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08-30-2006 HUCM Regular Meeting August 30, 2006 Members present: President Craig Lenz; Secretary David Wetterling; Commissioner Steven Cook; Commissioner Dwight Bordson; General Manager Michael Kumm; Attorney Marc Sebora. Member absent: Vice President Donald Walser President Lenz called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. Commissioner Cook made a motion to close the meeting to discuss litigation proceedings. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was closed at 3:02 pm. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to move from closed meeting back to open meeting. Commissioner Cook seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was reopened at 3:35 pm. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 26 2006, Regular Meeting. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm reported that the pipe inventory in the payment of bills had been previously authorized for purchase. The payment to JT Services - Inventory, was for street light poles that also was authorized for purchase. Commissioner Cook asked about the payment to City for HR Support and IT Support. This is the quarterly payment for the shared services of Human Resources and Information Technology. He also asked about the payment to the League of MN Cities - Legal Services. General Manager Kumm explained that is our portion of payment and he will e-mail Commissioner Cook exactly what it covers. And he asked about a refund check issued to a residential customer. This customer ran a huge credit on his utility bill and has asked for check to lower that credit. Commissioner Bordson asked about the payment to Anderson Chemical. This is for water treatment at the plant. He also asked about the price of the backhoe as it relates to the quote given. General Manager Kumm explained that it ended up being a little more than budgeted. Commissioner Bordson made a motion to ratify the payment of bills in the amount of $3,119,752.08 (detailed listing in payable book). Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm presented the financial statements/budget year-to-date. Our sales are slightly ahead of budget, but because of the timing of power purchases versus when the meters were read, the gross margin for the electric division was low in July. The deviation in the miscellaneous expenses is because of the recent break-ins and loss of material in our warehouses. We are looking into putting fencing around the old Consolidated Freightways building that we use for storage/inventory. The deviation in the operating expense for generator #1 - transportation is because of the rate change. In addition, we are doing more work ourselves instead of hiring outside services, we are under budget in maintenance for generator 1 . More was spent in the electric distribution operation budget because additional employees were hired to fill vacant positions. Less was spent this year on electric distribution maintenance. General Manager Kumm will e-mail President Lenz as to why the budget for railroad licenses is less than last year. The deviation in the sick leave is because more sick leave has been used. The deviation in the bad debt write-offs is because we usually do the write-offs twice a year but last year it was done only once, as a consequence, some of the bad debt that would have been written off in 2005 was written off this year. Discussion took place about the fee for processing credit card payments. This is a convenience for our customers and as more customers take advantage of this service, our processing fee will increase. This is something we will need to address in the future. Manager Kumm expressed his concern over four items in the budget: Boiler Insurance - up about $12,000 General Liability - up about $42,000 Health Insurance - up about $69,000 Stop Loss Premium - up about $7,200 We've spent $130,000 more on insurance this year than last year. Jan Sifferath will continue to meet with the insurance committee and discuss our options. The deviation in the miscellaneous expense - material and services in the administrative and general expenses budget is for the installation of security cameras Our cash flow is ahead of budget. The check for Sib-Ren-Fair has been sent and we have received the check from Utilities Plus. President Lenz commented on the negative fuel adjustment. Manager Kumm reported that this is the third month in a row that the fuel adjustment has been negative, first time since 2002. In the coming months there might be an adjustment on the electric. The bills with the new formats went out this month. Commissioner Cook asked for clarification on the sales for resale. President Lenz asked for a recap of the costs of the natural gas pipeline; the total from start to finish. How much was budgeted - how much was spent - what is left. General Manager Kumm will develop a progress report and mail it out to the commissioners. Also discussed was additional planning for a possible pandemic flu outbreak. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the financial statements/budget year to date. