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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 Minutes BWL Official Minutes Appmved on 7.27-15 W MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT November 18, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, 2014. Chairperson David Price called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner Cynthia Ward The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Anthony McCloud led the Pledge of Allegiance. " c°� 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES ? Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve'thEPRegular Board Meeting minutes of September 23, 2014. Action: Motion Carried PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS There were no Communications COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE November 11, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters— Reo Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Margaret Bossenbery called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the Roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, David Price, Cynthia Ward, Thomas Tracy and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner Anthony McCloud. The Corporate Secretary called a quorum. Public Comment No Public Comment Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of September 9, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Regional Customer Input Chair Bossenbery invited Regional customers or representatives to address the Board. Delta Township Supervisor Ken Fletcher, commented the Board of Water& Light and the Board of Commissioners on changes that have been made operationally and functionally since the ice storm. He stated that Delta Township is pleased with the changes and the communication between the BWL and Delta Township has improved dramatically and stated that Calvin Jones has been doing a tremendous job keeping in contact with the Township. Mr. Fletcher stated concerns regarding water rate increases. After some discussion regarding the percentage of water rate increases General Manager Lark and Mr. Fletcher suggested there should be further discussion with water management. Mr. Fletcher stated that Delta Township was very pleased with the recent vote regarding additional regional representation on the Board of Commissioners. Resolution for 2015 Regular Board Meeting Dates Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to forward the Resolution for the 2015 Board meeting dates the full Board for consideration. 2 Action: Motion Carried Chair Bossenbery acknowledge any of the Veterans in the audience and stated the Board's appreciation for their service to the country. Energy Optimization Update Mr. Lark stated that there has been discussion of the ability of the Erickson Power Plant to remove Mercury from the air. Beginning December 3`d the Board of Water & Light will be operating the mercury removal system at the Erickson Plant and there will be adjustments made to bring the system to its optimum level. Mr. Lark stated at the request of Commissioner Louney he asked John Kinch, Director of Michigan Energy Options (MEO), to address the Board on what his company does as well as what they do for the BWL. General Manager Lark introduced Sue Warren, Manager of Energy and Eco Strategies to present an update on Energy Optimization. Sue Warren stated that the BWL now has five years of energy optimization programs and that we have recently added a couple of pilot programs. Ms. Warren reviewed the Public Act 295 that went into effect in 2008 and that it requires electric utilities to implement energy saving programs to reduce their sales. Ms. Warren stated that the Board of Water & Light launched programs in April 2009 and that our management team was already planning energy efficiency programs for our customers. All that Public Act 295 did was to help us define our goals. We do have implementation contractors that help us with these programs and that MEO is one of the contractors for our residential and low income programs. Ms. Warren stated that the Board of Water & Light's program goals have always exceeded MWh goals and have come in under budget since the second year of inception. Also, we have the Million Kilowatt Hour Club. Our Technical Energy Audit (TEA) for non-profits, which we have done audits on 20 nonprofits in the Lansing area and this year we have expanded that to restaurants. The LED Holiday Light exchange we have handed out over 73,000 LED holiday light and recycled 10,000. Our latest pilot program is Michigan Saves Financing which we are collaborating with Consumers Energy. This is where we are offering our residential customers .99%financing for energy projects. MSUFCU is the lender and they can borrow from $1,000 to $30,000 dollars up to 10 years. For businesses we are offering a rate of 2.99% and they can borrow from $2,000 to $75,000 and Ascentium Capital, LLC is the lender for them. Currently we have 17 residential loans and 2 business loans. Commissioner Zerkle asked what are the kinds of projects are being allowed. 3 Ms. Warren stated that anything that would save kilowatt hours or natural gas or energy in general. For example the 17 residential loans that we have seen come through are a combination of high efficiency gas furnace, a magnesium motor on that furnace and central air conditioning system. Commissioner Zerkle asked if we help make arrangements for the loan. Ms. Warren stated that arrangements for loans are done through a contractor and we pay down on the part when the projects are complete. Commissioner Zerkle asked how the programs get introduced to the general public. Ms. Warren stated that we do a lot of events in the community and that the information is on the Hometown Energy Savers website and Steve Serkaian helps as well. One of the things we are going to do, that we just finalized this week, that for anyone who is going to be recycling their refrigerator or air conditioner they can donate their incentive to the Greater Lansing Food Bank and then they will get the tax receipt. Commissioner Price asked if there was an income requirement to obtain a loan. Ms. Warren state that there was no income requirement and that it is available to everyone. That in fact we are looking on the business side to start offering 0%for 24 months starting in January . John Kinch presented to the board a brief description of what MEO does and how they have been working with the BWL. Mr. Finch stated that MEO is a local non-profit with the mission is to help communities move toward being more energy efficient and sustainable. Mr. Finch stated that MEO is working with the BWL on the Energy Optimization Program for residential and low income customers. Resolutions to Adopt Ethics,Training & Record Retention Policies for Pension Trustees Mr. Lark stated that the three resolutions discuss the fiduciary responsibilities as Pension Trustees to the retirement pension of the Defined Benefit Plan, Defined Contribution Plan and the VEBA Plan. In 2012 Act 347 passed and the law requires the Board to prepare and maintain written policies regarding ethics and professional education and training including travel, which polices contain clearly defined accountable and reporting requirements for the systems investment fiduciary. It also requires that a system should retain its financial records for a minimum of 6 years. What we have done is assembled these three resolutions for the Board and these are what you might call the best practices from our consultants at Merill Lynch and they have also been reviewed by our General Council for consistency with our existing policies. Mr. Lark respectfully requested that the Board approve the three proposed resolutions listed below and they be forwarded to the full board for approval. 