EUGENE WATER & ELECTRIC BOARD
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
EWEB BOARD ROOM
NOVEMBER 1, 2004
7:30 P.M.

Board Members present: Sandra Bishop, Dorothy Anderson, Mel Menegat, and Ron Farmer. President Patrick Lanning was excused.

Others present: Randy Berggren, Jim Wiley, Debra Smith, Dick Varner, Dick Helgeson, Jim Origliosso, Tom Buckhouse, Marty Douglass, and Krista Hince of the EWEB staff; Ruth Atcherson, City of Eugene Minutes Recorder, and John Simpson, Commissioner-elect.

Vice President Bishop convened the Regular Board Meeting of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) at 7:42 p.m.

AGENDA CHECK

The 2004 Third Quarter Budget and Financial Performance had been addressed during the previous Work Session.

PUBLIC INPUT

There was no one present who wished to speak at this time.

APPROVAL OF CONSENT CALENDAR

Minutes

• September 21, 2004, Work Session

Commissioner Menegat, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved approval of the Consent Calendar. The motion passed unanimously, 4:0.

ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS

Commissioner Menegat reported that he had recently appeared before the River Road Neighborhood Association. He stated that the discussion had centered on the rate increase and some of the issues associated with plans to move. Regarding the latter, he was asked what would happen after the move was underway should the utility need more money and whether it was actually possible to guarantee no rate actions would be taken to pay for it. He related that he had indicated that the Board was unable to make such a guarantee. He shared that he had enjoyed the group of people in attendance.

Commissioner Menegat also attended the River Road Kiwanis meeting in October and had also spoken with them regarding the move. He shared that one person commented that the utility should do all that it could to ensure that the hospital located on the EWEB site, including the implementation of further rate increases if necessary.

Additionally, Commissioner Menegat stated that the construction meetings of the McKenzie River Valley residents were going very well. He noted that the Leaburg Lake raise was upcoming and an informational meeting would be scheduled for Leaburg Lake residents and other interested members of the public. He related that the utility would be raising the lake in increments of three inches. The meeting would be held in early January. He recalled the Board discussion on holding another regular meeting upriver February 1. He approved of the idea, underscoring the importance of maintaining contact with the people who live there.

Commissioner Menegat conveyed the concern expressed by McKenzie Valley residents about the possible Oregon Department of Transportation designation of Highway 126 as a freight route. He indicated he would bring this item up when the Board discussed future agendas.

In closing, Commissioner Menegat commented that the young gentleman who had come before the Board twice because he was unable to pay his bill had been helped a great deal by staff. He related that the man had called the previous Thursday because his power was going to be cut off the following day. Chuck Dalton had helped him and, he added, he thought the man was back on track with his bill paying. He expressed appreciation for staff's work as they had done everything they could to help him.

Commissioner Anderson reported that she had met with Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy. She related that Ms. Piercy had expressed some concern over the possible relocation of a large hospital on the EWEB site. She also spoke with Ms. Piercy about the contribution-in-lieu-of-tax (CILT) and shared that the Mayor-elect was surprised that there had been no sunset to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City and the utility that had increased its CILT amount from 3 percent to 6 percent. She related that Ms. Piercy held a good opinion of EWEB. She conveyed to Ms. Piercy the desire on the part of the Board of EWEB to meet with the City Council.

Commissioner Farmer announced that he would be unable to attend the meeting scheduled for December 21.

Vice President Bishop agreed that a discussion on the possible designation of the McKenzie Highway as a freight route should be placed on the agenda.

Vice President Bishop announced that the Northwest Energy Coalition (NEC) conference was scheduled to be held in Portland from November 5 to November 7. She said John Simpson planned to attend and encouraged her colleagues on the Board to come.

Mr. Simpson shared that he had attended a meeting of the Churchill Area Neighbors on behalf of President Lanning. He said it had been well-attended and the crowd had been positive. He spoke on the rate increase, the Integrated Energy Resource Portfolio (IERP) planning process, and the planned move for EWEB headquarters. At the meeting, Mr. Simpson said that one man recommended that EWEB take a stand against the proposed power plant to be built in the City of Coburg and another indicated his dislike for sending his utility bill to Vancouver, Washington to be opened and processed.

CORRESPONDENCE

General Manager Randy Berggren reported the following:

• The e-mail on the transportation systems maintenance fee that the City Council had been considering should not have been sent to Commissioners as the council voted to rescind the fee.
• A memorandum from Mark Freeman had been included in Board packets on the "Customer Service Day" that was scheduled for November 11.
• EWEB was a sponsor for the Oregon Environmental Council Forum for Business and it was holding a workshop from 4 to 6 p.m. on November 9 at the Valley River Inn. He said the topic of discussion would be the economic impacts of climate change and the various proposals such as carbon taxes.

Vice President Bishop and Commissioner Menegat indicated they would attend.

