Board Members present: Sandra Bishop, Dorothy Anderson, Patrick Lanning, Susie Smith, Peter Bartel.
Board Members absent:
Others present: Randy Berggren, EWEB manager, Cathy Hamilton, Scott Spettel, Debra Wright, members of the EWEB staff; Cathy Bloom, Shawn Holm, Don Irving, auditors from Price-Waterhouse Coopers; Ray Wiley, member of the public.
President Anderson called the Regular Board Meeting of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to order.
AGENDA CHECK
The agenda was approved as submitted.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT CALENDAR
Minutes:
1. Minutes of the January 16, 2001 Work Session and Special Board Meeting
Policy Revision:
2. Change the Tamper Charges originally approved at $500 per incidence to: "from $125 to $500 depending on tamper history, the severity and circumstances surrounding the tamper."
Business Services Agreements
3. Umpqua Research Company-Water Division-Water Production. Provide certified analyses for compliance monitoring, special chemical analyses and emergency analyses as requested. Provide reports on analyses to the water quality staff at Hayden Bridge. Contract amount is $36,978.
4. Biovir Laboratories-Water Production-Water Division. This service provides certified analyses for Giardia, Cryptosporidium and the odor producing chemicals geosmin and MIB s needed for compliance and proper water treatment plant operations. Amount of contract is $7,500 which includes money for unforeseen water quality conditions that might warrant additional monitoring. Total spent to date, including the $7,500 requested is $20,000.
Commissioner Smith requested that the two sets of minutes be removed from the Consent Calendar and addressed at the end of the meeting.
Commissioner Smith, seconded by Vice President Bartel, moved to approve the items on the consent calendar as amended. The motion passed unanimously.
ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS
Vice President Bartel attended the Economic Forecast Meeting. He stated that the meeting was very optimistic about the economic forecast. He added that it was noted at the meeting that cities that depended on companies that are oriented toward high technology production were more likely to experience financial jeopardy and, as the City of Eugene does not predominantly depend on this type of economy, the City of Eugene is unlikely to be stressed by the industry's downturns. He noted that EWEB was well-represented at the meeting.
Commissioner Bishop stated that she toured Hyundai. She said that Hyundai is voluntarily turning off 1,000 large light fixtures in order to conserve energy.
Commissioner Bishop expressed concern that the Springfield Utility Board is using diesel generators to generate electricity for economic reasons and that this type of energy production pollutes. It was not confirmed that SUB engages in this practice.
Commissioner Bishop cited two headlines in the Eugene-Springfield Register-Guard that stated that EWEB had raised the utility rates. She clarified that the rates have not been raised.
Commissioner Bishop asked staff if staff had proposed the possibility of a presentation to the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the Eugene City Council. A staff member in the audience stated that the two entities had been approached and there was uncertainty whether the council and the Commissioners could accommodate the added agenda item.
Commissioner Smith stated that she would miss the meeting on March 6, 2001.
CORRESPONDENCE
General Manager Randy Berggren reported that Debra Wright, Telecommunication Project Manager, is starting a citizens' involvement group on telecommunications on Thursday, February 29,2001 from 6 to 9 p.m. He added that there will be an agenda and Mr. Dennis Gabriel will be speaking.
Mr. Berggren mentioned three memos that had been circulated among the Commissioners. He stated that the first is on the March 6, 2001, Work Session on sustainability and project selection, the second was on the status of the Lloyd Knox signage at Leaburg Park, and the third discusses Ms. Wright's testimony on House Bill 680 on telecommunications.
Mr. Berggren reported on Board agendas. He stated that the 4-J and Two Rivers School Boards are meeting on February 28, 2001, and will discuss the award related to the grant work. He said that there will be a second meeting on the Umatilla Development Agreement. He also noted that there will be an update on the Lane-Irvington transmission lines at the work session on March 6, 2001.
PUBLIC INPUT
Ray Wiley, retired Bonneville Energy Management Engineer, suggested a plan for a residential owner's self-certification program. He noted that a landlord is not highly motivated to weatherize a building as the tenants pay the utility bill. He proposed that EWEB ask owners to self-certify the buildings based on seven criteria. He suggested that there should be a time frame within which the weatherization should occur and a financial benefit to the self-certification such as a rate structure based on the energy conservation improvement.
STATE OF THE UTILITY ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT DOROTHY ANDERSON
President Anderson gave the state of the utility address. She spoke in glowing terms of the successful year that EWEB had just experienced. She highlighted the staff's good work and some of the challenges presented by events of the year 2000, such as the energy crisis in California. She commended the Board's continued focus on conservation.
