March 2018 Meeting
A Commission Meeting was held on March 8, 2018 at the Water Filtration Plant located at 400 West Bender Road, Glendale, WI 53217. (Map)
Agenda Items
- Call to order by the Chairman.
- Discussion of the 2017 draft financial statements and other required communications. Possible action may be taken regarding this matter.
- Discussion and possible approval of checks to member communities to reimburse surplus fund balance.
- Approval of the minutes of the February meeting.
- Monthly report of plant operations.
- Discussion of annual operating budget.
- Approval of monthly bills.
- Status report of current capital projects. Action may be taken to approve capital expenditures pertaining to the projects and authorize payment to vendors.
- Discussion of the 2017 Annual Water Quality Report. Action may be taken to accept the report.
- Manager’s report.
- Date and time of the next regular Commission Meeting.
- Adjournment.
Minutes
A meeting of the North Shore Water Commission was held at the Filtration Plant, 400 West Bender Road, Glendale, Wisconsin on Thursday, March 8, 2018.
Meeting was called to order at 8:03 A.M. by Mr. Botcher.
Present: Scott Botcher, Chair (Fox Point); Rachel Reiss, Alternate (Glendale); John Edlebeck, Member (Whitefish Bay)
Also present: Eric Kiefer, Plant Manager & Recording Secretary
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Mr. Kiefer distributed draft financial statements and other related communications that were prepared by Baker Tilly. He explained that the statements were changed based on the discussion at the last meeting. Mr. Kiefer explained the changes that were made to pages 33 and 34. He stated that the ending balance of the 2017 General Fund is now at 12% of the 2018 Operating Budget. The majority of the General Fund surplus was transferred to the Maintenance Reserve Fund (Capital Fund), and the remaining was refunded back to the members.
Mr. Edlebeck confirmed that there is no policy or agreement in place to keep the Maintenance Reserve Fund (Capital Fund) balance at a particular level. The other commissioners and Mr. Kiefer agreed with his statement; the Commission has the discretion to set this fund balance as it deems appropriate.
It was moved by Mr. Edlebeck, seconded by Ms. Reiss, and unanimously carried to approve the 2017 North Shore Water Commission Financial Statements and Communications to Those Charged with Governance and Management as prepared by Baker Tilly.
REIMBURSEMENT OF SURPLUS FUND BALANCE
Mr. Kiefer explained that the Commission needs to take action to authorize the issuance of checks its members--as indicated in the financial statements.
It was moved by Ms. Reiss, seconded by Mr. Edlebeck, and unanimously carried to approve the issuance of checks as indicated in Mr. Kiefer’s memo dated 3/8/2018.
MINUTES
It was moved by Ms. Reiss, seconded by Mr. Edlebeck, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes for the meeting held February 14, 2018.
MONTHLY REPORT OF PLANT OPERATIONS
Mr. Kiefer provided the Commission with a report regarding plant operations. He indicated that less water was pumped this year than last year, which is probably due to fewer main breaks. Mr. Kiefer also indicated that he is concerned that the difference between the corrected high service metering (the filter meters) and the master magmeters is growing in magnitude. He stated that a lot of work has been done on the filters, and the filter meters may have been over-registering flow. His staff will learn more after calibrating the master meters this year.
Mr. Edlebeck asked about the chemical usage. In particular, he asked about polymer use. Mr. Kiefer explained that raw water turbidity has been erratic causing staff to use significantly more polymer than normal.
It was moved by Mr. Edlebeck, seconded by Ms. Reiss, and unanimously approved to accept the monthly report of operations.
ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET
Mr. Kiefer presented the monthly financial reports, and they were put on file without motion.
