MOUNTAIN PARKS ELECTRIC, INC.
Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
Granby, Colorado
July 9, 2020
8:00 A.M.
Attendance
Present: Jeff Hauck, Carl Trick, and Mark Johnston in person. Mark Volt, Liz McIntyre, Kristen Taddonio, Justin Fosha, Richard Zieff, Rich Trostel, Stacie Dellamano, Rob Taylor, Jessica Rahn, Michelle Kloss and Levi Williamson via Zoom Meetings.
Call to Order
President Jeff Hauck called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m.
Determination of Quorum
A quorum was declared.
Minutes
The Board reviewed minutes from the June 11, 2020 meeting. Director McIntyre corrected that last paragraph regarding litigation should be legislation.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to approve the minutes as presented with the modification above.
Attorney Summary Fees Report
The Board reviewed Attorney Williamson’s summary fees report. There were no questions.
Manager’s Report
The General Manager’s Report as prepared by Mark Johnston was reviewed. Johnston reported that Mountain Parks Electric received individual hand sanitizers from Fraser Valley Distilling and distributed them to the Mountain Family Center and they will also be distributed through the drive up window at Mountain Parks Electric.
Bryce Carter from Solar United joined the meeting via Zoom.
Manager’s Report Continued
Johnston also reported that he has spoken with a recruiter for the Safety position as both individuals that were offered the position ended up declining. Johnston reported on the fiber backbone which will be discussed further in executive session. He discussed providing clarification to members as to what exactly it is and why it is needed. It was also reported that Cliff Anderson was interested in Mountain Parks Winter Park property and was supposed to provide an offer, however hasn’t provided one yet, another offer has been received. Johnston reported that the first recipient of the Employee Recognition program was received by Jessica Rahn for her work with the insurance program.
Public Comment
Solar United Neighbors Representative Bryce Carter introduced Solar United Neighbors concept to the board. Solar United Neighbors is a non-profit vendor neutral cooperative that works to provide solar for all. Mr. Carter asked for board members and employees of Mountain Parks Electric to sign up for the Solar United Neighbors Committee. Directors Taddonio, McIntyre and Hauck all expressed an interest in being on the committee, however not all wanted to represent Mountain Parks Electric. Discussion ensued to elect a board member to represent Mountain Parks on the committee at the next board meeting.
Discussion/Action Item A: Election for All Officers and Trade Associations
MOTION: Motion for unanimous ballot for all positions to remain as they are, motion was seconded. Discussion ensued where Director Taddonio asked for secretary and treasurer be separated and assistant treasurer/secretary be done away with for all other directors as well as nominated herself to be secretary. It was properly moved, seconded and approved to amend previous motion with Director Trick voting no. It was properly moved, seconded and approved to unanimously approve the amended motion to elect Jeff Hauck as president, Richard Zieff as vice president, Justin Fosha as treasurer and Kristen Taddonio as secretary.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and approved to elect Carl Trick to represent Mountain Parks Electric at Tri-State.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and approved to elect Richard Zieff to represent Mountain Parks Electric at Western United
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and approved to elect Jeff Hauck to represent Mountain Parks Electric at CREA.
Minutes
The board review special meeting minutes from May 5, 2020.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to approve the minutes as is.
Discussion/Action Item D: Compensation Plan with Employer’s Council
Brian Ayers and Kimberly Landon entered the meeting via Zoom.
Ayers presented information regarding the Pay Equity Act that goes into effect January 1, 2021. Employees will have the right to sue regarding pay discrimination. Employers must show good faith that they are making adjustments to inequities in pay. Employer’s Council is evaluating and will make recommendations based on vulnerabilities that they find to protect Mountain Parks Electric from potential court issues in the future. Employer’s Council will present a report in the upcoming months with these recommendations to the board during an executive session.
Discussion/Action Item B: C-1 Communication Policy
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to approve this policy as is and to make it public.
Discussion/Action Item C: C-2 Donations Policy
There was discussion that clarity was needed as to which monies this policy covers. Amendment requested to include a line to clarify that Green Power, Charitable Trust, Education Fund and Mountain Parks Services are subject to other policies.
Tabled until August’s Meeting
Discussion/Action Item E: Ratification of Electrify Everything Limits
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to ratify the Electrify Everything Limits discussed in special meeting held in June.
