THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
June 21, 2021
The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on June 21, 2021 at 4:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Those in attendance were President John Neer, Vice President Brian Terry, Board Member David Wilt, General Manager Stephanie Wilson, Assistants to the General Manager Benjamin Stueve and Bryce Butner, Mayor James “Talt” Holman and City Councilman Anthony Petre. Board Member David Ausmus attended via telephone.
President John Neer called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. Vice President Brian Terry made a motion, seconded by Board Member David Wilt, to approve the minutes from the May 17, 2021 meeting. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Under old business, information relating to the Discussion of Street Repair Asphalt Overlay Bid for Vine & Rubey Street Intersection was presented. At the May 17, 2021 meeting this item did not pass due to lack of a motion. After a review of the information presented a motion was made by Vice President Brian Terry, seconded by Board Member David Ausmus, to proceed with accepting the asphalt overlay bid from Capitol Paving for $12,012.00 for the intersection on the condition that MMU upgrade the water main and associated valves from cast iron to PVC, materials estimated to cost $3,150.00. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was the Review of Monthly Financials – May 2021. General Manager Stephanie Wilson noted highlights for each fund which included seasonal activity and residual effects still present from February 2021 electricity and natural gas prices. An amended budget will be presented for approval during the summer of 2021 to reflect the extraordinary commodity costs.
Next item on the agenda was Approval for Document Destruction per Missouri Secretary of State Guidelines. As the independent financial audit for 2020 is now complete, the following list of documents have met retention guidelines and can be shredded on June 24, 2021: 2017 – Water, Wastewater, Electric Work Orders, 2018 – Accounts Payable, 2020 – Cash Receipts/Daily Cashiering. President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Vice President Brian Terry, to proceed with the destruction of the documents. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was Approval of Bid for Rip Rap at Macon Lake Dam. Bids were opened on Thursday, June 17, 2021 for the calculation and placement of well graduated 8’’ stone to 1,327 feet of shoreline along the Macon Lake Dam. Vice President Brian Terry made a motion, seconded by Board Member David Wilt, to accept the low bid from JT Holman Construction, LLC for 975 ton of stone, hauling, placement, and dress-up for $36,562.50. The motion also included accepting the alternate bid of $14.50 per ton of stone and $23.00 per ton for hauling and placement if MMU requests additional stone to be placed on the dam. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was Approval of Flat Roof Bids for East Power Plant Building. President John Neer made a motion, accepted by Vice President Brian Terry, to accept the low bid from Weathercraft, Inc. in the amount of $35,268.00. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Next item on the agenda was Approval to Proceed with Municipal Utility Emergency Loan Program (MUELP). At the May 17, 2021 Board of Public Works meeting, it was voted to apply for excess electricity and natural gas commodity costs from February 2021. The application was available on May 25, 2021 and Mayor Holman’s signature was approved on the application and associated documents at a special City Council meeting on May 27, 2021. President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member David Wilt, to request Mayor James “Talt” Holman’s signature to accept the 0% loan in the amount of $3,003,279.24 to be repaid by June 30, 2026 via semi-annual payments beginning on January 1, 2022. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
After the public hearing held at 5:30 pm regarding the Recommendation of Wastewater User Charge Ordinance was held, President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Vice President Brian Terry, to recommend to the City Council of Macon, Missouri that the user charge ordinance be updated at its meeting on July 13, 2021 to reflect the below proposed rates for wastewater fees.
Current Rates: Inside City Limits—$21.66 base fee, $3.85 per 1,000 gallons
Outside City Limits—$23.72 base fee, $4.09 per 1,000 gallons
Proposed Rates: Inside City Limits—$24.58 base fee, $4.37 per 1,000 gallons
Outside City Limits—$26.92 base fee, $4.64 per 1,000 gallons
If approved, the new rates will be added to utility billing software for August 1, 2021 utility statements. Wastewater fees were most recently adjusted in March 2015. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.
Under manager reports, General Manager Stephanie Wilson discussed the bus tour of the wastewater collection system and treatment plant to take place amongst Board of Public Works and City Council members on July 19th, the investigation is ongoing regarding natural gas prices in February 2021, a discussion was held regarding natural gas capacity upgrades for delivery to MMU’s system, and rehabilitation work on the north water tower.
Assistants to the General Manager, Ben Stueve and Bryce Butner provided updates for the Macon, Laddonia, and Fredericktown Energy Centers. Updates included regular maintenance plus operations affected by outages related to thunderstorms at Laddonia. Regarding electric distribution, an outage on Circuit 11 on June 15, 2021 and associated effects to homeowners was discussed extensively. In addition, new service installations, upsizing of wire on secondary line at McKay and Means Drive, and lineworker apprentice training were noted. Regarding underground facilities, the crew is nearing completion of the water main installation on Vine Street (between Rubery and Rutherford Streets) ahead of the street overlay project, fixed two leaks on 12” ductile water main on the north end of Maffry Street on June 11, 2021, performed maintenance activities for wastewater collection, and installed a 4-inch main extension to serve a recently annexed property on Kellogg Avenue. Preparation of project specifications for bids to be due on July 14, 2021 for a budgeted sanitary sewer line installation for the 600 block of Jackson Street was also mentioned.
Updates were also provided from Supervisor Ed Samel at the Water Treatment Plant and Supervisor Ronny Smith at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Increased flows due to dry/hot weather were noted at the water treatment plant. At the wastewater treatment plant, work continues on the headworks project. Compliance and operation activities were also noted.
After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, July 19, 2021 at 4:00 pm, a motion was made by Vice President Brian Terry, seconded by Board Member David Wilt, to go into executive session regarding Legal (Rs.MO.610.021(1)), Leasing, Purchase, or Sale of Real Estate (Rs.MO.610.021(2)) and Personnel (Rs. MO.610.021(3)). The motions were as follows: John Neer, yea; Brian Terry, yea; and David Wilt, yea.
When the open meeting reconvened at 5:55 pm, a motion was made by President John Neer, seconded by Vice President Brian Terry, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed with four votes for and none against.