MONTHLY BILLS
It was moved by Ms. Reiss, seconded by Mr. Edlebeck, and unanimously carried that the following payments be approved and authorization was given to the Fiscal Agent to make such payments:
| Vendor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Atsou-Tse Koffi-Kutodzo (conference) | $236.05 |
| BMO Harris Bank (credit card - General Fund) | $159.23 |
| -- AT&T (monthly charge for internet): $59.18 | |
| -- Google (monthly charge for Google Suite Basic): $54.15 | |
| -- Straight Talk (monthly cell phone charges): $45.90 | |
| BMO Harris Bank (safe deposit box rental) | $95.00 |
| Batteries Plus (lamp disposal, lamps, and batteries) | $99.49 |
| Buelow Vetter (legal services) | $171.00 |
| Concentra (pre-employment testing) | $174.00 |
| DAMARC (inspection of boiler and pressure vessel) | $110.00 |
| Diversified Benefit Services (Section 125 Plan administration and mailings) | $100.91 |
| DSPS - Industry Services (permit to operate boiler and pressure vessel) | $100.00 |
| Eurofins (compliance monitoring) | $380.00 |
| Filtration Solutions (air compressor filters) | $210.10 |
| Fuchs & Boyle (legal services) | $136.50 |
| Grainger (plumbing materials, clamps, shaft collars, custodial supplies, electrical supplies, exit light, tubes, hardware, and lamps) | $437.24 |
| Great America (lease payment for copier/printer) | $100.00 |
| Hawkins (treatment chemicals: aqueous ammonia) | $376.61 |
| Home Depot (torch head and concrete) | $58.22 |
| John Mayer (review of wholesale water rate) | $120.00 |
| LAI (parts for sludge pump) | $1,609.65 |
| McMaster-Carr (clamps, shaft, shaft collars, tubes, bolts, channel connectors, washers, plastic sheets, and aluminum sheets) | $1,176.88 |
| Metals Supermarkets (2 in carbon steel shafts) | $1,944.51 |
| Minnesota Life / Securian (employee life insurance) | $128.92 |
| Office Copying Equipment (maintenance payment for copier/printer) | $23.83 |
| Revere Electric Supply (Rockwell product support) | $794.00 |
| Rotroff Jeanson (monthly accounting services and end-of-the year accounting work) | $1,935.00 |
| Spectrum Business (internet services, Bender phone, and Klode phone) | $526.11 |
| T-Mobile (mobile internet) | $31.05 |
| USA Bluebook (flange spacers and chlorine reagents) | $694.25 |
| We Energies (Bender Electric) | $12,770.66 |
| We Energies (Bender Gas) | $1,706.40 |
| We Energies (Green Tree Electric) | $15.98 |
| We Energies (Henry Clay Electric) | $18.14 |
| We Energies (Klode Electric - ESTIMATE) | $3,637.53 |
| We Energies (Klode Gas) | $14.64 |
| Wilkens-Anderson (alcohol wipes and fluoride probe) | $969.93 |
| SUB-TOTAL | $31,061.83 |
| Capital Fund | |
| SUB-TOTAL | $0.00 |
| TOTAL | $31,061.83 |
CAPITAL PROJECTS
Mr. Kiefer explained that plant staff is preparing for the filter upgrade project. An electrical contractor has been retained to install several electrical panels later this month. This was necessary because there aren’t enough circuit breakers in this particular area of the plant to accommodate all of the new electric actuators.
Mr. Kiefer also explained that materials were purchased for the SCADA upgrade project. Some use equipment was purchased from eBay. According to Mr. Kiefer, those items were offered at a great price and are a good fit for this particular application.
It was moved by Ms. Reiss, seconded by Mr. Edlebeck, and unanimously carried to approve the payment request for project 2018-1 in the amount of $1,276.00 and the payment request for project 2018-2 in the amount of $4,872.50 as per Mr. Kiefer’s memos dated March 8, 2018.
ANNUAL WATER QUALITY REPORT
Mr. Kiefer provided the Commission with a draft of the 2017 Annual Water Quality Report. After explaining that 2017 report is much like 2016’s report, Mr. Kiefer went through various sections in the report.
Mr. Edlebeck mentioned that much of the report includes information that is mandated by regulators. He suggested that Mr. Kiefer add additional information if he thinks it is necessary. Furthermore, Mr. Edlebeck asked Mr. Kiefer to go through the “Treatment Process” section and make sure it doesn’t include the precise location of critical infrastructure. Mr. Kiefer indicated that he would go through the section and make any necessary changes before sending them out to the member utilities.
It was moved by Mr. Edlebeck, seconded by Ms. Reiss, and unanimously approved to approve the 2017 Annual Water Quality Report as presented at the meeting.
MANAGER’S REPORT
- Plant staff performed annual maintenance on the compressed air system which included the replacement of the desiccant in the air dryer.
- Raw water turbidity has been fluctuating erratically. Consequently, more alum and polymer have been used than expected.
- Plant staff cleaned out unused wires and equipment connected to the control cabinet in the old chemical feed room. Plant staff intends to update the equipment in that cabinet as part of the 2018 SCADA Upgrade Project.
- Plant staff is continuing to perform annual filter maintenance.
- Staff from the Sheboygan water utility met with our staff to discuss operation and maintenance topics.
- Amber Gerdman started as an Intern on February 20.
During this time, Mr. Edlebeck asked if Focus on Energy has ever gone through the plant and offer suggestion for improving energy efficiency. Mr. Kiefer explained they had gone through several years ago and improvements have been made. He then indicated that perhaps it is time for them to go through the plant again.
Mr. Botcher asked if Mr. Kiefer will be budgeting future building improvements. In particular, he indicated that there is some rust coming through by the roof area and there are icicles forming along the folded roof.
Mr. Kiefer mentioned that the replacement of the flat roof membranes is part of the capital improvement plan. His staff recently discussed the icicles and are trying to come up with a solution. He will look into the rust issue and make a plan for addressing it.
NEXT MEETING
The next regular meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 8:00 AM.
ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Ms. Reiss, seconded by Mr. Edlebeck, and unanimously carried to adjourn at 8:45 A.M.