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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - March 23, 2015 - UBCITY OF AZUSA MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE AZUSA UTILITY BOARD/CITY COUNCIL MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015 — 6:30 P.M. Chairman: Edward J. Alvarez Vice -Chairman: Angel A. Carrillo Boardmember: Joseph Romero Rocha Boardmember: Uriel Edward Macias Boardmember: Robert Gonzales Secretary: Jeffrey Lawrence Comejo, Jr. The Utility Board/City Council of the City of Azusa met in regular session, at the above date and time, in the Azusa Light and Water (AL&W) Conference Room, located at 729 N. Azusa Avenue, Azusa, California. Chairman Gonzales called the meeting to order. ' Pledge to the flag was led by Boardmember Angel A. Carrillo. ROLL CALL: Roll call was taken by Secretary Cornejo. PRESENT: BOARDMEMBERS: MACIAS, ROCHA, ALVAREZ, CARRILLO, GONZALES ABSENT: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE ALSO PRESENT Elected Officials: Secretary Cornejo. Staff Members: City Manager Butzlaff, City Attorney Ferre, City Attomey Hull, City Attorney Martinez, Utilities Director Morrow, Police Captain Hunt, Assistant Director Customer Care Solutions Kalscheuer, Assistant Director of Water Operations Anderson, Assistant Director of Resource Management Lehr, Assistant Director of Electric Operations Langit, Administration and Financial Services Manager Johnson, Utility Program Specialist Reid, Economic and Community Development Director Christiansen, Assistant/Deputy City Clerk Hernandez. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Call to Order Flag Salute Roll Call Also Present Public Part Mr. Art Morales addressed the Board regarding excess weight diesel trucks traveling and parking on streets A. Morales causing damage to the City's infrastructure, the parking citations given by Police Department are not high Comments 'enough to keep them away, and suggested a change to the ordinance to allow those trucks to be hauled away; he requested better lighting for Memorial Park during the election, and asked about his previous request to install a watch tower at the Canyon, suggesting that volunteers can be recruited to mind the tower. Chairman Gonzales responded that staff will get back to him with answers to his concerns. UTILITIES DIRECTOR COMMENTS Util Director Comments Utilities Director Morrow acknowledged the re-election of the Boardmembers who were re-elected in the 'March 3, 2015, Municipal Election; he stated that Consent Items I and 2 recommendations were for reformed/amended agreements to extend the agreements; he announced the Compost and Mulch giveaway on March 28, 2015. UTILITIES BOARD MEMBERS COMMENTS' Boardmembers Comments Election of Officers for the Utility Board Chairperson Vice -Chairperson and Secretary. Elect Chairman Chairman Gonzales thanked the Board for allowing him to serve at the Chairman capacity for the past two years, as he served for the year that Boardmember Macias was in the Active Service. Moved by Chairman Gonzales, seconded by Boardmember Carrillo to elect Boardmember Alvarez for the Elect E. position of Chairman for the period of March 2015 to March 2016, by the following vote of the Board: Alvarez as Chairman YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE Boardmember Macias announced that he may not make it to the next Utility Board Meeting, U. Macias Comments CONSENT CALENDAR: Moved by Vice -Chairman Carrillo, seconded by Boardmember Gonzales, to Consent Cal approve Consent Calendar Items D-1 to D-6, by the following vote of the Board: YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE 1. An amendment to extend the Civiltec Engineering Inc. Professional Service Agreement until July 31, Amend 2015, for the design of the SGVMWD pipeline interconnection Project W-280 at the Hsu -Canyon Civiltec Agmnt Water Treatment Plant was approved. 2. An amendment to extend the MWH Americas, Inc. Professional Service Agreement to September 30, Extend MWA 2015 for the Water Division 2015 Water Master Plan Project W-278 was approved. Agmnt 3. The proposed Scope of Work to provide the Electric Division with Inspection Management RFP Tool- Tools/Services was approved, and staff was authorized to prepare, issue and solicit proposals (RFP). Service 03/23/2015 PAGE TWO Moved by Boardmember Gonzales, seconded by Chairman Alvarez, to nominate Boardmember Carrillo for Elect A. the position of Vice -Chairman for the period of March 2015 to March 2016, by the following vote of the Carrillo as Board: Vice - Chairman 'YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE Moved by Vice -Chairman Carrillo, seconded by Chairman Alvarez, to affirm the position of Secretary Elect J. Comejo to continue serving in the position of Secretary for the period of March 2015 to March 2016, by the Comejo as following vote of the Board: Secretary YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE Boardmember Macias announced that he may not make it to the next Utility Board Meeting, U. Macias Comments CONSENT CALENDAR: Moved by Vice -Chairman Carrillo, seconded by Boardmember Gonzales, to Consent Cal approve Consent Calendar Items D-1 to D-6, by the following vote of the Board: YES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NO: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE 1. An amendment to extend the Civiltec Engineering Inc. Professional Service Agreement until July 31, Amend 2015, for the design of the SGVMWD pipeline interconnection Project W-280 at the Hsu -Canyon Civiltec Agmnt Water Treatment Plant was approved. 