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Jon Guthmiller presented the 2007 CIP Program. This year's program will be geared more toward our industrial customers and with greater emphasis on the lighting programs. The total CIP funds to be allocated will be $310,000 with the breakdown being: Residential Commercial Industrial Low Income Adm inistrative Marketing 12% 15% 35% 7% 24% 7% $ 37,200 $ 46,500 $108,500 $ 21,700 $ 74,400 $ 21,700 Jon will be monitoring the progress of each applicant to eliminate anyone abusing the program. Jon will also meet with our two large industrial customers and talk about the rebate for high efficiency motors and he will meet with the companies with a poor power factor, and he will also meet with companies to improve their load factor. Jon will also give an energy conservation presentation to the schools appealing to the elementary students as well as the junior high students. In addition HUC will have a spot at the Home Show and at our open house HUC will have door prizes, barbeques and arrange tours of the LM6000 and etc. Jon is working on getting certification for Key Accounts Program and Audits. Commissioner Cook asked about bringing someone in with expertise on doing audits. President Lenz said we need to be open minded with the CIP program. Commissioner Cook and Secretary Wetterling asked about a limit in the low income group. Jon will meet with these agencies with emphasis on the organization setting their own limits as to the qualifications they have in place. Then Jon will monitor the progress. General Manager Kumm asked if he had addressed all the concerns from last year's program and incorporated all those concerns and worked out all the glitches for this year's program. Jon said they went over all the notes/concerns/glitches and overall the program will be modified to incorporate comments and items we have learned. Commissioner Cook, President Lenz and Secretary Wetterling feel the program is great, has come a long way, and will evolve. Commissioner Cook's concern is paying the recipient before the work is completed. Jon has talked to customers who have gotten paid before the work was completed, and will talk to other customers who have not completed the work but want the grant anyway. This represents a very small number of customers who applied for the grant. Secretary Wetterling agrees that the job should be completed before the check is granted. General Manager Kumm commented on residential customers having their work done by local vendors only. Jon said he won't do that next year. Some vendors upped their prices because of that stipulation. Many contractors from the surrounding communities do the majority of their work in Hutchinson. Commissioner Cook feels the local vendors rely more on product than services. Secretary Wetterling asked if we could keep it local unless they abuse it. The discretion will be up to Jon as he monitors the program. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve 2007 CIP Program. Secretary Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Jon Guthmiller presented Resolution Supporting the Hutchinson Utilities Commission's Participation in Public Power's National TREE POWER Program for approval. We applied for certification with APPA and they have accepted it. We will turn the program over to Park & Rec with our funding and under our stipulation on how the trees will be disbursed. Mark Schnobrich will be the administrator of the program but Jon will develop a criteria for him to follow. Mark will supply us with documentation on how the program . . IS progressing. Secretary Wetterling asked how this is different than the tree board program. President Lenz told the board that there is no cost to us to participate in the APPA Program, they have grants we could be eligible for in the future, it gives us recognition within APPA, and the recipient will know where the trees came from. President Lenz also commented that trees are long-term energy savings and also beautifies our community. Commissioner Cook commented that Mark would know what tree should go where. Commissioner Cook made a motion, with a change made as noted, to approve Resolution Supporting Hutchinson Utilities Commission's Participation in Public Power's National TREE POWER Program with Recommendation that City Council approve the same. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Commissioner Cook told the Commission he would ensure this resolution will be placed on the City Council's agenda. Commissioner Cook added if we should set a time frame on the funds/job for the program. General Manager Kumm and Human Resources Director Brenda Ewing presented the SickNacation Leave Donation Policy for approval. City of Hutchinson has had this policy since 2000. Our policy will be identical to theirs. Discussion ensued that the Union is not viewing this as a benefit and Rick Oakes, Union Representative, will draft a letter accepting this new policy. President Lenz asked for more clarity as it relates to the limit of catastrophic events per year. Jan reported there is no limit. Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve SickNacation Leave Donation Policy with clarification noted and with letter from IBEW accepting this new policy. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm presented Facilities and Equipment - Section 6 - Strategic Management Process. These strategies have been implemented or they are being implemented. Our System Controllers monitors SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), the average number of minutes our system is down; and CAIDI (Customer Average Interruption Duration Index), the average number of minutes each customer is without power. Our goal is to meet or exceed the index published by APPA's benchmarks. Commissioner Cook commented on the fact that if there is a one minute power outage, 3M's downtime is an hour; it will be nice to see how often that happens. With the continuation of underground conversions phased in between now and 2008, our reliability will improve but because the lines are underground, an outage could last longer. We can't see the problem (overhead); we must find it (underground). A part of the facilities and equipment assessment, General Manager Kumm commented that we need one person to oversee purchasing and one person to oversee inventory. Jan mentioned that her and Roberta Yates attended a meeting and gained insight on obtaining quotes for supplies; it should go out as contracts and not quotes. Commissioner Bordson suggested adding 'terms' to the purchase order then we would not have to have a separate contract when ordering. Jan also mentioned that if a supplier is the 'only source supplier' for an item, we need to shift that responsibility from us to the supplier. The supplier should produce something in writing that they are the 'only source supplier'. Jan presented our insurance issues. Our dental plan is doing well, but if we go private with our health care we should do the same with our dental plan and our long term plans. Jan will do some research regarding HRA's (Health Reimbursement Account) and HSA's (Health Savings Account). Information needs to reach all employees so everyone understands any changes. Division Reports Electric - Steve Lancaster Staying ahead of Highway 7 project September 7 - outage all day - Cornerstone Commons project - electrical work Business - Jan Sifferath Waste Management contract was renewed July 11 for a 3-year period. If term inated need 60 day notice. Was able to change 3-year contract to a 1-year contract. Mid-State and Mumford offered competitive prices. TCW did not quote. Jan will contact Vice-President Walser with information. Gas None Legal Update President Lenz informed the board that Attorney Sebora had talked with a commercial customer who made a payment and will be attending the September Commissioner's meeting protesting that payment. Old Business None New Business None President Lenz talked about the Carlton Obligation payment of $1,000 a month. This was money that was spent years ago for NNG transportation costs. Money was incurred as result of court costs. We will have Attorney Sebora draft a letter to NNG. General Manager Kumm announced that he was elected to serve on the board for the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association for a one year term. After that one year term he could serve two more three year terms. This is quite an honor and the board congratulated General Manager Kumm on his appointment. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to adjourn at 6:00 p.m. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. David Wetterling, Secretary ATTEST Craig Lenz, President Regular Meeting August 30, 2006 Members present: President Craig Lenz; Secretary David Wetterling; Commissioner Steven Cook; Commissioner Dwight Bordson; General Manager Michael Kumm; Attorney Marc Sebora. Member absent: Vice President Donald Walser President Lenz called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. Commissioner Cook made a motion to close the meeting to discuss litigation proceedings. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was closed at 3:02 pm. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to move from closed meeting back to open meeting. Commissioner Cook seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was reopened at 3:35 pm. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 26 2006, Regular Meeting. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm reported that the pipe inventory in the payment of bills had been previously authorized for purchase. The payment to JT Services - Inventory, was for street light poles that also was authorized for purchase. Commissioner Cook asked about the payment to City for HR Support and IT Support. This is the quarterly payment for the shared services of Human Resources and Information Technology. He also asked about the payment to the League of MN Cities - Legal Services. General Manager Kumm explained that is our portion of payment and he will e-mail Commissioner Cook exactly what it covers. And he asked about a refund check issued to a residential customer. This customer ran a huge credit on his utility bill and has asked for check to lower that credit. Commissioner Bordson asked about the payment to Anderson Chemical. This is for water treatment at the plant. He also asked about the price of the backhoe as it relates to the quote given. General Manager Kumm explained that it ended up being a little more than budgeted. Commissioner Bordson made a motion to ratify the payment of bills in the amount of $3,119,752.08 (detailed listing in payable book). Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm presented the financial statements /budget year -to -date. Our sales are slightly ahead of budget, but because of the timing of power purchases versus when the meters were read, the gross margin for the electric division was low in July. The deviation in the miscellaneous expenses is because of the recent break -ins and loss of material in our warehouses. We are looking into putting fencing around the old Consolidated Freightways building that we use for storage /inventory. The deviation in the operating expense for generator #1 - transportation is because of the rate change. In addition, we are doing more work ourselves instead of hiring outside services, we are under budget in maintenance for generator 1. More was spent in the electric distribution operation budget because additional employees were hired to fill vacant positions. Less was spent this year on electric distribution maintenance. General Manager Kumm will