4 • Retirements System Code of Conduct and Ethics • Retirement System Education and Travel Policy • Retirement System Records Retention Policy and Records Retention and Disposal Schedule Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to forward the 3 presented Resolutions to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried CRT/PSC Update Mr. Lark presented the list of remaining recommendations from the CRT, PSC and the BWL list of recommendations. Mr. Lark stated that the ones that have been accomplished since the last reporting period are highlighted in yellow. Mr. Lark stated that there have been a total of 134 recommendations and practices completed or have become an ongoing part of our policies and procedures. Of the 39 remaining to be undertaken, 29 will be completed by the Emergency Operations Manager whom we have already discussed is Trent Atkins and he will be starting on November 17th. The recommendations for Mr. Atkins will focus on collaboration with local units of governments, an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate emergency response plans, to recommend and coordinate emergency training to the BWL staff, to consolidate the BWL emergency and business continuity plans and to collaborate with a variety of local institutions to build community resiliency to major emergencies. We are very proud to have Mr. Atkins with us. Mr. Lark stated that on December 15th the BWL Management will be undergoing 4 hours of Nation Incident Management System Training that was recommended to the Board and senior staff in the CRT and PSC recommendations, Board members are invited to attend. In addition the Emergency Manager will be scheduling a table top storm restoration exercise sometime in the first two weeks of January and the Board members will be invited to attend that. Mr. Lark stated that as an ongoing responsibility the Emergency Manager will be making training opportunities available to the Board. In addition the BWL staff over the next year will be explaining various aspects of our electric and water operations to the Board to help give a better understanding of the infrastructure and how our productions transmission systems work. Mr. Lark stated that we are continuing to assist with building community resiliency. Last Saturday was the BWLs first trainer program that is being undertaken with the Red Cross. This program offers training to neighborhood leaders who in turn provide information to residents in being prepared for an emergency. We are also meeting with the Lansing Police Department 5 and Neighborhood Watch Captains to inform them on readiness resources available and to invite them to the trainer program. Mr. Lark stated that we are still receiving authorization from senior and medical alert customers to share their status. To date we have received permission from 114 medical alert customer and almost 4000 seniors. In addition to identify these callers and assist them, new call flow changes have been added to our external call support vendor which we call TFCC this functionality will allow our customers to be identified on more than just their phone numbers. We are working to have them be identified through a combination of their address and last four digits of their Social Security Number. Of course this will help identify the location for which the caller is reporting an outage or making a service request. Mr. Lark stated that one of major improvements in the BWL electric restoration plan has been the adoption of a set of triggers that initiate storm planning. This includes storms having a rating of 1 to 4 and a type, each rating automatically triggers a different resource deployment. So when a storm is forecasted for the Lansing area staff monitors closely the approaching storm and gives it a rating based on the predicted storm type and intensity,then a planning meeting is conducted to confirm resources are available and stand-by assignments are made. Mr. Lark stated that in order to assist in the storm restoration we have had a major effort to increase what we call C-spotter staffing. The C-spotters are those who guard the lines when they are down. We have now trained a total of 301 of BWL staff and for our A and B spotter crews we have 32 BWL spotter crews in addition to outside contractors and mutual aide crews and we have the ability together, with our outside support,to field 70 restoration crews. Mr. Lark stated that together with our best practices crisis communication plan, and our highly enhanced communication options, our customers now can call in on the phone, they can go to the internet, they can go to the smart phone app and very shortly we are going to announce a text ability service as well. Mr. Lark stated that with the enhanced communication options for the customers, the updated restoration plan, the training exercises, and the outreach programs, the fixes to our OMS and backup systems the BWL has dramatically improved its ability to respond to emergency events. New Customer Update Mr. Lark introduced Ray Moore the Manager of Customer Projects to give the Board an update on new customers for the BWL. Ray Moore stated that in the past year we have completed and signed service agreements for several significant projects. • Gillespie Projects o Midtown and Marketplace Apartments • Capstone Collegiate Communities in East Lansing 6 • Eastwood Town Center o The Hyatt o Fairfield Inn o DTN Apartment Complex • Jackson National Life Expansion • The Marriot in East Lansing Expansion • Niowave Research Facility Mr. Lark stated that all the projects that are not within the City of Lansing were all in competition and that Mr. Moore did a tremendous job getting those projects to sign on with the BWL. Mr. Moore then mentioned upcoming projects the BWL will be pitching to. • Caddis Development Two Story Mixed Use building • MSUFCU Complex Data Center Expansion • Sparrow Hospital Expansion • The Outfield Project— Improvements to the Cooley Law School Stadium and Apartments • General Motors expansion at the Grand River Plant • General Motors Expansion at the Delta Township Plant • Magna Facility • Whole Foods • Red Cedar Renaissance Project Framework for Creating a Strategic Plan Mr. Lark then introduced George Stojic, Executive Director of, to go over the framework for creating a new Strategic Plan and Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Mr. Stojic stated that since the last time we updated our plans we have met a number of objections identified. With some major changes in the industry it is both timely and appropriate to take a look at those plans and begin to develop new ones. Mr. Stojic stated that the strategic plan starts with the mission or purpose of why the utility exists. The Strategic Plan then adopts strategies to meet that goal for an uncertain future. It also identifies the strengths and weaknesses of an organization to determine what kind of resources are going to be needed in the future to meet the goals. Mr. Stojic stated that the plan is broad in nature and really deals with the value the BWL will bring to the community in the future. Mr. Stojic stated that the IRP is a more focused planning process that has to do with resource planning. For example, how will the BWL replace the generating capacity and energy supplied by our older coal units that are going to have to be retired in the future? It looks at both the risks and trade off involved in the resources. 7 Mr. Stojic stated that the planning process will start after the VY of the year and at the January Committee of the Whole meeting they will be presenting a more detailed plan on how we want to go forward. Resolution Directing the General Manager to Provide Recommendations Regarding Board Policies for Governance After a lengthy discussion regarding the Board's input on policy recommendations it was determined that any recommendations or developments be presented to the Executive Committee and that committee would bring any concepts to the Committee of the Whole for consideration and this action does not require a Resolution. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Price to Direct General Manager Lark to provide recommendations regarding board policies for governance. Action: Motion Carried Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioenr Mullen to excuse Commissioner Anthony McCloud from tonight's meeting. Action: Motion Carried Other Commissioner Bossenbery congratulated Commissioner Thomas the 2014 Uplift Our Youth Child Advocate Award. Commissioner Louney acknowledged the following: • Sue Warren and Ray Moore for today's presentations • Resident of E. Laisng for acknowledging the good work on the tree trimming in their areas • The addition of Trent Atkins as the Board of Water & Light's Emergency Manager • New article titled "Too Curious Cat" in the Lansing State Journal, about BWL workers rescuing a cat • Sue Devon for receiving the Philanthropist of the Year award. Adiourn Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to adjourn the meeting at 6:46 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Margaret Bossenbery Chair, Committee of the Whole FINANCE COMMITTEE 8 November 11, 2014 The Finance Committee of the Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters — REO Town Depot located as 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 6:55 on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Finance Committee Chairperson Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen and Sandra Zerkle; Also present, Commissioner Price and Ward Absent: None The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum. Public Comments There was no Public Comment Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes of September 9, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously Proposed