THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
January 22, 2018
The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held Monday, January 22, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Those in attendance were President Tim Watts, Vice President John Neer, Board Member Jerry Chezum, Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas, City Administrator Vicky McLeland, Mayor Dale Bagley and General Manager Stephanie Wilson. Adam Dorrell with Benton & Associates, Inc. was also in attendance. Board Member J.D. King was absent.
President Tim Watts called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member Jerry Chezum, to approve the minutes from the December 18, 2017 meeting. The motion carried with three votes for and none against.
First item on the agenda, approval was requested for authorization to sign an engineering agreement with Benton & Associates, Inc. for the oversight of the rehabilitation work to be done on the West Water Tower in 2018. Engineering design service fees along with the bidding and construction fees are not to exceed $15,300.00. US Cellular will need to temporarily relocate their antennas while the work takes place. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member Jerry Chezum, to allow General Manager Stephanie Wilson to sign the engineering agreement. The motion carried with three votes for and none against.
Under General Manager Stephanie Wilson’s updates, she shared with the Board that MMU received a 95% (Platinum) rating on its 2017 application and is again recognized as a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) from the American Public Power Association. Ms. Wilson also noted that December 2017 and January 2018 financials will be shared at the February board meeting. She also shared that Mutual Aid billing is being compiled for work in the Virgin Islands, from November 25, 2017 to January 14, 2018. Reimbursement has been received from Mutual Aid for the time MMU was in Orlando, Florida for the disaster from Hurricane Irma in September of 2017.
Under Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas’ operational updates, he reported staff had to make several trips to the Macon Energy Center to address frozen filters that severely restricted performance. Staff also attended to the Laddonia Energy Center to troubleshoot a no water situation. It was found the meter belonging to the City of Laddonia had frozen. Otherwise, the facility has been running hard throughout the noted period. Mr. Lucas also reported even though the Electric Distribution crew has been short staffed, 70% of the LED street lighting changeouts in town are complete. Mr. Lucas also noted that an Anixter metering technician tested three phase demand meters and associated CT’s.
Underground Facilities have completed quarterly grease trap inspections and natural gas regulator stations were inspected for proper operations due to the cold weather. Staff also addressed frozen water meters this period and repaired a water main leak. All departments disconnected services from Winkler’s Car Wash due to sale and the former Macon County Jail for demolition.
Roger Rector’s updates shared activities at the water and wastewater treatment plants. Benton & Associates is addressing priming issues with the new valves for the high service discharge pumps at the Water Treatment Plant. At the Wastewater Treatment Plant, MMU staff have met with various engineering firms to talk about the redesign of the headworks. The current headworks are not detaining debris and therefore causing maintenance issues to the sludge dewatering equipment. Qualifications from engineers are due by January 31, 2018.
After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, February 19, 2018 at 4:00 p.m., a motion was made by President Tim Watts, seconded by Board Member Jerry Chezum adjourn the meeting. The motion carried with three votes for and none against.
President Tim Watts adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m.