Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 Monthly Report Agenda Item # 10 UtilityE . . IWO Public District Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Peter Holzmeister Date: April 12, 2001 Monthly Report Donner Lake: I have been working with John Murphy and Kristin Lowell to complete a report to the Board on the assessment district formation. We have not yet completed that process. We expect to report back to the Board at the May 2 meeting. Meanwhile, Dennis DeCuir and I are continuing our negotiations with Bob Fortino. We have evaluated the proposal he made to us and Dennis will be responding during the next week. Glenshire: Ed Taylor and I attended the public meeting sponsored by Glenshire Mutual Water Company on Monday, April 9. About 25 shareholders attended the meeting. It was reported that over 20 percent of the shareholders have returned their ballots and 96 percent of the voters favor TDPUD providing water service at Glenshire. Several questions were asked about the TDPUD system and how we would serve Glenshire. Between Ed and I we were able to answer the questions. Broadband: Some of the developers hoping to build in Truckee this year have contacted me about our progress in initiating the broadband business. They are saying the broadband services are important to their projects and are encouraging us to proceed. Alan Harry, Nelson Van Gundy and I will be travelling to Glasgow, Kentucky to look at their broadband system and ask questions of their staff. CMUA Annual Conference: Pat Sutton and I attended the CMUA annual conference in San Diego. Day one was mostly about the California electric utility industry and day two was mostly about broadband. There is no disagreement about the situation facing California this summer. Power shortages and high prices will prevail. There is fairly good agreement on the causes of this situation. There is no quick cure in sight. Pat and I attended a meeting of the CMUA telecommunications committee. Several California communities are proceeding to implement telecommunications infrastructure. The committee is attempting to meet more regularly to share information and experiences. , TRUCKEE DONNER DistrictPublic Utility Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Alan Harry, Director of Telecommunication Services Date: April 13, 2001 Staff Activity Report; March 101 During the month of March'01 1 focused my attention on five related areas: 1. Tour of Glasgow Electric Utility Board 2. Broadband Risk Mitigation plan 3. Broadband"Master Services Element" 4. Broadband Agreement w/Town of Truckee&Counties 5. Litigation Following Board direction, a tour of the Glasgow Electric Utility Board has been scheduled for April 20, 2001. As of this writing, those attending include Board Member Nelson Van Gundy, General Manager Peter Holzmeister,and myself. A report on the tour will be issued in May. I am continuing the preparation of a risk mitigation plan for the construction of the District's proposed Broadband infrastructure. As of this wrifing a highly respected insurance firm is preparing a "term sheer covering the nature of the plan. Upon my receipt of the "term sheet" I shall report to the Board as to its viability. As part of the District's conditional approval to offer Broadband Services, Nevada County LAFCo required the preparation of a Master Services Element for the proposed Broadband Business Unit This document is being prepared,and will be brought before the Board in May. Again, as part of the District's Conditional LAFCo approval, the District must enter into Agreements with the Town of Truckee, and surrounding Counties,for the provision of Cable Television services. I have met with each agency and have provided them with copies of a draft Agreement for review and comment. It is hoped that a final Agreement will be available for Board review in mid-May. Litigation in Federal Court continues between the District and USA Media. Due to the death of USA's lead counsel all depositions have been continued until May 2001. •Page 1 Agenda Item # 10 U TRUCKEE . . District-41-Public Utility Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Kathy Neus, Support Services Manager Date: April 13, 2001 Monthly Activity Report Purchasing and Warehousing The new construction season has begun. What moments there were to collect our breaths and gear up for the coming season have come and gone. Wire, cable and transformers for new projects has begun to arrive. The snow has melted from the back property and we are looking at the area we can use for temporary storage. I am planning no improvements to the area other than to clean it up. Vehicle Maintenance Chris continues to have the District's vehicles and equipment current in its preventative maintenance schedule. Chris has been working closely with Glen Wagner and the mobile staff of Altec when any boom repair and maintenance are required. Chris is currently working with the water department on the utility bodies for the three new service trucks. Requests for bids went out at the end of March and will be opened Friday, April 13, 2001 at 2:00pm. The award of a contract will be on the agenda for Board approval. Building and Grounds Fred Bradbury, formally of the billing staff, was offered and accepted the position of Facilities / Relief Utility Worker. Brad will now take on the arduous task of getting the building back on a maintenance schedule. Agenda Item # 10 TRUCKEE T, PublicDistrict Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Mary Chapman Date: April 13, 2001 Subject: Monthly Staff Report CUSTOMER SERVICE: Customer service activity has begun to pick up with requests to