Waunakee Utilities Commission

Waunakee Utilities Commission Meeting August 26, 2019 Members Present: Paul Endres Chris Zellner John Roessler Roxanne Johnson Shirley Nelson Steve Kraus Gary Herzberg Others Present: Tim Herlitzka Dave Dresen John Roessler called the regular meeting of the Waunakee Utilities Commission to order at the Waunakee Utilities facility at 322 Moravian Valley Road. Minutes Moved by John Roessler, seconded by Chris Zellner, to approve the minutes of the July 22, 2019 Utilities Commission meeting. Motion carried. Bills The list of bills was reviewed. Moved by Shirley Nelson, seconded by Paul Endres, to approve payment of the following bills: Total Vendor Description $ 150.34 Ace Hardware Miscellaneous parts/supplies 179.10 AFLAC * Monthly premiums 165.12 Cintas Corporation Uniforms 1,595.00 Core & Main Water meter 502.00 Coverall North American, Inc. Cleaning service 224.26 Crescent Electric Tools & street light maintenance 2,724.80 Diggers Hotline, Inc. 2nd prepayment for locating services 29,291.40 EFTPS * 941 taxes 6,911.52 Empower Retirement * Deferred Compensation & Roth 1,859.75 Exxon Mobil * Gasoline for trucks 74.00 Hartman, Steven CDL reimbursement 45,000.00 Honeywell AMI meters 1,500.00 Husch Blackwell Bond counsel services for debt payoff 4,561.72 Madison Investment Advisors, Inc. Management fees 492.46 Minuteman Press Bill stuffers 381.50 NAPA Auto Parts Truck maintenance 730.00 North Shore Bank * Deferred Compensation 677.96 Office Depot Office supplies 71,709.65 Payroll* 8/2 & 8/16 106.70 Pellitteri Waste Systems Data shred 435.00 Pinnacle Landscaping, Inc. Centennial Park work 534.44 Pomps Tire Tires for truck 721.42 Rauls, Linus & Leona * Refund on deposit 25,418.02 Resco Inventory, transformers & URD maintenance 2,000.00 Reserve Account * Postage for machine 484.50 RG Heating & A/C Building maintenance 539.10 Rhyme Business Products * Monthly lease payment & usage charges 639.66 Securian Financial Group * Life insurance premiums 3,982.40 SEERA c/o Wipfli, LLP Focus program fee for July 651.25 Stafford Rosenbaum Legal: Subpoena, TDS & locating contracts 8,471.76 SBank of CP/Credit card payment * Mutual aid expenses, URD maintenance, hotel exp., AICPA membership renewal, office expenses, office furniture 12,309.00 Stuart C Irby Co. Inventory 921.20 TDS Telecom * Monthly phone & modem service 1,059.12 Temperature Systems, Inc. Shop maintenance 35.00 Tri-County Paving Water maintenance 406.90 U.S. Cellular * Monthly cell phone service 250.00 University of Colorado Boulder Scholarship payment for Anna Vine 7,532.82 USIC Locating Services Locating services 179.92 Vernig, Ralph Expense reimbursement 160,590.11 Village of Waunakee Flexplan, refuse/July, electric & water taxes & re-bills for: Insurance and mechanic 700.00 Williamson Surveying Hellenbrand road easements 64,735.98 WI Dept. of Revenue * State & sales taxes paid 1  1,174,465.18 WPPI Energy July power bill 7,744.09 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, energy assistance administration & computer equipment 14,270.49 WI Retirement System * Retirement - July 130.00 WI Rural Water Association * Expo registrations 26.00 WI State Lab of Hygiene Water samples Bills Received subsequent to Packet Delivery $ 268.65 AFLAC Monthly premiums 429.50 Boardman Clark Legal: Verizon lease & WPL customer acquistion 400.00 Bond Trust Services Corporation Paying agent fee 3,911.16 Border States Electric inventory 291.08 Capital City Cleaning & Supply Shop/office supplies 110.08 Cintas Corporation Uniforms 276.00 CJ's Lawn & Snow Services, Inc. Lawn maintenance 850.00 C & M Hydraulic Tool Supply, Inc. Repair URD locator 60.72 Coldwell Banker Success Refund 646.31 Cooney Realty Group Refund 24,708.08 Core & Main AMI water meters 13,663.89 Crescent Electric Inventory, street light, UG & transformer maint. 