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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - November 23, 2015 - UBCITY OF AZUSA MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE AZUSA UTILITY BOARD/CITY COUNCIL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 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 Cornejo, 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 (ALW) Conference Room, located at 729 North Azusa Avenue, Azusa, California. Chairman Alvarez called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. ' The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Utilities Director George Morrow. BOLL CALL: Roll call was taken by Secretary Cornejo. Boardmember Carrillojoined the meeting at 6:31 p.m. and Boardmember Macias at 6:52 p.m. after roll call. PRESENT: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ ABSENT: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE Elected Officials: Secretary Cornejo. Staff Members: City Manager Butzlaff, City Attorney Ferre, Utilities Director Morrow, Assistant Director of Resource Management Lehr, Utility Programs Specialist Reid, Senior Electric Engineer Vuong, Assistant Director of Electric Operations Langit, Administration and Financial Services Manager Johnson, Police Captain Hunt, Engineering Associate Barbosa, Assistant Director Customer Care Solutions Kalscheuer, Finance Director Paragas, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management Ayala, Management Analyst Lacasella, Storekeeper Alvarez, and Administrative Technician Juarez. Call to Order Flag Salute Roll Call Public Part Mr. Art Morales stated that he would like to see a larger marquee installed at the ALW building as well as A. Morales payment drop boxes placed closer to the curb, on Azusa and San Gabriel Avenues, as well as the Target Comments 'department store; addressed his concerns about excessive Library events on the City Hall marquee and suggested that the Library invest in a marquee for their building; and expressed his concerns about the lighting on city streets. Utilities Director George Morrow responded to comments made by Mr. Morales stating that ALW was currently looking into investing in a new marquee; the City Hall marquee is very visible for those passing by and offer more air time for City and Library events; and staff will look into installing payment drop boxes on Azusa and San Gabriel Avenues. He provided a brief update on the City's water conservation stating that conservation is at 17.95%, ALWs target is 20%. ALW customers have saved 771 million gallons of water for the period of June -September 2015, when compared to the same period in 2013. He also requested that item D-8 be pulled for discussion. BOAR M .MB .R COMMENTS Boardmember Rocha wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Boardmember Gonzales wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, thanked staff for their hard work and wished everyone Happy Holidays. Vice -Chairman Carrillo wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Chairman Alvarez wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. Utilities Director Comments Boardmember Comments CONSENT CALENDAR: Moved by Boardmember Gonzales, seconded by Boardmember Rocha, to Consent approve Consent Calendar Items D-1 through D-11, with the exception of item D-8 which was handled Calendar under the special call portion of the agenda by the following vote of the Board: AYES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, GONZALES, ALVAREZ, CARRILLO NOES: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARDMEMBERS: MACIAS 1. The minutes of the special meeting of September 28, 2015 and October 26, 2015 were approved as Minutes written. 2. A Professional Service Agreement, in a not -to -exceed amount of $22,000, was awarded to SA Agreement, SA Associates for the preparation of the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan Update and revision of the Associates 2010 Urban Water Management Plan. 3. A sole source Professional Services Agreement with ID Modeling Inc., for the purchase of Sedaru Agreement, ID water system modeling software and performance of associated CAD to GIS conversion, in an amount Modeling Inc. of $35,000 was approved. 4. An amendment to the existingblanket purchase order for National Meter & Automation Inc., Blanket PO increasing the amount by $80,000 to a new total of $120,000, was approved. Amendment 5. An addendum to the contract with inContact, Inc., adding the Personal Connection Outbound Dialer inContact, Inc. module to the contract scope of service, was approved. Addendum 6. The First Amendment to the Astoria 2 power Sales Agreement with Southern California Public Power SCPPA Authority for the long term purchase of energy, capacity, and environmental attributes sourced from Agreement the Astoria 2 Solar Project was approved. Amendment 7. The Replacement Guaranty Agreement with Iberdrola USA, Inc. was approved. Iberdrola USA 8. Special Call Special Call PAGE TWO -11/23/2015 9. An Amended and Restated Professional Services Agreement with Stetson Engineers, Inc. extending Agreement, the agreement's terms through December 2016, for the Aspan Well Test Pumping Project, was Stetson approved. Engineers 10. The bid for acquiring a hybrid bucket truck was awarded to Terex - Inside Sales in the amount of Hybrid Bucket $298,780 plus applicable Los Angeles County sales tax ($325,670.20 total) and the issuance of a Truck, Terex Purchase Order was approved. 