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09-27-2006 HUCM Regular Meeting Septem ber 27, 2006 Members present: President Craig Lenz; Vice President Don Walser; Secretary David Wetterling; Commissioner Steven Cook; Commissioner Dwight Bordson; General Manager Michael Kumm; Attorney Marc Sebora. President Lenz called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. General Manager Kumm reported on items that were asked of him at last month's meeting: . Answered the questions Commissioner Cook had on the payment to the League of MN Cities . Fencing for our building next door (old Consolidated Freightway building) is in next years budget . Answered the question President Lenz had on railroad licenses - we paid for 2 years' worth so the number in the financials is accurate. Each Commissioner has a progress report on the natural gas expense as it relates to the pipeline. . GM Kumm asked Commissioner Cook if the Tree Power Resolution was approved by the City Council, and it was. . GM Kumm asked Attorney Sebora to draft a letter to NNG regarding stopping payments on the Carlton Obligation. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 30, 2006 Regular Meeting. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Vice President Walser asked about the payment to Glencoe Light & Power Comm - Material for McLeod Sub. This is the payment in its entirety. The power is not turned on as of yet because of contractual difference but it does not affect us. Commissioner Cook asked about the payment to MMUA Municipal Utilities Assn - Registration. This is supervisory training; it's a two year program with three employees graduating this November, three employees are one session behind, and two employees will be starting the training. Commissioner Bordson asked about the payment to Minneapolis Consulting Group - lAM Implementation. This is not an on-going fee, it's just spread out over a period of time. And he asked about the payment to Ulteig Engineers Inc - Engineering Services. This is for changing out transmission poles because of the Highway 7 reconstruction project. Vice President Walser made a motion to ratify the payment of bills in the amount of $4,519,096.54 (detailed listing in payable book). Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the financial statements/budget year to date for approval. We received some customer complaints regarding the power cost adjustment. As a consequence, we are going to increase the range in electric and gas rate stabilization funds to 'fill' the fund over the course of the winter. Our medical insurance premium would have to double to clean up the $200,000 deficit. Jan Sifferath reported that quotes have come in for our medical insurance plan and her belief is that we should go with a fully funded plan. GM Kumm reported that we will keep evaluating what we're doing but with a sense of urgency. We will present a recommendation at the October meeting as to what plan we want to go with. The deviation in the operating revenue - New Ulm transportation is because the capacity sale fell through. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve financial statements/budget year to date. Commissioner Cook seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Power/Gas Supply - Section 7 - Strategic Management Process. He discussed with the board the strategies that have already been accomplished or are in the process of being completed for both the electric power supply as well as the natural gas supply. President Lenz asked about becoming a transmission owning member of MISO. An analysis has been done, and at that time it looked like we would become a transmission owning member in 2009. Money has been placed in 2007 budget for additional analysis to see if we could do something with MRES in this regard. Commissioner Cook asked about meeting with 3M as it relates to our gas contract. At our last quarterly meeting with them we presented a 2-page natural gas contract. It might be finalized by the end of the year. Good ideas were exchanged, they are easy to work with, but it's a long process. It was the consensus of the board that the review of the Power/Gas Supply - Section 7 is good. Dave Hunstad presented requisition #001970 for 7,500' Conductor 500MCM for approval. After discussion Vice President Walser made a motion to approve requisition #001970 for 7,500' Conductor 500MCM from Border States Electric for $33,627.38. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Dave Hunstad presented requisition #002078 for 1) 1500 KVA Padmounted Transformer and 1) 2500 KV A Padmounted Transformer for approval. The 1500 KV A transformer is for stock. The 2500 KVA transformer is for Warrior Mfg and they want to be running by March. After discussion Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve Requisition #002078 from B & B Transformer Inc for $50,055 for 1) 1500 KVA Padmounted Transformer, and 1) 2500 KVA Padmounted Transformer. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Commissioner Cook asked if we have a history on rebuilt transformers. Dave reported that the longevity is good on rebuilt transformers, and we have good history with the ones we currently have. If we were to order new ones, it's a 34-week lead time. Secretary Wetterling asked if this is in our budget. It is in next year's budget. Commissioner Bordson asked if we should order a new one now because of the long wait. Dave explained that we meet with City officials regularly and we discuss what the future needs are. Randy Blake presented requisition #002122 for Control and Monitoring System for Unit 1 Heat Tracing for approval. The current system is old and should have been replaced in 1993 but never was. This is the same company that provided the original one. Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve Requisition #002122 for Control and Monitoring System for Unit 1 Heat Tracing from Applied Thermo Systems for $38,553.78. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Operation and Maintenance Agreement for approval. There is a sense of urgency in getting this signed as we have been working on this for 1 % years and it is now done. There is a meeting tomorrow (September 28th) at Elk River and Dan Lang will talk to them about some inconsistencies in the language of the contract. Attorney Sebora has reviewed the contract and feels it is acceptable under state law. Vice President Walser made a motion to approve authorization for staff to Sign Operation and Maintenance Agreement for McLeod Substation between HUC, Glencoe Power and Light, and Northern States Power Company with changes to wording if needed. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Credit Card Policy with attaching it to the Purchasing Policy for approval. Our auditors have requested we draft a policy on credit card purchasing. Commissioner Cook asked if the commissioners make credit card purchases. Commissioners can make purchases when traveling but they're used very little. It was the consensus of the board to cancel the Commissioners' credit cards. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the Credit Card Policy and Attach it to the Purchasing Policy with the elimination of the Commissioners having authorization to use HUC credit cards. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Bid Letting Policy to be rescinded. The bid letting is already a part of the amended Purchasing Policy. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to Rescind the Bid Letting Policy. Vice President Walser seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Division Reports Business - Jan Sifferath RFP's on other insurances ie: vehicle, building Gas - John Webster Pipeline Safety Audits taking place Integrity Management meeting next week Electric - Randy Blake We are now fully staffed - cross training at both plants Starting process on new foundation for plant 2 President Lenz asked if we could get the students in grades 4 or 5 involved in our open house on October 5th. We will check with the schools to see what age level would get the most benefit from our tours/open house. We also will be going to the schools with a presentation on energy and safety and will hand out light sticks for Halloween. Commissioner Cook mentioned a complaint by a customer because of an outage. We have had problems with feeder 22 failing. We were planning on rebuilding this in three phases. Phase one and two were completed this year, and phase three will be built next year. Attorney Sebora was had communication with the Army Corp of Engineers. We will provide service to them without a meter deposit. Attorney Sebora will contact them. Old Business None New Business None Secretary Wetterling made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:31 p.m. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. David Wetterling, Secretary ATTEST Craig Lenz, President Regular Meeting September 27, 2006 Members present: President Craig Lenz; Vice President Don Walser; Secretary David Wetterling; Commissioner Steven Cook; Commissioner Dwight Bordson; General Manager Michael Kumm; Attorney Marc Sebora. President Lenz called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. General Manager Kumm reported on items that were asked of him at last month's meeting: • Answered the questions Commissioner Cook had on the payment to the League of MN Cities • Fencing for our building next door (old Consolidated Freightway building) is in next years budget • Answered the question President Lenz had on railroad licenses — we paid for 2 years' worth so the number in the financials is accurate. Each Commissioner has a progress report on the natural gas expense as it relates to the pipeline. • GM Kumm asked Commissioner Cook if the Tree Power Resolution was approved by the City Council, and it was. • GM Kumm asked Attorney Sebora to draft a letter to NNG regarding stopping payments on the Carlton Obligation. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 30, 2006 Regular Meeting. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Vice President Walser asked about the payment to Glencoe Light & Power Comm — Material for McLeod Sub. This is the payment in its entirety. The power is not turned on as of yet because of contractual difference but it does not affect us. Commissioner Cook asked about the payment to MMUA Municipal Utilities Assn — Registration. This is supervisory training; it's a two year program with three employees graduating this November, three employees are one session behind, and two employees will be starting the training. Commissioner Bordson asked about the payment to Minneapolis Consulting Group — IAM Implementation. This is not an on -going fee, it's just spread out over a period of time. And he asked about the payment to Ulteig Engineers Inc — Engineering Services. This is for changing out transmission poles because of the Highway 7 reconstruction project. Vice President Walser made a motion to ratify the payment of bills in the amount of $4,519,096.54 (detailed listing in payable book). Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the financial statements /budget year to date for approval. We received some customer complaints regarding the power cost adjustment. As a consequence, we are going to increase the range in electric and gas rate stabilization funds to 'fill' the fund over the course of the winter. Our medical insurance premium would have to double to clean up the $200,000 deficit. Jan Sifferath reported that quotes have come in for our medical insurance plan and her belief is that we should go with a fully funded plan. GM Kumm reported that we will keep evaluating what we're doing but with a sense of urgency. We will present a recommendation at the October meeting as to what plan we want to go with. The deviation in the operating revenue — New Ulm transportation is because the capacity sale fell through. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve financial statements /budget year to date. Commissioner Cook seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Power /Gas Supply — Section 7 — Strategic Management Process. He discussed with the board the strategies that have already been accomplished or are in the process of being completed for both the electric power supply as well as the natural gas supply. President Lenz asked about becoming a transmission owning member of MISO. An analysis has been done, and at that time it looked like we would become a transmission owning member in 2009. Money has been placed in 2007 budget for additional analysis to see if we could do something with MRES in this regard. Commissioner Cook asked about meeting with 3M as it relates to our gas contract. At our last quarterly meeting with them we presented a 2 -page natural gas contract. It might be finalized by the end of the year. Good ideas were exchanged, they are easy to work with, but it's a long process. It was the consensus of the board that the review of the Power /Gas Supply — Section 7 is good. Dave Hunstad presented requisition #001970 for 7,500' Conductor 500MCM for approval. After discussion Vice President Walser made a motion to approve requisition #001970 for 7,500' Conductor 500MCM from Border States Electric for $33,627.38. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Dave Hunstad presented requisition #002078 for 1) 1500 KVA Padmounted Transformer and 1) 2500 KVA Padmounted Transformer for approval. The 1500 KVA transformer is for stock. The 2500 KVA transformer is for Warrior Mfg and they want to be running by March. After discussion Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve Requisition #002078 from B & B Transformer Inc for $50,055 for 1) 1500 KVA Padmounted Transformer, and 1) 2500 KVA Padmounted Transformer. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Commissioner Cook asked if we have a history on rebuilt transformers. Dave reported that the longevity is good on rebuilt transformers, and we have good history with the ones we currently have. If we were to order new ones, it's a 34 -week lead time. Secretary Wetterling asked if this is in our budget. It is in next year's budget. Commissioner Bordson asked if we should order a new one now because of the long wait. Dave explained that we meet with City officials regularly and we discuss what the future needs are. Randy Blake presented requisition #002122 for Control and Monitoring System for Unit 1 Heat Tracing for approval. The current system is old and should have been replaced in 1993 but never was. This is the same company that provided the original one. Commissioner Cook made a motion to approve Requisition #002122 for Control and Monitoring System for Unit 1 Heat Tracing from Applied Thermo Systems for $38,553.78. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Operation and Maintenance Agreement for approval. There is a sense of urgency in getting this signed as we have been working on this for 1 Y2 years and it is now done. There is a meeting tomorrow (September 28th) at Elk River and Dan Lang will talk to them about some inconsistencies in the language of the contract. Attorney Sebora has reviewed the contract and feels it is acceptable under state law. Vice President Walser made a motion to approve authorization for staff to Sign Operation and Maintenance Agreement for McLeod Substation between HUC, Glencoe Power and Light, and Northern States Power Company with changes to wording if needed. Secretary Wetterling seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Credit Card Policy with attaching it to the Purchasing Policy for approval. Our auditors have requested we draft a policy on credit card purchasing. Commissioner Cook asked if the commissioners make credit card purchases. Commissioners can make purchases when traveling but they're used very little. It was the consensus of the board to cancel the Commissioners' credit cards. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to approve the Credit Card Policy and Attach it to the Purchasing Policy with the elimination of the Commissioners having authorization to use HUC credit cards. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. GM Kumm presented the Bid Letting Policy to be rescinded. The bid letting is already a part of the amended Purchasing Policy. Secretary Wetterling made a motion to Rescind the Bid Letting Policy. Vice President Walser seconded the motion and it passed. unanimously. Division Reports Business — Jan Sifferath RFP's on other insurances ie: vehicle, building � f Gas — John Webster Pipeline Safety Audits taking place Integrity Management meeting next week Electric — Randy Blake We are now fully staffed — cross training at both plants Starting process on new foundation for plant 2 President Lenz asked if we could get the students in grades 4 or 5 involved in our open house on October 5th. We will check with the schools to see what age level would get the most benefit from our tours /open house. We also will be going to the schools with a presentation on energy and safety and will hand out light sticks for Halloween. Commissioner Cook mentioned a complaint by a customer because of an outage. We have had problems with feeder 22 failing. We were planning on rebuilding this in three phases. Phase one and two were completed this year, and phase three will be built next year. Attorney Sebora udas had communication with the Army Corp of Engineers. We will provide service to them without a meter deposit. Attorney Sebora will contact them. Old Business None New Business None Secretary Wetterling made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:31 p.m. Commissioner Bordson seconded the motion and it passed unanimousW\ ATTEST __....w....