THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS

October 17, 2022

The regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on October 17, 2022 at 5:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. Those in attendance were President Brian Terry, Vice President David Ausmus, Board Member David Wilt, Board Member Scott Lucas, General Manager Stephanie Wilson, Assistant General Manager and Manager of Energy Resources Ben Stueve, Electric Distribution Supervisor and Manager of Utility Operations Bryce Butner, and Mayor Anthony Petre. 

President Brian Terry called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.

  1. Approval of Minutes from prior Board Meetings: Board Member David Wilt made a motion, seconded by Vice President David Ausmus, to approve the minutes from the September 19, 2022 meeting. The motion carried with four votes for and none against. 

Under old business:

  1. None

Under new business:

  1. Review of Financials – September 2022 – General Manager Stephanie Wilson noted activity for the month and year-to-date. Quarter ending actual cash balances were also shared.

4. Approval to Purchase Materials for Substation 3 Expansion – Additional items required to expand Substation 3 in order to provide electric services to Agri-Genesis, LLC were discussed. Recommendation letters from Toth & Associates, Inc. and bid tab information for reclosers plus underground cable, connector, and boxes were presented. Board Member Scott Lucas made a motion, seconded by Vice President David Ausmus, to proceed with the purchase of three KNXT15A NOVA-NXT 15KV Reclosers from Fletcher-Reinhardt in the amount of $88,503.00. The motion carried with four votes for and none against.  Mr. Lucas then proceeded with a motion, seconded by Vice President David Ausmus, to also purchase the underground cable, connector and boxes from Fletcher Reinhardt in the amount of $214,288.50.  The motion carried with four votes for and none against. 

5. Discussion and Approval of Agreements with Missouri Public Utility Alliance Resource Services Corporation for Lineworker Assistance – Discussion was held and all were in agreeance to not proceed with a Master Service Agreement unless a project was identified to proceed with services.

6. Employee Retention & Recruitment – Ms. Wilson noted that MMU is currently fully staffed and some employees are enrolled in training programs.   

Under manager reports, after a review of the monthly dashboard of activities, Ms. Wilson shared that Macon County Economic Development is working on a strategic plan, environmental remediation activities have begun at 708 S. Missouri Street, Macon, Missouri, three lineworkers responded to Orlando, Florida from September 27 – October 3, 2022 to restore electric services impacted by Hurricane Ian, plus board members and staff attended the annual Missouri Public Utility Alliance conference on October 5 – 7, 2022.

Assistant General Manager and Manager of Energy Resources Ben Stueve and Electric Distribution Supervisor and Manager of Utility Operations Bryce Butner shared run times and maintenance activities for the Macon and Audrain Energy Centers.  Other noted items included work that has begun on a new driveway at the 404 E. Vine Street facility, new electric service installations, a new water main completed on Crescent Drive, quarterly grease trap inspections for wastewater collection were conducted, and preventative maintenance activities for natural gas operations.  

Supervisors Ed Samel and Ronny Smith provided updates for the water and wastewater treatment plants. At the water plant, staff returned to feeding chloramines on October 10, 2022 after the annual free chlorine period. At the wastewater treatment plant, general maintenance activities were performed this period.

A motion was made by Board member Scott Lucas, seconded by Board Member David Wilt to go into executive session regarding Legal (Rs.MO.610.021 (1)) and Leasing, Purchase, or Sale of Real Estate (Rs. MO.610.021 (2)). The votes were as follows: President Brian Terry, yea; Vice President David Ausmus, yea; Board Member David Wilt, yea; and Board Member Scott Lucas, yea.

When the open meeting reconvened, at 6:35 pm a motion was made by Vice President David Ausmus, seconded by Board Member Scott Lucas, to adjourn the meeting.  The motion passed with four votes for and none against.