THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
February 17, 2025
The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on February 17, 2025, at 5:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Those in attendance were President David Ausmus, Vice President Jeff Roberts, Board Member Ryan Johnson, Board Member Chris Nelson, General Manager Dana Ulmer, Assistant General Manager Ben Stueve, Controller Jennifer McLeland, Board Secretary Lauren Watson, Mayor Tony Petre, Councilwoman Cheryl Blaise and Councilman Talt Holman.
President David Ausmus called the meeting to order at 5:01pm.
- The minutes from the last regular meeting of the Board of Public Works were reviewed. Vice President Jeff Roberts made a motion, seconded by Board Member Chris Nelson, to approve the minutes of January 21, 2025. The motion carried with three votes for, none against, and one abstention.
Under old business
- Approval of Purchase of a Replacement Ultraviolet Disinfection System – General Manager Dana Ulmer shared that following January’s Board meeting, Vandevanter was contacted about purchasing the Wedeco system for $308,560, however, they had just learned that they were no longer an approved supplier. Glasco was then contacted, and the two systems were compared. As Glasco’s quote was outdated they submitted a current quote for $318,500. Management recommends proceeding with the Glasco system. President David Ausmus made a motion, seconded by Vice President Jeff Roberts to purchase with the Glasco ultraviolet disinfection system for $318,500. The motion carried with three votes for and none against.
Under new business:
3. Review of Financials – December 2024 – Controller Jennifer McLeland shared with the Board that as the utility uses accrual accounting, recognizing revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, versus cash accounting, recognizing revenues when received and expenses when paid, financials at year-end appeared skewed due to audit required entries. She noted that a summary of the financials was included in their operational updates and detail of the significant transactions could be found in the management discussion and analysis for their convenience. The Board had no questions or comments regarding the financials.
4. Review of Financials – January 2025 – Mrs. McLeland that similar to December, January financials are affected by audit entries. The Board had no questions or comments regarding the financials.
5. Approval of Raw Water Treatment Plant Equipment Service Contract – Mr. Ulmer shared that the Raw Water Treatment Plant already utilizes Hach to service existing equipment at the plant. However, including the services for the new analytical equipment purchased following the January Board meeting, now requires Board approval. Board Member Chris Nelson made a motion, seconded by President David Ausmus to approve the Hach service contract for the Raw Water Treatment Plant equipment in the amount of $19,807. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
6. Approval of Water Treatment Plant SCADA Upgrade – Mr. Ulmer shared that the current SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system at the plant needs to be upgraded to allow the system to provide offsite alarms and monitoring in addition to managing the new analytical instruments that were ordered following the January meeting. President David Ausmus made a motion, seconded by Vice President Jeff Roberts to approve the purchase of an updated SCADA system at the Raw Water Treatment Plant from Pinnacle Power Systems and Controls in the amount of $18,570. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
7. Approval of On Call Engineering Agreement – Howe Company – This item was tabled for a future meeting. No discussion was held, and no vote was taken.
8. Approval of Howe Company Engineering of Bowzer Wastewater Main Relocation – This item was tabled for a future meeting. No discussion was held, and no vote was taken.
9. Approval of Bid for 2025 Wastewater Collection Main Relining – Mr. Ulmer shared that bids were due and opened Wednesday, February 12 at 2:00 pm for annual wastewater main relining. He shared that while MMU has never utilized Smico Contracting, they were referred from Advanced Rehabilitation Technology that performed the 2024 manhole relining and management recommends approval of their low bid. President David Ausmus made a motion, seconded by Board Member Ryan Johnson to approve the bid from Smico Contracting in the amount of $134,164 to complete the 2025 wastewater collection main relining. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
10. Approval of Purchase of a Utility Task Vehicle – Assistant General Manager Ben Stueve shared that departments have seen increasing ways a side-by-side would be a cost-effective addition to the current equipment. He shared that all distribution/collection departments could utilize a side-by-side for quick equipment transfers directly to a job site, including behind customer residences where other trucks are too heavy. The natural gas distribution crew is required survey the transmission main from our connection in Moberly to Macon along Highway 63 and onto POET along Highway 36 every three years, a side-by-side would not only be more cost effective during this process by tremendously reducing the amount of time to complete the survey but more importantly be much safer as the crew currently parks a truck and walks along the highways. Management recommends purchasing a Kubota RTV X1100 from Crown Power through Sourcewell cooperative purchasing. Board Member Chris Nelson made a motion, seconded by President David Ausmus to approve the purchase of a Kubota RTV-X1100CWL-H for $23,265. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
11. Approval to Hedge Natural Gas for 2025-2026 Winter – Mr. Stueve shared that he has be discussing hedging natural gas for winter 2025-2026 with our account manager at Kinect Energy. Mr. Stueve and the account manager recommend hedging 90% of our three-year average each year. Currently market prices are trending downward with the warmer weather settling in, management recommends locking in 50% of the total hedging amount after March 1. Vice President Jeff Roberts made a motion, seconded by President David Ausmus to approve locking in a price of 50% of the 90% hedge at our three-year average (totaling 102,689 MMBTU) for a price not to exceed $5.25 per MMBTU following March 1, 2025. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
12. Employee Retention & Recruitment – Tyler Rhoads, Underground Facilities Technician, has accepted the new position as Control Room Operator. Following his acceptance a job posting for his replacement was due Friday, February 14, applications will be reviewed and interviews scheduled within the next week.
Brent Orbin, Raw Water Treatment Plant Lead Operator, has accepted the Raw Water Treatment Plant Supervisor in anticipation of Ed Samel’s retirement April 30, 2025. Following his acceptance of Supervisor two candidates from the Control Room Operator applications were called and interviewed. Management will make an offer to an applicant this week.
Greg Hyde is retiring Wednesday, March 5 following seventeen years of service at MMU as Raw Water Treatment Plant Operator.
- Board of Public Works Member Reports – Board Member Ryan Johnson inquired about electronic Board packets. Mr. Johnson shared that Chariton Valley uses Board Effect, Board Member Chris Nelson shared that he is also familiar with Board Effect. Mayor Tony Petre shared that the subscription the City of Macon is currently utilizing from Board Pak is expiring and the City would welcome a joint purchase to update to Board Effect with MMU. Mrs. McLeland said that she would work with City Clerk Mary Lou Craigg on the acquisition as well as purchase tablets and get emails in place for Board Members to allow access to the software.
Mayor Tony Petre shared that the addition of $10,000 to the originally budgeted City administrative assistance expense of $30,000 was not properly conveyed to the Board. The City Council did not intend to request an additional amount totaling $40,000, but rather an additional $40,000 totaling $70,000 to assist with the hire of a City Administrator and Deputy City Clerk during 2025. Mayor Petre noted that as a hire of a City Administrator had already taken place the City does not currently need the additional $30,000 but may come back to the Board later in the year if necessary when a Deputy City Clerk candidate is hired.
- Approval of Accounts Payable – Board members signed accounts payable without revision.
A motion was made by President David Ausmus, seconded by Board Member Ryan Johnson, to hold a closed session regarding Legal (RsMO 610.021 (1)), Leasing, Purchase, or Sale of Real Estate (RsMO 610.021 (2)) and Personnel (RsMO 610.021 (3)). The roll call vote was as follows: President David Ausmus, yea; Vice President Jeff Roberts, yea; Board Member Chris Nelson, yea; and Board Member Ryan Johnson, yea.
Following the closed session, a motion was made by Vice President Jeff Roberts, seconded by President David Ausmus to adjourn the meeting at 6:43 pm, with the next regular board meeting set for Monday, March 17, 2025, at 5:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Motion carried with four votes for and none against.