Resolution Authority to Invest Operating and Pension Funds RESOLVED, that Board of Water and Light Policy 7-01 "Authority to Invest Operating and Pension Funds" is hereby amended as follows: RESOLVED, that the General Manager and the Chief Administrative Officer shall be authorized to establish all necessary cash and investment accounts and to enter into all necessary transactions and agreements required to provide for the investment of operating and pension funds in the name of the Board of Water and Light (BWL), in such securities as permitted by law. Allowable transactions include, but are not limited to, the purchase, sale, and endorsement for transfer of certificates representing said securities. All transactions must also be in compliance with the then current BWL Pension and Operating Fund Investment Policies. RESOLVED, that the General Manager and/or the Chief Administrative Officer may delegate full or limited investment authority to other specified BWL staff. The General Manager and/or 9 Chief Administrative Officer shall document the extent of authority delegated as well as the specific BWL staff receiving said authority. Only employees with actual, documented authority may be permitted to execute investment activities. The Revenue Bond Act of 1933 (PA 94 of 1933, MSA5.2731), as amended, Act 20 of 1943, as amended, and BWL Bond Resolution 89-10-3 govern and restrict the investment of BWL operating funds. Pension funds are governed by the Public Retirement System Investment Act (MCL 38.1132 et seq.), as amended. This resolution supersedes Resolution 2009-12-8 General Manager Lark stated that due to organizational and title changes, this resolution is necessary to incorporate the new title and or position of the Chief Administrative Officer. General Manager Lark respectfully requested the Board to forward the proposed Resolution of signature authority to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, seconded by Commissioner Mullen. Action: Motion Carried Purchasing Policy Report General Manager Lark provided an annual update on the Board of Water& Light's Procurement Policy. General Manager Lark reviewed the following: • Sole source contracts in an amount equal to or greater than $5,000 • Emergency contracts in an amount equal to or greater than $5,000 General Manager Lark stated the two above have been combined, and within that combination there are 3 groups: o Group 1 is Non-Stock Material and Services o Group 2 is Contract Releases o Group 3 is Stock Material • Contracts with a term exceeding thirty-six consecutive months— General Manager Lark stated that there are two contracts both of which are greater than three years which provide a good attractive financial rate for the BWL. o Lime and Gypsum for the Water Plant o General Electric Railcar Service Company for leasing of railcars • Mr. Lark stated that there was no litigation to report. Quarterly Financial Update General Manager reviewed the 15t Quarter Financial Report. Actual v. Budgeted Variance in Combined Utility Net Income Fiscal Year to Date September 30, 2014 Compared to FY 2015 Budget 10 ($000) Budgeted Net Income 4,545 Changes in Operating Income: Re\enue Changes(net of fuell Retail Electric (362) Wholesale Electric (1,413) Water Sales (557) Steam Sales (313) Chilled Water Sales (85) Operating Expense Changes Depreciation 700 Labor, Material,and Other 4,688 Other 283 Subtotal Changes in Operating Income 2,941 Changes in Other Income: Interest Earnings (423) Other Income 172 Return on Equity 475 All Other-Non-Operating Variances 13 Subtotal Changes in Other Income 236 Actual Net Income 7,722 Revised Combined Utility Net Income Projection Fiscal Year 2015 Based on 15t Quarter Operating Results Net Income Projection - FY2015 (000s) Net Income-Original Budget-Annual $ 2,534 FYTD Favorable Income Variance (S7,723 actual minus$4,545 budget) $ 3,178 Temporary O&M Expense Timing Differences 5 (4,688) Temporary Non-Operating Income Timing Differences $ 239 Projected Net Income $ 1,262 General Manager Lark stated that the Financial Management Team is beginning their first quarter budget reviews to see if the budgeted net income really is $4.5 million or if it is $5.6 million or$3.6 million. Mr. Lark said that we are hoping to have a net income of$2.5 million but taking into account other expenses that might come in we could have a net income of$1.2 million rather than $2.5 million we hope for. 11 Proposed Resolution Directing GM to present recommendations to the Board Regarding Future Reporting of Financial Information Metrics After discussion regarding what and how information should be provided to the Board it was determined that this business would be set in action by a directive motion and not a resolution. Resolution Directing General Manager to Provide Recommendations Regarding Future Reporting of Financial Information and Metrics WHEREAS,the May 5, 2014 Community Review Team Report recommended that the Lansing Board of Water& Light institute a training process for all board members in Carver or other policy governance models and, further, to implement and use the model and continue board training on an ongoing basis, and WHERAS,the members of the finance committee of the Lansing Board of Water& Light participated in a day long governance training on October 28, 2014, and WHEREAS,the members of the finance committee intends to discuss and determine appropriate financial information and metrics to be submitted periodically to the committee, therefore be it RESOLVED,that the General Manager is hereby directed to provide recommendations regarding future reporting of financial information and metrics to the finance committee at its January 2015 meeting for further discussion and consideration by the committee members. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, to Direct General Manager Lark to present recommendations directly to the Board of future reporting and financial information. (Not done by Resolution) Action: Motion Carried Internal Audit Status update Internal Auditor Phil Perkins presented a brief overview of: • FY 2015 Audit Plan Progress Report • Plan for Remainder of FY 2015 FY 2015 Audit Plan Progress Report Engagements Completed or in Progress: 1. Surprise Cash Count#1—completed 2. Time Reporting Review#1 - completed 3. Material Inventory—85% completed 4. Health & Drug Benefit Programs Audit—33% completed 5. Engineering (Annual Projects) —fieldwork just underway Plan for Remainder of FY 2015 Engagements Planned: 12 1. Operational Audit of BWL Responsive Actions to Selected Recommendations—planned to start late Winter or early Spring of 2015 2. IT—Payment Card Industry Compliance—planned to start in January 2015 3. IT— Management of Non-Desktop Field Devices—planned to start in Spring 2015 4. Surprise Cash Count#2 5. Time Reporting Review#2 Commissioner Louney asked if there might be a need to bring in outside assistance on the audit in the IT field. Mr. Perkins stated that between himself, possibly assistance from within the organization and working with the IT Department on these two audits that bringing in outside assistance will not be necessary. Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery, the meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted Dennis M. Louney Chair Finance Committee VW ., �..,�. BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT PENSION FUND TRUSTEES' ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, November 11, 2014 The Pension Fund Trustees' of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters— REO town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 7:14 on Tuesday, November 11, 2014. Chairperson David Price called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Trustees Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, David Price, Cynthia Ward, Sandra Zerkle and Tony Mullen Absent: Trustees Anthony McCloud and Tracy Thomas Public Comments There were no public comments. Approval of Minutes On Motion by Trustee Bossenbery and Seconded by Trustee Ward to approve the minutes of October S, 2013 Pension Fun Trustees' Annual Meeting Minutes Action: Motion Carried FY 2014 Financial Information FY 2014 Financial Information Relative to DB. DC and VEBA plan and Proposed Resolution Adopting the Audited Financial Statements 13 General Manager J. Peter Lark introduced Susan Devon to provide an overview of the different Pension Plans. Ms. Devon, Chief Administrative Officer, provided information on the Defined Benefit and VEBA Trust Plans. Ms. Devon stated that the data included in the packets includes a copy of both funds' audited financial reports, the most recent actuarially report and the plans' performance information for the period ended in 2014. Also, included are summary annual reports for both funds