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Home My WebLink About2021-03-03 Min - Board REGULAR MEETING MINUTES March 3, 2021 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District was called to order at 5:01 p.m. by President Finn. Disclaimer: Due to the COVID-19 situation and the California Governor’s Executive Orders, this Board meeting was conducted with the Board via video/teleconferencing measures and live streamed on the District website. Public comment was opened using email and questions and answers on Zoom. 2. ROLL CALL Director(s) Bender, Aguera, Harris, Vice President Laliotis, and President Finn. EMPLOYEES PRESENT: Brian Wright, Steven Poncelet, Mike Salmon, Joe Horvath, and Shanna Kuhlemier. CONSULTANTS PRESENT – Steve Gross, District Counsel and Pam Hobday, Pamela Hurt Associates. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – defer. 4. CHANGES TO THE AGEND A – Interim General Manager Wright requested the removal of item 17 from the agenda. 5. PUBLIC INPUT President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. 6. DIRECTOR UPDATE During Director Comment period, a public comment was received late. President Finn read into the record: “Can the Board provide some clarification on statements made during the 2/22 Board meet- ing? Director Bender expressed his desire for transparency and his concern for ratepayers dollars when discussing a $70,000 severance agreement. However, members of the b oard including director Bender were silent when members of PUD staff were given $50,000 and $30,000 raises without public knowledge or review. Can this board and director bender pro- vide clarity on how and when they seek to be transparent and care about rat epayer dollars?” President Finn: My comment this evening is in response to Director Harris’ comments last week. I want to make sure that everybody is aware of how the dialogue stands at this moment. First, I absolutely heard and acknowledge Director Ha rris’ request. Clearly, I did not accede to it at this time, and here is why: DocuSign Envelope ID: BF3D95AD-5FEB-4032-AE0C-337008A72491 Second, I consulted with Counsel Gross. He felt strongly, and I agreed, that he has a professional, moral and ethical obligation to inform Director Harris that her participati on in a Board discussion and/or a decision about amending her contract with the District, which has a financial component, could well create a conflict of interest for her. You may recall from our recent ethics training that conflict of interest transgressions on the part of an elected official can be considered criminal. The penalties can be Draconian. I have absolutely no desire to see Director Harris incur criminal liability while we try to work through this situation. It is our suggestion that she request formal advice from the FPPC before embarking upon such a course. If she decides to seek advice from the FPPC, which is a free service that Counsel Gross will help to navigate, then we shall, of course, wait for the guidance before proceeding. If she declines to seek advice, then, we will determine how best to proceed with her request. In the meantime, I would like to offer my support and encouragement to us all as we try to further the mission of our District, that of supplying reliable and high quality utility services to our community, while striving to embody our values of integrity, safety, communication, accountability, timeliness, and work life balance. I also would like us to recommit ourselves to abiding to the best of our abilities with the letter and the spirit of our District Code. A big thank you and most respect to our staff for their continued patience as we work to more perfectly understand and appropriately enact our duties as a Board. Thank you. And now for something totally different. I had some constituent questions and I needed to check my answers so I spent some time this week digging around our new website and it was awesome! I found what I was looking for quickly, accessed it easily and even managed to view our first ever zoom council meeting way back in April 2020. Covid relief information was right there on the front page as well. So, great improvements, it looks good, feels good and I want to congratulate staff. Thank you! GENERAL MANAGER / CEO UPDATE 7. Interim General Manager Brian Wright gave an update. SPECIAL BUSINESS 8. General Manager’s Succession/Transition Ad-Hoc Committee Update. This item involves an Ad-Hoc Committee Update. The Ad-Hoc committee provided an update on the process. Board consensus was to release the General Manager publication. CONSENT 9. Consideration of Annual Resolutions for Special Tax: Old Greenwood and Gray’s Cross- ing Community Facilities District. DocuSign Envelope ID: BF3D95AD-5FEB-4032-AE0C-337008A72491 a) Adopt Resolution 2021-04 requesting Nevada County to collect the special taxes for the Old Greenwood 03-1 Community Facility District. b) Adopt Resolution 2021-05 requesting Nevada County to collect the special taxes for the Gray’s Crossing 04-1 Community Facility District. 10. Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) Commissioner Appointment. The Board of Director’s appoint Joe Horvath, Assistant General Manager/ Electric Utility Director as NCPA Commissioner and appoint Steven Poncelet, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Director as the Alternate Commissioner. 11. Consideration of Scheduling a Public Hearing Related to Adoption of the Annual Electric and Water Standby Charges. Schedule a public hearing at the regularly scheduled District Board Meeting on April 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM, or as soon thereafter, for the purpose of receiving input on the adoption of annual Electric and Water Standby Charges. 12. Consideration to Approve a Contract for Vehicle Repair Services. a) Waive the minor irregularity associated with the omission of the Auto & Tire Doctor, Inc. to acknowledge Addendum No. 1. b) Authorize the Interim General Manager to execute a contract with the Auto & Tire Doctor, Inc. of Truckee, for District vehicle repair services for 2021 with an option to extend for up to four additional years, in an annual amount of $100,000, plus a 10% change order authorization for a total not to exceed contract amount of $110,000 for FY21 and each option year. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Director Bender recused from item number 9 due to a financial interest. Director Bender moved, and Vice President Laliotis seconded, that the Board approve the con- sent calendar. The motion passed unanimously (5-0), by a roll call vote. ACTION ITEM(S) 13. Consideration of Adoption of AB2021 10-Year Energy Efficiency Target. Adopt Truckee Donner Public Utility District’s 10-year energy efficiency target for the pe- riod 2022 through 2031 as Net Energy Savings of 3.079 MWh and Net Demand Savings of 331 kW. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Director Harris moved, and Director Bender seconded, that the Board approve staff recom- mendation. The motion passed (5-0). WORKSHOP(S) 14. Utility Billing Delinquent Accounts Review. This is an informational workshop item to be presented for feedback and direction to staff. DocuSign Envelope ID: BF3D95AD-5FEB-4032-AE0C-337008A72491 ROUTINE BUSINESS 15. Approval of the February 3, 2021 and February 22, 2021 minutes. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Discussion on changes to the minutes of February 3rd. The consensus was to put the verba- tim discussion around Counsel Gross’ question. Director Harris moved, and Vice President Laliotis seconded, that the Board approve the minutes. The motion passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. 16. Approval of the Treasurer’s Report March 2021: a) Approval of the Treasurer’s Report of fund balances for the Month Ended December 31, 2020. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Director Bender moved, and President Finn seconded, that the Board approve the Treasurer’s Report. The motion passed (5-0), by a roll call vote. b) Approval of disbursements for the Month Ended January 31, 202. President Finn called for public comment, seeing none. Director Aguera moved, and Director Bender seconded, that the Board approve the disburse- ments. The motion passed (5-0). CLOSED SESSION Item 17 was pulled from the agenda 17. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 regarding APN’(s) 18- 610-23-000 District Negotiator (s): Interim General Manager, Brian Wright and District Clerk, Shanna Kuhlemier. Under Negotiation: Price and Terms. Entity: Bill and Sheila Greeno. ADJOURNMENT - 7:16 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 April 7, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. and the Special Board Meeting on March 31, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT _________________________________________ Christa Finn, President Respectfully Submitted, ________________________________ DocuSign Envelope ID: BF3D95AD-5FEB-4032-AE0C-337008A72491 Shanna D. Kuhlemier, CMC, District Clerk DocuSign Envelope ID: BF3D95AD-5FEB-4032-AE0C-337008A72491