11. The cancellation of the scheduled Utility Board meeting of December 29, 2015 was approved. Cncl. Meeting SPECIAL CALL Special Call Award Bid Contract to TSR Construction & Inspection for Furnishing and Installing Underground Electric Contract, TSR Substructures Along Vincent Avenue South of Gladstone Street in Accordance to Plan and Specification Construction LD2015-4. City Attorney Ferre stated that a bid protest was made by the project's second lowest bidder. At the time that TSR gave their bid, they were not registered with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) but since TSR was previously registered with the DIR, they are able to renew. It was recommended that the Utility Board reject the bid protest and proceed to award the contract to TSR. He responded to a question posed by Chairman Alvarez stating that the bidder, TSR, is in compliance. TSR President, Gabriel Zapirtan, responded to questions posed by the Board stating that when they first registered with the DIR it was for a full one year term, and a one year term fee was paid. The DIR has since changed the registration term to six months. Moved by Boardmember Gonzales, seconded by Vice -Chairman Carrillo to approve the award of project LD2015-4 contract to TSR Construction & Inspection in the amount not -to -exceed $31,056 by the following vote of the Board: AYES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, GONZALES, ALVAREZ, CARRILLO NOES: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARDMEMBERS: MACIAS Approval of Contract with Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGTA) Allowing Participation in the SoCal Water$mart.com Water Conservation Program. Utilities Director Morrow introduced the item stating that ALW is divided into two (2) replacement water districts: within the City of Azusa and within the Azusa Valley Water Company (AV WC) area, and the availability of different water efficiency rebate programs has caused public communications conflicts. ALW's water conservation program is supplemented by the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District (SGVMWD) with in the City and the Upper Water District (MWD) rebates within the AV WC area. MWD has agreed to allow ALW to utilize SoCalWater$mart.com, which administers MWD's water conservation rebate program, for its City of Azusa customers. A brief description of the various available residential and commercial rebates was provided. 'Moved by Boardmember Rocha, seconded by Boardmember Gonzales, to approve a Professional Services Agreement with EGIA and authorize the Mayor to execute said Agreement, by the following vote of the Board: AYES: BOARDMEMBERS: ROCHA, MACIAS, GONZALES, CARRILLO, ALVAREZ NOES: BOARDMEMBERS: NONE PAGE THREE —11/23/2015 Scheduled Items Contract, EGIA 1 Seek Possible Input and Direction on Water Financial and Rate Projections. Utilities Director Morrow provided an update on the water cost -of -service rate study which was being performed by NBS, stating that the study would not be completed until early 2016. The Water Utility's primary financial goal is to meet the 1.25 minimum debt coverage requirements. Revisions were made to the October financial projection for FY16 which included increased water lease revenues by $500k, increased projection of water penalty revenue ($1.3m total), and reduced operating costs by $535k which results in a FY 16 debt service coverage of 1.30. Reduced water sales/revenue continues to adversely impact the water system finances. Current projections indicate the FY 16 margin is small with a forecasted debt coverage ratio of 1.30 (1.25 min). Staff is awaiting the cost -of -service study results to guide future rate decisions. A likely scenario is to implement a base water rate change as early as May 1, 2016 to provide a margin for 2016 and establish FY 17 rates to meet financial goals. The board considered the current financial projections and authorized staffto wait forthe completion ofthe water cost -of service study before the recommendation of rate adjustment. Intent to Participate in the California Air Resource Board's February 17, 2016 Auction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Allowances Utilities Director Morrow announced that ALW may participate in the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) 2016 GHG Allowance auction. The objective of participation is to sell and procure equal volumes of GHG compliance instruments simultaneously for an expected zero (0) dollar net impact. No formal Utility Board approval is required for auction participation since, under the utility's Risk Management Program, the Director of Utilities and Assistant Director Resource Management are authorized to sell and procure GHG compliance instruments as needed. Staff will report back to the Utility Board following any auctions in which it participates. Fiscal Year 2015-16 First Quarter Budget Reports for Water and Electric Funds Talika Johnson presented the first quarter budget results. Staff regularly reviews the financial status of the Water and Electric funds; the numbers are preliminary and unaudited. The water fund had a negative cash flow of -$57K and was at 25% of budget; retail sales through the first quarter were 19.6% lowerthan the same period of the previous year which is primarily due to conservation efforts and the state water reduction mandate; debt service coverage is at 1.48 which exceeds the minimum requirement of 1.25; and cash reserves, after advances to other funds, are at $21.5 million. Electric revenue had a positive cash flow of+$213K and was at 25% of budget; sales for the first quarter were 3.5% lower than the same period last year; the estimated debt coverage of 9.87 exceeded the minimum debt coverage requirement of 1.10; and cash reserves were at $20.5 million. Governor Brown Extends Drought Executive Order Utilities Director Morrow announced that on November 13, 2015, Governor Brown issued a new drought Executive Order indicating a possible extension of drought rules from February 29, 2016 to October 31, 2016. Federal Legislative Update by Morgan Meguire LLC Water Financial and Rate Projections Staff Reports Participation in GHG Allowances Auction First Quarter Budget Reports Drought Executive Order Federal Legislative Utilities Director Morrow provided the board with the federal legislative update by Morgan Maguire LLC Update for their review. PAGE FOUR -11/23/2015 California Ballot Measure Seeks to Create Statewide Public Power Utility Statewide Public Power Utilities Director Morrow introduced a proposed California ballot measure which was cleared by the Utility Secretary of State for collection of needed signatures. The proposed measure would call for the creation of the California Electrical Utility District to replace the privately -owned utilities in California. If 365,000 signatures are collected, this would be on the November 2016 ballot. He Responded to question posed by Boardmember Macias stating the measure will cause cities to move away from publically owned utilities and many cities are interested. ADJOURNMENT Adjourn It was consensus of the Utility Board to adjourn the meeting. TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 7:05 P.M. t ;yj NEXT RESOLUTION NO. UB -1-2016. Next Regular Meeting: January 25, 2016. PAGE FIVE —11/23/2015