that are required by PA 347 of 2012. Defined Benefit Plan Ms. Devon stated that the Defined Benefit (DB) Plan currently has 26 active employees and 413 Retirees and beneficiaries. As of our valuation date of February 2013 the plan had $80 million in plan assets and our plan liabilities were at$70 million. We are over funded by$10 million dollars which means we have a Funded Ration of 114.5%. We had $14.2 million dollars of investment gains for our fiscal year on our plan assets which equals to about 18% return, compared to last year we had about $10 million dollars in investment gains. We paid out $85 million in benefits and our fees were $579,000 on the DB Plan. Retirement Pension Plan—VEBA Ms. Devon stated that in the VEBA Trust we have 667 active employees and 693 retirees and beneficiaries. The plan assets were $148 million at the valuation date and the plan liabilities were $195 million dollars. We are 76.3%funded, last year we were 45%funded, we are making great progress. We had $25.7 million dollars in investment income which was equated to approximately 17% return on our assets, last year we had $15.7 in investment returns. We paid out $9 million dollars in benefits and the fees were approximately $962,000 dollars. Commissioner Zerkle asked at what level do we stop putting the money into one of the plans. Ms. Devon stated that we are not putting any money into our DB plan at this point in time. General Manager Lark stated that the VEBA is not fully funded but he believes it to be very well funded relative to other VEBAs. Ms. Devon stated that she also believes that we are very well funded. She stated that compared to the City of Lansing who does not have any money funded for their health care at this point in time and that the State is moving to try and fund their health care benefits. For us we have been moving this way for quite a few years and we are trying over a 15 year period to be 100% funded in our VEBA trust and we are on track to achieving that. Defined Contribution Plan—401A Ms. Devon stated that the data in the packet for the Defined Contribution (DC) Plan or 401A includes a copy of the audited financial report, an investment performance report called the Plan Service Report. The DC Plan was established in 1997. Currently we have 682 active employees and 140 retirees and beneficiaries. The DC Plan assets at the evaluation date were $169 million dollars and that was an increase of$23 million dollars over last year. The Board of Water and Light contributed $5 million dollars to the DC Plan in fiscal year 2014. The DC plan paid out $8 million dollars in benefits and we have total fees of$956,000 dollars. We have seen steady growth in the plan since 2009 and last fiscal year our rate of return was over 16%. As you may recall, last year we did establish a payroll deduction for Roth IRA and we have 128 employees who have decided to participate in that plan. There are about $1.5 million dollars of assets in the Roth IRA. So this has been a very successful new option we have offered to our employees. 14 Overall, our employees are considered to be slightly more aggressive in their investment portfolios than other typical ICMA investors. We do see a trend in our employees decreasing their portfolio risk over time to mirror their age. Ms. Devon stated that our DC Plan does allow employees to take loans out against their plan. We do have 403 loans outstanding in the plan and there were 121 new loans this year and the total loan balance for all of the loans outstanding were about $4.4 million dollars. Anybody can go in and borrow against the DC Plan to the lesser of$50,000 or 50% of the balance that they have in that plan and they can have no more than 2 loans outstanding at any time. Commissioner Zerkle asked if the current loans out affect the overall program or just the individual. Ms. Devon stated that is does affect the individual, there are $169 million dollars of funds invested in everybody's individual accounts and then from that we have $4.4 million dollars that have been bond against that. One thing that we would want to be watching for is loans that could potentially be defaulted on and that would hurt our employees. Ms. Devon stated that because our employees are responsible for making their own decisions of how they would like their retirement money invested, we do try to provide education meetings for them. ICMA did provide 333 meetings in 2013 and another additional 268 through September of this year. Ms. Devon believes that shows that the employees are interested and trying to be educated to make wise decisions on their retirement accounts. We did have 305 attendees go to 15 different presentations that ICMA put on for us and those presentations covered things like Estate planning, Social Security, Investing in Volatile Markets and Retirement Readiness Report. We did have a Retirement plan specialist on site for 90 days during this year and our Certified Financial Planner was also on site for 93 days. We did have employees attending and meeting with them during those times. Commissioner Zerkle commented that she thought the educational meetings were a great option for our employees. Commissioner Bossenbery asked if we have many defaults on the loans. Ms. Devon stated that we do have some. General Manager J. Peter Lark respectfully asked the Board Trustees to approve the resolution for the acceptance of the 2014 Audited Financial Statements for the Defined Benefit Plan (DB), Defined Contribution Plan (DC) and the Retiree Benefit Plan known as VEBA and that the Corporate Secretary receives and places these on file. Motion by Trustee Bossenbery, Seconded by Trustee Mullen, to approve the following resolution: RESOLUTION ACCEPTANCE OF 2014 AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR DEFINED BENEFIT PENSIONS PLAN, DEFINED CONTRIBUTION OENSION PLAN, AND RETIREE BENEFIT PLAN (VEBA) 15 Resolved, that the Corporate Secretary receive and place on file the Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, and Retiree Benefit Pension reports presented during the Pension Trustee Meeting. Staff Comments:All three Plans received clean audit reports. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTIONS: ETHICS, TRAINING AND RECORD RETENTION Board Chair Price stated that the resolutions re: 1) Retirements System Code of Conduct and Ethics, 2) Retirement System Education and Travel Policy and 3) Retirement System Records Retention Policy and Records Retention and Disposal Schedule, were considered during the Committee of the Whole meeting and will be brought before the full Board at next week's Regular Board meeting. Acknowledging and receiving the Resolutions in this packet serves as notice to the Trustees. Excused Absence Motion by Trustee Ward and Seconded by Bossenbery to excuse Trustees McCloud and Thomas from tonight's meeting Action: Motion Carried On Motion by Trustee Bossenbery and Seconded by Trustee Mullen with no further business, the Pension Fund Trustees meeting adjourned at 7:34. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS General Manager Lark respectfully requested that the Board approve the following Resolution: RESOLUTION#2014-11-01 Retirement System Code of Conduct and Ethics WHEREAS, the Lansing Board of Water & Light's Retirement System ("Retirement System") , which consist of the Defined Benefit Plan, Defined Contribution Plan and the Retiree Benefit Plan (also known as VEBA) is administered in accordance with the provisions of Public Act 314 of 1965, as amended ("Act 314"), applicable plan documents, and local, state and federal laws, and WHEREAS, the Lansing Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners ("Board") is vested with the general administration, management, and operation of the Retirement System, and has a fiduciary responsibility to make decisions solely in the interest of plan members and beneficiaries, and WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that it is subject to the provisions of the Public Employee Retirement System Investment Act, Michigan Public Act 314 of 1965 ("Act 314"), as amended [MCL 38.1132 et seq.], wherein the Board and its appointed Trustees is required to act as a prudent investor in all transactions related to Retirement System funds and assets by 16 discharging its duties solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries, and shall act with the same care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a similar capacity and familiar with those matters would use in the conduct of a similar enterprise with similar aims; and with due regard for the management, reputation, and stability of the issuer and the character of the particular investments being considered, and WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that in order for the