e-mail President Lenz as to why the budget for railroad licenses is less than last year. The deviation in the sick leave is because more sick leave has been used. The deviation in the bad debt write -offs is because we usually do the write -offs twice a year but last year it was done only once, as a consequence, some of the bad debt that would have been written off in 2005 was written off this year. Discussion took place about the fee for processing credit card payments. This is a convenience for our customers and as more customers take advantage of this service, our processing fee will increase. This is something we will need to address in the future. Manager Kumm expressed his concern over four items in the budget: Boiler Insurance - up about $12,000 General Liability - up about $42,000 Health Insurance - up about $69,000 Stop Loss Premium - up about $7,200 We've spent $130,000 more on insurance this year than last year. Jan Sifferath will continue to meet with the insurance committee and discuss our options. The deviation in the miscellaneous expense - material and services in the administrative and general expenses budget is for the installation of security cameras Our cash flow is ahead of budget. The check for Sib -Ren -Fair has been sent and we have received the check from Utilities Plus. President Lenz commented on the negative fuel adjustment. Manager Kumm reported that this is the third month in a row that the fuel adjustment has been negative, first time since 2002. In the coming months there might be an adjustment on the electric. The bills with the new formats went out this month. Commissioner Cook asked for clarification on the sales for resale. President Lenz asked for a recap of the costs of the natural gas pipeline; the total from start to finish. How much was budgeted - how much was spent - what is left. General Manager Kumm will develop a progress report and mail it out to the commissioners. Also discussed was additional planning for a possible pandemic flu outbreak. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the financial statements /budget year to date. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Jon Guthmiller presented the 2007 CIP Program. This year's program will be geared more toward our industrial customers and with greater emphasis on the lighting programs. The total CIP funds to be allocated will be $310,000 with the breakdown being: Residential 12% $ 37,200 Commercial 15% $ 46,500 Industrial 35% $108,500 Low Income 7% $ 21,700 Administrative 24% $ 74,400 Marketing 7% $ 21,700 Jon will be monitoring the progress of each applicant to eliminate anyone abusing the program. Jon will also meet with our two large industrial customers and talk about the rebate for high efficiency motors and he will meet with the companies with a poor power factor, and he will also meet with companies to improve their load factor. Jon will also give an energy conservation presentation to the schools appealing to the elementary students as well as the junior high students. In addition HUC will have a spot at the Home Show and at our open house HUC will have door prizes, barbeques and arrange tours of the LM6000 and etc. Jon is working on getting certification for Key Accounts Program and Audits. Commissioner Cook asked about bringing someone in with expertise on doing audits. President Lenz said we need to be open minded with the CIP program. Commissioner Cook and Secretary Wetterling asked about a limit in the low income group. Jon will meet with these agencies with emphasis on the organization setting their own limits as to the qualifications they have in place. Then Jon will monitor the progress. General Manager Kumm asked if he had addressed all the concerns from last year's program and incorporated all those concerns and worked out all the glitches for this year's program. Jon said they went over all the notes /concerns /glitches and overall the program will be modified to incorporate comments and items we have learned. Commissioner Cook, President Lenz and Secretary Wetterling feel the program is great, has come a long way, and will evolve. Commissioner Cook's concern is paying the recipient before the work is completed. Jon has talked to customers who have gotten paid before the work was completed, and will talk to other customers who have not completed the work but want the grant anyway. This represents a very small number of customers who applied for the grant. Secretary Wetterling agrees that the job should be completed before the check is granted. General Manager Kumm commented on residential customers having their work done by local vendors only. Jon said he won't do that next year. Some vendors upped their prices because of that stipulation. Many contractors from the surrounding communities do the majority of their work in Hutchinson. Commissioner Cook feels the local vendors rely more on product than services. Secretary Wetterling asked if we could keep it local unless they abuse it. The discretion will be up to Jon as he monitors the program. