MINUTES of the 4,770 th Meeting being a Regular Meeting of the Commission of Public Utility District No. 1 of Grays Harbor County

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 6 MINUTES of the 4,770 th Meeting being a Regular Meeting of the Commission of Public Utility District No. 1 of Grays Harbor County Office located at 220 Myrtle Street, Hoquiam, Washington. Monday, April 3, 2017 at 4:30 p.m., Pacific Standard 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, Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Skolrood, Chief Information Officer Rob Hanny, Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad, Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner, Power Manager Melinda James-Saffron and one member of the public were also present. The workshop consisted of a communications update presentation by Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, a financial presentation by Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Skolrood and Power Manager Melinda James-Saffron discussing a recent power and REC sales contract with Weyerhaeuser NR. General Manager Dave Ward also recognized and thanked Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad, who will be retiring from the District soon. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: BUSINESS MEETING The 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, Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Skolrood, Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, Chief Information Officer Rob Hanny, Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad, Line Superintendent Ron Russell, Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner, Interim System Engineering Supervisor Michael Prentice, Power Manager Melinda James- Saffron, Customer Service Manager Katy Moore and one member of the public were also present. Commissioner Dave Timmons was absent from today s meeting and the Board excused his absence. MINUTES: President Arie Callaghan thanked staff for their workshop presentations. President Arie Callaghan stated that approval of the Minutes from the regular Commission Meeting on March 20, 2017 and Special Commission Meeting on March 25, 2017 will be deferred until the next Commission Meeting.

2 Page 2 of 6 PETITIONS FROM THE PUBLIC/PUBLIC COMMENT: Ray Brown of Westport discussed various meetings he has attended to bring awareness to the ongoing sea lion/salmon issue. He is still trying to get the message out to as many groups as he can. Discussion ensued. STAFF AND ATTORNEY REPORTS: Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad reported: 1) Angela Roberts has been selected as the District s new Human Resources Director and will begin employment on April 17, She thinks she will do a great job for the 2) Linda thanked the Commissioners for the opportunities made available to her as an employee of the Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope reported: 1) He thanked Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad for all of her assistance and told her she has been a pleasure to work with. 2) The budgets for the Senate and House are out. Discussion ensued about the incremental hydro and 5G bills. 3) He and General Manager Dave Ward recently attended meetings with members of the Coastal Caucus. The meetings went well. 4) He attended a meeting with General Manager Dave Ward and the City of Aberdeen recently regarding Fly Creek flood mitigation. 5) Approximately students from the Grays Harbor Youth Works program will be touring District facilities on April 24 th from 10:15 am to 11:15 am. Line Superintendent Ron Russell reported: 1) He is attending tonight s meeting on behalf of Operations Manager Steve Easton, who is out of the office on vacation for two weeks. 2) He thanked Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad for her service to the 3) The East Hoquiam project is almost complete. 4) Crews are working on a big underground project out at Seabrook. 5) Crews have been replacing poles around town for CenturyLink. Interim System Engineering Supervisor Michael Prentice reported: 1) He is attending tonight s meeting on behalf of Engineering Manager Schuyler Burkhart, who is out of the office. 2) Engineering is working on an expansion project for the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino and an underground project at Seabrook. 3) Engineering continues to plan and set priorities for large capital jobs.

