MINUTES of the 4,810 th Meeting being a Special Meeting of the Commission of Public Utility District No. 1 of Grays Harbor County

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 7 MINUTES of the 4,810 th Meeting being a Special Meeting of the Commission of Public Utility District No. 1 of Grays Harbor County Office located at 220 Myrtle Street, Hoquiam, Washington Monday, November 19, 2018 at 4:30 p.m., Pacific Prevailing Time WORKSHOP The workshop was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by President Arie Callaghan. Those in attendance were Commissioners Arie Callaghan and Russ Skolrood. General Manager Dave Ward, General Counsel Rick Pitt, Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood, Human Resources Director Angela Roberts, Core Services Director Rob Hanny, Customer Service Director Katy Moore, Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, System Engineering Supervisor Dan Kay, Power & Energy Services Director Melinda James-Saffron, Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner and Engineering Director Schuyler Burkhart were also present. No members of the public were present. Commissioner Dave Timmons is absent from the workshop due to an emergency. The Board excused his absence. Dru Garson, CEO of Greater Grays Harbor, gave an annual update presentation to the Board and staff. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: BUSINESS MEETING The Special Business Meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by President Arie Callaghan. Those in attendance were Commissioners Arie Callaghan and Russ Skolrood. General Manager Dave Ward, General Counsel Rick Pitt, Contract Administrator/Clerk to the Board Tiffanee Parson, Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood, IT Supervisor Alice King, Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, Customer Service Director Katy Moore, Human Resources Director Angela Roberts, Contract Construction Superintendent Todd Plato, Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner, Power & Energy Services Director Melinda James-Saffron and Engineering Director Schuyler Burkhart were also present. No members of the public were present. Commissioner Dave Timmons is absent from the meeting due to an emergency. The Board excused his absence. MINUTES: Commissioner Russ Skolrood moved that the Minutes from the 4,805 th Regular Commission Meeting held on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, the Minutes from the 4,806 th Regular Commission Meeting held on Monday, September 17, 2018 and the Minutes from the 4,807 th

2 Page 2 of 7 Special Commission Meeting Held on Monday, October 8, 2018 be approved. Commissioner Arie Callaghan seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. PETITIONS FROM THE PUBLIC/PUBLIC COMMENT: President Arie Callaghan called for petitions from the public/public comment. None were received. OLD BUSINESS: Customer Service Director Katy Moore gave an update on the E12 matter. Discussion ensued. NEW BUSINESS: General Manager Dave Ward discussed the TC-20 Transmission Contract Settlement Agreement. A Resolution will be needed to authorize him to enter into the Settlement Agreement. Discussion ensued. COMMUNICATIONS: Contract Administrator/Clerk to the Board Tiffanee Parson read a thank you card into the record from the Elma High School yearbook managers. STAFF AND ATTORNEY REPORTS: Human Resources Director Angela Roberts reported: 1) She participated in a mediation session with the Union regarding a grievance. The group ended up settling two grievances during this mediation instead of just one. 2) Arrangements have been made with various summer students who are returning to the Harbor for winter break to re-hire them to work for the District during this time. 3) The District has launched NWPPA Learning on Demand. She is excited about bringing this cost effective resource to the District. 4) District offices will be closed on November 27 th and 28 th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. 5) She wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope reported: 1) He attended WPUDA meetings last week. 2) He attended a meeting with Representative Tim Sheldon to discuss issues PUD s are facing. 3) He received responses from seven individuals expressing interest in the District s Utility Academy. 4) He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

3 Page 3 of 7 Engineering Director Schuyler Burkhart reported: 1) He thanked Human Resources Director Angela Roberts and Human Resources Generalist Sarah Ainsworth for their help during a recent mediation session and for their help hiring Engineering employees. 2) Most of the Engineering Department participated in the recent NISC Engineering & Operations Mapwise training. 3) He will be attending the Risk Management Committee meeting tomorrow. 4) He will be attending the Operations Safety meeting tomorrow. 5) He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Contract Construction Superintendent Todd Plato reported: 1) He is covering for Operations Director Steve Easton. 2) Asplundh mobilized today on SR 109 for a tree trimming project. 3) The Kirkpatrick Road project will begin on November 26 th. This project will take approximately three to four weeks to complete. 4) He gave a brief report of an outage last week that impacted customers for two hours. 5) The transbanker training facility is on track for the workshop tour scheduled for December 3 rd. Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner reported: 1) He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. 2) HE will be attending a JATC meeting this week. 3) He will be attending an Operations safety meeting. 4) He will be attending a Coastal Evacuation workshop tomorrow with Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope. 5) He will be attending a Facilities safety meeting on November 21 st. 6) He will be attending various other safety meetings this week. Power & Energy Services Director Melinda James-Saffron reported: 1) She participated in a EIM conference call with BPA last week. 2) She will be attending the RMC meeting tomorrow. 3) Prices are on-peak $69.00-$ , off-peak $51.00-$52.00 and gas is $9.00. Customer Service Director Katy Moore reported: 1) Customer Service has received some high bill complaints recently. 2) Customer Service participated in on-site robbery training last Wednesday. 3) Whitney Bednarik is training to be the District s back-up Collector for Customer Service. She will be on her own in the field beginning in December.