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve 2007 CIP Program. Secretary Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Jon Guthmiller presented Resolution Supporting the Hutchinson Utilities Commission's Participation in Public Power's National TREE POWER Program for approval. We applied for certification with APPA and they have accepted it. We will turn the program over to Park & Rec with our funding and under our stipulation on how the trees will be disbursed. Mark Schnobrich will be the administrator of the program but Jon will develop a criteria for him to follow. Mark will supply us with documentation on how the program is progressing. Secretary Wetterling asked how this is different than the tree board program. President Lenz told the board that there is no cost to us to participate in the APPA Program, they have grants we could be eligible for in the future, it gives us recognition within APPA, and the recipient will know where the trees came from. President Lenz also commented that trees are long -term energy savings and also beautifies our community. Commissioner Cook commented that Mark would know what tree should go where. Commissioner Cook made a motion, with a change made as noted, to approve Resolution Supporting Hutchinson Utilities Commission's Participation in Public Power's National TREE POWER Program with Recommendation that City Council approve the same. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Commissioner Cook told the Commission he would ensure this resolution will be placed on the City Council's agenda. Commissioner Cook added if we should set a time frame on the funds /job for the program. General Manager Kumm and Human Resources Director Brenda Ewing presented the Sick/Vacation Leave Donation Policy for approval. City of Hutchinson has had this policy since 2000. Our policy will be identical to theirs. Discussion ensued that the Union is not viewing this as a benefit and Rick Oakes, Union Representative, will draft a letter accepting this new policy. President Lenz asked for more clarity as it relates to the limit of catastrophic events per year. Jan reported there is no limit. Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve SickNacation Leave Donation Policy with clarification noted and with letter from IBEW accepting this new policy. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. General Manager Kumm presented Facilities and Equipment - Section 6 - Strategic Management Process. These strategies have been implemented or they are being implemented. Our System Controllers monitors SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), the average number of minutes our system is down; and CAIDI (Customer Average Interruption Duration Index), the average number of minutes each customer is without power. Our goal is to meet or exceed the index published by APPA's benchmarks. Commissioner Cook commented on the fact that if there is a one minute power outage, 3M's downtime is an hour; it will be nice to see how often that happens. With the continuation of underground conversions phased in between now and 2008, our reliability will improve but because the lines are underground, an outage could last longer. We can't see the problem (overhead); we must find it (underground). A part of the facilities and equipment assessment, General Manager Kumm commented that we need one person to oversee purchasing and one person to oversee inventory. Jan mentioned that her and Roberta Yates attended a meeting and gained insight on obtaining quotes for supplies; it should go out as contracts and not quotes. Commissioner Bordson suggested adding `terms' to the purchase order then we would not have to have a separate contract when ordering. Jan also mentioned that if a supplier is the 'only source supplier' for an item, we need to shift that responsibility from us to the supplier. The supplier should produce something in writing that they are the 'only source supplier'. Jan presented our insurance issues. Our dental plan is doing well, but if we go private with our health care we should do the same with our dental plan and our long term plans. Jan will do some research regarding HRA's (Health Reimbursement Account) and HSA's (Health Savings Account). Information needs to reach all employees so everyone understands any changes. Division Reports Electric - Steve Lancaster Staying ahead of Highway 7 project September 7 - outage all day - Cornerstone Commons project - electrical work Business - Jan Sifferath Waste Management contract was renewed July 11 for a 3 -year period. If terminated need 60 day notice. Was able to change 3 -year contract to a 1 -year contract. Mid -State and Mumford offered competitive prices. TCW did not quote. Jan will contact Vice - President Walser with information. Gas None Legal Update President Lenz informed the board that Attorney Sebora had talked with a commercial customer who made a payment and will be attending the September Commissioner's meeting protesting that payment. Old Business None New Business None President Lenz talked about the Carlton Obligation payment of $1,000 a month. This was money that was spent years ago for NNG transportation costs. Money was incurred as result of court costs. We will have Attorney Sebora draft a letter to NNG. General Manager Kumm announced that he was elected to serve on the board for the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association for a one year term. After that one year term he could serve two more three year terms. This is quite an honor and the board congratulated General Manager Kumm on his appointment. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to adjourn at 6:00 p.r 1. 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L � to =i,rL_ n ' IM L CL .