Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes - 1/3/06

January 3, 2006

BE IT REMEMBERED:

That a regular meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held in the District offices, 1200 Ft. Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, the 3rd day of January, 2006, at the hour of 9:00 a.m.

Present: President Byron H. Hanke, Vice President Carol J. Curtis, Secretary Nancy Barnes, Commissioners; CEO/General Manager Wayne W. Nelson, Director of Water Services Douglas Quinn, Director of Finance Richard A. Dyer, Jr., Director of Energy Resources James Sanders, Director of Information Services Janet Gourlie, Director of Operations F. Andrew Huck, Director of Engineering Larry Bekkedahl, Director of Customer Services Mathew McCudden, Power Manager Pat McGary, Corporate Communications Manager Mick Shutt and Assistant to the CEO/General Manager Ruth Waite.

Press Representatives:  Tony Bacon, Insider

Others Present:  Attachment A.

At 9:00 a.m., President Hanke called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business.

 
The first order of business was consideration of the Minutes of December 20, 2005.  There were no changes or corrections.  

Regular monthly and semi-monthly bills were submitted for payment.  Vouchers audited and certified by the district auditing officer as required by RCW 42.24.080, and those expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090, have been recorded on a listing which has been made available to the Board.

As of this date, January 3, 2006, the Board, by a unanimous vote, does approve for payment those amounts listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated January 3, 2006, from Robert Gentry, District Auditor to the Commissioners in the following amounts:

       Electric Revenue Fund in the amount of $8,454,986.73

       Water Revenue Fund in the amount of $775,535.65

       Waste Water Revenue Fund in the amount of $5,425.37

       Generating System Fund in the amount of $45,567.00

the total being $9,281,514.75

The next order of business was discussion of the November Financial Report conducted by Director of Finance Richard A. Dyer, Jr. (Attachment B).  The month saw continued customer growth, cooler temperatures and higher precipitation than expected.  Sales and revenues were above forecast.  The annual growth rate was 2.72%, with 3,986 new customers year to date.  The average utility load was 44.85 mills/kwh and power supply costs were slightly below expectations at $22.2 million for the month.  November’s net income for the electric system was $863,000 versus a projected loss of $646,000.  Year to date, the system is running ahead of budget projections.  Net income year to date is $634,000.  Through November, there was a budgeted net loss of $3.1 million for the electric system.  The water system is running ahead of budget projections both for the month and the year.  Mr. Dyer reported a year to date net income for the water system of $1.2 million versus a budget of $436,000.  The sewer system is also running ahead of budget projections.  Year to date the sewer system had a net income of $455,000 versus a budgeted net loss of $18,000.

The next order of business was commissioner reports and comments.  There were no reports or comments. 

The next order of business was staff reports.  Director of Operations Andrew Huck reported on weather events that disrupted power to the area over the holidays.  On Christmas Day, a storm caused outages to approximately 5,000 customers, but crews were able to restore power in a short time. 

Next, Water Services Director Doug Quinn said the Clark County Regional Wastewater District (formerly Hazel Dell Sewer District) has approached Clark Public Utilities regarding the possibility of merging wastewater services.  The Regional Wastewater District serves about 26,000 customers in many areas served by our water system including Hazel Dell, Lakeshore, Felida and Salmon Creek.  Discussions have been underway with representatives of the sewer district and the county to determine the feasibility of such a move.  Commissioners said Clark Public Utilities will proceed carefully and cautiously and is willing to help serve if there is a need.  However, they expect a great deal of additional information from both a legal and financial perspective before they can consider what is in the best interest of Clark’s own customers and the community’s residents in general.  Mr. Bob Wachter asked if a merger would have any impact on LaCenter’s re-aquiring the town’s wastewater system.  Staff said a merger with Hazel Dell would have no impact on LaCenter. 

There was no other business to come before the Board.

There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.