Board Members present: Susie Smith, Mike Dyer, Sandra Bishop, Dorothy Anderson, and Peter Bartel.
Others present: Randy Berggren, Manda Bednarczyk, Terry Bequette, Tom Buckhouse, Marty Douglass, Dick Helgeson, Jerry Hohman, Dale Kessinger, Garry Kunkel, Mat Northway, Mark Oberle, Debbie Unfried, Dick Varner, and Krista Hince of the EWEB staff; and Daniel Lindstrom, Minutes Recorder.
President Smith called the meeting of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to order at 8:30 p.m. She reported that discussion of the 1999 Oregon Legislative Session had taken place during the Work Session of the evening and would not be included on the agenda of the meeting, but that action regarding it would be considered during the time for Items from Board Members.
President Smith determined there was consensus that approval of the minutes of the February 5-6 Board Planning Session and consideration of a resolution commemorating retired EWEB would be removed from the agenda of the meeting.
Vice President Dyer moved, seconded by Commissioner Bishop, that the Board of Commissioners re-affirm the EWEB Policy on Retail Access for the 1997 Oregon Legislative Session. The motion was adopted unanimously, 5:0.
Commissioner Anderson reported that an EWEB crew and members of the Northwest Youth Corps planted 950 Douglas Fir trees donated by Weyerhauser Corporation on Rodman Island. She said the trees would be monitored to ensure they would mature appropriately.
Commissioner Anderson asked if overhead line data related to outages had been previously reported automatically. General Manager Randy Berggren replied that the memorandum on which Commissioner Anderson had based her question reported on a new system which tied field inventory of each meter to a transformer which provided a data base for the customer information system. He said it was a more sophisticated system than was previously in place.
Commissioner Bartel asked if there was progress being made in resolving issues related to the EWEB Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) rate for 1999. Mr. Berggren replied that it appeared decisions would be made which would limit future liabilities but that issues related to current unfunded liabilities had not yet been addressed. He said EWEB continues to advocate for a "retroactive fix"of the problem.
Commissioner Bishop reported that she had received a staff briefing on the water transmission line extension in response to customer concerns. She said she believed it would be important for EWEB to provide clear public information regarding the purpose, location, and progress of the project. She said she was impressed with the care the project would be taking to avoid damage to the roots of trees.
Commissioner Anderson reported that she had received a similar briefing.
Public Affairs Manager Marty Douglass stated that information regarding the water transmission line extension project would be provided to affected neighborhood associations within the next week and that staff would make presentations at association meetings when construction was about to begin. He said that follow-up would also be made with individuals with questions or concerns.
Commissioner Bishop requested that sentence 1 of paragraph 6 on page 7 of the minutes of the February 16 Special Board Meeting be changed, as follows:
Commissioner Bishop said that she was concerned that the proposed
contract set October or November 2005 as the time to
enter into negotiations to renew the contract.
President Smith determined that there was no objection to the request of Commissioner Bishop and stated that the minutes were amended.
Commissioner Bishop requested that paragraph 7 on page 7 of the minutes of the February 16 Special Board Meeting be changed, as follows:
Vice President Dyer suggested that the proposed contract be
altered to set the time of the beginning of negotiations for renewal
during the third quarter of 2005.
President Smith determined that there was no objection to the request of Commissioner Bishop and stated that the minutes were amended.
Commissioner Anderson requested that sentence 3 of paragraph 5 on page 1 of the minutes of the February 16 Special Board Meeting be changed, as follows:
She said she would make her copy of the report available to commissioners, staff, or others interested. The other commissioners reported that they had already received copies of the report.
President Smith determined that there was no objection to the request of Commissioner Anderson and stated that the minutes were amended.
Commissioner Bishop requested that sentence 1 of paragraph 1 on page 10 of the minutes of the February 16 Special Board Meeting be changed, as follows:
Commissioner Bishop said she did not fully
support tying the compensation of the General Manager to a
performance measure goals.
President Smith determined that there was no objection to the request of Commissioner Bishop and stated that the minutes were amended.
Commissioner Bishop requested that an addition be made to paragraph 7 on page 10 of the minutes of the February 16 Special Board Meeting, as follows:
Commissioner Bishop said that she agreed with the consensus, with the caveat that information regarding it needed to be distributed in advance of the meeting in which it was scheduled to be discussed and that the public be given opportunity to make comments. She said she believed a document such as the General Manager's contract was too important for the Board to be expected to review at the same meeting at which it was distributed for the first time. She said that, in the future, she would not take action on important items not presented to the Board in advance of the meeting. She said she wanted to avoid rushing to any decision, but that she believed renewal of the General Manager's contract had already been delayed for too long.
President Smith determined that there was no objection to the request of Commissioner Bishop and stated that the minutes were amended.
Vice President Dyer moved, seconded by Commissioner Bartel, that the minutes of the February 16, 1999, Special Board Meeting be approved, as amended. The motion was adopted unanimously, 5:0.
Mr. Berggren reported that Commissioners were invited to the annual EWEB Retirement Banquet to be held on April 30. He said a large number of employees would be retiring during the year.
Mr. Berggren encouraged study of the memorandum sent to all Commissioners regarding the participation of EWEB in the Community Emergency Network System. He said it was positive to have EWEB be part of the system.