2000 AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Mr. Don Irving, Mr. Shawn Holm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Ms. Cathy Bloom, Assistant Treasurer, discussed the annual financial statements of the fiscal year 2000 at EWEB. Mr. Irving stated that the audit was completed on January 26, 2001, two months earlier than it was usually completed by.
Mr. Holm highlighted elements of the financial statement.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel, Mr. Holm stated that a financial reserve is warranted to address situations such as the California energy crisis as they arise. Mr. Irving clarified, in response to a question from Vice President Bartel, that currently the California debt is listed as reserve, i.e. uncollectible, as the potential future repayment is uncertain.
Jim Origliosso, Treasurer, stated in response to a question from Vice President Bartel, that there will be a presentation on the funding strategy for PERS benefits in April.
INTERIM FUNDING FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SCHOOL LATERAL
Ms. Wright gave a brief overview of a printed flier on funding issues for the 4-J School Laterals.
Vice President Bartel asked what the current status of fund raising is. Ms. Wright responded that, at this point, she was unsure what funding had been secured, but that staff members were working different funding angles. In response to a question about the commitment from Chambers Communications, Ms. Wright stated that there doesn't seem to be a commitment to aid in funding as there has been a restructuring at the management level. Vice President Bartel suggested that, until the funding commitment is there, Chambers Communications should not be publicly listed as a partner in this project. Ms. Wright agreed to follow up with Chambers Communication to either assure the financial commitment or to remove them from the list of partners.
Commissioner Bishop observed that the resolution included no expectation to repay EWEB. Ms. Wright responded that, legally, staff has to create a funding resolution not tied back to repayment. Ms. Bishop cited that rates are going up and, as such, it could be unpalatable to the public for EWEB to contribute $250,000 to this project. Mr. Berggren clarified that the funding is from a bond issue and unrelated to rates. In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop, Ms. Wright stated that the funding would be reimbursed proportionate to the funding contributions the various partners had made.
Vice President Bartel moved, with a second from Commissioner Smith, to approve the Resolution to provide funding for the Telecommunications School Laterals in the amount of $250,000.
Some discussion ensued. Commissioner Bishop stated that she could not support the funding proposal, not because it wasn't a good project, but because she felt the payback period needed to be more concrete based on economic concerns and public perception of the funding.
The motions carried, 4 for, 1 (Commissioner Bishop) opposed.
CUSTOMER SURVEY RESULTS
Cathy Hamilton, External Communications Coordinator, highlighted the recent customer survey. She discussed the benchmarks established by previous surveys. She explained that the survey included 400 interviews and was conducted from January 9 to January 11, 2001. She cited the performance areas that are tied to the utility's goals and stated that the overall public rating for the utility was very good. Rick Lindholm, Survey Coordinator, said that there was some anticipation that the California energy issues might color public opinion in a negative way toward EWEB, but that, in fact, there was no apparent impact.
Ms. Hamilton recommended, based on the results of the survey, that EWEB continue to communicate to its public constituency about potential rate increases, that public understanding of the utility and the issues confronting it would keep its approval rating high. Commissioner Smith commented that it would be prudent to increase publicity on the emphasis on conservation that is part of the core of EWEB.
UMATILLA DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
Scott Spettel, Power Management and Planning Manager, gave a short presentation on the Umatilla Development Agreement. He stated that staff recommends signing the agreement as the probability of success is over 50 percent.
ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR
Ms. Smith recommended the following change in the minutes of the January 16, 2001, work session:
Ms. Smith recommended the following changes in the minutes of the January 16, 2001, regular meeting:
"Commissioner Smith noted that anything less than 7.3 percent would lose ground with the rest of the market. She said it was important for the Board to be clear that if the goal of the Board is to maintain salaries competitive in the market, taking a salary action that does not keep Mr. Berggren in the market will create a gap that will widen over time. She stressed that, over time, compensation needs to be at least market rate to maintain excellent staff. She also noted that the Board needs to strike a balance between the regional utility market place and the local community concerns for public sector salary and, as such, she recommended a 4.4 percent salary increase as a parallel of the average granted to the rest of EWEB staff."
Mr. Bartel moved, with a second by Mr. Lanning, to approve the minutes of the Work Session and of the Regular Board Meeting held on January 16, 2001 as amended. Motion carried unanimously.
There was a short discussion on the proposal made by Mr. Wiley during the Public Input. Mr. Bartel suggested that the Board consider it during a work session.
The meeting adjourned at 10:04 p.m.
(Recorded by Ruth Atcherson)
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Assistant Secretary President