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Home My WebLink AboutE-1 Minutes Special Meeting October 23, 2023CITY OF AZUSA MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE AZUSA UTILITY BOARD AND SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2023– 6:30 P.M. Chairperson/Mayor Pro-Tem: Dennis Beckwith Vice Chairperson/Councilmember: Edward J. Alvarez Board Member/Mayor: Robert Gonzales Board Member/Councilmember: Andrew N. Mendez Board Member/Councilmember: Jesse Avila, Jr. Secretary/City Clerk: Jeffrey Lawrence Cornejo, Jr. The Utility Board of the City of Azusa met in regular session, at the above date and time, in the Azusa Auditorium located at 729 N. Azusa Avenue, Azusa, California. Chairperson Beckwith called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. ROLL CALL: Roll call was taken by Secretary Cornejo. PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS: AVILA Jr., ALVAREZ, GONZALES, MENDEZ, BECKWITH ABSENT: BOARD MEMBERS: The pledge to the flag was led by City Clerk Cornejo. ALSO PRESENT Elected Officials: Secretary Cornejo City Attorney: Jeff Ferre Staff Members: City Manager Gonzales, General Manager Singh, Assistant General Manager of Electric Operations Hien Vuong, Assistant General Manager Power Resources Richard Torres, Assistant General Manager Water Operations Barbosa, Environmental Programs Manager Paul Reid, Administration and Finance Manager Daniel Smith, Captain Landeros, Chief Deputy City Clerk Garcia. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None GENERAL MANAGER COMMENTS General Manager Singh stated he had no comments. CONSENT ITEM E-1 PAGE 2 – 10/23/23 UTILITY BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS None JOINT UTILITY BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL SCHEDULED ITEMS 1. Public Hearing for Water Rate Adjustment Effective FY 2023/24 Through FY 2027/28 Recommendation: 1) Open the Public Hearing, receive Public Testimony, and close the Public Hearing; and 2) Approve the proposed water rate adjustment to increase revenues by 15% in FY 2023/24, 9% in FY 2024/25, and 4% annually in FY 2025/26 through FY 2027/28; and 3) Adopt Resolution 2023-UB02, amending Azusa Light & Water’s Water Rate Schedule. Chair Beckwith opened the Public Hearing and requested proof of publication. Secretary Cornejo stated proof of publication was in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on September 5, 2023, and October 9, 2023. Attached to the packets were all the correspondence with the exception of one that came after the packet was printed. Each Board Member was provided with a copy. There are six cards for public comment. General Manager Singh introduced Mark Beauchamp, President of Utility Financial Solutions (USF), LLC, who provided staff with a presentation of their findings for the long-term financial projections and cost of service study with comparisons to key financial targets in order to maintain Azusa’s Utility Bond Ratings and the rate adjustments needed to maintain both; and responded to Board Member/Councilmember questions with staff and City Attorney Jeff Ferre, who explained the requirements for Proposition 218. Chair Beckwith opened Public Comments. Ani Buday (phonics) commented that in the presentation they didn’t say the need for rate increases was critical and with the current challenges of inflation he questioned the rate increase taking effect immediately versus after residents had an opportunity to adjust to inflation with everything else. Mary Merando (phonics) thanked the City of Azusa for the quality of water and their attention to all aspects considered and the work put into providing good quality water. Further commenting that many residents don’t understand the need for different pricing tiers which regulate the usage of water during restrictions. There also seems to be confusion regarding meter sizes, it would be helpful if they provide those explanations, so the community understands what size meter they need based on their usage amount. Thomas A Hartvigsen commented that he saves water to water his lawn and inquired if consideration would be given to seniors on fixed incomes who conserve water; he also didn’t understand the pricing tiers and questioned why he continues getting penalized with higher prices for water he’s not using. Don inquired where their water is coming from and had noticed recently that authorities are dredging the filth out of the San Gabriel Dam and moving it up hill into the mountains which will again flow down into the dam during heaving rains, and inquired if that was also a factor in the rate increases. Additionally, he questioned if the systems storing water is adequate and expressed that his water bill had already doubled, yet during months he used more water, his bill decreased. Also commending the Board for Azusa having the best quality water in the area. Luz Guiterrez commented that she stores and collects water and as a senior on social security fixed income, increasing water rates is a struggle for her. PAGE 3 – 10/23/23 Mary L. Proctor commented that she tries to conserve water and questioned if the city had considered obtaining water from flooded areas or other states. Chair Beckwith Closed