transfer service back from renters to owners. NEW CONSTRUCTION: New construction is beginning to pick up. We are expecting that it will increase significantly in the next couple of weeks as builders try to avoid the new connection and facilities fees. BILLING: Billing is current. We have completed our billing conversion. We continue to have some conversion related problems pop up. The last one related to the EPP accounts. We have sent letters out to the EPP customers in cycle 1 along with a revised bill. Next week, letters will be going out to invite customers to join the EPP plan for this next year. Existing plan customers will be notified of their new amounts when they receive their May bill. ACCOUNTING: Accounts payable and payroll are current. We are currently working on producing the final finacial statements and treasurer's report for 2000; we are also working on producing all of the reports through March, 2001. The auditors were here for the last two weeks. Every thing relating to the audit is done. Rick Blumenfeld and Terri Guthrie are scheduled to present the audit at the May 2, 2001 meeting. PERSONNEL: Fred Bradbury was appointed the position of Facilities Maintenance/Relief Utility Worker. We are now in the process of filling the Billing Clerk position. 0401 MOLY.RPT TRUCKEE DONNER Public Utilityy District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Scott Terrell Date: April 4, 2001 Note: Since most of these projects are ongoing, Staff continues to report the basic information and highlights the activities that have occurred during the reporting month. When a project/activity is completed it is reported, then deleted from this report. Strategic Planning/District$Savings Key Accounts Program- Staff will be in touch with KA customers regarding their wants and needs and feelings (opinions) about TDPUD. Staff is waiting to contact KA customers until the outcome of TDPUD's telecommunications plans are known. About a dozen KA Customers have been contacted regarding their interest in receiving energy efficiency and peak load reduction grant funding from the State. The CEC has notified us that TTSA will be receiving grant funding to help offset some of their costs for incorporating energy-efficiency measures into their facilities. We are hopeful for SB 5X funding to help our other customers. TDPUD Building GSHP Proposal- Staff would like to re-visit this project idea with the Board in the near future. This project is on-hold for the District's Strategic Planning process outcome. Deregulation Education- I am attending various courses, seminars, workshops and meetings to help me keep up with deregulation and "competition" activities. I attended 2 meetings in Sacramento March 13-14 which covered issues such as SB5X energy efficiency grant funding for public power agencies and other program opportunities. ConservatiONDSM/Economic Development/Public Benefits Public Benefits Program- TDPUD has received and processed about 165 Conservation Cash Rebate program applications to date. The Truckee Fire Protection District and School District will be installing high efficiency lighting in their facilities. The TTSA Board has approved going forward with implementing four energy efficiency and demand reduction projects. The Hospital District's high efficiency chiller is scheduled to arrive in March. The Kidzone project is scheduled for Spring, 2001. The Kidzone Groundbreaking took place March 6. Schools Energy & Water Conservation Education Program- This program is designed to teach both energy and water conservation education to 7"' grade children and includes energy and water conservation measures the kids can install in their parent's homes. So far the Living Wise program has been received very well. Sue Mock, SMMS teacher, is responsible for administering this program for the School District. Staff made a presentation March 8 to Mrs. Mock's class to discuss utility careers, where Truckee's electricity and water comes from, calculating energy use and energy and water conservation. TDPUD Programs & Services- Staff is currently collecting information and ideas about some possible future programs and services for TDPUD customers. Staff is researching whole-house surge protection and "fiber-optic" building security systems for the benefit of our customers. Ground Source Heat Pump Bulk Purchase & Installation Program- Staff is currently looking into new ideas on how to educate and promote this technology to our customers. Staff has been contacted by several developers, architects and building engineers, etc. due to their interest in possibly pursuing GSHPs for projects they will be building. The School District is very interested in using the GSHP technology for their new Middle School being planned. The economics for GSHP in Truckee is becoming very strong with higher natural gas prices. Most projects currently being proposed have a 5 to 10 year payback. There are currently some residential and commercial projects being considered for GSHP as well as some already under construction. GSHP Pilot Project, Phase 2- The completion of the funding agreement with the California Energy Commission is taking time. Davis Energy Group will again be the engineering group responsible for the major logistics of the project. The workplan has been completed and approved by the CEC and we hope to begin in April. Business & Energy Efficiency Partnership- The Truckee Donner PUD/Sierra College Partnership project is designed to encourage local groups, clubs and individuals to tour the energy and water- efficient Sierra College facility. TDPUD uses the grounds as a demonstration of low-water using plant types