Consideration of FY22 Employee Safety Incentive Award. Approve the FY22 Safety Incentive Award in the amount of $300 to each District em- ployee with no lost-time accident(s) for FY21. 13. Consideration of Awarding a Professional Services Contract for Executive Recruitment to Alliance Resource Consulting, LLC. Authorize the General Manager to execute a professional services contract for executive recruitment services with Alliance Resource Consulting, LLC in the amount of $25,000, plus a 10% change order authorization, for a total not to exceed am ount of $27,500. 14. Consideration to Adopt Resolution 2022-01 Cal OES 130. This item surrounds Cal OES representation resolution update. Director Bender moved, Director Aguera seconded that the board approve the consent calen- dar. The motions passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. ACTION ITEM (S) 15. Termination of the Emergency Procurement Authorization Related to the Storm Event During the Week of December 13, 2021. Accept the General Manager’s termination of the Board approved emergency procurement re- lated to the winter storm events that began on December 13, 2021 and ratified on by the Board on December 20, 2021 DocuSign Envelope ID: 838FF995-A201-4FF3-AF1B-3E980D70F48A President Finn called for public comment Marie and Jim Colbert, Truckee resident, provided a public comment and read into the rec- ord, First we want to compliment the line people who worked incredibly hard under the terrible conditions of the storms this past month. They have done extraordinary work and we are very grateful. As background, we were out of power for 4 days the week of December 13 and then all day December 24th and 26th. Secondly, we want to discuss the PUD's communications with its customers this past month. 1. When you are in an electrical outage and most of the time your internet is also down due to the outage, to be expected to go to a webpage to get updates on the situation is NOT realistic. Updates should utilize push technology such as direct texts to cus- tomers. PG&E has done this for years. Just very recently we saw on Facebook, the PUD saying to sign up for Nixile to get updates. We have been signed up on Nixle for several years and then added the PUD, but that has not resulted in any commu- nications in the latest outages. 2. IF you are able to get to the webpage to see the updates, you really don't learn much. The updates were written so vaguely that you were not certain what applies to you. The updates were few and far between. ( I do want to compliment the Dis- trict Clerk who called me after I wrote an email during our first outage and updated me on our status. She listened well to my concerns, some of which are rearticulated here) 3. When I tried calling the PUD several times during the first outages, I never could speak to a real person. This was highly frustrating given that the updates were not very informative. During the last outages, we and our neighbors and friends lost phone and often texts. As the roads were impassable due to the storms, the fact that you could not call emergency services if needed was very scary. I do not know what the answer is for this but we must be able to keep some level of communications open. In closing, we do appreciate the work the PUD does for our community and recognize that you too must be concerned about how it was able to respond in these difficult situa- tions. We thank you and the staff in advance for the work you have done and will do to cor- rect this. Director Laliotis moved, and Director Harris seconded that the board approve staff’s recom- mendation. The Motion passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. 16. Consideration of Awarding a Professional Services Contract for GIS System Technical Ser- vices. Authorize the General Manager to execute a professional services contract with Ramtech Software Solutions Inc. for GIS Technical Services in the amount of $142,668, plus a 10% contingency, for a total contract not to exceed amount of $156,935. DocuSign Envelope ID: 838FF995-A201-4FF3-AF1B-3E980D70F48A President Finn called for public comment, seeing none Director Laliotis moved, and Director Aguera seconded that the board approve staff’s recom- mendation. The Motion passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. 17. Consideration of Gray’s Crossing MOU regarding APN 043-010-007-000. Authorize the General Manager to execute the memorandum of understanding regard- ing assessor parcel number 043-010-007-000; accepting full payment for all installment of special tax amounts past due, in exchange for waiving current penalty and interest amounts due. Vice President Bender recused for real property interest in the Gray’s Crossing area. General Counsel Gross recused for a potential conflict of interest. Disclosed Porter Simon Law Firm has not worked on this project, but recently agreed to engage with a company associated with Paradigm8. President Finn called for public comment, Hayes Parzyback, Paradim8,  Provided background on the parcels, tax sales, and other relevant information.  Requested the Board to allow staff and Bond Counsel the room to change some of the MOU that is non-substantive. Director Harris moved, and Director Laliotis seconded that the board approve staff’s recom- mendation, adding in “substantially the same form as presented with District staff and Bond Counsel’s approval”. The Motion passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. ROUTINE BUSINESS 18. Approve the Treasurer’s Report: Fund Balances for the Month Ended October 2021 & Disbursements for the Month November 2021. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Director Aguera moved, and Vice President Bender seconded, the board approve Treasure’s Report. The Motion was passed (5-0), by roll call vote. 19. Approve the Minutes of December 1st and December 20th 2021. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Vice President Bender moved, and Director Laliotis seconded, the board approve Minutes. The Motion was passed (5-0), by roll call vote. Recess 8:00 for five minutes and move into Closed Session. CLOSED SESSION DocuSign Envelope ID: 838FF995-A201-4FF3-AF1B-3E980D70F48A 20. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6, Conference with Labor Negotiator(s); Brian C. Wright, General Manager; Michael Salmon, Chief Financial Of- ficer; and Roe Vernon, SCADA Engineer for the Un-Represented employees. No re- portable action. 21. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 Public Employee Perfor- mance Evaluation – General Manager’s Performance Plan Review. No reportable ac- tion. 22. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) - Existing Litiga- tion: Nevada County Superior Court Case Number: TCU21 -7920. No reportable action. ADJOURNMENT - 10:19 p.m. There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned to the next scheduled regularly scheduled meeting of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District on Febru- ary 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT _________________________________________ Christa Finn, President Respectfully Submitted, ________________________________ Shanna D. Kuhlemier, CMC, District Clerk DocuSign Envelope ID: 838FF995-A201-4FF3-AF1B-3E980D70F48A