4 Page 4 of 7 Core Services Director Rob Hanny reported: 1) He attended Business After Hours at the District last Tuesday evening. 2) He participated in NISC E & O training last week. He gave kudos to IT Supervisor Alice King for all of her hard work on this project. Sara Travers and Michael Moore are both doing a great job in their new positions. 3) The East County Fiber Project is moving along. 4) He attended a meeting regarding the Ocean Fiber Project. 5) He attended a meeting regarding a request by one of the tribes for fiber. 6) The transbanker project is going well. He thanked the Facilities Department for all of their hard work getting things cleaned up and ready for the transbanker unit, and the upcoming workshop. 7) He will be attending the RMC meeting tomorrow. He will be attending a Purchasing safety meeting. 8) He will be out of the office on PTO next week. Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood reported: 1) She attended her first WPUDA meetings. 2) She attended a Health & Welfare Committee meeting last week. The Committee is working on some changes. 3) She attended Business After Hours at the District last Tuesday evening. It was well attended. Everyone was really engaged during the District s presentations and had a great time. 4) She will be attending the RMC meeting tomorrow. 5) She will be holding a budget status meeting next Thursday afternoon. 6) She discussed the OPEB actuarial study. 7) The District needs to renew its line of credit, which will go before the Board for approval in December or early January. General Counsel Rick Pitt reported: 1) He is working on revisions to an Interlocal Agreement with Energy Northwest regarding a cybersecurity study. 2) He will be attending the RMC meeting tomorrow. 3) The BHP Billiton project is moving forward. The comment period has been extended. Discussion ensued. General Manager Dave Ward reported: 1) He received very positive feedback from District employees and other attendees of the Business After Hours event hosted by the District on the evening of November 13 th. 2) He attended WPUDA meetings last week. 3) He discussed the.09 funds application for the Satsop Business Park. 4) He discussed a recent WECC meeting.

5 Page 5 of 7 5) He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. He enjoys working with the team we have here at Grays Harbor PUD. It really feels like we are making a difference. CONSENT CALENDAR: a) 301 Claim Vouchers for the Weeks of November 5 and 12, 2018 (No through No ) in the Total Amount of $394, b) 19 Wire Transfers in the Total Amount of $8,599, c) Payroll for the Pay Period Ending November 9, 2018 in the Total Amount of $662, d) Travel Applications: For General Manager Dave Ward and Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope to Attend the APPA Legislative Rally and WPUDA Meetings February 25 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. for a Total Estimated Cost of $4, ($2, Each) e) Improvement Authorizations: No for the East Aberdeen Street Light Replacement Project for a Total Estimated Cost of $160, Commissioner Russ Skolrood moved that the Consent Calendar be approved. Commissioner Arie Callaghan seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. RESOLUTIONS: RESOLUTION NO A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2019 AND FIXING THE AMOUNT OF EXPENDITURES FOR THE YEAR IN ACCORDANCE WITH RCW Commissioner Arie Callaghan re-opened the hearing for the District s 2019 budget and asked for public comment. He also asked District staff or the Board if they had any further input or presentations on the District s 2019 budget. Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood explained Resolution #5036. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Russ Skolrood mentioned that the District has come a long way on the budget, but still has a ways to go.

6 Page 6 of 7 Commissioner Arie Callaghan stated that the budget is a lot easier to understand with the way Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood lays it all out. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Arie Callaghan closed the hearing for the District s 2019 budget. Commissioner Russ Skolrood moved that Resolution #5036 be approved. Commissioner Arie Callaghan seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. The full text of Resolution #5036 is available at District offices during regular business hours. ACTION ITEMS: Finance Director Kathryn Skolrood discussed the annual bad debt write-off report she prepared in accordance with the District s Bad Debt Policy. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Russ Skolrood made a motion to approve the bad debt write-off report. Commissioner Arie Callaghan seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. FORWARD PLANNING: Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope went over the current workshop schedule. He mentioned that General Manager Dave Ward will be attending a Grays Harbor Council of Governments meeting to give an annual update presentation on behalf of the District. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Commissioner Arie Callaghan called for public comment. None was received. COMMISSIONER REPORTS: Commissioner Russ Skolrood reported: 1) Core Services Director Rob Hanny, Residential Energy Advisor Dan Kinnaman and Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner all did a great job with their presentations during the Business After Hours event hosted by the District on the evening of November 13 th. 2) He thanked everyone involved in the budget process for all of their hard work. Commissioner Arie Callaghan reported: 1) He attended the Business After Hours event hosted by the District on the evening of November 13 th. It was a great event and he really enjoyed it. 2) He attended the WPUDA Commissioners Roundtable meetings in Olympia last Wednesday afternoon. 3) He took a tour of the Pasco CT units with Franklin PUD Commissioner Stu Nelson while he was attending Energy Northwest meetings recently.

7 Page 7 of 7 4) He thanked all of the staff involved for all of their hard work on the budget. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to bring before the Board, President Arie Callaghan declared the meeting adjourned at 5:29 p.m. ATTEST: President Secretary COMMISSION MEETING SCHEDULE DATES The following lists the Commission Meeting Schedule for the next three (3) meetings, with workshop sessions to begin at 3:30 pm prior to each meeting, unless otherwise noted. The business portion of each meeting begins at the hour of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 27, :30 p.m. (Special Commission Meeting) Monday, December 3, :30 p.m. (Commission Meeting) Monday, December 17, :30 p.m. (Commission Meeting)