Public comments. Motion: Board Member/Councilmember Mendez moved, seconded by Board Member/Mayor Gonzales, to close the Public Hearing. AYES: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: AVILA Jr., GONZALES, ALVAREZ, MENDEZ, BECKWITH NOES: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE Mark Beauchamp and staff responded to public comments. Motion Passed 5-0-0 Motion: Board Member/Mayor Gonzales moved, seconded by Board Member/Councilmember Mendez, to Approve the proposed water rate adjustment to increase revenues by 15% in FY 2023/24, 9% in FY 2024/25, and 4% annually in FY 2025/26 through FY 2027/28; and Adopt Resolution 2023-UB02, amending Azusa Light & Water’s Water Rate Schedule. AYES: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: AVILA Jr., GONZALES, ALVAREZ, MENDEZ, BECKWITH NOES: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: BOARD MEMBERS/COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE Motion Passed 5-0-0 CONSENT CALENDAR Chair Beckwith asked if any Boardmembers wished to pull an item. 1. The Minutes of the Utility Board Meeting on September 25, 2023, were approved. 2. Award of Contract for Electric Project LD2023-3 to Miron Electric Construction Corporation in an amount not-to-exceed amount of $484,150 with a built-in 15% contingency; and Authorize the Mayor to execute the Contract in a form acceptable to the City Attorney was approved. 3. The purchase of twenty-one (21) Motorola APX 900 UHFR3 model 3 radios and accessories for Electric and Water Operations; and authorize the issuance of a Purchase Order to Motorola Solutions in the amount not to exceed $70,259.91 was approved. 4. The SCPPA Task Order for the Energy Efficiency (EE) Audit and Direct Installation (DI) for Residential and Non-Residential Programs from Synergy at a total multiyear contracted amount not to exceed $450,000 through a SCPPA joint purchase agreement pursuant to AMC Sections 2- 520(b) “sole source” and 2-521(a) “cooperative and piggyback purchases”; and Authorize the General Manager of Utilities to execute the associated SCPPA Task Order in a form acceptable to the City Attorney was approved. PAGE 4 – 10/23/23 Board Member Mendez, seconded by Vice Chair/Councilmember Alvarez, to approve Items 1-4 of the Consent Calendar: Unanimously passed 5-0. AYES: BOARD MEMBERS: AVILA Jr., GONZALES, ALVAREZ, MENDEZ, BECKWITH NOES: BOARD MEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARD MEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: BOARD MEMBERS: NONE Motion Passed 5-0-0 STAFF REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS None VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Power Supply Update Assistant Director Power Resources Richard Torres reported that everything is on schedule at the Mesa Wind Project. Final assembly of two turbines remain. The access road that was washed out by Hillary now is open and restricted to one lane. Walkdown inspections have begun. The substation was energized on September 26. The Meteorological tower is scheduled to be installed in early November. The solar output has lowered due to the stormy and cloudy weather. There are still plenty of credits left and they plan to meet their target for renewable generation for the year. The winter is expected to produce El Nino conditions which would mean it will be another wet year. Gas injection season is winding down, Aliso has a storage capacity of 68.6 Bcf and is at 67% full as of September 20. SoCal Gas has a systemwide storage capacity of 135 Bcf and they are at 65% full as of September 21. 2. Water Supply Update Assistant General Manager Water Operations Barbosa provided the water update and stated the rain on October 1 kicked off the rainfall amounts for the new year. Key well is at about 227 ft., the river and ponds are over saturated which has dropped the percolation rates substantially. The basin is working with the County to see if they can pause the time for deliveries to let the basin dry out some prior to what is expected to be another rainy winter. They’d like to be able to capture runoff. San Gabriel Dam has almost finished their cleanout efforts, all of the water has been moved into Morris Dam. All the dams statewide seem to be holding water and she expects they will still receive 100% of the state’s allocation. Azusa Light & Water staff answered Board Member questions. CLOSED SESSION None ADJOURNMENT THE AZUSA UTILITY BOARD AND CONTINUE AS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING The Regular meeting of the Utility Board was adjourned by consensus of the Utility Board. PAGE 5 – 10/23/23 TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 7:33 P.M. CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION Financial Impacts of Implementation of Classification and Compensation Study Talika Johnson, Director of Administrative Services presented a PowerPoint and provided an overview of the Classification and Compensation Study. No action was taken. ADJOURNMENT OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING The Special City Council meeting was adjourned by Mayor Gonzales. TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 8:20 P.M. __________________________________________ CITY CLERK/SECRETARY