A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held in the District offices, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, the 23rd day of June at the hour of 9:00 a.m.
Present: President Jim Malinowski, Vice President Nancy Barnes, Secretary Jane Van Dyke Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson, Director of Finance Rick Dyer, Director of Energy Resources Pat McGary, Director of Operations Dan Krebs, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Information Services Mike Harris, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Communications Lena Wittler, Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker, Risk and Power Manager Lynn Latendresse, Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker, and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Press Representatives: None
Others Present: Don Steinke, Don Orange, Ron Morrison, Steve Kern (Materials A)
The order of business recorded below reflects the published agenda (Materials B)
At 9:00 a.m., President Malinowski called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business.
Consideration of the Minutes of June 9, 2015
There were no changes or corrections.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The Board, by a unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated June 9, 2015 from the District Auditor:
Electric Revenue Fund – $13,970,250.75
Water Revenue Fund – $410,862.61
Generating System Fund – $130,929.36
For a total of $14,512,042.72
Consideration of Resolution for a Unique Market Designation with Central One Credit Union
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the memo dated June 23, 2015 (Materials C). The Finance Department requested the waiver of competitive bidding requirements for the purchase of a used Opex Multiple Purpose Extractor from Central One Credit Union, a Canadian Bank. This unit purchased new would cost over $200,000 and this particular unit will cost the utility $20,000.
Commissioner Barnes moved to adopt Resolution #7194 waiving the competitive bidding requirements for the purchase of a multiple purpose extractor unit due to unique market conditions. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
May Financial Report
Director of Finance Rick Dyer addressed the board to report May financials (Materials D).
For the month of May, the Electric System reported net income of $1.2 million compared to a budgeted loss of $649,000. The increase in net income can be attributed to higher off system sales and lower power supply costs. To date the system is roughly $5.8 million ahead of budget for net income, a trend that is expected to continue with year-end net income projected at $8 million.
The Water System showed a net income loss of $133,000 in May against a budgeted income loss of $276,000. To date the system is ahead of budget with losses year to date of $312,000, which is well below the budgeted year to date loss of $936,000.
May Wholesale Operations Report
Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker addressed the board (Materials E). Slice results were below prompt month and budget forecast. Loads were below month average forecast for budget, and temperatures were back to below average for the first time in quite some time. Pricing remained stable.
The River Road Generating Plant maintenance outage began May 1, and went as expected. The plant was back on line earlier than expected on May 23, which brought in roughly $216,000 in unplanned revenue. Market implied heat rates were at historic levels for the month of May.
Run-off forecasts are starting to fall off a bit. January through July at The Dalles is at 83% of normal and April through September is forecasting at only 68% of normal. These forecasts are the third worst in the last 55 years. Slice results will start showing the impact of the low expected run off in the coming months.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
There were no commissioner reports or comments.
Staff Reports
Director of Information Services Mike Harris gave an update on the timeline for Cayenta go live (Materials F).
Other Business before the Board
Members of the public Don Steinke, Don Orange and Ron Morrison each addressed the board individually regarding their concerns for the proposed oil trains moving in and out of the Port of Vancouver. The board thanked each of them for their attendance at the meeting and for taking the time to share their concerns.
Mr. Steinke applauded the utility for the community solar project.
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m. to executive session to discuss CEO/General Manager performance review and salary. No action was taken during the session. At 12:45 p.m., Commissioner Malinowski reconvened the public meeting.
Consideration of Resolution for the General Manager’s Salary Adjustment
Commissioner Malinowski stated that the board had spent a considerable amount of time reviewing and discussing Mr. Nelson’s performance over the past year along with the performance of the utility.
Commissioner Malinowski said that when commissioners look at making this decision, they review salary survey results. While the proposed new salary still does not raise Mr. Nelson’s compensation to the median salary level reflected in the surveys, the board noted that he should be recognized with an increase for his performance and the performance of the utility as a whole. Commissioner Van Dyke presented a motion to adopt Resolution No. 7195 (Attachment G) setting CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson’s annual salary at $263,000 effective July 1, 2015. The resolution also included a car allowance of $400 per month, use of fleet EV charging station in lieu of mileage reimbursement a one-time transfer of 100 hours of sick leave to annual leave, and the same benefits afforded to all employees. Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 12:47 p.m.