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Public Utilities 2011/07/27CITY OF ANAHEIM PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD MINUTES July 27, 2011 The agenda having been posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, the Regular Meeting of the Public Utilities Board (Board) was called to order by Vice - Chairperson Jordan Brandman at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27, 2011, in the I I 1 Floor Large Conference Room, Anaheim West Tower, 201 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California. Board Members Present: J. Brandman, D. Morgan, P. Carroll, C. Peltzer, B. Hernandez, S.E. Faessel Board Members Absent: J. Machiaverna Staff Present: M. Edwards, A. Kott, D. Calkins, M. Ward, D. Lee, E. Zacherl, S. Sciortino, J. Lehman, M. Lopez, J. Ross, B. Beelner, E. Cabanayan, R. Dowell, J. Coe, L. Quiambao, P. Oviedo, G. Barnes Guest(s) Present: David Wain, Resident; Stephen Faessel, Resident; Kelley Carroll,Water Services Intern AGENDA ITEM ACTION TAKEN 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS. There were no public comments. There being no public comments, J. Brandman closed the general public comments portion of the meeting. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD MEETING HELD ON JUNE 22, 2011.* P. Carroll moved approval of the June 22, 2011, Public Utilities Board minutes. B. Hernandez seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED: 5 -0. ABSTAINED: 1 (S.E. Faessel). ABSENT: 1 (J. Machiaverna). 3. ELECTION OF PUBLIC UTILITY BOARD CHAIRPERSON AND VICE - CHAIRPERSON. ** A. Kott reviewed with the Board the different ways a vote could be facilitated either by acclamation or by specific voice vote and the Board members determined that the election of the Public Utility 201E 52 AGENDA ITEM Board Chairperson and Vice - Chairperson would take place by way of acclamation. She then opened the floor for nominations for the Chairperson position. P. Carroll nominated J. Brandman who accepted the nomination. B. Hernandez also nominated D. Morgan who declined the nomination. By acclamation, a consensus vote was held to elect J. Brandman to the position of Chairperson of the Public Utilities Board. J. Brandman then nominated D. Morgan for the position of Vice - Chairperson who accepted the nomination. By acclamation, a consensus vote was held to elect D. Morgan to the position of Vice - Chairperson of the Public Utilities Board. 4. ELECTION OF THE UNDERGROUND CONVERSION SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS." A. Kott shared with the Board that three members are nominated from the Public Utilities Board to serve as Underground Conversion Subcommittee (Subcommittee) Members. She mentioned that it can be members who currently serve or have previously served as well as new members. Currently serving are C. Peltzer, J. Brandman, and J. Machiaverna. She also explained that the meetings are usually for an hour and held on the same day as the Public Utilities Board meetings. J. Brandman shared that he would be willing to relinquish his position on the Subcommittee in order to allow someone else an opportunity to serve and provide a fresh perspective. C. Peltzer shared that he currently serves on the Subcommittee and is interested in continuing to serve. In his absence, it was discussed and agreed that J. Machiavema continues to be interested in serving on the Subcommittee. D. Morgan nominated B. Hernandez who accepted the nomination. By consensus vote, it was then determined that B. Hernandez, C. Peltzer, and J. Machiaverna were elected to the Underground Conversion Subcommittee. 5. PRESENTATION ON SOLAR CUP BOAT RACES J. Ross, Water Conservation Specialist, gave a presentation on the Solar Cup Boat Races, held in May, which have been sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) for nine years. A slide show of the event was shown; forty -two high school teams and nearly 800 students participated this year. The Solar Cup Program began in 2002 with only eight high schools participating. Currently, the City of Anaheim Public Utilities Department sponsors three teams: Anaheim High School, Canyon High School, and Savannah High School. The Anaheim schools have won the event six out of nine years with Canyon High School winning five times. This year, Savannah High School was the first place winner with Canyon High School taking second place. Anaheim High School won the spirit award, which is the third time it has won this honor. The competition includes a technical paper and a public service announcement for water conservation, in ACTION TAKEN 2011 S3 AGENDA ITEM addition to the sprint and endurance races. J. Ross answered several questions by the Board, such as adjustments to the activities as a result of bad weather conditions, some of the other schools that the Anaheim schools compete against, the equipment provided to the student teams, and the high level of commitment by the Public Utilities Department. He shared that the 42 teams come from all over the six- county MWD service area. Veteran teams receive a commitment of $2,500 for equipment, and new teams receive $4,000; the additional amount helps the team pay for the boat hull. Workshops are also offered by Harvey Mudd College to the teams to help the students plan and construct their boats. 