� 0 > °oo�, L. cn Resolution 172 As per resolution #1000 adopted 11 -29 -06 Numbering resolutions from 1936 — 2006 Approved August 30, 2006 For search purposes only RESOLUTION HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION CITY OF HUTCHINSON SUPPORTING THE HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION'S PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC POWER'S NATIONAL TREE POWER PROGRAM WHEREAS, trees are one of this country's most important natural resources that cut heating and cooling costs, moderate temperature, improve air quality, produce oxygen, provide habitat for wildlife and enhance the quality of life in our community, and WHEREAS, trees in our community increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community, and WHEREAS, Hutchinson Utilities Commission has initiated a major tree - planting program known as `BEAUTIFYING OUR TREE POWER' as a participant in public power's national TREE POWER effort, sponsored by the American Public Power Association, and WHEREAS, the goal of public power's national TREE POWER program is to plant trees for public power customers in the United States; NOW, THEREFORE, Hutchinson Utilities Commission, does hereby support participation in the TREE POWER program; this 30th day of August 2006. n HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION POLICY SICK/VACATION LEAVE DONATION DATE SICK/VACATION LEAVE DONATION POLICY The Hutchinson Utilities Commission (HUC) recognizes that a catastrophic illness and /or serious health condition of an employee or immediate family member (spouse or dependent child) may deplete an employee's available paid leave (sick/vacation/compensatory time). This policy is meant to provide employees with the option of assisting fellow employees at such a time. Policy HUC employees having accrued sick or vacation leave will be allowed to donate a portion of such accrued leave to fellow employees experiencing a catastrophic illness and /or serious health condition suffered by the employee, the employee's spouse, or the employee's dependent child(ren). A catastrophic illness and /or serious health condition includes but is not limited to, heart attack, stroke, organ transplant, or other life threatening illness or debilitating condition as defined by a physician's diagnosis. The donation of leave from one employee to another shall be subject to the following terms and conditions. 1. An employee is only eligible to receive donated leave for time lost from normal work hours due to a life threatening disease or condition as defined above. 2. An employee will be eligible to receive donated leave only after the employee's accrued sick, vacation, and compensatory time have been exhausted. 3. All requests to receive donated leave must be in writing to the General Manager and must be accompanied by supporting medical data. The requests will be reviewed by the General Manager and must be approved to become effective. 4. No full time employee will be allowed to receive more than a total of twenty (20) work days or 160 hours of donated leave per single major life threatening disease or condition. There is no limit on catastrophic events per year. 5. An employee may only use donated leave up to the time of eligibility for a long -term disability benefit (if applicable), or for the maximum number of days allowed to be donated, whichever occurs first. 6. A full time employee may donate no more than sixteen (16) hours of leave per calendar year to a single fellow employee. This shall not be construed to prohibit donating sixteen (16) hours per year to additional employees. Leave donation will be calculated using time and not an equivalent cash amount. 7. An employee who is donating paid leave must do so from the employee's accrued sick and/or vacation leave balance. 8. A written request to donate leave must be made to the Business Manager on forms designated by HUC for that purpose. The Business Manager shall submit all requests to the General Manager for final approval. All donations made will be kept confidential. 9. - The General Manager shall have the right to deny use of donated leave or limit its use if it is determined to be in the best interests of HUC. The Business Division (as part of the payroll function) will subtract donated leave from the donor's accumulated balance and credit the donated hours to the requested employee. Donated time will be processed and used by the date of submission until the eligible amount of donated leave is reached. Contributions of leave hours exceeding the eligible amount will be returned to the donating employee, and will not be transferred. Accepted: f HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION AUTHORIZATION FOR DONATION OF SICK/VACATION LEAVE I, hereby request and authorize the Business Division of the Hutchinson Utilities Commission to transfer hours of my accumulated sick leave and leave to Signature Date of the hours of my accumulated vacation department. I hereby understand that by signing this authorization, I am making this donation voluntarily. Additionally, I understand that I am limited to donating a maximum of sixteen hours (full time employee) or eight hours (part time employee) of leave per calendar year to a single fellow employee, and, any unused time will be returned to the donating employee. �J I HUTCHINSON UTILITIES COMMISSION EMPLOYEE APPLICATION TO RECEIVE DONATED SICKIVACATION LEAVE I, , hereby request authorization for the receipt and use of donated sick and vacation leave due to the following illness /condition: (Please note: Employees may be required to submit a physician verification of the illness /condition.) If this request is approved, I understand that said sick and /or vacation leave, if donated, can only be utilized after all of my accrued leave benefits (sick leave, vacation leave and compensatory time) have been exhausted. Additionally, I will only be allowed to use donated leave for actual time lost from normal work