Board Members present: Dorothy Anderson, Peter Bartel, Patrick Lanning, and Sandra Bishop. Commissioner Susie Smith was excused.
Others present: Randy Berggren, JoAnn Andersen, Greg Armstead, Deborrah Brewer, Tom Buckhouse, Ken Beeson, Terry Bequette, Tim Downey, Marty Douglass, Dick Helgeson, Libby Henry, Jay L'Estrange, Jim Maloney, Jim Origliosso, Laurie Power, Scott Spettel, Dick Varner, Jim Wiley, and Krista Hince of the EWEB Staff; Joe Sams, City of Eugene Minutes Recorder, Mark Nelson, Consultant, and members of the public.
President Anderson called the EWEB special board meeting to order at 7:30.
AGENDA CHECK
Item 10 was moved to Item 7 on the agenda.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Minutes of March 20, 2001 Work Session and Special Board Meeting
2. Kanner & Associates- Leaburg-Walterville-Electric Division - $60,000 for three years.
3. Montgomery Watson-Leaburg-Walterville-Electric Division
4. Brown & Caldwell - Water System Hydraulic Model - Water Division - $35,000
5. Group 1 - Information Services - Corporate Services - $220,499
6. Xerox - Information Services - Corporate Services - $115,000
7. Graybar Electrical Company - Hayden Bridge Expansion Project - Water Division - $224,043
Vice President Bartel, seconded by Commissioner Lanning, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar.
Commissioner Bishop pulled the March 20, 2001 minutes.
Vice President Bartel pulled items 5 and 6 from the Consent Calendar.
The motion passed unanimously.
ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS
President Anderson said that she had attended a City Club of Eugene meeting and listened to a presentation from Russell Sadler speaking against deregulation of power. She noted that he had spoken of EWEB as the best run public utility in the northwest.
Vice President Bartel said that he had gone to the City of Ashland to discuss their telecom utility. He said that the trip was productive and helpful.
Commissioner Bishop said she had attended a press conference by Peter DeFazio where he had called for a 15-month deferral or delay of deregulation in the northwest.
Commissioner Bishop noted that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) was changing some members. She suggested that the EWEB Board do something to acknowledge the outgoing and incoming members.
Commissioner Lanning thanked staff for the river trip and tour of the riparian edge along EWEB's property.
CORRESPONDENCE
General Manager Randy Berggren reported that there would be a joint meeting with the Springfield Utility Board on April 25.
Mr. Berggren reported that the May 1, Work Session would have a Master Plan update.
Mr. Berggren reported that April 27, 2001 had been confirmed as the date for the Board Governance meeting.
PUBLIC INPUT
Tammy Egbert, an EWEB customer, raised concern over the deposit charge added to her bill. She said that requiring a $250 deposit from low income families was not fair. She also commented that she had not received enough notice about the deposit and was now in danger of having her power turned off.
President Anderson called for a report from staff on the deposit requirement.
Commissioner Bishop said that arrangements for deposit payments could be made.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Libby Henry, EWEB's Legislative Representative, and Mark Henry, EWEB's Lobbyist, provided a legislative update presentation on energy, PERS, and telecom subjects.
In response to a comment from Vice President Bartel regarding the abandonment of the idea of a third tier for PERS, Mr. Nelson said that the necessary votes were not there in the senate to keep the proposed bill alive. He opined that the votes would not be found to resurrect the bill.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding bonding, Mr. Nelson commented that the bonding issue was not controversial. He said that removal of the PERS third tier as an issue had simplified moving forward on bonding.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding the reasoning behind proposed legislation against public utilities providing telecom services as being called the free enterprise bill, Mr. Nelson said that cable companies were maintaining that public utilities had the possibility of being subsidized and were therefore unfair competition for privately run telecom providers.
ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR
Commissioner Bishop raised concern over the money being outlaid for changing computer systems.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding whether the money being spent was outside of the planned budget for the year, JoAnn Andersen, Director of Customer Services, said that the amount had been planned for in the budget.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding whether the cost was for a single machine, staff confirmed that the cost was for a single machine.
President Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Lanning, moved to approve consent items 5 and 6. The motion passed unanimously.