6. UPDATE ON WATER SYSTEM ISSUES. Well 56 in Willow Park D. Calkins invited the Board's attention to several power point slides of the Utilities Department's newest water well, Well 56, located in Willow Park at Loara Street and Crone Avenue. Construction of the new well facility was just completed, and it has been operational for a couple of weeks. This is the first well that was constructed under a collaborative program with the Community Services Department. Under this program, the Utilities Department provided a computerized weather -based irrigation control system for all City parks in exchange for well sites at five City parks. As part of the Well 56 project, new public restrooms were included in the building, which are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. D. Calkins continued by showing several photographs of the new well facility. The new well is 1,300 feet deep and is equipped with a 3,600 gallon per minute pump. This is the Department's seventh new well constructed in the last 13 years; all of which are replacing old shallow unreliable wells. In response to a request by M. Edwards, D. Calkins shared with the Board the Department's ongoing efforts to destroy old abandoned wells. He said the Department has received several grants to pay for the proper destruction of old abandoned wells to eliminate threats to groundwater quality and safety. In some cases, the abandoned wells had been constructed 50 to 100 years ago and forgotten. The grant money was used to destroy abandoned wells where the property owner does not have the means or the ability to properly destroy the well or where the well is on a remnant parcel where the owner cannot be located. D. Calkins introduced K. Carroll to the Board as the new Water Services Intern. She is currently helping B. Moorhead with construction services for the Water Recycling Demonstration Project. He also provided the Board with an update on that project ACTION TAKEN 2011 54 AGENDA ITEM saying that the foundation has been excavated and the first two concrete pours have been completed. It will still be another nine months before the Project is complete. D. Calkins shared that this past winter really helped strengthen the region's water supplies. Locally, Santa Ana River flows were higher than normal and much of that water is being recharged into the groundwater basin by the Orange County Water District (OCWD). In addition, the MWD is selling discounted replenishment water between now and December, which OCWD is purchasing to help recharge the groundwater basin. Also, due to strong snowpack and late Spring storms, California's storage reservoirs are essentially full. And, as presented at last month's meeting, this year's snowpack in Colorado is the largest on record. As a result, the combined volume of stored water in Lake Mead and Lake Power will increase this year due to runoff from 50% full to about 65% - 70% full. 7. UPDATE ON ELECTRIC SYSTEM ISSUES. M. Edwards informed the Board that this would be M. Ward's last Public Utilities Board meeting because he is retiring. Canyon Power Plant M. Ward reminded the Board that the Canyon Power Plant Units have been built in reverse order so Unit 4 was constructed first, followed by Unit 3, and down the line. Units 3 and 4 will begin commercial operation this Friday, July 27th. Commission testing on Unit 2 began last week, and Unit 1 will have its first fire today. The Plant is on schedule, and he is very happy with the progress. The Program Manager will provide an update at the next Board meeting at which time the Plant should be very close to having all 4 units commissioned. Landscaping is expected to be done in late August or early September, and a dedication ceremony will take place in the near future. D. Lee responded to questions by the Board regarding the direct buried cable programs involving the phone company. He shared that there are some cables that are direct buried cables, and that currently there is a project near Copa De Oro Street where the residents asked the Utilities Department if conduits for phone could be installed. It was explained to the residents that the phone company is given opportunities to joint trench on projects, though in some instances they cannot be compelled to do so. D. Lee was asked by M. Edwards to discuss the legislation that is meant to ensure that cities cannot restrict the activities of telecommunication companies in terms of having everything above ground at a future Board meeting and to discuss the potential impact to Anaheim as a result of this legislation. ACTION TAKEN 2011 - 55 AGENDA ITEM Update on Park Substation M. Ward shared with the Board that about six years ago, the Park Substation was commissioned with Roosevelt Park built above the substation. The Utilities Department was recently approached by Siemens who was the contractor for Park Substation and asked for help with their new ad campaign that would include the Park Substation as a part of the advertisement. M. Ward then shared with the Board a radio commercial that was created as part of that campaign and is being broadcast on KABC, KFI, KFWB, KNX and KPCC radio stations. 8. UPDATE ON FINANCE ISSUES. June Financial Dashboard B. Beelner reviewed the utilities monthly financial dashboard for the month of June. He explained that the dashboard was developed in response to the economic recession as a method of reporting the financial impact the recession had and continues to have on the department. It provides a financial snapshot each month. The June Utilities dashboard being presented at this meeting is the last report of this fiscal year. He directed the Boards attention to the comparisons provided on the Utilities dashboard for electric and water total actual sales as well as actual operating costs as compared to their respective budgets. B. Beelner answered a variety of questions from the Board. He also addressed the status of the credit rating agencies and shared that Moody's recently downgraded their rating of the Utilities Department from AA to A status with a stable outlook. S. Sciortino also responded to a question from the Board regarding Brea Olinda, which is a landfill gas renewable energy project. He mentioned that Brea Olinda will be in its testing phase a year from now and the Department can expect to be taking test energy as early as August of 2012. He also mentioned that the Irvine - Bowerman Landfill is another project that Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) and Anaheim are reviewing. There are some issues with the County that need to be resolved, however it is a viable project that is similar to the Brea Olinda Project. 