Utility Commission

Waunakee Utilities Commission Meeting November 23, 2020 Members Present: Paul Endres Chris Zellner Roxanne Johnson John Roessler Shirley Nelson Steve Kraus Gary Herzberg Others Present: Tim Herlitzka Randy Dorn Dave Dresen Gabe Altenbernd John Roessler called the regular meeting of the Waunakee Utilities Commission to order. The meeting was held virtually due to COVID-19. All votes were taken via a roll-call. Minutes A motion was made by Steve Kraus and seconded by Shirley Nelson to approve the minutes of the October 26, 2020 Utilities Commission meeting. Motion carried. Bills The list of bills was reviewed. A motion was made by John Roessler and seconded by Paul Endres to approve payment of the following bills: Total Vendor Description $ 192.09 Ace Hardware Miscellaneous parts/supplies 785.21 Adams Publishing Group Energy assistance ad & direct mail edition 732.00 Boardman Clark Legal: Electric service territory & employee matters 10,082.05 Border States Inventory, UG & transformer maintenance 42.02 Boswell, Janet Refund 71.10 BP * Gasoline for trucks 1,950.94 Brooks Tractor Backhoe maintenance 61.43 Cabral, Jena & Andrew Refund 491.16 Cintas Corporation Uniforms 502.00 Coverall North American, Inc. Cleaning service 549.97 Crescent Electric Well, tower & street light maintenance 112.08 Dahmen, William & Anna Mae Refund 1,873.48 Delta Dental Monthly dental insurance premiums 26,412.11 EFTPS * 941 taxes 7,920.00 Empower Retirement * Deferred Compensation & Roth 1,660.43 Exxon Mobil * Gasoline for trucks 3,160.00 Energis Holdings, LLC Substation maintenance 33,175.85 Fresco, Inc. Electric inventory 9,348.00 GLS Utility, LLC Locating services 415.99 Hartman, Steve Expense & mileage reimbursement 84.15 Insight FS Fuel for fork lift 65.63 Kniola, Angela Refund 523.03 MG & E Boosters, wells, service building & lift stations 303.46 Mid-State Technical College Meter training 680.00 Minuteman Press Bill stuffer 75.00 Northern Lake Service, Inc. Water samples 1,000.00 North Shore Bank * Deferred Compensation Paragon Development Systems, 1,576.00 Inc. Computer expense 1  66,921.42 Payroll* 11/6 & 11/20 53.33 Pearson, Eric Refund 32.94 Piggly Wiggly Soda for machine & office expenses Quartz Health Benefit Plans 18,453.59 Corp. Monthly health insurance premiums 172.50 Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. Sewer mapping expense 723.86 Securian Financial Group * Life insurance premiums 4,296.66 SEERA c/o Wipfli, LLP Focus program fee for October 250.00 Shoys, Peter EV charger rebate 153.74 Smedegard, Derald Refund 279.00 Stafford Rosenbaum Legal: Verizon lease & general corporate SBank of CP/Credit card 4,338.38 payment * Office supplies and expenses, PPE, school expenses, Zoom for commission meeting, clothing, office/shop supplies, computer and UG exp., and lift station & equipment exp. 132.58 St. John's Properties Refund 1,905.65 Strand Associates, Inc. Lexington booster project 15,058.00 Stuart C Irby Co. Electric inventory 124.43 T A S Communications * Answering service 969.83 TDS Telecom * Monthly phone & modem service 1,670.80 Tri-County Paving W.O. materials 106.11 The UPS Store Shipping charges for bill stuffers and AMI module 500.61 USABlueBook Water meter supplies 371.25 U.S. Cellular * Monthly cell phone service 156,007.92 Village of Waunakee Flexplan, refuse/Oct., electric and water taxes and rebills for: Insurance & office expenses 1,000.00 Village of Waunakee Annual WPPI economic development contribution 1,000.00 Waunakee Ecumenical Board Donation from WPPI COVID $ WI Dept. of Natural Resources 70.00 * Operator certification 16,269.32 WI Dept. of Revenue * State & sales taxes paid 653,779.92 WPPI Energy October power bill 5,678.62 WPPI Energy Hosted e-mail & financial and accounting software, member network assessment & monitoring, utility billing & customer information software, WPPI WAN, cyber security, shared meter technician, meter data collection & mgmt., Verizon charges, low-income administrative service fee & retail billing services 15,323.59 WI Retirement System * Retirement - October 26.00 WI State Lab of Hygiene Water samples 1,466.33 Yahara Materials, Inc. W.O. materials & E/W/S maintenance Bills Received Subsequent to Packet Delivery $ 254.70 AFLAC Monthly premiums 119.67 Cintas Corporation Uniforms 859.35 Crescent Electric UG & shop/office maintenance 10,455.00 Dixon Engineering, Inc. Well #3 reservoir project 3,844.89 Infosend, Inc. Billing costs 11,855.00 J & R Underground Boring work at Schumacher Rd., Hill Crest & Stephenson Lane 362.60 Northeast WI Technical College Apprenticeship costs 1,616.00 Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. Water & sewer mapping expense 2  1,027.21 Village of Waunakee Re-bills