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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-07-11 Agenda Packet - Board (15) Agenda Item # / D ii Public� E Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Peter Holzmeister Date: July 13, 2001 Subject: Monthly report 1. Donner Lake water system: I have been focused on Donner Lake for the last month. I get many calls regarding monthly billing. People are disturbed that they paid Del Oro and now will pay us for the same time period. I explain that the situation is unpleasant, but that we are in a transition period, that we are working hard each day to keep water on, we are repairing leaks and we need money to do our job. I explain that we are attempting to get their money back from Del Oro and if we succeed we will credit their water bills. Most people are understanding and will pay. Some are so angry that they will not pay. I have retained the services of Mary Heatherington to help with the SRF application. Mary is an engineer who has worked for R.W. Beck and now does independent consulting. She lives in Truckee. She has done work for us before. The quicker we secure SRF money the better for us. 2. Glenshire water: Harold Morgan of Navigant Consulting visited Glenshire to perform a system review and inspection. I am now waiting for his report. I have spoke with him by telephone and he tells me he found nothing that would be a serious impediment to our acquisition of the system. This item will probably appear on the Board's August 1 agenda. 3. Electric Superintendent position: With the departure of Bob Quinn I am now thinking about what to do with the position of Electric Superintendent. I will consult with Steve Hollabaugh, Joe Horvath, Ron Reynolds and members of the line crew to get their ideas. I will report back to the Board in the near future with a recommendation. Meanwhile, Steve, Joe and Ron and able to keep things flowing in the right direction. The line crew has excellent leaders in the management and union ranks. Agenda Item # jMMN]e- i s� • • •ONNER District Public Utility Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Mary Chapman Date: July 13, 2001 Subject: Monthly Staff Report CUSTOMER SERVICE: Customer service activity has been extremely busy. The staff has received at least 400 phone calls (almost all complaints) from Donner Lake water customers. Their complaints have been: 1) Complaints about being out of water over the 4"'; 2) They expected an instant fix to their water problems; 3) They paid Del Oro and they didn't think they should have to pay us also; 4) Our bills are much higher; they said that this was never disclosed to them; 5) Their landlord pays the water bill and they aren't going to pay us; 6) Multi-units are each getting a bill; they only received one bill from Del Oro. When the District sent the 4 h of July fliers with the customer bills, the fliers did not include a phone number. Because they were sent with our bills, customers called us and expected us to answer all their questions regarding the beach and the fireworks. The Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District was also telling customers that they should ask the PUD for proof that they had service in their name. We were asked to provide copies of their application for service or printouts of their account screens. We had at least 125 of these calls. This should never happen again. NEW CONSTRUCTION: New construction applications have slowed down considerably since the new fees went into affect. We have received approximately 8 applications for service. METER READING: Meter reading is current. Since Bev is in Russia, we are using Manny Lopez and Tami to keep current. BILLING: Billing is current. A lot of effort has been spent on setting up the Donner Lake water bills and answering customer questions and complaints. We used NISC to help us populate the required billing fields. We still have many problems to work out. We have not begun to bill any commercial water accounts. We are working to collect service information on these accounts since no information has been provided by Del Oro. ACCOUNTING: Accounts payable and payroll are current. We are currently working to produce the financial statements and the treasurer's report for June. PERSONNEL: Sara Mayer is our new Customer Services Clerk. She has been with us since June 20, 2001. Sara came to us from Tenderland Electric Company a local reseller of green power. 0701 MOLY.RPT Agenda Item # . . - . Public Utility District Memorandum To: Board of Directors From: Kathy Neus, Support Services Manager Date: July 13, 2001 Monthly Activity Report Purchasing and Warehousing Most of the activity is in the water department. With Donner Lake, leak repairs and services material is moving quickly. Transformers and wire for the electric department has begun to arrive. Vehicle Maintenance Chris continues to have the District's vehicles and equipment current in its preventative maintenance schedule. Chris and Glen have been working on getting the three new water service trucks into service. There have been delays in obtaining the cranes for the same three vehicles. Building and Grounds Support Services worked on cleaning up and organizing the Teichert Yard so both the electric and water departments can use the facility. uirl i�w urn � i uiuu TRUCKEE DONNER Public Utility District Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Scott Terrell Date: July 10, 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/Distrfct$Savings Key Accounts Program- TDPUD will receive $100,000 in SB5X monies from the California Energy Commission through NCPA to support Truckee non-profits including Special Districts energy-efficiency and load reduction projects. 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. Conservation/DSM/Economic Development/Public Benefits Public Benefits Program- TDPUD has processed about 190 Conservation Cash Rebate program applications to date. TTSA energy efficiency lighting and motor projects have been installed in their facilities. The Hospital District's high efficiency chiller will be installed this Summer. The Kidzone project is currently under construction with the "skin`s" installation complete. R-19 insulation is being used throughout the shell area. The GSHP system will be installed in July/August. 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 well received. Sue Mock, SMMS teacher, is responsible for administering this program for the School District. 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 other technologies which may be of value to PUD 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 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 projects 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 this Summer. 