"Providing Hometown Reliability"
The Board of Public Works convened in regular session at 8:30 a.m. at the Marshall Municipal Utilities Business Office. Board members present were Ken Bryant, Vice President; Steve Mills, Secretary and Spencer Fricke, Member. Chuck Hird, President was absent. Also present were City Administrator Dave Haugland, City Councilmen Dewey Hendrix and Ron Ott.
The agenda was approved on a motion by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Fricke. General Manager Kyle Gibbs reviewed the safety briefing. The minutes of the previous meetings were approved as printed on a motion by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Fricke.
Electric Distribution Director Jeff Bergstrom presented the Board an engineering proposal from Lutz, Daily and Brain, LLC for an emergency 161kV transmission tie. All landowners have been contacted and all appropriate paperwork needed is in process. On a motion made by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Fricke, the Board approved the Engineering Proposal from Lutz, Daily and Brain, LLC for 161kV Emergency Tie for a not to exceed cost of $194,400 and recommend that the City Council approve an ordinance authorizing the Mayor to sign proposal.
The collector for the AMI electric meter replacement pilot arrived and was hung on October 11th. The commission date is still for October 31th.
Underground Facilities Director Grant Piper asked the Board for approval to request a proposal from Shafer, Kline and Warren (SKW) to assist in renewing the Water Distribution Owner Supervised Plan. This is a requirement of DNR and the current plan expires in 2018. Director Piper would like to use SKW because they were the firm that originally helped develop the plan in 2007, renew it in 2013, and are already familiar with it. On a motion made by Mr. Fricke, seconded by Mr. Mills, the Board approved requesting a proposal from Shafer, Kline and Warren with a not-to-exceed price to renew our current Owner Supervised Water Distribution Plan.
Director Piper then presented the Board results of the Water Tower Inspection. He stated the inspection report recommended a few items that need to be done in the future that include painting the exterior and blast and redo the interior coating.
Electric Production Director Carl Crawford informed the Board the project to replace the fill for Unit #10 & #11 has been completed and came in well under budget. Director Crawford stated the company he had contacted to take the sulfuric acid and acid tank will be picking everything up in the next few weeks. This will save the utilities the cost of disposing of it.
Water Treatment Superintendent Kenny Clause updated the Board on the THM reduction project; everything is on schedule.
Incoming Wastewater Treatment Superintendent Nolan Townsend commented that they have done the second round of interviews for the operator positions and will be making offers soon. The sensors in the polymer tanks have been fixed. The coating was deteriorating which made them give false readings. He is working on revisions to the pretreatment ordinance.
Administrative Services Director Ken Gieringer presented the Board a chart showing the progress of the conversion from high pressure sodium lights to LED lights.
Human Resources Manager Megan Baldridge provided an update on the employee health benefits proposals. There has only been one proposal received and it was not competitive. The Annual Employee Appreciation Lunch will be on October 24th.
General Manager Kyle Gibbs updated the Board on meetings attended at the Annual MPUA Conference.
On a motion by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Fricke, accounts payable were approved and warrants ordered issued from the following funds:
WATER OPERATING FUND $ 180,884.60 ELECTRIC OPERATING FUND $ 1,719,040.85 SEWER REVENUE FUND $ 145,822.79 INTERNET OPERATING FUND $ 43,596.28 NATURAL GAS OPERATING FUND $ 2,676.26 ELECTRIC CONSUMER DEPOSIT FUND $ 4,275.00 WATER SEGREGATED $ 125,534.43 Total $ 2,221,830.21
The next Regular Board meeting will be Thursday November 2, 2017.
On a motion by Mr. Bryant, seconded by Mr. Mills, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn the regular meeting at 9:09 a.m.