Regarding the minutes of March 20, Commissioner Lanning offered a suggestion that language be included, on page 4 of the Work Session minutes in the next to last paragraph, that stated that the vegetation would be introduced along EWEB's riparian edge.
Vice President Bartel, seconded by Commissioner Lanning, moved that the minutes of March 20, 2001 Work Session and Special Board Meeting be approved as amended. The motion passed unanimously.
WATER SUPPLY STATUS
Dick Helgeson, Director of Water & Steam Divisions, provided an overhead presentation on the water supply for the Willamette Basin Project. The presentation included information on;
Mr. Helgeson said that 50 percent normal snow packs had reduced flows and reported that the reservoirs would not refill in the coming year.
Mr. Helgeson recommended a 5-10 percent reduction in water usage for customers during the summer months.
Tim Downey, Staff Ecologist, provided an overhead presentation on the possible environmental impacts of the water shortage. He said possible impacts would include;
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding how to facilitate reduced water usage among customers, Mr. Helgeson said he would need some direction from the Board before making any proposals.
TIETON HYDRO CONTRACT RECOMMENDATION
Scott Spettel, Power Management and Planning Manager, said he had received the final draft of the contract that day and had reached agreement with the developer on the previous Friday. He acknowledged that the timing would allow for an approval at the May 1 meeting but urged the Board, if they felt they had adequate information, to provide approval at that meeting. He commented that time was of the essence.
Mr. Spettel said the targeted date of the contract would be June, 2003. He noted that a two year extension had been allowed in case of unforeseen problems during the construction process.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding why the contract was for 25 years rather than 15, Mr. Spettel said the project size was larger and the end cost was higher than expected so the contract length had been extended.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding who would be responsible for power transmission, Mr. Spettel said the developer was responsible for getting the power to the grid and EWEB was responsible from that point.
Commissioner Bishop, seconded by President Anderson, moved to authorize the contract.
In response to a question from President Anderson regarding any preliminary costs, Mr. Spettel said EWEB had no costs until the developer began to provide the power.
The motion passed unanimously.
NEWBERRY GEOTHERMAL - DISCUSSION OF NEW PROJECT DEVELOPER
Jim Maloney, Energy Resources Project Manager, reported that, in January, EWEB had received an unsolicited proposal from a new developer, (Northwest Geothermal Company, a partnership between Davenport Power and Vulcan Power), who had tried to begin a geothermal project approximately 10 years previously in the same area near the Newberry Crater National Monument site. He said that Davenport was trying to resurrect that project.
In response to a question from President Anderson regarding the location, Mr. Maloney said that it would have a slightly different drilling location than the previously proposed project.
Mr. Maloney outlined issues that would have to be considered by the Board before making a decision;
Commissioner Bishop commented that Vulcan power was trying to gain credibility by a joint venture with EWEB. She expressed concern over the idea of such a cooperation.
Commissioner Bishop commented that there was no identified resource at the site. She expressed concern over EWEB being associated with Vulcan Power and reiterated her opinion that there was no viable resource at the proposed site. She stressed that the potential environmental damage to the area would make the venture too risky.
President Anderson said she was not against exploring the possibilities as long as there was no initial investment.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding how much potential power could be generated, Mr. Maloney said the project could possibly generate 10-15 megawatts of power. Mr. Berggren added that there would be no initial investment and added that he would come back with more data for the Board.
Mr. Spettel commented that the only risk was signing a contract before knowing the price of the power generated.
Commissioner Bishop stressed there was a political risk, for EWEB, that a private company would use them for the sole purpose of generating business capital. She raised concern over the possibility of being asked to sign a contract before there was proof of the resource and without knowing if the cost of the power would be too expensive.
President Anderson reiterated that there was no harm in exploring the possibilities of possible power generation.
In response to a question from Vice President Bartel regarding the possible advantages of the project, Mr. Maloney said the main advantage was meeting load growth with a renewable resource.
There was general agreement from the majority of the Board to direct staff to explore the item further. Commissioner Bishop said she was opposed to any further activity of new development with Vulcan Power.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
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Assistant Secretary President