THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORK
March 18, 2019
The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on March 18, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Those in attendance were President Tim Watts, Vice President John Neer, Board Member J.D. King, Board Member Kevin Butner, General Manager Stephanie Wilson, Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas and City Administrator Avis Marshall.
President Tim Watts called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Board Member J.D. King made a motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner, to approve the minutes from the February 19, 2019 meeting. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
For the first item on the agenda, an election of officers was held. Board Member J.D. King made a motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner, to reappoint Tim Watts as President and John Neer as Vice President. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was a review of monthly financials for February 2019. All funds are performing according to seasonal trends.
The next item on the agenda was discussion and approval of a Minimum Cash Reserve Statement. The purpose of the Statement would be to utilize it as a tool to determine an adequate level of reserve funds for Macon Municipal Utilities (MMU). Information discussed was the 2019 Budget, current cash reserve levels, known cash outlays for 2019, and recommendation of targets to meet for each fund given long-term planning for capital assets and emergencies. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member J.D. King, to approve the Minimum Cash Reserve Statement as presented and that it be reviewed and approved by the Board of Public Works annually. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next agenda item was to update the Agreement to Process Wastewater for Tri-State Meats d/b/a Special D Meats. The previous agreement with Special D Meats allowed them to deliver 300,000 gallons of diluted wastewater from their lagoon into MMU’s wastewater collection system for a fee of $1,000.00. The same agreement is requested with the new owner information noted. President Tim Watts made the motion, seconded by Vice President John Neer, approve the agreement noting the ownership change. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Under manager reports, General Manager Stephanie Wilson shared an update on the on the new Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) metering project for electric, water, and natural gas meter reads. Electric distribution, underground facilities and the business office have worked together for the deployment that will continue for most of 2019. She also shared that for customers, sign-ups for the 2019-2020 Budget Billing Program will continue until April 22nd, along with offering rebates for customers that sign up for e-statements and automatic payments from checking or savings accounts, text notifications prior to disconnection of utilities, and natural gas connections for customers that heat with electricity or propane.
Under Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas updates he noted operations for the Macon Energy Center and the Audrain Energy Centers. Staff have created additional tracking forms for the Macon site as now required hourly by the latest operating permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). Additionally, the Special Services Group has been cutting up felled trees, removed and stored the winterization panels for the Fuel Gas Compressor building at the turbine site, spread rock on the Substation 2 road, and numerous other routine activities. Regarding Electric Distribution, Mid-America Testing performed annual dielectric testing of trucks and safety equipment and personal protective equipment. Crew addressed two underground electric services this period that had failed and completed the service, terminated and energized the transformer for the South Casey’s convenience store. Underground Facilities repaired a water main leak at Rubey and Douglas on a 6-inch cast iron line, made repairs to our grit chamber rake assembly and jetted a partially blocked wastewater main, cleared a blocked wastewater main on Saxony Drive, and installed a new gas service for the South Casey’s convenience store.
For the water and wastewater plants, Manager Roger Rector’s updates reported the dust collector for the carbon feed system at the water treatment plant is being replaced. For the wastewater treatment plant, Stephanie Wilson, Roger Rector, Ronny Smith and Jack Austin met with Burns & McDonnell regarding the flow monitoring of the collection system in 2018, a hydraulic model of the system and alternatives for treating wastewater. A meeting is to be set with MDNR in April to discuss MMU’s Long-Term Control Plan options. In addition, a meeting was held with McClure Engineering regarding the project to identify storm water inlets into the Combined Sewer System for the GIS map plus the forthcoming report to identify storm water separations.
After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, April 15, 2019 at 4:00 p.m., a motion was made by President Tim Watts, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner to hold an executive session regarding Personnel (Rs.MO.610.021 (3)). The votes were as follows: Tim Watts; yea, John Neer; yea, J.D. King; yea, and Kevin Butner; yea.
When the meeting reopened at 5:30 pm it was immediately adjourned by Tim Watts.