THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
February 17, 2020
The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on February 17, 2020 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, Operations Consultant Scott Lucas, Assistants to the General Managers Bryce Butner and Ben Stueve, and City Administrator Avis Marshall.
President Tim Watts called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Board Member Kevin Butner made a motion, seconded by Vice President John Neer to approve the minutes from the January 27, 2020 meeting. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
First item on the agenda was a review of monthly financials for December 2019 and January 2020. Regarding December 2019, year-end adjusting entries had a significant impact on the monthly financials and all funds performed better than budget for the year. For January 2020, the reversal of applicable 2019 adjusting entries such as payroll and interest income accruals plus three payrolls had an impact on the month’s financials, however most funds performed well in the month.
Next item on the agenda was Approval to proceed with Fixed Asset Purchase of a Commercial Mower for Special Services Group. The mower was budgeted at a replacement cost of $20,000, however, after speaking with Sydenstricker and taking the safety of personnel mowing the Macon Lake Dam into consideration it is recommended to purchase a John Deere 1570 Terrain Cut mower with 72-inch deck, include trade in the price of the replacement mower will be $21,500. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member J.D. King to approve the purchase of the commercial mower. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item was Approval of Wastewater Collection Relining Bid. Bids were received and opened from four vendors; staff recommends accepting the bid from Visu-Sewer. Their bid of $120,876.50 includes the reline of 4,899 linear feet of 8” gravity wastewater collection main in 18 locations. President Tim Watts made a motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner to approve and award the bid for 2020 wastewater collection main relining to Visu-Sewer. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was Discussion and Approval of Purchase of Natural Gas for 2020-2021. Due to the temperatures producing the mildest December and January on record since 1960, with increased storage amounts MMU has the opportunity to lock in 50% of its historical natural gas usage over the past three years for the months November – March. As the contract extends over one year, Board Member J.D. King made a motion, seconded by Board President Tim Watts, to recommend to the City Council of Macon, Missouri that the order with MMU’s supplier Kinect Energy to purchase 118,650 dekatherms of natural gas at $2.25 per dekatherm between November 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 be signed. The motion passed with four votes for and none against. In the event that the natural gas is not used, it can be sold on the market.
Next item on the agenda was Discussion and Approval of New Construction Fee Sheet. Department supervisors have evaluated the cost of inventory needed to install new services for customers. With the understanding that the purposes of the new construction fees are the recoup the cost of materials used, other than a meter, to install a new service to a customer prices were adjusted and presented. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner to approve the adjusted pricing on the New Construction Fee Sheet. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Last item on the agenda Approval of Net Metering Service and Electrical System Integration Policy. Customers are allowed to interconnect electricity generation with solar panels or other allowed units less than 100 kW capacity. MMU’s policy was established in 2012 with a $50.00 application fee and $.03/kWh reimbursement for energy generated in excess of energy consumed. President Tim Watts made a motion, seconded by Vice President John Neer, to recommended for approval and adoption by the City Council to update Article IV Electric System, Chapter 28, Section 28-276 of Macon City Code related to connections to the system with the following text: “The “avoided fuel cost” is that amount determined by the city’s governing board with responsibility for setting rates, as outlined in RSMO 386.890.2(1). At the Board of Public Works meeting held on February 17, 2020 this rate was set to be the Missouri Public Energy Pool Avoided Energy Cost for the affected billing cycle.” The motion passed with four votes for and none against.
Managers shared major operational updates from various departments with the Board. The Special Services Group is working to complete the Emergency Operations Center allowing communication between our control room and electric generation units. System Operator Richard Schmidt will be retiring April 30, 2020, to allow sufficient time for cross training his replacement applications for his replacement are due Friday, February 28, 2020. Underground Facilities has two new employees beginning Monday, February 24, 2020; these new hires will bring this crew back to fully staffed.
The Underground Facilities department is dealing with issues at multiple lift stations that have either been repaired or staff is waiting on equipment for permanent fixes. Multiple departments also participated in GIS training. Electric Distribution continued with powerline tree clearance operations, responded to an outage on February 17th due to mylar balloons touching two phase of the electric distribution system, and installed an electric service to the oil heating system at the Macon Street Department.
At the Water Treatment Plant general operations were noted for this period. At the Wastewater Treatment Plant sampling continues to monitor BOD and TSS and plant maintenance was discussed.
After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, March 16, 2020 at 4:00 p.m., a motion was made by Board Member Kevin Butner, seconded by President Tim Watts to hold an executive session regarding Legal (Rs. MO.610.021(1). The votes were as follows: President Tim Watts, yea; Vice President John Neer, yea; Board Member J.D. King, yea; and Board Member Kevin Butner, yea.
When the open meeting reconvened, a motion was made by President Tim Watts, seconded by Board Member Kevin Butner, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed with four votes for and none against.
President Tim Watts adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m.