Discussion/Action Item F: Ratification of FERC Settlement Collaboration
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to ratify FERC Settlement Collaboration discussed in special meeting held in June.
Discussion/Action Item G: Grand Classic Golf Tournament
General Manager Johnston stated that Mountain Parks Electric was asked to have a team for the Grand Classic Golf Tournament and asked Directors if they would like to be on a team. Director Trick volunteered and stated that two past employees would like to be on the team as well, so they only needed one additional golfer.
Discussion/Action Item H: Colorado PUC Survey Request
General Manager Johnston asked the board if there was any objection to Mountain Parks Electric participating with this survey. The Board had no objections.
Discussion/Action Item I: RESP Documents
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to approve these documents for signature.
Engineering Report
The engineering report as prepared by Simmons was reviewed.
Operations & Safety Report
The Operations and Safety Report as prepared by Trostel was reviewed.
Trostel reported no lost time accidents on the safety report. Trostel has been implementing weekly safety meetings through Zoom which has helped with cohesion between the outposts and the Granby groups.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to approve the Safety Report as presented.
Finance Report
The Finance Report as prepared by Dellamano was reviewed. Dellamano presented that our margins look good and that delinquency is within historical norms.
Information Technology Report
The Information Technology Report as prepared by Joe Palmer was reviewed.
Human Resources and Administration Report
The Human Resources and Administration Report as prepared by Jessica Rahn was reviewed. Manager Rahn will be out starting in August and Michelle will be Rahn’s backup for leave, recruiting and hiring. General Manager Johnston will be addressing performance management and compensation questions. Rahn explained that current labor surplus doesn’t mean positions will be easy to fill due to skills not matching job descriptions. Retention and recruitment will still be needed to target specialized groups.
Member Relations and Communications Report
The Member Relations and Communications Report as prepared by Rob Taylor was reviewed.
Bills for Payment
The Board reviewed the list of cash disbursements for July 2020.
Board Open Forum
Tri-State Board:
MOTION: It was moved to send Director Trick as voting member at Tri-State’s Annual meeting. Discussion ensued that there might be an issue having Director Trick as voting member due to his fiduciary responsibility to each entity. Director Zieff proceeded to elect himself which was properly seconded and carried to elect Director Zieff to be Mountain Park Electric’s voting representative at the annual meeting.
Cooperative Finance Corporation:
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and carried to elect Director McIntyre to represent Mountain Parks Electric with Cooperative Finance Corporation.
National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC):
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and carried to elect General Manager Johnston to represent Mountain Parks Electric with NCSC.
Director Zieff reported that Western United had a record month.
Next meeting for Western United will be held at the end of August. Zieff reported that there has been discussion for additional compensation for Western United’s board officers.
Director McIntyre reported that the next Green Power meeting will be August 11th.
Director Trick reported Tri-State will be having their annual meeting in Wyoming.
Tri-State will be doing Strategic Planning for 1.5 days and then the meeting will be held after. There are no known voting issues. Trick reported that Tri-State’s IT person is retiring and they will not be rehiring for this position. Tri-State had a small meeting with managers to find cost saving reductions. Partial requirement Contract filed with FERC July 10th 9 out of 42 members responded to survey. Six are interested and three are not. Basin wouldn’t let Nebraska coops participate. There was controversy over contract committee not reviewing all aspects of the Partial Requirement Contract. New policy 122 implemented for wholesale prices for electric vehicle chargers. FERC cannot delay rulings any longer, they must answer within 60 days.
Director Hauck reported CREA will be holding classes in September and limiting their classes to 30 people.
Old Business
No old business reported
New Business
Wild Fire resolution is on the agenda for the virtual regional meetings October 12-16. Mountain Parks Electric is considering options to help with fire prevention including changing circuit to non-reclose so that it doesn’t trip more than once to reduce fire risk.
Tracking model for Strategic Plan. Zero contacts is an important piece of this and will continue to be reported monthly and recorded on the tracking sheet semi-annually.
Mountain Parks Services
No meeting required.
Executive Session
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded, and carried to go into executive session for confidential discussion regarding legal, financial and personnel matters. All directors, General Manager Johnston and Attorney Williamson attended the executive session. It was properly moved, seconded and carried to come out of executive session.
MOTION: It was properly moved, seconded and carried to authorize Mark Johnston to negotiate with WRC and SBA regarding a potential partnership on MPEI’s fiber backbone project.