2. An amendment to extend the MWH Americas, Inc. Professional Service Agreement to September 30, Extend MWA 2015 for the Water Division 2015 Water Master Plan Project W-278 was approved. Agmnt 3. The proposed Scope of Work to provide the Electric Division with Inspection Management RFP Tool- Tools/Services was approved, and staff was authorized to prepare, issue and solicit proposals (RFP). Service 03/23/2015 PAGE TWO 4. The following Resolution No. UB -5-2015, accepting a Grant of Easement from City Ventures Homebuilding, LLC for the Property at Lot 1 Tract 71774 in Book 1377, Page 22-24, located at the North East Corner of Alameda Avenue and 91t Street, was adopted and entitled, and the City Clerk was authorized to file the easement in the Office of the Los Angeles County Recorder: A RESOLUTION OF THE UTILITY BOARD / CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA ACCEPTING A CERTAIN GRANT OF PERMANENT EASEMENT AND DIRECTING THE RECORDING THEREOF. 5. The purchase of fall arrest protective safety equipment from HD Supply Power Solutions in the amount not -to -exceed $10,414.74, plus any applicable taxes was approved, and authorization was given for the issuance of purchase order for same. Reso UB -5- 2015 Accepting Easement, Alameda & 9th Purchase HD for Safety Equipment 6. The issuance of a Request for Proposals for an Integrated Supply System (ISS) for Waterworks Fittings RFP Water and Materials was approved. Fittings SCHEDULED ITEMS Sched Items Review of Proposal by Sensus. USA Submitted in Response to Request for Proposals for Advanced Meter Review of Infrastructure Project. Advanced Utilities director Morrow presented the item stating that staff continues to move forward with the utility modernization project of the Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) two way water and electric meters; 6 proposals were received and reviewed by staff, with the assistance of Utiliworks; there were 3 proposals that were the most comprehensive, GE Digital Energy, Leidos Engineering (formerly SAIC) and Sensus USA; staff attended a presentations by each of the 3 vendors who explained how their systems worked and background experience; Sensus was the lowest bidder at an upfront cost of $9.2 million for the meters and installation, $1.9 million operating cost, totaling $11.1 million (10 years); staff recommended Sensus as it included several benefits, such as: FlexNet communications system validation, evaluating Sensus meters or look at other possible meter options, and replacing the proposed Meter Data Management System (MDMS) replacement with MeterSense; staff plans to visit Sensus installations at other utilities and also do some phone interviews. The Board had concerns on how this would affect current staff; a future report will be presented to the Board with options for staffing options as well as the financial and economic considerations. 80 % of the State is now operating under the smart meter system, Azusa is one of the late adopters, but there were benefits to waiting as technology continues to improve. With the new system staff will be able to map, monitor and manage electrical outages; smart switches on the network will be able to perform self healing and staff will manage information and provide real-time assistance to customers. Boardmember Macias asked if the City of Burbank received Federal subsidies for this project, what were the financial and staffing considerations, and what would be the typical life of the meters as it relates to technology; Utilities Director Morrow responded that yes Burbank did receive subsidies, AL&W also requested federal funding for this project through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), but was unsuccessful in obtaining the funding; once it gets closer to the final review, the Board will be presented with the financial and staffing impacts, for their review; the typical life of the electric meters is 10+ years, water meters will require changing batteries periodically as they are not directly connected to electric, and that was factored into the estimate, the need for technology upgrade or replacement may depend on the usage of the meters. Meters Proposals G. Morrow Presents Item Discussion Chairman Alvarez asked if there was a particular company that controlled the market, and how did the Discussion 'companies rate; Utilities Director Morrow responded that companies are spread out; most large Utilities have installed their own system and manage it themselves, small companies such as AL&W, do not have the expertise or level of technical Information Technology (IT) knowledge/staff to implement such a system, as many security protocols are necessary to protect that data, and the need to have the backup 03/23/2015 PAGE THREE system in place for the computer management system. Assistant Director Customer Care Solutions Kalscheuer responded that as far as the ratings, Sensus was one of the leaders in the industry in terms of providing the services solutions that were included in the AL&W Request for Proposals (RFP); they have '500 locations in the United States and Canada, they offered software that can perform as a service solution, the operating cost over a 10 year period was $1.9 million, approximately $190 thousand per year, which was a low cost for system service charge compared to other service providers; the Sensus proposal stood out as it was more like a software licensing contract, similar to the current utility billing system; the software will be posted offsite, the license fee is for the maintenance of the software system to read meters and aggregate those readings to the local server location which is highly secure and maintained by AL&W. Boardmember Macias asked what the actual physical operation would cost; Director Morrow responded that the physical communications system will be kept and maintained by the vendor, this type of arrangement will be part of their recovery cost; they will provide the meters that will be stored at the AL&W warehouse to keep and be replaced by staff should they fail; the