for: Mechanic and Dean 45.00 Wil-Kil Pest Control Pest control 2,680.48 WI Dept. of Revenue * State taxes paid $ 1,104,101.46 Motion carried. Public Comment There was no public comment. Investment Policy Changes The current investment policy is reviewed from time-to-time by the utility investment advisor. The commission was presented proposed changes that clarify target investment allocations and ranges, including highlighting the parameters for investing in Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities. After a discussion, a motion was made by Steve Kraus and seconded by Chris Zellner to approve the changes to the investment policy. Motion carried. Improvements to the Lexington Booster Station. The 2021 budget includes the project to construct improvements to the Lexington Booster Station. The improvements are needed to supply water to the Heritage Hills subdivision as ground elevations require water service for portions of the area to be provided through the boosted water system. The Heritage Hills developer had originally planned to make the connection to the booster station in 2021 but is now requesting a connection sooner. To accommodate this request, staff is asking the commission for approval in 2020 to complete the required interior piping work in advance of the connection being made. Given the short timeframe between when the request was received from the developer and the commission meeting, price quotes were not able to be received from contractors and staff is requesting commission approval to solicit price quotes and hire a contractor. After a discussion, a motion was made by Gary Herzberg and seconded by John Roessler to approve allowing staff to proceed with engaging a contractor to complete this portion of the project under the following conditions:  Five companies recommended by Strand will be asked to provide price quotes.  The low quote and contractor must be acceptable to Strand.  The low price may not exceed $25,000. Motion carried. Purchased Treatment Cost and General Inflationary Sewer Rate Adjustments The automatic adjustments to sewer rates for the increase in the cost to treat wastewater from the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and general inflationary cost increases were discussed. The average residential sewer customer will see an increase of $2.66 per month and the average commercial customer will have an increase of $8.58 per month starting on January 1, 2021. MMSD has informed the utility that costs are estimated to be $2,108,820 in 2021, an increase of $207,180 (10.9%) over expected 2020 costs. MMSD costs represent approximately 73% of total sewer utility operating expenses. MMSD has indicted that the following are the reasons for the increase:  Loadings to MMSD from the City of Madison are expected to decrease, causing communities such as Waunakee who are not experiencing significant load decreases to be billed an increasing percentage of the total costs to operate the district. 3   MMSD continues to replace aging infrastructure at the wastewater treatment facility.  Continued growth requires MMSD to increase capacity for the area. 2021 Health Insurance Costs The commission was informed about the health insurance cost increases for 2021. The overall premium increase is approximately 8.5% with actual costs increasing $36,191, or 13.3%. 2021 Budget The 2021 budget was presented, After a discussion, a motion was made by John Roessler and seconded by Gary Herzberg to approve the 2021 budget. Motion carried. Compensation Committee Appointments The utility commission decided to have Paul Endres and John Roessler be members of the committee. Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project The commission was provided a project update. 6,499 electric meters have been installed and 3,449 water units are now in service. The water portion of the project has been put on hold in order to protect staff and customers from the virus. Village-Wide Construction Projects A brief update was provided on various projects in the service territory. Operations Report The commission was provided an update on various operational matters. General Manager’s Report The general manager provided an update on how the virus has impacted operations and the increased amount of delinquent accounts receivable placed on the tax roll. The commission also provided consensus that the Frank H Water Tower should be designed to look like the Ripp Park Water Tower, with purple on the underside. Financial Statements The October financial statements were presented. A motion was made by Chris Zellner and seconded by Gary Herzberg to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted: _____________________________ Commission Secretary 4