Morgantown Utility Board

MINUTES OF THE MORGANTOWN UTILITY BOARD October 21, 2020 Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice issued, on March 23, 2020, restrictions on nonessential business operations and a ‘stay at home order’ across our state. The meeting of the Morgantown Utility Board was held by video conference at 5:30 P.M., Wednesday, October 21, 2020. Present by video conference were Board Chairman Straface and Members Cayton, Kunz, Parsons, and Witt. Staff also present by video conference were General Manager Ball, Deputy General Manager McNulty, Assistant General Manager Fetty, Comptroller Osborne, and Attorney Ray. The meeting was broadcast live across several internet-based outlets. Public participation and comments were accommodated by invitation for advance submission of comments by mail, email, and telephone. Chairman Straface called the meeting to order. It was moved by Mr. Witt to approve the minutes for the Regular Meeting of September 9, 2020, as submitted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Kunz and passed unanimously. It was moved by Ms. Parsons to approve the minutes of the Emergency Meeting of September 15, 2020, as submitted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Kunz and passed unanimously. Public Portion: • The public was invited to participate in the meeting with comments submitted in advance to the Morgantown Utility Board, no later than 4:00 P.M., the day of the meeting. Mr. Ball reported that no public comments were received. New Business: • West Virginia Rural Water Association: The WVRWA requests that its participating member utilities designate a primary representative and an alternate to officially represent the utility within the organization and to cast the utility’s vote in formal matters considered by the Association. Considering their current active involvement, and their respective records of prior service, Manager Ball recommends that Mike McNulty be designated as MUB’s primary representative, and Jeff Ray be designated as the alternate. It was moved by Ms. Cayton to approve the formal designation of Mike McNulty as primary representative, and Jeff Ray as alternate representative, each with voting privileges, to represent MUB in all official activities of the West Virginia Rural Water Association. The motion was seconded by Mr. Witt and passed unanimously • Service Line Warranty Program: Manager Ball stated we are in the process of implementing a watershed protection program which is a component of our Source Water Protection Program. MUB will be undertaking several voluntary initiatives to fund this program:  o Voluntary option to “round-up” to the nearest dollar on customer bills with the rounded-up amount dedicated to the watershed protection program. o Voluntary option to donate a fixed amount on customer bills, with the fixed amount dedicated to the watershed protection program. o Option to purchase service line warranty protection. More specifically, for a small monthly fee, our residential customers will be able to purchase a warranty, much like an insurance policy, to provide repair services in the event they suffer a broken service line. In that unfortunate event, the repair costs could run into the thousands of dollars. Customers who purchase a warranty would have their broken service lines repaired for free. Staff recommends HomeServe to provide the warranty coverage. HomeServe is endorsed by the National League of Cities as well as the West Virginia Municipal League. For each policy purchased by our customers, MUB will receive 10% percent of the monthly fee. MUB will dedicate 100% of the proceeds it receives to the watershed protection program. It was moved by Mr. Witt to approve and accept the September 4, 2020 proposal from HomeServe USA, to offer our customers a proposed service line warranty program, with terms and conditions of said proposal being clarified and negotiated in subsequent correspondence dated October 1, 2020 and October 2, 2020; with MUB committing to use the income derived by MUB from said program to supplement the funding of its watershed Protection Program; and further to authorize the General Manager to execute all contract documents related thereto. The motion was seconded by Ms. Parsons and passed unanimously Old Business: • Cobun Creek Reservoir Project: Manager Ball stated soil screening continues, with two screens in use. Placement of concrete walls for the spillway continues with good progress and is nearing completion. Placement of concrete for the spillway floor will begin soon. Excavation of the sediment trap has begun at the upstream end of the reservoir. Foundation excavation and curtain grouting for the dam are completed. Placement of earthen fill to construct the dam continues. The footprint of the dam is now easily recognized. Contractor is now 44% complete but remains behind schedule with an estimated completion date of April 2022. Manager Ball introduced Assistant General Manager / Chief Engineer Jim Fetty who provided the Board with a detailed virtual tour of the ongoing construction at the Cobun Creek Reservoir, as described above by Manager Ball. The Board was very appreciative to view the progress of the reservoir construction. Reclaim LLC is 60% complete overall with the stream restoration at Fike Run. Reclaim’s stream work will be completed prior to the fall / winter shutdown, but we will provide a contract time extension in order to allow for any necessary planting/ replanting / reseeding next spring.  Manager Ball introduced Assistant General Manager / Chief Engineer Jim Fetty who provided the Board with a detailed virtual tour of the ongoing stream restoration at Fike Run, as described above by Manager Ball. The Board was very appreciative to view the progress of the reservoir construction. • WWTP Project: The contractor is 93.5% complete based on contract price. They are at least six months behind the original schedule but within budget, with a revised estimated completion date of September 28, 2021. Membrane performance testing is completed. Major work now underway includes: electrical and control work for the new digester; mechanical upgrades to the existing primary clarifiers (about 95% complete); mechanical upgrades to the existing activated sludge clarifiers (about 50% complete); upgrades to the existing aeration lines for the activated sludge basins; upgrades to the existing digester pumps and piping; upgrades to the polymer storage and handling system; and upgrades to the digester gas handling and heating systems. Other work underway or about to begin includes site grading, seeding, and paving; miscellaneous underground piping; cladding and testing of the new digester; and continue / complete the architectural finishes to the upgraded control building. General Manager’s Report: • Office Closure: COVID 19 continues to dominate much of our attention and COVID protocols will remain in place, for the foreseeable future. All workers, including Office workers, are now required to wear a mask when proper social distancing cannot be achieved. Chairman Straface asked if any employees have tested positive for COVID. Manager Ball responded that we have had some infections both among employees and family members, and in each case we have required appropriate quarantines and confirming negative follow up tests. • Financial Impacts of COVID. Total CARES reimbursements to date are just over $254,000. The Governor has recently announced a new feature in the State’s CARES program, to assist delinquent customers in paying their past due utility bills. The eligible timeframe is from March 1 – July 31. MUB will notify the eligible customers by letter, the customer must submit the completed paperwork to MUB by November 12th. MUB will accumulate the customer responses and submit a grant application to the Governor’s Office through MUB. Once the application is approved, MUB will receive the payments from the Governor’s Office and MUB will apply the funds to the delinquent accounts. • BABs Refinance: The Bond Ordinance and Supplemental Parameters Resolution have been approved by City Council. Bond pricing occurred on October 15th. Preparation of closing documents is scheduled to be completed this week, and sale of the bonds is scheduled to be closed October 28th and 29th. Manager Ball commented on the tremendous amount of work required to prepare and support a bond issue, and thanked Debbie Osborne, Jeff Ray, and Jim Fetty for their extraordinary help. Board Issues: • Ms. Parsons asked about Mike McNulty’s progress in assuming his new role. Mr. McNulty responded that the transition is going very well and commented on how wonderfully he had been welcomed and received. Manager Ball stated that Mike has done very well integrating immediately into the team. There being no further business to come before the Board, upon a motion by Ms. Parsons seconded by Ms. Kunz and unanimously approved, the meeting adjourned at 6:17 P.M. J. T. Straface, Chairman Karen Kunz, Secretary