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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-09 BOWC MINBOARD OF WATER 204 Third Street N Stillwater, MN 55082 COMMISSIONERS 651-439-6231 MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 (VIA ZOOM - DUE TO COVID-19) President Speedling called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Present: Commissioners Vania, Jensen and President Speedling Councilmember Polehna Absent: Supervisor of Distribution Tibbetts Staff Present: Board Manager Benson APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Vania requested that the following be added to the agenda: Late Fees COVID-19 Update T.K.D.A. Update Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania to approve the agenda with additions. All in favor. APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING MINUTES Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Jensen to approve the March 13, 2020 minutes. All in favor. APPROVAL RESOLUTION NO. 1542, DIRECTING PAYMENT OF BILLS Motion by Commissioner Vania, seconded by President Speedling to adopt Resolution 1542, directing payment of bills All in favor. Commissioner Vania asked for clarification on the difference in percentage in salary expenses. Mr. Benson stated he will investigate. Commissioner Vania asked about the electric on the wells and Mr. Benson explained that there were credits when there are outages in the area. Commissioner Vania stated that the cash flow on March 31, 2020 is down $300,000 from the same date in 2019. Mr. Benson stated it is due to having more 2019 expenses. SUPERVISOR OF DISTRIBUTION REPORT In the absence of Supervisor of Distribution Tibbetts, Mr. Benson reported that staff in continuing winter projects. Staff is not entering homes except for emergencies. There was a watermain break on Croixwood Boulevard which has been fixed. Board of Water Commissioners April 9, 2020 Commissioner Vania asked about downtown flooding and its impact on water. Mr. Benson assured the Board there was no impact. COMMUNITY EDUCATION (INFOGRAPHIC) AND WEBSITE COMMISSIONER JENSEN Commissioner Jensen stated that she met with the web designer to change the webpage to include tabs at the top to easily get information and get content loaded on the site. She asked President Speedling to write a paragraph on the Board. She will be giving a reminder next week for the small articles to be placed on the page. She continued by stating that a presentation on the website will be at the next meeting. Mr. Benson reminded the Board that he will have to work with the City's IT department to create a link on the City site. WATER METERS Mr. Benson requested approval to purchase water meters as needed and to purchase from the $10,000 in Capital Outlay. Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania to approval the expenditure for water meters as needed to be paid from Capital Outlay budget. All in favor. BEEHIVE Mr. Benson requested approval to pay $7,000 for the department's share of BeeHive from the Capital Outlay budget. Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania to approval the expenditure BeeHive as needed to be paid from Capital Outlay. All in favor. WELL# 6 REPAIRS Mr. Benson provided an update on Well #6 repairs and stated that the gallons per minute (gpm) is still low, therefore the next step would be to pull the well and televise to see what the issue is. He requested $30,000 as a placeholder for these repairs. He will be going out for bids and if it costs more, he will bring back to the Board for approval. Commissioner Jensen asked if Well #1 investigation as recommended in a report would follow the same process. Mr. Benson stated that he didn't feel that everything would have to be pulled because it is an artesian well with no pump. Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania authorizing Mr. Benson to obtain quotes for Well #6 repairs with a placeholder of not to exceed $30,000. All in favor. WATER RATE STUDY Mr. Benson stated that the Board has not gone before the City Council about the rate study and asked when would the Board like to schedule that. He felt that maybe this is not the time for the rate increase. President Speedling suggested that the rate increase be delayed and discussed as an agenda item in future meetings to determine when to implement the rate increase based on the environment. Commissioners Vania and Jensen agreed. Page 2 of 5 Board of Water Commissioners April 9, 2020 President Speedling stated that a presentation before Council will be held once the Board determines when the increase will take effect. Mr. Benson stated that a notice would be included in a bill once the quarter is selected for the increase. Commissioner Vania asked Councilmember Polehna when he thought the Board should present this to the City Council. Councilmember Polehna suggested on waiting and watching the environment as President Speedling suggested. SAFE WATER COMMISSION SMART CONTROLLER PROGRAM Mr. Benson stated that the information on this program was scheduled to be included in the City newsletter, but due to COVID-19 the newsletter was not distributed because the dates reflected in the newsletter changed. It is on the City's website. He also mentioned that he was contacted by Rick Ellis of Safe Water to prepare a newsletter to be sent to residents because they are not getting the response they had hoped. Mr. Benson expressed concern on distributing a mass mailing letter about the program, he felt that it should just be to the identified residents with irrigation systems. He also felt that this is not the time as the program includes going into people's homes. Councilmember Polehna