participants and beneficiaries of the Retirement System to have the best representation it is imperative for the representatives of the Retirement System to participate in Board business, including Board meetings, continuing education programs, and due diligence evaluations of current and potential investments, and WHEREAS, due to the fiduciary responsibilities entrusted to the Board, all Retirement System representatives are encouraged to participate in Board business and maintain the highest standards of conduct and ethics above the minimum requirements of applicable law and policy, and WHEREAS, while the Lansing Board of Water & Light adheres to the City of Lansing's Ethics Policy, the Board desires to state its policy with regard conduct and ethics as it specifically pertains to administration, management and operation of the Retirement System, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Board, its appointed Trustees and all Retirement System representatives shall conduct official and private affairs so as to avoid giving rise to a reasonable conclusion that he or she can be improperly influenced in the performance of his or her public duty or that he or she is using his or her position and/or role as it relates to the Retirement System to further his or her own financial interests, and further RESOLVED, the Board, its appointed Trustees and all Retirement System representatives shall not do any of the following: (a) accept or solicit any gift, favor, or service that may reasonably tend to influence the discharge of official duties or that he or she knows, or should know, is being offered with the intent to influence his or her official conduct; (b) accept other employment or compensation that could reasonably be expected to impair the independence of judgment in the performance of official duties; (c) intentionally or knowingly solicit, accept, or agree to accept any benefit for having exercised official powers or for having performed the official duties in favor of another; (d) transact any business in the his or her official capacity with any entity or person in which he or she has an economic interest; 17 (e) appear before the Board or Board of Trustees while acting as an advocate for themselves or any other person, group, or entity; (f) represent any business entity before the Board or Board of Trustees, for pay; (g) use his or her position and/or role to secure a special privilege or exemption for themselves or others, or to secure confidential information for any purpose other than official duties; and (h) intentionally or knowingly disclose any confidential information gained by reason of his or her position and/or role concerning the property, operations, policies or affairs of the Retirement System, or use such confidential information for pecuniary gain, and it is further RESOLVED, that the Board and its appointed Trustees shall provide fair and equal treatment to all persons and matters coming before the Board or Board of Trustees, and it is further RESOLVED, that the Board, its appointed Trustees or designees are expected to and may provide general information to participants, however, the Board, its appointed Trustees or designees shall also be aware of the risk of communicating inaccurate information to participants, and the possible harm to participants that may result from any such miscommunications, and it is further RESOLVED, that the Board, its appointed Trustees or designees shall mitigate the risk of miscommunication with participants by refraining from providing specific detail, advice or counsel with respect to the rights or benefits to which a participant may be entitled, and where explicit advice or counsel is needed, the Board, its appointed Trustees or designees will refer inquiries to the appropriate Retirement System representative, and it is further RESOLVED, that upon becoming aware of a violation of this Policy, the Board, its appointed Trustees, designees or Retirement System representatives shall have a duty to disclose said violation(s) in writing to the Corporate Secretary prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, and it is further RESOLVED, that violation of this Policy by any member of the Board, its appointed Trustees, designees or Retirement System representatives may result in disciplinary action as determined by the remaining Board members, up to and including terminate of employment, removal from service as an officer and or disqualification from service as an officer for the duration of their service on the Board or Board of Trustees, or as otherwise provided by applicable law, and it is further 18 RESOLVED, that the Board shall make this policy resolution available to all current and prospective service providers, as well as the appropriate City, Union, and Departmental Representatives. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, to approve the Resolution for the Retirement System Code of Conduct and Ethics policy. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION #2014-11-02 Retirement System Education and Travel Policy WHEREAS, The Lansing Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners ("Board") is vested with the general administration, management, and operation of the Lansing Board of Water & Light's Retirement System ("Retirement System"), which consist of the Defined Benefit Plan, Defined Contribution Plan and the Retiree Benefit Plan (also known as VEBA) and has fiduciary responsibility to make decisions solely in the interest of plan members and beneficiaries. WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that it is subject to the provisions of the Public Employee Retirement System Investment Act, Michigan Public Act 314 of 1965, as amended. The Board is required to act as a prudent investor in all transactions related to Retirement System funds and assets by discharging its duties solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries and shall act with the same care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a similar capacity and familiar with those matters would use in the conduct of a similar enterprise with similar aims; and with due regard for the management, reputation, and stability of the issuer and the character of the particular investments being considered. WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that in order for the participants and beneficiaries of the Retirement System to have the best representation, it is imperative for the representatives of the Retirement System to participate in Board business, including Board meetings, continuing education programs, and due diligence evaluations of current and potential investments. WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that, consistent with its fiduciary duty and liability, it is necessary and appropriate for Retirement System representatives to attend Board meetings and educational seminars/conferences so that the Board and its appointed Trustees may be made aware of developments regarding Retirement System administration, and so that the Board may further become aware of how persons acting in a like capacity administer their respective retirement systems. WHEREAS, the Board further recognizes that, consistent with its fiduciary duties, it is necessary to conduct regular due diligence on each current and prospective manager and consultant engaged in the ordinary course of business. WHEREAS, due to the fiduciary responsibilities entrusted to the Board, all Retirement System representatives are encouraged to participate in meetings of the Board and maintain educational levels consistent with established fiduciary responsibilities. 