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. Energy Surveys/High Bill Assistance- Staff completed 1 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 next newsletter is scheduled to go out in August. Potential issues to cover include: Donner Lake and Glenshire water systems, broadband and an update on the"energy crisis" and electric rates statewide. 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. Sierra Lifestyles taped a program with Peter H. June 12 regarding our takeover of the Donner Lake Water System. Community Event Marketing- TDPUD helped promote the Recreation & Park District organized July 4'"event at Donner Lake.TDPUD also helped market the Summer Music Festival in June. We will be helping market the Nevada County Fair in July. 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 July, 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 Truckee to develop the Kidzone project. Kidzone participants have partnered with TDPUD due to TDPUD Board's approval to partially fund the ground source heat pump hydronic heating system installation. Water Cycle Presentations- Staff gave a presentation to two elementary school classes June 12 on the hydrological cycle. Two other elementary classes also received the same presentation on May 15. The presentation includes a discussion and a video on the water cycle and the value of using water wisely. 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 Town Emergency Preparedness "Committee'- Staff has been serving on the Truckee Emergency Preparedness "committee" for about three years. We did the "Shake & Bake" exercise in 1999. We are now working on a tabletop exercise. I attended the June 12 committee meeting at Town Hall to discuss this next exercise. 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 attended the June 8 meeting. A Watershed Coordinator has been selected and hired. California Municipal Utilities Association Energy Services, Marketing and Legislative Committees- Committee are working on projects and programs to help CMUA member utilities deal with deregulation issues. Staff participated in a legislative conference call June 7. Public Power Renewable Energy Action Team(PPREAT)- Western Area Administration Staff developed the idea of bringing public power utilities together to explore the opportunity for "economical" renewable energy electric generation projects in California. A group was formed called the Public Power Renewable Energy Action Team made up of about 15-20 publically-owned electric utilities throughout the State. Joining the group required no commitments or obligations. Truckee Donner PUD staff occasionally attends meetings as a member of this group. PPREAT is a quickly evolving group which recently applied for grant funding through the California Energy Commission and came in 2"d place out of several proposals for a grant award of$6,000,000. Several renewable project opportunities will be explored throughout the State include an assessment of whether a biomass plant could be built in the Tahoe-Truckee area that could provide a reliable supply of economical electric generation for any interested utility. The grant money only provides funding for a "feasibility" study. A biomass plant would use dead tree and plant materials, etc. as the fuel for generating electricity. One concern in the study would be if there is enough available biomass to generate a reliable supply of electricity. A lot of other issues/barriers will also have to be sorted out. There is no obligation for TDPUD or any other utility to participate in this project. We will be contacted about our interest. Association for Efficient Environmental Energy Systems- Staff participates in quarterly meetings of the newly formed AEEES, formerly the GeoExchange Association. This California Collaborative was formed to oversee the development and promotion of the GSHP industry in California. AEEES is expanding to include training and education in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy and distributed generation. 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. The next AEEES meeting will be July 11 in Davis. Utility Energy Forum Planning Committee-The next UEF meeting is scheduled for May, 2002. There will be a planning meeting August 21 in Portola to begin planning this next conference. This is my a year in a row as the Conference Chairperson. E DONNER i District ic Staff Report To: Board of Directors From: Alan Harry, Director of Telecommunication Services Subject: Staff Activity Report; May 101 Date: June 15, 2001 During the month of May'01 I focused my attention on seven related areas: 1. The re-tooling of the District's Broadband Business Unit Performa 2. Utility Poles 3. Williams Communications Construction Project 4. Town of Truckee Police Department Communications 5. Broadband Business Unit Financing 6. Broadband Infrastructure Design 7. Litigation Following Board direction, the Broadband Business Units Performa was re-tooled, excluding the provision of telephony services during the first ten years of operation. Discussion continues between the District and Pacific Bell regarding District and Bell Utility Poles. We are working toward resolving pole issues, and hope to report to the Board in 90 days as to the outcome of ongoing discussions. Williams Communications is in the process of winding down their construction project through Truckee. We are currently in discussion with Williams as it relates to the District"signing off'on the work completed, and the upcoming ownership of conduit through Truckee. At the request of the Town of Truckee's Police Chief, Dan Boone, we have worked toward the leasing of District water tower space to the Town for use in their Police Communication project. To date Chief Boone has found two locations that will assist in radio coverage throughout the limits of the Town. A draft Agreement has been submitted to Chief Boone for review and comment. 0 Page 1 As part of our ongoing research into the provision of Broadband Services, Peter Holzmeister and I have entered into discussions with a number of financial consultants and banking institutions to ascertain the nature of the financial market today. Again,as part of our ongoing research into the provision of Broadband Services,at Board direction I have requested proposals from a number of Design Engineering firms for the design of a District owned Broadband Infrastructure. These proposals are due June 15, and will reported to the Board at their regular meeting of June 20. 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. 0 Page 2