1,724.53 Delta Dental Monthly dental insurance premiums 107.17 Dish Network Monthly service 201.61 DOA/DEHCR Refund of energy assistance check 63,842.85 Fresco, Inc. Electric inventory 75.33 Greiber, Jim & Jean Refund 526.00 Herlitzka, Tim Mileage reimbursement 5,339.10 Infosend Billing costs for 2 months 14.73 Karls, Dana Mileage reimbursement 3,650.10 Martelle Water Treatment Chemicals for wells 100.00 MEUW Seminar registration 288.40 MG & E Boosters, wells, service building & lift stations 78.40 Murphy, William & Kathleen Refund 387.80 Office Depot Office supplies 163.83 Pophal, Dan & Linda Refund 3,325.00 Power System Engineering, Inc. Mapping upgrade 16,011.42 Quartz Monthly health insurance premiums 2,800.00 Red Arrow Electric W.O. materials 97.44 Schwenn, Tyler Mileage reimbursement 383.26 Strand Associates, Inc. Maintenance of towers 139.20 T.A. S. Communications, Inc. Answering service 32,697.87 TelCom Construction TDS fiber joint utility duct project 74.00 Tri-County Paving W.O. materials 98.95 UPS Store Shipping charges for bill stuffers 199.95 Waunakee Power Equipment Power saw maintenance 945.00 Wesco Electric metering 255.89 Yahara Materials, Inc. Water maintenance $ 1,837,213.94 Motion carried. Public Comment There was no public comment. Sale of Overhead Electric Line to American Transmission Company The commission continued the discussion about the possible sale of the 69kV line that serves the North Substation to the American Transmission Company. The commission indicated support for the sale and asked that this topic be brought back for further discussion once the final terms of the sale are complete. Charter Communications Lease Amendment 2 An amendment to the existing lease with Charter Communications for utilizing land adjacent to the North Substation site was discussed. The proposed amendment includes a five-year term, with the possibility of two renewal terms of five years each. The first year payment of $11,000 is to be inflated 3% annually. Utility staff will also request a one-time upfront reimbursement for legal fees associated with the amendment. After a discussion, a motion was made by Gary Herzberg and seconded by John Roessler to approve the lease amendment provided it’s acceptable to the utility attorney. Motion carried. Audit Proposal The village and utility currently receive audit services from CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA). As a routine business practice, the village finance committee solicited and received proposals from various accounting firms to perform auditing services for 2019-2021. A proposal from CLA was deemed to be in the best interest of the village and the village board approved the proposal. After discussing the staff recommendation to retain the same auditors as the remainder of the village, a motion was made by Chris Zellner and seconded by Shirley Nelson to approve the utility portion of the CLA proposal. Motion carried. The price increase to the utility is very low compared to the 2018 audit fees, averaging less than 1% per year. Vacuum Truck Replacement The commission had a preliminary discussion about replacing the vacuum truck since it is now over ten years old. Additional information will be presented to the commission about this matter at a future meeting. Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project The commission was provided a project update. 3,425 electric meters have been installed and 1,321 water units are now in service. Village-Wide Construction Projects Utility staff provided information about the Arboretum Village project. Operations Report The electric superintendent provided an update on various projects in the department. General Manager’s Report The general manager discussed the recent goal the governor announced regarding 100% net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and potential initiatives the utility could consider regarding this, an update on the Well 5 maintenance project, a solar and battery backup project planned by a customer, the status of the final phase of the Wisconsin Power and Light customer acquisitions, and an update on the status of the locating contract. Financial Statements The July financial statements were presented. Consolidated operating income is over budget for the month and year-to-date. Electric operating results continue to trail the budget and the prior year and will be monitored in the future for the possible need to increase rates. A motion was made by Gary Herzberg and seconded by Shirley Nelson to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. 3 Respectfully submitted: _____________________________ Commission Secretary 4