hours up to the maximum allowed, until a long term disability benefit becomes an eligibility (if applicable), or until a time limit established by the General Manager, whichever occurs first. J Facility and EauinmentAssessment Two different surveys were conducted. The first survey was filled out by managers and directors. This survey addressed the physical system as it relates to maintenance and also improvement programs. The second survey addressed the facilities of HUC and also equipment. The second survey was completed by all employees. In the first survey, it was identified electric production and also the gas division have preventive maintenance programs, however, electric distribution has room to improve in this area. The resulting strategies that will be employed as a result of the first survey are found below. Reliability— Production /Transmission/Distribution Systems Electric Division Strategies /tasks: 1. Prepare and maintain a preventive maintenance manual, documenting existing preventive maintenance programs, and then document and initiate additional programs, if necessary. Ensure these programs are implemented by scheduling preventive maintenance as part of routine work. ( Production /Transmission/Distribution) 2. Ensure a line item(s) are placed into the five year capital plan, and then placed into the budget for system improvements ( Production /Transmission/Distribution) 3. Develop plan to meet our capacity needs at our substations, while at the same time pay attention to the needs of the transmission and distribution systems (Transmission/Distribution). 4. Continue with underground conversion, and voltage conversion (4.16 KV to 13.8 KV) program (Distribution — system improvement). 5. Employ benchmark techniques to ensure that we meet or exceed these industry benchmarks. The benchmarks will be— System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI),'and Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI). These indexes are to be calculated on an annual basis, then compare to the published American Public Power Association benchmarks (Distribution). 6. Ensure enough money is available to overhaul unit 1 in 2010 (Production). Gas Division Strategies /tasks: 1. Continue following and updating the O & M Manual, and Emergency Restorative Procedures as dictated by MnOps, and the Office of Pipeline Safety (Transmission/Distribution). 2. Ensure line item(s) are placed into the five -year capital plan, and then placed into the budget for system improvements (Transmission/Distribution). 3. Ensure capacity and pressure needs are met on the transmission system, regulator stations, and distribution systems. This will be accomplished by modeling the system on Network Analysis Modeling Software (Transmission/Distribution) 4. Implement an Integrity Management Program, as dictated by the Office of Pipeline Safety (Transmission) 35 As mentioned, a second survey was filled out by all employees of HUC. Specifically, this survey was titled Facility and Equipment Assessment. The results of this survey are as follows: • Inventory (both inside and outside) should be more secure • The quality of inventory, and the ordering of inventory needs improvement • One person should be in charge of inventory. • Not everyone should have access to the inventory (tighter control). • More inventory needed on the trucks. • Cold storage needs to be cleaned up, and the quantity of type of inventory outside needs to be better documented. • More attention should be given to trucks when they are ordered, in that the vehicles should be more service oriented, not dump trucks. As seen above, the majority of the items that need improvement revolve around inventory items, with one exception, and that is ordering trucks. Facility and Equipment Assessment Objectives: 1. Address concerns in areas listed above pertaining to ordering material and also inventory items. a. Strategy: Listen to employees to better identify the specific problems, and then address problems as they arise. 2. Eliminate excess inventory, improve inventory turnover, increase accuracy and meet on time delivery to internal customers. a. Strategy: Reduce inventory at all sites Tasks: • Review usage reports quarterly • Update min/max/order point information quarterly • Identify and dispose of overstocked items quarterly • Devise procedures to help eliminate future build up of inventory by Q3 2005 • Create reports to monitor inventory by Q3 2005 • Shift ownership to supplier • Prepare reports for quarterly updates to management (document and present) b. Strategy: Increase inventory accuracy Tasks: • Cycle count selected items monthly • Manage ins /outs of materials • Secure items by Q3 2005 • Determine current inventory accuracy percentage by Q4 2005 • Put a plan in place to increase accuracy by the end of Q4 2005 • Set an inventory accuracy goal of 98 %. c. Strategy: Identify and dispose of obsolete and/or damaged material Tasks: Locate obsolete items at all sites Keep, sell, return to supplier, toss by 2005 year end. d. Strategy: Make a decision regarding the utilization of the Consolidated Freight Building for Inventory Control. 36 1 1 C! Tasks: • Upgrade building? • Transfer material? • Sell building and upgrade present building? 3. Managers /supervisors involve employees when writing specifications for equipment/trucks to ensure the employees are getting the tools they need to perform their duties. 4. To determine if the stated objectives have been met by the employees of HUC, the Facility and Equipment Assessment survey will be conducted again in approximately one year. 37