replaced meters will be returned for credit as they will come with a warranty; staff is reviewing every detail of the program to ensure that this will be a one-time change for the long term and that it will accomplish all of AL&W needs; the process includes: meter change out, a system communications network to read meters and other field devices, storing data in the meter data management system that can be interrogated through a portal by the customer as well as AL&W customer service personnel. City Manager Butzlaff suggested a study session with Sensus, to answer technical and business questions that the Board may have about the services to be provided. Morrow agreed. Boardmember Gonzales asked how the program was going to be integrated with the existing staff; Utilities Director Morrow responded that affected staff will be educated about the new program, staff believes that customers will like it and the benefits as they will enjoy; City Manager Butzlaff stated that some customers may be reluctant to use the new meters due to the radiation from the wireless transmitters, some customers 'may choose to opt out of these meters. Morrow stated that the utility will offer an opt -out option at additional cost to the customer. Boardmember Rocha stated that he sees the value of this project, but expressed his concern regarding staff and the contingency plan, and the financial impact to customers should rates be increased to cover the cost; Utilities Director Morrow responded that there are benefits in moving to this new system, but he understands that it needs to be affordable; the last comprehensive study that was done reflected a much higher cost; he will bring a report back regarding his concerns, to present to the Board. Morrow stated that with meter reading automation, less staff will be needed to read meters. Boardmember Macias asked what would be the return on investment; Utilities Director Morrow responded that staff looked at over 12 different cost categories, some of the biggest categories were for service and meter efficiency on the current water meters as they are now old and inaccurate; the new intelligent system will prevent water loss on the distribution system, as it will help identify where the losses are located; it would be prudent to use the reserves for the initial cost, as those moneys are not earning enough interest, and the savings associated with this investment are greater. Assistant Director Customer Care Solutions Kalscheuer stated that the meters are not reading all the losses of undetected water; currently there is a budget of approximately $1 million to cover for field services, there are a few part-time field staff, and some of the full-time staff are close to retirement; field services workers will still be needed; in looking at the field services investment compared to the savings that will occur, there will be a substantial return on investment. Moved by Vice -Chairman Carrillo, seconded by Boardmember Macias to: (1) Authorize staff to continue 'its due diligence review of Sensus USA's proposal to perform an AMI project for Azusa Light &, Water and to engage in negotiations on Sensus' price proposal and proposed AMI equipment/services; and (2) approve additional compensation to Utiliworks of up to $10,000 to assist with the diligence review, by the following vote of the Board: 03/23/2015 PAGE FOUR Discussion Discussion Discussion Discussion YES: BOARDMEMBERS: CARRILLO, MACIAS, ALVAREZ, CARRILLO, GONZALES NO: BOARDMEMBERS:ROCHA ' STAFF REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS Staff Reports Results of the California Air Resources Board's February 18 2015 Auction of (Greenhouse Gas) GHQ Results Calif Allowances. Air Resources GHG Allowances Utilities Director Morrow informed the Board that AL&W participated on the February 18, 2015, Auction of GHC Allowances, staff was successful with selling and re -buying 50 thousand GHG Allowances for 2015, clearing price on the market was $12.21, the cost and revenue was the same $610,500. Update on the Drought and Local Water Supply. Drought Update Utilities Director Morrow gave an update stating that the State Water Resource Control Board (S WRCB) action to extend and expand emergency water regulations, by implementing 2 days a week watering, mandatory restrictions were expanded to water on request from restaurants, hotels to give towel/linen washing options to guests and no watering during and within 48 hours of rain events; most of the regulations have already been implemented in Azusa; staff will make recommendations to the Board at the April 2015 meeting; Phase III Drought is currently being implemented in Azusa and it appears to be working, as the use per capita per day is better than other area cities, customers are cooperating in meeting restrictions; the State announced that they will be increasing to 20% the State Water Project allocation, up from the 5% from last year. Boardmember Macias requested for the next meeting, an updated list of the top 10 water users to see how they have conserved water, and suggested that this would be a good time to promote water rebate programs. Morrow mentioned that the utility is working with MWD to join the Watersmart Program for use by Azusa residents, this program already being available to AL&W customers outside the City. American Public Powers Association (APPA) National Conference. APPA Nall Conference Utilities Director Morrow announced that he would be attending the APPA National Conference that will be held from June 5th to 10th, 2015, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Adjourn ADJOURNMENT It was consensus of the Board to adjourn the meeting. TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 7:27 P.M. NEXT RESOLUTION NO. U13-6-2015. Next Regular Meeting: April 27, 2015, 6:30 P.M. 03/23/2015 PAGE FIVE