06-28-2017 HUCMMINUTES
Regular Meeting — Hutchinson Utilities Commission
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Call to Order — 3:00 p.m.
President Monty Morrow called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Members present: President Monty
Morrow; Vice President Anthony Hanson; Commissioner Robert Wendorff; and Commissioner Don
Martinez. Secretary Mark Girard was absent. Others present: General Manager Jeremy Carter;
Attorney Marc Sebora.
1. Conflict of Interest
There were no conflicts of interest noted.
2. Approve Consent Agenda
a. Approve Minutes
b. Ratify Payment of Bills
General Manager Carter inquired of the Commission if the format of the check register with the
new BS & A software is acceptable. It was communicated that the Commission has no issue with
the format.
Motion by Hanson, second by Wendorff, to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried
unanimously.
3. Approve Financial Statements
General Manager Carter presented the financial statements. The combined divisions are tracking
minimally behind the 2016 year to date figures. There was a small power cost adjustment for May
2017. Fuel cost adjustment credits for the year are helping to offset the increased power costs
adjustments in 2017. To date, the net increase in PCA/FCA adjustments are $110,000 more
through May 2017 compared through May of 2016. Transmission expense is up mainly due to the
increased transmission costs in the GRE transmission zone. Operating expenses are up over
2016 mainly due to the BSA software conversion payment installments. Those payments will not
be there in 2018.
Carter commented on the investment report. A bond was called with Wells Fargo and the
$500,000 was reinvested into a secondary Certificate for Deposit and a step agency investment.
The capital work order report for the electric production division, specifically requisition No. 11708
and the description should be corrected. The work order is related to the consulting costs on the
generator 6 & 7 project.
Motion by Martinez, second by Wendorff to approve the financial statements. Motion carried
unanimously.
4. Open Forum -none
5. Communication
a. City Administrator— Matt Jaunich
i. Mr. Jaunich communicated that City Council has selected Council members Cook and
Czmowski to represent the City in the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) discussion with
the representatives of the Utilities Commission.
ii. Construction and development are continuing throughout the City.
b. Divisions
i. Dan Lang — nothing to report
ii. Dave Hunstad — nothing to report
iii. Randy Blake—There has been good feedback and interest in response to the request for
proposals for the engines 6 and 7 project. Mr. Blake is setting up and facilitating meetings
with engine manufacturers. Representatives from Rolls Royce and Wartsilla have visited.
Caterpillar and another Rolls Royce vendor are expected to visit in the near future. It is
expected that we will receive four or five bids.
iv. John Webster— nothing to report
c. Legal— Marc Sebora — nothing to report
d. General Manager—Jeremy Carter
i. Mr. Carter is compiling information for the upcoming PILOT discussion with the City of
Hutchinson.
ii. Significant amounts of data have been sent to consultant conducting the cost of service
study.
iii. Considering future capacity contract options with Dan Lang, short and longer term.
Information will be coming to the Commission in the future for the 2025-2030 time period,
as pricing looks favorable.
iv. Ehlers is still looking into our tax exempt status with bonding.
v. Kim Hutton started in Customer Service today. Angie Radke will be starting July 5th in the
position of Administrative Coordinator.
vi. Engine bids are due in mid-July. If the Commission wants to consider a special meeting to
consider the bids, that is a possibility. The Commission indicated that if there is a good
reason to hold a special meeting, such as moving the project forward in a timely manner,
the Commission will consider it.
6. Policies
a. Review Policies
i. Delegation of Authority Policy
ii. Hutchinson Utilities Commission
iii. Establishing a New Electric/Natural Gas Account
iv. Complaint/grievance procedures
v. Employee Conduct
No changes were recommended at this time.
b. Approve Changes
i. No changes were made to the policies under review.
7. Unfinished Business
a. Update of Pack Gas Discussions
General Manager Carter noted that HUC has not received any additional information from
Heartland Corn regarding a settlement document. He anticipates hearing something in the next 1-
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2 months. HUC is in the process of making the payment to New Ulm for their portion of the
settlement.
8. New Business
a. RP3 Designation by Hutchinson Utilities Commission
Morrow noted that a discussion on this is warranted due to what this designation means for the
community, particularly when we experience storms and, like other communities, do not
experience outages as our infrastructure is underground.
Dave Hunstad spoke about the recent June 9, 2017, severe weather storm. The only damage
was to an above ground line that was brought down by a tree on HWY 15 North that caused an
outage for only three homes. HUC is working on installing the line underground.
Mr. Hunstad also noted that there are outages that do occur with the underground service.
However, repairs can me made very quickly when these occur to reduce inconveniences and
interruptions.
b. Appointment of Payment in Lieu of Taxes(PILOT) Discussion Sub-committee.
The Commission met with the City Council on Monday, June 26, 2017, about the PILOT
discussion. Sub-committees are to be appointed by both entities. Commissioner Girard has
volunteered to serve. Morrow asked for another volunteer, and Hanson offered to serve, as he
has past experience with this process.
General manager Carter and City Administrator Matt Jaunich will coordinate the scheduling of
the sub-committee meeting.
Motion by Martinez, second by Wendorff to designate the PILOT discussion sub-committee as
Commissioners Mark Girard and Anthony Hanson. Motion passed unanimously.
9. Adjourn
There being no further business, a motion was made by Hanson, second by Martinez to adjourn the
meeting at 3:24 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
i
Mark irard, Secretary
ATTEST:
Monty Morro , President
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