Board Members Present: Dorothy Anderson, Peter Bartel, Patrick Lanning, and Sandra Bishop.
Others present: Randy Berggren, JoAnn Andersen, Deborrah Brewer, Terry Bequette, Tom Buckhouse, Marty Douglass, Dick Helgeson, Dave Koski, Roseanna McArthur, Jim Origliosso, Lance Robertson, Dick Varner, Jim Wiley, John Yanov, and Krista Hince of the EWEB staff; Joe Sams, City of Eugene Minutes Recorder; and members of the public.
President Anderson called the Work Session to order at 5:30 pm.
MASTER PLAN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
Deborrah Brewer, Master Plan Project Manager, provided an update presentation on the master plan. She reviewed that the reason the Master Plan originally began was to evaluate whether the current site was the best location for the utility for the next 20 or 30 years. She said there was three pieces toward going with option C which was the option to eventually move the Operations functions in five to seven years.
Ms. Brewer outlined the options which were based on a 30-year view with a 10 percent growth factor:
A. Remain on the site with changes in configuration.
B. Move all functions to an alternative site.
B(1). Retain the Midgely Building for a downtown presence.
B(2). Lease space in downtown to keep a presence in that location.
C. Move operations to an alternative site but keep administrative headquarters at the current site.
Ms. Brewer said that all of the options did not have a major expenditure until 2011 because that was the year that the bonds of the current headquarters building were paid off. She noted that there were different financial strategies to chose from depending on the schedule. She added that all of the options retained ownership of the steam plant and the property on the east end of the site. She said any new building would use green development which had a very high level of energy efficiency standards as well as natural vegetation in landscaping.
Ms. Brewer said that all the options would retain easements on the current property to make sure that the current site was accessible and work within the system.
Ms. Brewer said that option B or C were four to seven million dollars cheaper over 30 years because of money back for the sale of property and the newer buildings would be more efficient over that 30 year period.
Ms. Brewer outlined the staff recommended actions that she felt needed to be accomplished over the next few years:
1. Minimize Financial Impacts on EWEB Customers.
2. Maximize the Value of the Existing Site
3. Ensure Ongoing Operational Efficiencies
4. Annual Evaluation of Progress and Assumptions
In response to a question from Commissioner Lanning regarding how reflective the recommendations were for the organization as a whole, Ms. Brewer said that the recommendations were reflective of the organization but said she did not know how reflective of the community the recommendations were.
In response to a question from Commissioner Lanning regarding ways to address community outreach, Ms. Brewer said community outreach had been discussed for all the options but opined that it was too early for public outreach until an actual option had been chosen by the Board.
In response to a question from President Anderson regarding when the best time for public involvement would be, Ms. Brewer suggested asking for public involvement when the process began for rezoning a new site with the City of Eugene.
President Anderson raised concern that a developer would not pay a good price for the land the utility was currently located on. She suggested waiting an additional 20 years before selling the site.
Mr. Berggren noted that there were operating inefficiencies associated with the current site that would require a significant amount of additional investment when the utility was still planning on moving to another location.
Ms. Brewer stressed the need for developing a financial strategy and making sure the value of the current property was maintained.
Vice President Bartel stressed the importance of being organized in maximizing the value of the property.
In response to a question from Vice President Bishop regarding whether the substation would stay in its current location, Ms. Brewer said it would stay for the current time but once a direction was decided upon the future of the substation would be reconsidered.
Commissioner Bishop raised concern that the value of the land might not increase.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding what possible clean up costs for the site would be if it was sold to a developer, Ms. Brewer said $500,000 had been allocated for site clean up after its sale.
Commissioner Bishop raised concern over what the source of funding for the move would be. She expressed her unwillingness to ask rate payers for more money or to put out another bond.
Mr. Berggren noted that the current site needed major improvements if the utility were going to stay for a significant amount of time. He stressed the need for a long-term sense of where the utility was going and how much money it would cost to invest in the current site. He added that site constraints were becoming a problem and said the utility needed to position itself for an eventual move.
In response to a comment from President Anderson regarding the need for more information before making a positive decision, Mr. Berggren said it would take years of work re-evaluating assumptions and checking land values. Ms. Brewer added that the earliest a move could be conceived would be five years from the current date and that staff just needed direction to move ahead with collecting data.
Vice President Bartel stressed the importance of determining the value of the property accurately. He reiterated to Mr. Berggren that the utility needed to be positioned to moved but stressed that it should only move when the economy had improved.
Ms. Brewer said that staff could move ahead with a financial strategy but would reassess the options every year.
Commissioner Bishop said she could not imagine a new headquarters location in the next seven to ten years and did not want to give the impression that she was in favor of selling the current headquarters building in that time.
There was general consensus to drop the recommendation language and concentrating on moving ahead with immediate next steps while having staff refine its analysis and provide regular updates to the Board.
FEBRUARY 7, 2002 STORM CRITIQUE
Jim Wiley, Electric Division Director, and Dave Koski, Electric Operations Manager, provided a presentation on EWEB's performance during and after the February 7, 2002 storm event. The presentation included:
Mr. Wiley said damage assessment was the weakest link in the restoration effort. As a cause he cited damage assessment groups spread too thinly through the damaged areas and the inexperience of some of the assessors.
1. Make the Community Safe (Responding to Police, Fire, Public Works, and Public Safety calls)
2. Restoring Power to Hospitals, Community Shelters, Emergency Command Centers, Sewer Pump Stations, and Government Offices
3. Repairing Utility Infrastructure
4. Triage (Getting the largest number of customers back in service for the least amount of effort)
Mr. Wiley noted that EWEB staff had handled 40,000 calls from February 7 -14. He noted that the event of high volume call-taking fell short of customer needs.
Mr. Wiley outlined staff recommendations/lessons learned from the storm event:
1. Revise the emergency action plan to account for a 40 year storm event and make provisions to reach deeper into the organization for support services.
2. Drill on the plan each year in coordination with the City of Eugene Emergency Management Team.
3. Build more depth into the command and control structure.
4. Revise the Customer Communication Plan to include announcements and communications on the order of power restoration and have the announcement prepared in advance of another storm event.
5. Improve damage assessment forms/maps and train employees on safety issues (what to look for).
6. Create community response teams to visit neighborhoods and community shelters to distribute information on how to improvise until power is restored.
7. Improve liaison coordination with City/County emergency operations center and incident command system.
Mr. Wiley stressed that the storm was a severe event that significantly taxed both the utility systems and staff. He placed special emphasis on the fact that in a dangerous situation for both the public and EWEB staff, it had only taken six days for line crews to rebuild 35 percent of EWEB's entire system. He added that staff were timely with updates to the media and were accessible 24 hours a day.
Vice President Bartel commended the staff work done during and after the storm event. He stressed the need to concentrate on customer communication and added that the Commissioners should have a role in that process.
In response to a question from Commissioner Lanning regarding whether there were any ideas from staff on improving customer communication, Mr. Koski said staff were working with a contractor to enhance the system and were also examining policies from other utilities to see if more practical ideas could be found.
Commissioner Lanning suggested printing fliers that could be distributed in daily newspapers that would outline repair efforts and storm information.
Mr. Koski noted that no single media method would reach the entire community and stressed that customer communication needed to be handled in a variety of ways.
Vice President Bartel suggested daily messages informing the public of where line crews were working to restore power. He reiterated his compliment of the repair work that was done and added a suggestion that the hierarchy of repairs should be released to the public.
The Work Session adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
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Assistant Secretary President