Mr. Berggren stated that he and Human Resources Manager Sandra DeLuna had extracted approximately 18 goal statements from his review and performance evaluation on February 16. He said he was attempting to consolidate the statements into a few "goal themes," to which he hoped to add his own sense of a goal for distribution to the Board.
Mr. Berggren said that the Five-Year Financial Overview originally scheduled for the February 5-6 Planning Session would be considered at the Special Board Work Session scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on March 9. He said that the March 16 Work Session would include a Midgley's Review and a construction work in progress policy draft. He said the agenda of the March 16 Special Meeting would include items not covered in the current meeting, consideration of the Financial Plan, and an update on PERS funding issues.
President Smith determined that there was no one present wishing to address the Board.
Facilities Director Tom Buckhouse distributed copies of an outline of the presentations to be displayed on overhead projector regarding the report on the staff review of the headquarters site requirements. He noted that the review had identified modifications and improvements which would maintain and enhance operations over the next five years. He said issues had also been identified which could impact a long-term commitment to the site.
Real Property Specialist Mark Oberle referred to an aerial photograph of the EWEB headquarters site and discussed site egress and access issues for customers, work crews, and material stored on the site which were included in a document entitled "Headquarter Site Master Plan Review -- Staff Assessments 1998" distributed with the agenda of the meeting. He also reviewed site utilization issues identified in the document--internal traffic flow, employee parking, Midgley Building parking, material storage areas, and operations equipment parking and storage.
Commissioner Bartel requested that he be provided a reduced-size copy of the aerial photograph of the headquarters site used by Mr. Oberle.
Environmental Specialist Debbie Unfried reviewed environmental issues related to the headquarters site identified in the document--vehicle rinse facility runoff, facility drainage, and investigations underway regarding the former manufactured gas plant site.
Facilities Services Engineering Supervisor Jerry Hohman discussed concerns raised in the document related to the bunker coil tank and hogged fuel area in the project to reclaim the fuel areas of the steam plant. He also discussed the potential of removing equipment from the steam plant building; earthquake risk mitigation needed in the north and south buildings and equipment repair building; and earthquake dangers in the operations/warehouse building and vehicle repair shop. He reviewed issues identified in the headquarters buildings regarding heating, ventilating, air conditions, security, and handicapped accessability.
Mr. Buckhouse discussed issues related to replacement of the Willamette Substation and the location of a telecommunications system facility on the headquarters site identified in the document.
Mr. Douglass reviewed issues identified in the document related to the Willamette River Greenway, unused areas of the site which could be considered for new purposes, the East Skinner Butte Historic District, steam plant, and property currently owned by Agripac.
Mr. Buckhouse said that some issues raised in the headquarters site review had shown it was becoming increasingly difficult to operate EWEB from its current site. He said there were also pressures regarding its continued use from a changed City of Eugene policy about the property, the significant costs involved in upgrading some of the buildings to currently accepted seismic standards, and the interests of neighboring property owners. He requested that the Board discuss how to determine EWEB's long-term commitment to the site. He specifically asked for opinions about citizen involvement in the process.
Commissioner Anderson said she believed the first step to be taken in any process regarding the site should be for Commissioners to "walk the site." She suggested that studies of the area made during planning of the re-construction of the Ferry Street Bridge be used in the process and that consideration be given to relocating some operational functions to another site.
Commissioner Bishop said she believed it was premature to seek extensive public involvement in a process considering EWEB's long-term commitment to the site.
Commissioner Bartel said that he agreed with Commissioner Bishop regarding public involvement and suggested that the Board and staff begin the process by developing a 20-year view of headquarters and operational site needs. He recommended that discussion during the process include consideration of which public or private organizations could become partners in facility development, whether there was a need for a downtown headquarters location, and how many businesses would continue to be operated in the future. He said he believed the study was a valuable opportunity for long-range planning at EWEB.
Vice President Dyer said he had always believed locating operations facilities at the current site was awkward and that he could easily justify moving parts or all of it elsewhere. He said he favored keeping the EWEB headquarters in its current location.
Commissioner Anderson said that she believed the EWEB headquarters was best located where it was easily visible. She observed that relocating any facilities could be extremely expensive.
President Smith said that she believed a plan for involvement of the Board and staff was needed for consideration of EWEB's long-term commitment to its current location. She wrote strategic questions to be answered in development of the plan, as follows:
Context: Ferry Street Bridge Plan, Greenway, etc.
Strategic Questions:
Mr. Berggren suggested that the questions proposed by President Smith could become the basis for "scoping" of the project. He said that the rapid development of property in Eugene meant that appropriate sites were disappearing and that a process which might require acquisition of property should begin in a timely fashion.
President Smith said that estimates of capital costs related to re-location would also need to be developed in a timely fashion. She suggested that appropriate Board and staff cooperative work on the project would be important early in a decision-making process.
Commissioner Bartel said he had difficulty seeing how the Board could take on the issue of site location without negatively impacting its other responsibilities. He suggested that following initial scoping work, a subcommittee be formed to take responsibility for the project.
Commissioner Dyer said additional discussion was needed before he was ready to decide on the appropriate Board involvement in consideration of EWEB's long-term commitment to the current location of its headquarters and operations facilities.
Mr. Buckhouse said he would arrange for a "site walk" for the Board, as suggested by Commissioner Anderson and that further Board discussion about scoping of the project would be scheduled.
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.