BOARD AGENDAS

Mr. Berggren provided an overview of the Eugene Water & Electric Board: Board Agenda Report.

Commissioner Menegat proposed that the Board confirm that it would hold another regular meeting at the Vida Community Center on February 1, 2005, in order to continue fostering a positive relationship with McKenzie River valley residents. The Board agreed to meet there.

Commissioner Menegat suggested that the Board schedule a discussion on the possibility that Highway 126 would be designated a freight route in order to craft a Board response. He expressed concern that a chemical spill would impact the water source for EWEB's water utility. Commissioner Anderson concurred.

Vice President Bishop agreed, adding that the Board should write a letter to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

Mr. Berggren stated that the utility had written a letter to ODOT, but perhaps should write another one to reaffirm its objection. He underscored that EWEB was a single-source water utility. He suggested that staff develop a response and bring it back before the Board.

Commissioner Menegat said that by the time the Board held its public hearings on a rate increase it had already held many discussions on the budget. He suggested, as a future governance issue, that there be public meetings earlier in the process so that the public input could play into the decision-making process.

Vice President Bishop felt this should be brought up in a strategic planning retreat.

BOARD GOVERNANCE

Consent Calendar Dollar Limits

Mr. Berggren recalled that Vice President Bishop had indicated that she opposed placing items that were costly on the Consent Calendar, but there had been no direction thus far on what the dollar limit for such items should be.

Vice President Bishop suggested this item be postponed until after the beginning of the new year so that President Lanning could weigh in on it and also because a new commissioner was joining the Board.

Commissioner Anderson said she did not feel there had been a problem with the items placed on the Consent Calendar.

Assistant to the General Manager Debra Smith shared that Purchasing Manager Ed Case would be reviewing the policies that govern purchasing. She thought this could be an opportunity to revisit the financial rules. She felt it would be appropriate to discuss the Consent Calendar issue in tandem with taking action on proposed changes in the policy brought about by changes in the Oregon Revised Statute (ORS), scheduled for after the new year.

Time Limit on Public Input

Vice President Bishop opined that there was not usually an "onslaught of people" who wished to speak. She felt it would be appropriate to allow people five minutes to speak.

Commissioner Menegat commented that three minutes was actually a long time and provided people the opportunity to concisely present an issue. He thought five minutes might lead to an increase in rambling.

Commissioner Farmer concurred. He noted that one could always submit additional testimony in writing and it would be read by all of the Commissioners and incorporated into the record.

Responding to Questions During Public Input

Commissioner Anderson advocated for answering questions and providing Commissioner comments in response to testimony.

Mr. Berggren thought engaging in public input would lead to rebuttal and more questions.

Commissioner Anderson clarified that she thought such a response could be provided after the public input.

Commissioner Farmer shared Mr. Berggren's concern. He said it was supposed to be a time for the public to provide input even though he did not wish to appear to be "stonewalling" by not responding. He supported employing a little flexibility and allowing the chair to provide short responses after public input.

Commissioner Menegat expressed concern that questions at a public hearing would appear not to be answered. He advocated for having the chair direct those with questions to the appropriate staff member.

Commissioner Farmer agreed, adding that there were times when members of the public gave voice to misconceptions that needed some kind of response.

Ms. Smith suggested that answers to questions be posted on the EWEB Web site. Commissioner Anderson, noting that not everyone has access to e-mail, said some people may need to be contacted by mail.

Vice President Bishop felt that Commissioners should be able to answer simple questions. She suggested that some may find it frustrating that the Board does not respond.

Public Affairs Manager Marty Douglass noted that the City Council listened only during the Public Forum portion of its meetings until after the last speaker had spoken. He said Councilors were then given a chance to comment and ask staff questions in response to the testimony.

Vice President Bishop suggested that Mr. Douglass write a proposal for a procedural way to address public testimony to be considered as an actual policy. She thought the City Council model would work for the Board.

Meeting Start Times

After some discussion, Commissioner Anderson recommended the Board wait until after Commissioner-elect Simpson was sworn in to discuss meeting times. The Board agreed to do so.

Ms. Smith summarized the items, as follows:

• Consent Calendar dollar limits will be discussed after revised purchasing policies are brought for a vote after the first of the new year;
• Time limit for public input will remain at three minutes;
• Mr. Douglass will write a tentative policy about response to questions from public input for further discussions and staff will look into the feasibility of posting answers to questions on the net;
• Meeting start times will be discussed after the new Commissioner is sworn in.

Vice President Bishop asked if the items that were to be discussed in 2005 could be included in the next Board retreat scheduled for February. Ms. Smith thought it could be, adding that 60 minutes had been set aside to discuss Board governance at the meeting scheduled for January 18, 2005.

ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR

There were no items removed from the Consent Calendar.

Vice President Bishop adjourned the meeting at 8:48 p.m.

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Assistant Secretary President