3 Page 3 of 6 Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner reported: District and wished her well. 2) He will be holding an IT Department safety meeting on April 6 th. 3) He is working on having a contractor remove some surplus transformer oil. 4) He and Operations Manager Steve Easton met with Rick Evans at Lewis County PUD recently. Lewis County PUD has requested an arc trailer demonstration at their local fair coming up. They read about it in the NWPPA Bulletin. 5) He will be out of the office attending the NWPPA Engineering & Operations Conference April 10 th 13 th in Reno. This is a valuable conference and he thanked the Board for the opportunity to attend. Power Manager Melinda James-Saffron reported: 1) She discussed a recent REC transaction with Weyerhaeuser NR. 2) She submitted a letter to BPA recently regarding a request for waiver of an unauthorized increase charge and a letter to BPA requesting a reduction in the District s point-to-point transmission demand. 3) She attended an RMC meeting last week. 4) She will be attending PPC and PNUCC meetings in Portland next week. 5) Prices are on-peak $ $20.00, off-peak $ $5.00 and gas is $2.61. Customer Service Manager Katy Moore reported: 1) She thanked Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad for her assistance and wished her the best. 2) Customer Service has been busy preparing for the rate adjustment that was effective April 1, ) The District has seen a recent slight increase in meter tampering and she is working on a tamper process. Chief Information Officer Rob Hanny reported: 2) He thanked and recognized Customer Service Representative Helen Berglund, IS Analyst Bruce Travers and IS Analyst Rick Manwell for all of their diligence and hard work regarding the recent rate increase. 3) The District was asked to be on NISC s Large Utility Committee (LUC). This is a good opportunity for the District to have a voice with NISC. 4) The District s Surplus Policy is moving forward. There is also a procedures document that has been drafted and will be implemented as well. 5) The District has entered into a contract with GovDeals and is going to give them a try for selling some of the District s surplus property. 6) He is reviewing applications for the Garage Helper position.

4 Page 4 of 6 Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Skolrood reported: 1) The increased medical insurance premium rates for employees and retirees went into effect April 1, There was a 5% increase to the medical premium this year. 2) She is working on closing out February financials. 3) The next budget meeting is April 12 th. 4) She is almost done with year-end financials. 5) She is working on enhancing the District s budget process. General Counsel Rick Pitt reported: 2) He attended a summary judgment hearing in the Brown case at Grays Harbor County Superior Court this afternoon. Judge McCauley took the matter under advisement. 3) He will be attending a meeting tomorrow with General Manager Dave Ward and Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Skolrood regarding Sierra Pacific Industries Power Purchase Agreement. General Manager Dave Ward reported: 1) He and Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope attended meetings with legislators last week. He felt very welcomed. 2) He attended a BPA compliance meeting last week. 3) He met with Ray Brown last week. 4) Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope, Chief Information Officer Rob Hanny and himself met with the City of Aberdeen last week to discuss Fry Creek flood mediation. 5) He will be out of the office on PTO April 7 th April 11 th. 6) He will be attending a Greater Grays Harbor retreat April 13 th. 7) There are currently many great things happening on the Harbor. Discussion ensued. 8) A kick off meeting for key accounts is scheduled for April 14 th. 9) Angela Roberts has been selected as the District s new Human Resources Director. Discussion ensued. 10) He thanked and recognized Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad for all of her years of service to the District and her assistance. He will never forget how much she helped him with various things, including bringing him up to speed when he first came on Board as the District s new General Manager. He is happy for Linda and congratulated her on her upcoming retirement. Discussion ensued. CONSENT CALENDAR: a) 170 Claim Vouchers for the Weeks of March 20 and 27, 2017 (No through No ) in the Total Amount of $368, b) 7 Wire Transfers in the Total Amount of $5,091,335.83

5 Page 5 of 6 c) Payroll for the Pay Period Ending March 17, 2017 in the Total Amount of $591, d) Improvement Authorizations: No for an underground distribution extension to serve Quinault Beach Resort & Casino addition service MSB for a total estimated cost of $169, Commissioner Russ Skolrood moved that the Consent Calendar be approved. Commissioner Arie Callaghan seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. FORWARD PLANNING: Communications & Government Relations Director Ian Cope stated that he plans to schedule a reliability presentation on May 1 st. He is just awaiting Metering Supervisor Vaughn Hamilton s confirmation. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: President Arie Callaghan called for comments from the public. None were received. COMMISSIONER REPORTS: Commissioner Russ Skolrood reported: District and congratulated her on her upcoming retirement. Commissioner Arie Callaghan reported: 1) He attended the Special Commission Meeting (Senior Leadership Team/Board Retreat) on Saturday, March 25 th in Olympia. Discussion ensued. 2) He thanked Human Resources Director Linda Trygstad for her years of service to the District and congratulated her on her upcoming retirement. Linda has been an asset to the ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to bring before the Board, President Arie Callaghan declared the meeting adjourned at 5:12 p.m. President

6 Page 6 of 6 ATTEST: 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. Monday, April 17, :30 p.m. Monday, May 1, :30 p.m. Monday, May 15, :30 p.m.