__ raig L6nz, Pr ident " ng, Secretary 1 I.L O LL O r _F5 D NW LPL /O Vi O U W r LJ r D Z ,O V+ Z V H D 2 ti T 0 O Z c 0 N a- 0 v/ CN G O U Cl) LV H U) DN2 'tti Q 'T -7 NV ' N I? I? Z 2 Z N N _ (,) = m co H2IU— c = 0 X 2N =( UT 0 F- fl. L U) CD N Loi LA d LLJ 't 1-- W N LA z W UJ I, Loo F— o Q N Lon) F- Z Q. Cl) i J o WY O c 0 o o m o m a LL a� .Q 0_ m o 0 I- M M �o 0 ~ L O p O ti N N O E N N ym O c0 I +' nj CO 'o O al N O ca CL L a t m o cu 0 W xU cc �U z w cm � N � N ... a in (n F- o- 7 L � Z Q °o m 00 v m v to N > N Q Q r C rn 0 O Lo N y N N N a. N N :ti. U 0a a� 0 a� a� cn Y f0 aEi N U C J N NG I.L. O Z _O V/ D W z 0 C O U AA '' V! W p —i r ffz V+ z V T� i ti O N O 0 0 z ,_ O .3 Z O O V U W .I Z �w r-ti ZzZITIT 25 25 co 00 U) z = z N N UU = M M D C4 W) D O X =N=aLT Q L U m z o 0 O W It g N a O O o U. Z G � z N F0O (D(, M r r W O Z zm�� o a O Q L o mdLLalL L Q� �a d 7 000 0 O `- L6 O L6 O N Ct C O O N (D a 0 0 M LO co W m W 0°o N (9 °o a.0 0 CL 0 0 N 0 ca ca co 3 L x U 0 0 �� V Q0 0 O 0 W D LO r LO r r o� 00 0 d N N MICO O rn m cu L cl N L � O L L Q N Q N z m a N N IL 00 W M = 0 0 L 0 r- W �- U W O) C 0 (D C `O O(DO N M Z C v�t� Cl M z N CL — Cl) 0 Q y m Q y m� Q E CU L E � CL y 0 a) yO NL .LO- JLN JM CY r r E r N d 000 0 O `- L6 O L6 O N I t\ O O N N ` CD M LO I N (9 CL a) 0 ca ca co L x U I- �� z a) U — W D m n o U) U) L1L cl z D = U 9. CO a m o -o tr Q 0 1 �I 0 z O H N D car W w Z CO) V C O U V) W_ I- J H D Z O V) z S V F- N N t N O 0 0 z 0 :r m Z U) _U) 0 U 0 L co H- LO z CD �co 'mr- ti Z Z Z i Q O S2 o T In z = Z N N = UU = M M 2U% O X N 1 ('L 6 F- a Cl) o W o me I— N } z U It° W > (L LI) HQZIi? WM Y cM�o cM�o �O ao o x Q coo m a li a� CL CL o °o °ti° 0 CD 0 1O 0 MOM M N 5 1 n O ILO N 00 M O N I Ol `- d O ca IL y :3 ai � o 0 m mU z w m ao N (n U) F— w � > w U) N w Q U z a y g m �. LM O a N >O N Q w Q c.i 0 1 0 Amended July 28, 2004 Amended April 28, 2006 Amended July 26, 2006 Amended September 27, 2006 POLICIES POLICY ON PURCHASING State Statute 471:345 Hutchinson Utilities Commission hereby adopts a general policy on the purchasing of equipment, supplies and services. All purchases shall require supervisor permission. Emergency situations may require a deviation from this policy to insure electric and/or natural gas services to the customers of the Hutchinson Utilities. Joint purchasing of materials, supplies and services shall be considered with other departments only when net economic benefits can be seen. When a tie exists between low bids, preference will be given to a local supplier. For purchases when the estimate is more than $50,000: 1. The Hutchinson Utilities Commission will request permission to advertise for bids. 2. Specifications shall be made available to all prospective bidders. 3. Bids will be opened at a public bid opening. Date will be set in the advertisement for bids. 4. The staff will review bids and recommend to the Hutchinson Utilities Commission to accept the lowest responsible bidder meeting specifications. 5. Hutchinson Utilities Commission will enter into a contract with the responsible bidder. For purchases between $15,000 and $50,000: 1. The Hutchinson Utilities Commission staff will solicit written, informal quotations from at least three (3) suppliers and tabulate the results. 2. Staff will recommend acceptance of the lowest responsible quote. 3. Hutchinson Utilities Commission will approve the quote. For purchases between $1,000 and $15,000: 1. The Hutchinson Utilities Commission staff will solicit written, informal quotations from at least two (2) suppliers and tabulate the results. 2. Staff will recommend acceptance of the lowest responsible quote to the General Manager for approval. For purchases of $1,000 or less: Directors are authorized to approve requisitions via the WINS Software System for purchases requiring a purchase order number. If purchase order numbers are not required each Division may use their assigned credit card. 1. Division Director /Manager will approve all item requests prior to purchasing the item. 2. Receipts will be given to each Division Director /Manager as items are purchased to initial, assign appropriate account number and give a description of the item purchased; then forward to Accounting. 3. Accounting will keep a file for each Division until monthly credit card statements are received and reconciled. Petty cash may be used for purchases less than $25.00. Employees may make local purchases with prior approval from their Director /Manager. The employee has the option of using a HUC credit card, paying cash for the item, if less than $25.00, and being reimbursed from petty cash, or making the purchase at a local retailer with whom we have an account established. All receipts must to be turned in to the appropriate Director /Manager to initial, assign appropriate account number and then forward to Accounting. CREDIT CARDS A purchase by credit card must comply with all statutes and rules applicable to Hutchinson Utilities Commission (HUC) purchases. Purchases must comply with the following requirements: Minn. Stat. 412.271, subd. 2 and 471.38, subd.1. Claims presented to HUC for payment must be in writing and itemized. Bills from credit card companies do not contain the detail necessary to satisfy