THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS

December 17, 2018

The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on Monday, December 17, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.  Those in attendance were President Tim Watts, Vice President John Neer, Board Member Kevin Butner, Board Member J.D. King, General Manager Stephanie Wilson, Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas, Mayor Talt Holman, and City Administrator Avis Marshall.

President Tim Watts called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. President Tim Watts made a motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner, to approve the minutes from the November 19, 2018 meeting.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against.

First item on the agenda was a monthly review of the financials for November 2018. The monthly financials showed decreased usage for electric and water/sewer services. Natural gas usage increased the latter part of the month.  Year-to-date all funds are performing well.

Next item on the agenda was a recommendation of approval of the Power Sales Agreement with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC).  The proposed five-year agreement, January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023, recognizes a market rate of $2.29 per KW per month for a capacity of 9500 KW for electricity generated from the Macon Energy Center.  It was approved by MJMEUC on December 6, 2018. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member John Neer, to accept the proposed rate and for President Tim Watts’ to sign the agreement plus request that it be placed on the City Council of Macon, Missouri agenda for Mayor Talt Holman’s signature on January 8, 2019.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against. 

Next item was an amendment to the Natural Gas Policy.  At the November 19, 2018 board meeting it was agreed that if an existing customer, heating their home/business with electricity, the initial fee for changing over to gas to heat their home/business would be waived.  Board Member J.D. King made the motion, seconded by John Neer, to amend Section 100 of the Natural Gas Policy as noted below.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against.

  1. An application for service along with associated fees (if applicable) shall be required from each customer I accordance with the General Rules and Regulations. For existing customers that heat their home or business with electricity or propane, a new policy was adopted by the Board of Public Works   on November 19, 2018.  For these existing customers who reside inside the city limits, the initial fee to install a service up to 100 feet and a meter will be waived.  Payment of the fee is required at installation and will be refunded when the service is made active.  The waived fee does not apply to new construction.

Next item on the agenda was approval of appointments to the Macon County Economic Development Board.  President Tim Watts made the motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner, to appoint Shannon Wray and Caleb Shoush for a two-year term to the Macon County Economic Development Board. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.

Last item on the agenda was to reschedule the January 21, 2019 to January 28, 2019.  Macon Municipal Utilities will be closed on January 21st in recognition of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.    President Tim Watts made the motion, seconded by Vice President John Neer, to move the meeting.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against.

Under General Manger Stephanie Wilson updates, incentive programs for new or expanding businesses were discussed. Staff will continue discussion of programs and bring back to the Board of Public Works and City Council for further adoption.  Ms. Wilson also shared results from bids that were opened on December 12th for repainting the exterior of the West Water Tower.  Due to the need for items to be researched further the bids will be presented to the Board for approval in January 2019.

Ms. Wilson also shared various other updates relating to prevailing wage and round tables amongst utilities sharing information.

Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas’s updates noted operations and inspections for the Macon and Laddonia Energy Centers.   At the Macon site, staff performed basic maintenance on the turbine skid while facilitating shut downs for the ethanol plant. At Laddonia, MMU installed a new VFD in the lube cooler motor control center and performed a basic inspection with Solar Turbines Inc. which consisted of an engine wash and changing of filters, among other activities as in Macon.

Mr. Lucas also noted various localized outages worked by the electric distribution crew, trees cut for the street department, and facilities maintenance.  The underground facilities staff have completed the south side water main tie-in for the Rollins Street bridge water main project.  Tie in on the north side will be scheduled with ConAgra Frozen Foods, Inc.

Under Manager Roger Rector’s updates, he noted that a hydraulic model of the wastewater collection system was reviewed with Burns & McDonnell.  Several issues were discussed concerning storm water inflow & infiltration into the collection system.  Since the meeting the collection crew began smoke testing the entire collection system, south of the Burlington Norther Santa Fe Railroad.

After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, January 28, 2018 at 4:00 p.m., a motion was made by President Tim Watts, seconded by Board Member J.D. King to hold an executive session regarding Personnel (Rs.MO.610.021 (3)).  The votes were as follows: Tim Watts, yea; John Neer, yea; Kevin Butner, yea; and J.D. King, yea.

When the meeting reopened at 6:15 pm it was adjourned by President Tim Watts.