THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORK

May 20, 2019

The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on May 20, 2019 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, Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas and Mayor James Talt Holman.   Attending guests included Jeff Barnard with Burns & McDonnell and Shannon Howe with Howe & Associates. 

President Tim Watts called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by President Tim Watts, to approve the minutes from the April 15, 2019 meeting.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against.

For the first item on the agenda was the Approval of the Addition of Task 4 to the Professional Services Agreement with Burns & McDonnell dated April 4, 2018 – Headworks Improvements for the Wastewater Treatment Plant.   After a presentation from Jeff Barnard with Burns & McDonnell sharing information from flow monitoring and results of the hydraulic model of the wastewater collection system plus ideas for piping and a new headworks at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, Vice President John Neer made the motion, seconded by Board Member J.D. King, for approval of the engineering services which would allow for design through construction of a new headworks in an amount not to exceed $985,000.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against. General Manager Stephanie Wilson also touched on financing options for the project for consideration when construction begins and a review of monthly financials for April 2019.  

Under manager reports, General Manager Stephanie Wilson reported Williams Keepers, Inc. will be present at the June 11, 2019 City Council Meeting to present the 2018 financial audit results.  She also mentioned that an all employee meeting was to be held on May 21, 2019 for employees on our 457(b) The Standard & Local Area Government Employee Retirement System (LAGERS) retirement plans.  Jamie King from Macon Atlanta State Bank Financial Services and other representatives will be present.  Ms. Wilson then spoke on MMU’s policy pertaining to frozen water meters.  MMU had seven frozen water meters this past winter and as per policy customers are to protect the meter from freezing, replacement costs were passed on to the customer. After discussion of the scenarios, Vice President John Neer made a motion, seconded by Board Member Keven Butner, to amend the policy for future occurrences to state that MMU will replace the frozen water meter upon first occurrence at the address, but the customer is responsible for expenses relating to future occurrences. The motion passed with four votes for and none against.

Under Assistant General Manager Scott Lucas updates he noted operations for the Macon Energy Center and the Audrain Energy Centers.  The Macon site had operational down times this period due to maintenance at the Poet Biorefining, Inc. facility.  The Audrain site had a complete engine change out, MMU staff were on site May 6 – 16. 

Electric Distribution’s main focus this period has consisted of doing locates and preliminary work for the West Bourke/Sierra Circle overhead to underground project.  The crew has also provided a 3-phase service on Lincoln, installed LED lighting on the East Water Tower and continued GIS mapping updates.  A loss of transmission to 3 of our substations on Saturday, May 18 at 6:06 pm affected 80% of town between 32 and 42 minutes.  Severe storms passing through Missouri caused damage to Northeast Power’s transmission system in the Cairo area but their operations department quickly moved load and restored power to MMU in a timely fashion. 

Underground Facilities crew continued updating natural gas and water meters and electronic read transmitters for the AMI metering project and performing grease trap inspections on three location that need addressed.   Also, a water and natural gas main to be relocated due to construction on the Macon County R-1 Public School campus was also discussed. 

At the water and wastewater plants, Manager Roger Rector’s updates noted that two employees have recently tested for the next level of operator licenses at the water treatment plant.  The wastewater treatment plant is addressing issues with the lime shaker and blower. 

After approval of accounts payable and setting the next regular meeting for Monday, June 17, 2019 at 4:00 p.m., 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 5:25 p.m.