these requirements; therefore, HUC must retain invoices and receipts for items charged to a credit card. The Office of the State Auditor strongly urges local government units to develop a comprehensive credit card use policy to avoid misappropriation of funds or other misuse of the credit card. The following are authorized to make purchases on behalf of HUC: General Manager Electric Division Director Natural Gas Division Director Business Manager Electric Distribution Manager Production Manager Technical Services Manager One Purchasing Agent Company purchases up to $1,000 are allowed to be made with a credit card. No personal purchases are to be made with the credit card. Receipts will be given to each Division Director /Manager as items are purchased to initial, assign appropriate account numbers and give a description of the item purchased. The receipt then gets forwarded to the accountant. The accountant will keep a file for each Division until monthly credit card statements are received and reconciled. The accountant has the authority to approve and question all credit card purchases in so far as the policy applies. The full amount of the statement must be paid each month. FIXED ASSET CAPITALIZATION The Hutchinson Utilities Commission (HUC) will regard fixed assets as capitalized when all of the following criteria are met: (1) Assets purchased, built or leased have useful lives of one year or more. (2) The cost of the asset (including installation) is $5,000 or more. Multiple assets whose cost is less than $5,000 but the aggregate requestor total is $5,000 or more are capitalized. (3) The cost of repairing or renovating the asset is $5,000 or more and prolongs the life of the asset. HUC will regard the purchase of software programs as fixed assets subject to the above capitalization policy, and will amortize over an estimated useful life of 3 years. Costs associated with software maintenance and customer support are considered expenditures and will not be capitalized. Other Considerations: (1) REPAIR is an expenditure that keeps the property in ordinary efficient operating condition. The cost of the repair does not add to the value or prolong the life of the asset. All repair expenditures are charged to the appropriate department and fund. (2) IMPROVEMENTS are expenditures for additions, alterations and renovations that appreciably prolong the life of the asset, materially increase its value or adapt it to a different use. Improvements of the nature are capitalized. Examples of Repairs vs. Improvements Repairs= Expenditures All items -life less than one year All items under $5,000 Property maintenance, wall repair Replacement of machine parts to keep machine in normal operating condition Property restoration (rebuilding) for normal operations Existing building repairs Replacement of small sections of wiring, pipes or light fixtures Patching walls, minor repairs of floors, painting, etc. Patching driveways Improvements = Capitalized Assets Life of more than one year All items $5,000 or more Property rebuilding Replacement of machine parts that prolong the useful life Property restoration for something different or better Building regulation conformity Major replacement of wiring, lighting, pipes or sewer Installation of floor, wall, roof, wall covering, etc. New driveway or major repair Cleaning drapery, carpet, furniture New drapery, carpets, furniture Depreciation Method — Straight Line over the following useful lives: Buildings 40 -60 years Transmission Plant (electric) 20 -35 years Distribution Plant (electric) 20 -35 years Building Improvement 15 -30 years Transmission Plant (gas) 10 -45 years Distribution Plant (gas) 10 -45 years Generation Plant 10 -30 years General Plant 10 years Vehicles 3 -5 years Office Equipment 3 -5 years Computer Equipment 3 -5 years 1 Adopted March 28, 1988 Rescinded September 27, 2006 Hutchinson Utilities Commission Policies Bid Letting Policy The following procedure shall be followed when sealed bids are required pursuant to the Uniform Municipal Contracting Law. Specifications shall be prepared and submitted to the Commission for approval. If approved, the Commission shall: 1. Set the time and date for bid opening; 2. Designate which employees and consultants shall open, review and evaluate the bids; 3. Set the manner in which the solicitation for bids will be published; and 4. Determine bond requirements. The employees and consultants designated by the Commission shall: 1. Open the bids; 2. Review them to determine compliance, and; 3. Evaluate and make a recommendation to the Commission. I