questioned if this would be a restricted business. Mr. Benson did not know for sure but assuming it would be. He thought this should be postponed as well. It was the consensus of the Board to postpone any action on the program until the next meeting, contact Karen Kill, BCWD about the Board's plan and confirm with Mr. Ellis that this is considered non -essential at this time and that the Board will address this at the next meeting. President Speedling stated that he did go online and register to see what the process was and he received a confirmation it was acknowledged. Commissioner Vania suggested that Mr. Ellis provide a report on how many have signed up through the website for discussion at the next meeting Commissioner Jensen suggested discussing putting an article in the Gazette and other venues as well. President Speedling expressed concern on the amount of venues being that this is a pilot program at this time. Mr. Benson will check with the City on the next newsletter. COVID-19 MESSAGE FOR CITY WEBSITE Mr. Benson distributed the COVID-19 message from Commissioner Jensen for the City's website and would like approval of the message before working with the City on where to put the message. It was her intention to reassure residents that we are protecting our employees so that the water service continues and being proactive. President Speedling suggested that this message could be inserted in a billing statement if things continue to inform our residents. Commissioner Jensen asked if this should be posted on Facebook or The Patch. Mr. Benson stated he has not had any calls on the water department services. Page 3 of 5 Board of Water Commissioners April 9, 2020 Motion by Commissioner Vania., seconded by President Speedling to approve the COVID-19 message. All in favor. It was the consensus of the Board to place the message on the City's website and City's Facebook page. REAPPOINTMENT UPDATE OF PRESIDENT SPEEDLING Mr. Benson reviewed the appointment process for the commission member. He stated that it must be open for applications for 30 days and then interviewed by Councilmember Polehna and Vice President Jensen being it is President Speedling's term that ends June 30th. LATE FEES Mr. Benson explained the billing process and that the late fees have already been applied for the April billing, however asked the Board if they wanted to suspend the late fees for the 2nd and 3rd quarter billings. Councilmember Polehna asked how much is collected in late fees. Mr. Benson responded approximately $8,000 last billing cycle, approximately $30,000 per year. Councilmember Polehna commented that people do not pay their garbage and sewer bills and try to take it off on their taxes which is not allowed. Mr. Benson indicated that the shut off discussion would be held at the May or June meetings whether to enforce shut offs or not. Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania to waive the late fees for the 2nd and 3rd billing cycles. All in favor. COVID-19 UPDATE Mr. Benson updated the Board on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) status stating that the only PPE that they had trouble getting was sanitary wipes and they received some from the City. He continued that he has been working with the IT department on getting his and Tracy's laptops set up so that they can work from home if rotation is needed. He stated that he would back up Tracy in the office and Jim and Tracy would back him up should the need arise. He felt that there is a contingency plan in place should one of them get the virus. Commissioner Jensen asked if Mr. Benson has thought about a cleaning company to deep clean the office should someone in the department became infected or separate the personnel even further (i.e. split shifts). Mr. Benson explained that the department is only six (6) people which is under the 10 people per building guidelines so they have not implemented split shifts , but one person per vehicle is implemented. He has not looked at a cleaning company for decontamination should the need arise, but he has been in meetings with the City and would raise that question. He would provide an update at the next meeting on what the City is doing and have a discussion. Commissioner Jensen asked what would happen if many of the staff got sick, how would the department function and have a plan in place. She wanted to make sure Page 4 of 5 Board of Water Commissioners April 9, 2020 that Tracy, Robert, and Jim are protected. Mr. Benson stated that Andy and James could back up Jim. Commissioner Vania felt that maybe a joint powers agreement should be prepared with Oak Park Heights or Bayport in case of an emergency. He felt that maybe now it is the time to have further discussions with Oak Park Heights to connect the systems. T.K.D.A. UPDATE Mr. Benson provided an update on T.K.D.A.'s work on the backup generator at Well #9 and the electrical may need to be upgraded. They continue to work on plans for the pressure reducing valve on 4th and Wilkins. NEXT MEETING DATE Next regular meeting is May 14, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. Mr. Benson stated the next organization meeting is scheduled for April 24 at 8:00 a.m. He stated that they are still working on the "As Is" portion of the process and if they are still working on that he would suggest that the City Administrator come to the meeting and provide an update on the process. The meeting would be a zoom meeting and the publication would reflect that. ADJOURNMENT Motion by President Speedling, seconded by Commissioner Vania to adjourn at 9:16 a.m. All in favor. ATTEST: Robert G. Benson, Board Manager Page 5 of 5 eve SpOedl%l Pr sident