9. UPDATE ON JOINT SERVICES ISSUES. S. Sciortino shared with the Board that J. Roosevelt is retiring and introduced J. Coe who will be filling the position as Business and Community Programs Manager for the Public Utilities Department. Resource Adequacy Update, S. Sciortino indicated to the Board that the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) will be notified that Units 3 and 4 at the Canyon Power Plant are now ACTION TAKEN 2011 -56 AGENDA ITEM commercial. This is a benefit in that it allows the Department the ability to reduce some of the contractual obligations for the ISO's local reliability requirement and saves approximately $100,000 per month. M. Edwards added that the Monthly Resource Adequacy Plan - August 2011 report is a legislative requirement - in other words, that current legislation requires that the policy body of a city be made aware that the utility has made all arrangements in advance to have sufficient power available within a certain time frame. However, utility staff now uses the report as an opportunity to further inform the Utility Board regarding changes to the electricity resource portfolio. OPower Residential Energy Efficiency Program M. Lopez reminded the Board that in October, 2010 a staff report was provided to them describing a new energy saving program that Utilities was working on with the vendor OPower. He shared that next month, the program will be launched. The primary goal of the program is to help residential customers save energy and money. The contract with OPower consists of two main parts. First, OPower will be mailing out a home energy report 5 times per year to 15,000 randomly selected customers. He invited the Board's attention to the staff report and discussed the three attachments: the introduction letter to inform the customer they have been selected for the program, a sample of what the home energy report will look like and screen shots from what is considered the second part of the contract with OPower, which is the web portal piece. The web portal will provide the same type of energy saving information that the report provides, however it is from a website and is available to all residential customers. With the portal report, the customer will be able to compare their home energy use and see how their energy use compares to similar, nearby homes. It is OPower's belief based on statistical data that by using behavior studies, customers are more inclined to be motivated to conserve energy knowing their usage is being compared to others. He explained that the purpose of sending reports by mail is that OPower has also demonstrated through the participation of other utilities, customers prefer to see something in writing as opposed to finding their way into and through a website. The report also includes a section on progress tracking that shows how the energy use is changing over time and will include any improvements over time. It also provides ideas for energy efficiency such as ways to save energy and will include information on some of Anaheim Utilities rebates and other programs. Customers can choose to receive reports via email and can opt out of the program at any time. ACTION TAKEN 2011 -57 AGENDA ITEM It was also clarified, that members of the Board and members of the City Council had been selected to receive the reports so that if asked by a member of the public, they would be aware of what customers are receiving. 10. UPDATE ON ENERGY RISK & LEGISLATIVE/REGULATORY AFFAIRS ISSUES, Quarterly Regulatory Compliance Report J. Lehman invited the Board's attention to the staff report provided in their packets. She mentioned that there have been quite a number of activities in relation to keeping Utilities in compliance; however, there have been no violations for this reporting period. Some of the more significant activities included are the water quality lab was certified for the year, and all of the reports were submitted on time to the appropriate authorities. Legislative Working Group J. Lehman explained that consistent with the Board's direction, a non - quorum Working Group comprised of three Board members was formed to work on legislative issues. She indicated to the Board that as a result of L. Cahill's departure, there is a Working Group vacancy that needs to be filled. J. Brandman asked if anyone would be interested in serving on this Working Group with himself and J. Machiaverna. M. Edwards clarified that the meetings are scheduled to be prior to a Public Utilities Board meeting, but on a non Underground Sub - Committee meeting date. S.E. Faessel offered to serve as a member on the newly formed Working Group. Since there were no objections from the Board, she was therefore so appointed to serve. 11. AGENDA ITEM(S) FOR THE NEXT PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD MEETING ON AUGUST 24, 2011. None. 12. ITEM(S) BY SECRETARY. None. 13. ITEM(S) BY THE BOARD. B. Hernandez asked if the League of Cities has a lobbying component that serves those communities that have Public Utilities departments. M. Edwards responded that the League is fairly peripheral and the utility industry has a number of other lobbying agencies. He welcomed J. Coe and commented that he had worked with her on other matters and was delighted to see that she had joined the Public Utilities team. ACTION TAKEN 2011 -58 AGENDA ITEM ACTION TAKEN D. Morgan echoed B. Hernandez's comments that he has also served on a previous committee with J. Coe and welcomed her to the Board. He also offered his congratulations to J. Brandman in his new role as Chairperson. S.E. Faessel thanked everyone again for their welcome. C. Peltzer congratulated the newly appointed, J. Brandman and D. Morgan. He also welcomed S.E. Faessel and thanked M. Ward on behalf of all the Board members for all of his hard work and wished him well in his retirement. J. Brandman thanked his colleagues again for appointing him as Chairperson. He also welcomed S.E. Faessel to the Board and congratulated D. Morgan on his appointment as Vice - Chairperson. 14. ADJOURNMENT: (TO THE REGULAR MEETING ON AUGUST 24, 2011, AT 5:00 P.M., IN THE 11` FLOOR LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM, ANAHEIM WEST TOWER, 201 S. ANAHEIM BOULEVARD, ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA). D. Morgan moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 6:58 p.m. to the Board's next Regular Meeting date of August 24, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. P. Carroll seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED: 6 -0. ABSTAINED: 0. ABSENT: 1 (J. Machiaverna). forwarded samalm I "P S Indicates item(s) that will be to City Council for action upon d, by the Board. Indicates item(s) that will be forwarded to City Clerk and City Council for informational W