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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 04/16/1997A regular meeting of the Fort Collins Electric Board was held on Wednesday, April 16, 1997, in the Light and Power Training Room, at 700 Wood Street, Ft. Collins. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Brayden, Jeff Eighmy, Mark Fidrych, Barbara Rutstein, Richard Smart, and Jim Welch BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Len Loomans STAFF PRESENT: Ellen Alward, AI Boushee, Delynn Coldiron, Eric Dahlgren, Suzanne Jarboe -Simpson, Bob Kost, Tim Sagen, Rich Shannon, Gwyn Strand, Dennis Sumner, and Steve VanderMeer. OTHERS PRESENT: John Fischbach, Darin Atteberry, Nelson Hyde, and Mike Haddorf 1. APPROVE MINUTES: On page 5, second paragraph, "tines" should be changed to "times". Board Member Rutstein made a motion to approve the Minutes as amended. Board Member Smart seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously and the Minutes from the March 5, 1997 meeting were approved, as amended. 2. FOLLOW-UP ON ELECTION RESULTS: Board Members and staff spent time debriefing on the election process and the disappointing results. Rich shared that a firm has been hired to do phone surveys to gather information from voters who voted on Amendments 1 and 2. This information will be shared with Board Members once it is available. There was general agreement that the voters were not well informed on the issues and, because the immediacy was not apparent, voters were not compelled to vote in favor of the amendments. Not having the information on these issues encapsulated into an understandable package, lack of endorsement from the Coloradoan, not having the full support of all Council members, concern about the Council delegating authority to an independent board, the problems that have occurred with the Poudre Valley Hospital Board, and Charter Amendment 10 were mentioned as issues that might have had an affect on the outcome of the vote. It was also suggested that the concern over having a public entity compete with private entities could explain the failure of Amendment 2. Board Members generally agreed that work on these issues remains valid, and should continue to be pursued by the Board. 3. NEW COUNCIL ORIENTATION: Rich mentioned that in preparation for an upcoming retreat for the new Council, memos were prepared by each service area director describing the issues that are anticipated to require policy direction/decision from the Council in the next twelve to twenty-four months. He reviewed the memo that was provided in Board packets, and mentioned that out of the eleven issues that are included in the memo, he will be suggesting to Council that they focus on five of these: 1) telecommunications, 2) natural gas, 3) distribution networks, 4) payments to the General Fund, and 5) decision making. Rich is working with the City Manager to schedule some dedicated time with the Council in the next few months to provide Council with a more in-depth orientation on some of these issues. The context and strategy for this orientation has not yet been determined. Rich asked the Board for feedback on this issue. It was suggested that staff provide Council with some background information on the Utility and how we fit with PRPA, the member cities, the electric industry (IOU vs. REA vs. public power), the grid as a whole, etc. This may be an item to include in a dedicated work session with Council. It was suggested that staff embrace a proactive approach that focuses on future possibilities, positive returns to the Community, the benefits of having local control, etc. There was some discussion around the types of utility decisions Council will be asked to make over the next six months and the appropriate timing for providing them with information on each specific issue. It was suggested that a brief overview of anticipated issues be done as part of the orientation, followed by an update whenever critical information surrounding an issue is available, and then concentrate on fully informing Council a month or two prior to the time a decision must be made. Another suggestion was to have a periodic utility board meeting with Council which would include Light and Power, Water/Wastewater and Stormwater, perhaps every quarter or monthly as part of one of their work sessions. This option may be discussed at the Council retreat. -2- Next, Rich mentioned that staff is working with the consultant to develop a marketing plan for Light and Power. These efforts may cause citizens to ask more questions as the Utility becomes more public and proactive, i.e., placing ads in the newspaper, commercials on Channel 27, etc. There was general agreement that it is important that the utility aggressively pursue this. As information becomes available on this issue, it will be provided to Board Members. 4. UTILITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS UPDATE: Eric provided the Board with an update on utility telecommunications efforts. He reviewed the current status of the project, including the tasks that have been completed or partially completed, together with the tasks that remain to be completed and their anticipated timelines. He also reviewed the results of a business survey that was done regarding telecommunications. Lastly, he provided information on some telecommunications activities that the City of Longmont is involved in, and a Platte River telecommunications project that the Utility anticipates participating in and benefiting from. Staff will continue to keep Board Members informed of developments on these issues. 5. STAFF REPORTS: Rich mentioned that the June Electric Board meeting falls during the APPA national conference. Delynn will poll Board Members to determine if June 1 Ith, or June 25th is the preferred meeting date. 6. OTHER BUSINESS: Citizen Feedback: Mike Haddorf addressed the Board regarding Charter Amendments 1 and 2. He mentioned that as a business owner who is involved in telecommunications, and as a private citizen, he was disappointed with the outcome of the election. He thinks the vote of "no" was due to the fact that the voters were uninformed. He had asked a lot of people what they thought about Charter Amendments 1 and 2 and the resounding answer was that they did not understand them. The message didn't get across. He encouraged Board Members to keep going. As a private consumer, he is interested in having a choice of who provides his services, etc. Amendments 1 and 2 could provide consumers with choices. He mentioned that the telecommunications infrastructure currently in place in Ft. Collins is inadequate. He encouraged the City to continue its efforts to provide an updated telecommunications infrastructure and felt this was an appropriate service for a publicly owned entity. He mentioned that a publicly owned infrastructure will ultimately give the citizens of this Community a better product. -3- Board Members followed up with some questions and thanked Mr. Haddorf for taking the time to address the Board. 2. Wind Project: Board Member Welch mentioned that The Law Fund in Boulder, Colorado, may be calling Electric Board Members regarding the wind project. Bill 1176/Sierra Club Lawsuit: There was some discussion on Bill 1176 and the involvement of PRPA in this process. PRPA is involved as a small part of the Colorado Utilities Coalition which is the entity that found a sponsor for this bill. The bill includes language that would prohibit power plants from having to make dramatic, costly air quality improvements, unless these changes would demonstrate an improvement in air quality by a specified amount. This amount is being measured in deciviews (the amount of pollution you can view coming out of the stacks). If the State passes this bill, the federal government has the opportunity to rule on the State's decision. If the EPA does not agree with the State's decision, it can recommend that the State's authority to regulate air quality be removed, and the federal government will assume this authority. This negotiation process is typically very lengthy. Staff will keep the Board informed of any developments. 4. Public Service Company Dispute: A question was posed regarding the status of this dispute. Rich mentioned that there has been very little significant progress. Staff will keep the Board informed of any developments. AGENDA FOR MAY MEETING: Follow-up on election survey FUTURE: PRPA distributed generation PRPA IRP plan Traverse City wind power video League of Women Voters Cross Current Program (state legislation) Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.: Dely Coldiron, Staff Liaison me