and water conserving irrigation systems. TDPUD Staff is available for guided tours. The TTUSD School District is planning to use this facility in conjunction with the Living Wise kits. Energy Surveys/High Bill Assistance- Staff completed 0 commercial and 2 residential energy- use analyses and/or energy survey(s)this month.Staff also responded on-site to 1 residential "high" bill complaint(s). There are currently no survey requests pending. Communications/Public Relations/Education Newsletter-The Spring 2001 newsletter has been completed and will go out with the bills mid- April through mid-May.This issue will include articles on Electricity Industry issues,TDPUD's effort in improving Downtown electrical service, Equal Payment Plan and Electronic Fund Tranfer. Marketing & Media- Our current marketing efforts are at a low level as we wait for TDPUD's direction with broadband. Recent marketing has included information on: community conservation cash rebate programs, TDPUD's Web Site, low electric rates & high power reliability and TDPUD's efforts in promoting environmental- clean air, high water quality and the local economy. Staff will be working with the Sierra Lifestyles program to do cable marketing from March through June and to do an interview spot mid-year. Channel 6 run by the High School will provide cable marketing/advertising soon. Community Event Marketing- We are helping promote the Truckee Home Show through a bill stuffer going out from mid-April through mid-May. We will be helping the Chamber promote the Windows on History event through a bill stuffer going out with the May bills. The Small Business Development Center has already requested that we stuff their workshop brochures in an upcoming billing cycle. The Community Foundation would like our help this Fall. Power Content Label- State law requires that all California public and private utilities supply their customers with a Power Content Label quarterly. The next quarterly Power Content Label will go out June, 2001. Water Bottle- The new TDPUD water bottle is getting a lot of attention. There have been requests for bottles to take to meetings and other events. If you have a meeting or event you would like to take water bottles to give me a call. Kidzone Project- Staff has been working with a group of organizations in Town to develop the Kidzone project. This is a 3,500 square-foot facility planned to be used as a play and educational center for young children. It will also be the new home for the Sierra Nevada Children's Museum. This new facility is planned to be located next to the Recreation District's Activity Center. Kidzone participants are partnering with TDPUD due to TDPUD Board's approval to partially fund the ground source heat pump hydronic heating system installation. The groundbreaking ceremony took place March 6f°. Community Garden Brochure- Staff has agreed to participate in the development of a brochure that describes Truckee's garden projects that are available to the community. The brochure will include the garden at the SBDC building created to showcase low water using plants and water- efficient irrigation systems. Other gardens to be featured include: Sierra Herb garden, TTHS and Regional Park's native vegetation gardens, project Mana's food for the hungry garden and the proposed Historical Society victory garden. Community/Statewide Involvement Community Involvement- There are many community-related activities staff is involved with as described throughout this entire report. Staff has concentrated more on helping with and participating in activities than serving on committees. Committees are often time-consuming and involve members in many activities unrelated to their expertise and ability to contribute efficiently. Truckee River Watershed Council- Staff is currently serving on this committee to see how TDPUD fits into their overall effort. There are opportunities to work cooperatively with this group that may be beneficial to many organizations. Many Truckee area watershed remediation projects are being considered by this group. Staff was unable to attend meetings this month due to conflict with out of town meetings. The CRMP has changed their name to the Truckee River Watershed Council. They have received funding for a watershed Coordinator and have applied for more funding to extend the Coordinator's time and ability to conduct projects. California Municipal Utilities Association Energy Services, Marketing and Legislative Committees- The Committee is working on projects and programs to help CMUA member utilities deal with deregulation issues. CMUA staff is encouraging all California public power utilities to participate in receiving some of the SBSX grant funding from the California Energy Commission. The current status of SBSX is that it has passed the Senate and the Assembly and is waiting for the Governor's signature. Many changes were made recently including bringing down the contribution to the Public's to $60 Million. Association for Efficient Environmental Energy Systems- Staff participates in quarterly meetings of the California Utility & GEA GSHP Collaborative. The California Collaborative was formed to oversee the development and promotion of the GSHP industry in California. Staff attended the March 13 meeting. Staff participates as a Board member and Membership Chair for AEEES. Staff is currently working with AEEES to expand their service offerings which will be of benefit to TDPUD and its customers in the future. Utility Energy Forum Planning Committee- The 2001 Conference is scheduled for May 7-9 in Granlibakken. This is my 0 or 5th year in a row as Conference Chairperson.