19 RESOLVED, the Board hereby strongly recommends that each representative is encouraged etings/conferences/seminars on behalf of the and expected to attend pension related me Retirement System. RESOLVED, the Retirement System representatives are encouraged to attelnd additional s of the Board, and attend one conference per year. Individuals wishing conferences in a year shall request prior Board approval and provide a post conference report to the Board on topics covered. RESOLVED, for each seminar/conference request the following information shall be required: (1) the name of the traveler; (2) the title of the event, seminar, or conference; (3) location of the event, seminar, or conference; (4) the dates of travel; (5) name of hotel, number of nights, and daily rate; (6) registration fees; (7) mode of transportation; (8) cost of travel; (9) other expected incidental costs; (10) advance checks required, including to whom, amount, and reason for the check; (11) copy of promotional brochure for the event, seminar, or conference; and (12) reason for attendance at the event, seminar, or conference citing the benefits received or expected. RESOLVED, the following expenses will be reimbursed so long as proper documentation is provided and filed in accordance ordinary Lansing Board of Water & tTrelLansing Policies and Boar of Procedures, and available for reporting as permitted by the applicable Water & Light Records Retention Policy and Schedule: Registration: Conference fees and actual registration charged by the conference. Transportation: Individuals traveling on Retirement System business will utilize the most economical and efficient means of transportation. effic ento will berallowedsive only uponot he of transportation other than the most economical a approval of the Board or its designee(s). For te purposes he Board's desigBeerd member s he G neraldMor Non- anager Trustee travel, except for the General Manager, or as further delegated by the General Manager. Air fare must be jet coach fare. First class or business class will be allowed only where there is no other service available or urgency exists. Early arrival or Saturday travel is allowed where there is a net gain to the Retirement System. Ground transportation/parking includes airport parking and transportation to and from the conference site and any transportation necessary to conduct Retirement System business. All on individuals traveling to out-of-state conferencesoits designee(s), for their ulseedu rngbthe tpme request and prior approval by the Board period that they are approved for travel. For the purposes of Non-Board member and/or Non-Trustee travel, except for the General Manager, the Board's designee is the General Manager or as further delegated by the General Manager. Flat rate mileage will paid for use of a private vehicle as per the current Internal Revenue Service regulations, plus parking fees. Lodging: Allowance for lodging will be at the lowest rate charged a room hotel facility housing the conference or seminar. If the conference facility upgrades based on availability at the time of registration,the upgrade shall be allowed. Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 21 of 26 Meals: Charges for meals shall be properly documented by either a hotel receipt or credit card voucher and are not to exceed $100 per day, or as otherwise specified in the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policy and Procedure. No alcoholic beverages will be paid for at Board expense. Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous expenses incidental to Retirement System business travel shall be held to a minimum in accordance with essential and reasonable requirements for official conduct of Retirement System business. Individuals will be reimbursed for any miscellaneous expenses that are incurred for the express purpose of Retirement System business and shall include: local transportation (e.g., taxi, bus, subway), telephone calls, postage, tolls, parking. Expenses not allowed include: parking/moving violations, alcohol, entertainment, travel insurance, laundry, valet, or other personal services, repair and maintenance of personal vehicle. Per Diem: Representatives may receive a per diem amount in accordance with the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policies and Procedures. Reimbursement for additional amounts if actual expenses exceed the per diem rate is also allowed in accordance with the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policies and Procedures. To the extent not addressed in applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policies and Procedures the per diem amounts shall be based upon the rates established by the Internal Revenue Service for out-of-state business travel. Advance: An individual may draw an estimated amount of money in advance to cover the expected cost of the trip and expenses connected therewith by submitting an appropriate request in writing to the Board's secretary or as otherwise provided in the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policies and Procedures. Travel advances are limited to a maximum of$500 per day. Upgrades: Any upgrade above all established policy limits shall be at the individual's personal expense, unless otherwise allowed for and defined herein or the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policy and Procedure. Expenses: It is preferred that any anticipated costs are prepaid directly to the charging entity. RESOLVED, failure to provide proper documentation of an expense within 60 days, or as otherwise provided in the applicable Lansing Board of Water & Light Travel Policy and Procedure, may invalidate any claim for reimbursement and will prevent any future advances being provided. RESOLVED, all persons who attend a seminar or conference must earn an attendance or participatory certificate if the seminar or conference sponsor offers such a certificate. The failure to earn such a certificate may result in the particular attendee becoming ineligible to attend any further educational seminars and/or conferences. RESOLVED, any representative(s) who attends an educational seminar or conference shall be required to provide the Board or its designee with the handout materials from the seminar or 21 Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 22 of 26 conference. Satisfaction of this requirement is a condition precedent to reimbursement of any expenses to the attendee. Failure to satisfy this requirement, and failure to earn an attendance or participatory certificate where h n sponsor Ilnfor anyers one, may expenses advancligate the ed ed to the attendee(s) to reimburse the Retirement System attendee(s). For the purposes of Board member, Trustee, General Manager, Corporate to receive Secretary and Internal Auditor attendance, s r the puecrtary is rposes of designated Non Board seminar or conference materials on behalf of the Board Fore member and/or Non-Trustee attendance, the Board's designee is the General Manager or as further delegated by the General Manager. RESOLVED, in accordance with Public Act 314 of 1965, the Board may utilize a portion of the Plan's investment earnings to pay for such expenses. RESOLVED, abuse of the foregoing policy, including falsifying expense reports to reflect costs not incurred, can be grounds for disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, termination of employment; for Board members removal from service as an officer and or disqualification from service as an officer for the duration of their service on the Board. Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud,to approve the Resolution for the Retirement System Education and Travel policy. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-11-03 Retirement System Records Retention P Acy and Records Retention and Disposal Schedule WHEREAS, the Lansing Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners ("Board") is vested with the responsibility to manage and maintain the records of the Lansing Board of Water & Light's Retirement System ("Retirement System"), which consist of the Defined Benefit Plan, Defined Contribution Plan and the Retiree Benefit Plan (also known as VEBA). Light WHEREAS, as required by Michigan Law(MCL 399•5 and Oa Recohds Rete Lansing ioBoard Poli� d D&posal maintains as approved by the Board and State o Michigan Schedule. WHEREAS, as custodian of the records, the Board recognizes its duty to ensure that or Retirement System records are retainedhhicipantallows fandelative ease benefic beneficiary of retrieval/accessibility, as well as protects confidentiality of pat information. RESOLVED, that the Board of Water and Lights' "Records Retention Policy and Disposal Schedule" will be revised as necessary andmaintained llnvest Investment accordance with M chthe ganguidelines c Act forth in the Public Employee RetirementSystem 314 of 1965 as amended which specifies that 22 Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 23 of 26 A system shall retain its financial records for a minimum period of 6 years from the date of the creation of the record unless state or federal law requires a longer retention period. As used in this subsection, "Financial records includes, but is not limited to, records pertaining to expenditures for professional training and education, including travel expenditures, by or on behalf of system board members that are paid by the system. RESOLVED, that this Policy is applicable to public records which are defined as writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by, Board, its Trustees or designees and representatives in the performance of an official function from the time it is created. RESOLVED, the term "writing" shall include handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, and every other means of recording including, but not limited to: letter, words, picture, sounds, symbols, papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films or prints, microfilm, microfiche, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, or other means of recording or retaining meaningful content. RESOLVED, this Policy and Disposal Schedule shall be administered in accordance with the Michigan Freedom of Information Act [MCL 51.231 et seq.] and other applicable laws. RESOLVED, administering this Policy the Board, its Trustees and its designees and representatives recognize that certain Retirement System records (i.e., closed session minutes, disability retirement applications, disability retirement and medical records, legal opinions, and employee/retiree/beneficiary personal information) are to be kept in a locked/secure location. Motion by Commissioner Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Louney,to approve the Resolution for the Retirement System Records Retention Policy and Records Retention and disposal Schedule. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-11-04 Authority to Invest Operating and Pension Funds RESOLVED, that Board of Water and Light Policy 7-01 "Authority to Invest Operating and Pension Funds" is hereby amended as follows: RESOLVED, that the General Manager and the Chief Administrative Officer shall be authorized to establish all necessary cash and investment accounts and to enter into all necessary transactions and agreements required to provide for the investment of operating and pension funds in the name of the Board of Water and Light (BWL), in such securities as permitted by law. Allowable transactions include, but are not limited to, the purchase, sale, and endorsement for transfer of certificates representing said securities. All transactions must also be in compliance with the then current BWL Pension and Operating Fund Investment Policies. 23 Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 24 of 26 D that the General Manager and/or the Chief Administrative Officer may delegate RESOLVE eral Manager full or limited investment authority to other specified Be t staff. faautholrity delegated as well and/or Chief Administrative Officer shall documentonl employees with actual, documented as the specific BWermi ted toff receiving execute investment act vities. authority may be p 943, as The Reve nue Bond Act of 1933 (PA 94 of 1933, MSA5.2731), estrict thedinv l investment of BWL -10-3 govern and amended, and BWL Bond Resof lon 89 e governed by the Public Retirement System Investment operating funds. Pension fun ar Act (MCL 38.1132 et seq.), as amended. This resolution supersedes Resolution 2009-12-8 n es this resolution is necessary to Staff Comments: Due to and/or organizational positions of Chief Administrative Officer. incorporate the new titles a /or p Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery, to approve the Resolution for the Authority to Invest Operating and Pension Funds. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-11-05 TINED HE ACCEPTAN CE OF 2014 AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR T EFIDTEP AN VEBABENEFIT PENSION PLAN DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSION PLAN AND RETIREE B the Defined Benefit, Resolved,that the Corporate Secretary Pe ved and placed on l recension reports presented during the Pension Defined Contribution and Retiree Benefit Trustee Meeting. ---------------------------------- Staff comments: All three Plans received clean audit reports. Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Mullen, to Receive and Place Motion by plans. on File the FY 14 Audited Financial Statements for all three pension p Action: Motion Carried UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTION 2014-11-06 —3�5- 7— 24 Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 25 of 26 BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE In accordance with th e Board of Water & Light's Rules of Administrative Commissioners schedule of dates, places, and times for INovember.ar meeting o t for the calendar year shall be adopted in oard of RESOLVED, That regul ar meetings of the Board of Water & Light' ise Bot fled or as a result of set for calendar year 2015 as follows, unless Otherwise are hereby meetings: date conflicts with rescheduled City Council 2015 Board of Water and Li ht Commissioners Regular Board MeetingSchedule Tuesday January 27 Tuesday March 31 Tuesday May 26 Tuesday July 28 Tuesday September 22 Tuesday November 17 Board of Water and Light's REO Town Depot, located at 1201 S. Meetings will be held In MI, at 5:30 p.m.Washington Ave., Lansing, City schedule be published in the Lansing RESOLVED FURTHER, That a notice of the meeting prior to. Pulse the first week of January 2015 and or at least three days ud seconded rove the Commissioner Mullen Ward,to pp Motion by Commissioner McClo Dates. a schedule for the 2015 Regular Board Meeting Action: Motion Carried MANAGER'S REMARKS charity checks: General Manager Lark and Chair David Price presented the following 2014 BWL Chili Cook-Off proceeds for $5000.00 to: Sparrow • Shela Dubenion-Smith, Development Director, e Scholars ■ Brad Patterson, Executive Director, Lansing Promise/Hop ■ Erik Larson, Executive Director, Impression 5 Science Center BWL Hometown Power 5K proceeds for $2700.92 to: ■ Lansing Tom Mee, President&CEO, McLaren Greaterroceeds for $2165.00 to: Services Board (CACS) p Capital Area Community Chair Capital Area Community Services ■ Eric Schertzing, Board of Directors , will also be presenting a check to the Wounded Warrior Project The Board of Water & Light proceeds. for $4,370 derived from all golf related p 25 Regular Board Mtg. November 18,2014 Page 26 of 26 COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS There was no Commissioner Remarks. EXCUSED ABSENCE ioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to excuse Motion by COMMIss Commissioner Ward from tonight meeting. 's PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no Public Comments ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissione r Bossenbery, seconded by Commissioner McCloud the meeting adjourned at 6.10 P.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:December 015 2014 Preliminary with Lansing City Clerk:February 3, Official Minutes filed(electronically) 26 ommily Approved on:9 23-2014 a s' MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT July 22, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22, 2014. Chairperson Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Thomas led the Pledge of Allegiance. `V Fri r� C APPROVAL OF MINUTES , Motion by Commissioner Bossenery, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve tK,� Regular Board Meeting minutes of May 27, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS There were no Communications COMMITTEE REPORTS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE June 2, 2014 The Executive Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 11:45 a.m. on Monday, June 2, 2014. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 2 of 48 Executive Committee Chair Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order. The following committee members were present: Commissioners Sandra Zerkle, Dennis Louney, Tony Mullen and Cynthia Ward. Also present were Board Member Tracy Thomas. Absent: None. Public Comments None. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve the minutes of the April 16, 2013 Executive Committee meeting. Action: Carried unanimously. Dialogue re: Community Review Team (CRT) Suggestion/Recommendation CRT Executive Summary Item V. I The BWL Board has the authority to appoint a standing committee that would be a liaison with local communities that hold franchises for services from the BWL. We strongly believe that the Board Chair should appoint a standing committee to be a Liaison Committee to Local Units of Government who hold franchises or agreements for services from the BWL. Commissioner Ward stated this agenda subject was mentioned at the last Committee of the Whole meeting, in which Commissioner Price requested or asked that, we as a Board begin taking steps to include other communities that we provide service to. Commissioner Mullen questioned the Board's authority to appoint a standing committee. Chair Zerkle stated her uncertainty of the Board being able to appoint a liaison as suggested in the CRT Report. She stated that she has had a conversation with the Mayor about personally inviting officials from surrounding communities that we service, to come and express their thoughts at our meetings. She stated that she has thought about the possibility of setting up quarterly forums with officials from the surrounding communities to open the communication lines. Commissioner Ward read the following section from the CRT Report into the record "The BWL Board has the authority to appoint a standing committee that would be a liaison with local communities that hold franchises for services from the BWL. We strongly believe that the Board Chair should appoint a Standing Committee to be a liaison to local units of government who hold franchises or agreements for services from the BWL." She stated that she believes this means communities are asking us to establish a Standing Committee or Adhoc Committee to serve as a liaison to those communities that we provide service to. We would have a committee that will serve as a liaison, which I interpret to mean; two or three commissioners would comprise as a committee and receive issues that communities would want or need to address. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 3 of 48 Chair Zerkle stated that she does not think of the Board of Water and Light as situated in Lansing. The Board of Water & Light is owned, directed and operated by the City of Lansing, and is not sure that it would look good for us to say that we are going to be out there helping other communities above what happens in Lansing. I do not have a problem with us trying to communicate with those outside communities, but we have a Governmental Relations person that does a great job with communicating and keeping the other communities informed. They know who to call, when to call him, and he responds. It is not that I do not want to take care of them and I am not ignoring them, I don't want to make it look like we are treating them as special customers as opposed to the ones that are in Lansing. Commissioner Mullen suggested a Customer Support Committee that would include municipalities as well as city residents, City Council and whoever else. It would just be more of a formal operation to allow people to come and express their concerns or their admiration. General Manager Lark stated that when he first came to the Board of Water & Light from the Public Service Commission (PSC) one of the things that he did was have two or three consumer forums. The problem was that we could never get customers to go to them. Since the December outage, I think you will be able to get people to go forums. Typically, at the PSC forum, we would invite board members and the administration/staff. So this is a suggestion and we would be happy to support you on whatever the hot issues are and would be willing to bring along the proper support staff. General Manager Lark stated that he thinks what the recommendation from the CRT is saying is that we need to form a special committee with some designated commissioners and maybe they can help create more of an outreach program that works with management so that those communities have a resource until the Mayor or City Council decide what direction they want to go in. Chair Zerkle stated that an Adhoc Committee would be established, if that is what the Commissioners want. Commissioner Mullen stated if it is not written down, it doesn't happen, so maybe we could have some sort of an Adhoc Committee to come up with something that we could present to the Committee of the Whole, and that Adhoc Committee would be charged with coming up with the details specifically about the suggested Customer Care Committee. Commissioner Louney stated that we are heading into an interesting time as a Board. At the next Committee of the Whole meeting, we are going to hear a report from management in regards to the CRT report. We are also going to be reviewing the MPSC report and look at these recommendations. The CRT says the Board needs to assert greater control over short- term agenda, annual objectives, current and emerging issues, and strategic direction of the Board of Water and Light. We have leadership elections coming up. We have talked about a retreat to do strategic planning. There is a lot coming at us and we need to put a strategic plan together as to what we want to address, and I would be willing to work with Commissioner Mullen on an Adhoc Committee to do this, but I want to make sure the pieces fit together. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 4 of 48 Chair Zerkle stated within the next month we could have a couple of Adhoc Committee meetings to help formulate a plan to present to the Committee of the Whole, so that we can move forward with this matter. Commissioner Thomas stated tonight's discussion has been great and everyone around the table agrees that we need to do something, but it sounds like there's going to be more information coming and before anything is finalized we should have all necessary information so that we are not going in different directions and creating more committees than necessary. Chair Zerkle stated that she would put out an email asking Commissioners if they would be willing to work as a temporary Adhoc Committee to formulate an actual plan to present to the Commissioners, whether it is liaisons or forums. Everyone who volunteered will be notified and then we can set up a date and time for the meeting, and will obviously coordinate it with Mr. Lark so that we can have one or two of his staff there. Dialogue re: Crisis Communication Plan Commissioner Ward stated that this agenda item stems from the Special Meeting of January 7th where we asked for the Board of Commissioners to have some type of plan or strategy for crisis communications that was deferred to be made a part of the overall Board of Water and Light entity, crisis communication plan. She said that we have since received that plan, and does not think that the issue that she wanted to address is a part of that plan. She commented that over the past few months she has learned that we do not agree as a commission, or Board members, as to what our responsibilities are as it relates to communications. There are Board members who believe that only the Chair can speak to the media and we have the rules of procedures that state clearly that any Commissioner can speak to the media. The rules of procedures say that the Chair should speak on policies and agrees that all policy statements shall be made on behalf of the Board by the Chair. I think that we need to discuss this as a Board because; there are times that we as Commissioners should speak to the media. I have opinions, and when I'm asked what my opinion is, I make it clear that this is my opinion; I'm not speaking on behalf of the Board. Commissioner Mullen stated that his opinion is the Chairperson or the Vice-Chair speaks for the Board of Commissioners to make sure that we speak with one voice and that we do not give out confusing information. That does not mean that you, or I, do not have our opinions, but we present our opinions in the committee. Chair Zerkle stated that we need to speak with one voice. She stated having been the Chair, she generally will speak with Mr. Serkaian to make sure that she has any and all correct facts when talking to the media when doing TV interviews or newspaper interviews, and that is one of the reasons that I think that the Board should have one voice coming from this commission. Commissioner Louney stated if we designate the Chair as that person or the Vice-Chair as that person to speak on behalf of the Board, I think that's good, but I think we haven't done in the past because there hasn't been a need. With this recent crisis, we need to get a better handle on how the Board deals with public relations, and I say the Board of Commissioners, Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 5 of 48 when I mean the Board because we are being approached on things. I think some good training and a game plan going forward would be helpful because we went into this blind. That is something as a Board we need to look at, and I know you talked about that matter for the retreat, and that can provide us with some guidance on this matter. We should have something in place that we want to bring to the entire Board or discuss with Board members as a policy or something. Moving forward from today, we need a clear understanding as a Board on dealing with the media. Commissioner Ward stated that she is not really asking specifically for a policy, but an understanding of what we as individual commissioners are permitted to speak to members of the media. She stated nothing in our rules of procedure prohibits an individual member of the Board of Commissioners to speak to the media. I agree that all policy statements shall be made by the Chair, on behalf of the Board. The concern is there have been instances where the Board Chair spoke to the media and the message that came across as if she is speaking for the Board, which she is able to, but she is not able to determine the position of the Board individually and that is her concern. General Manager Lark said he has reviewed various Board structures in our related industry and in the Lansing area and there are ways to handle some concerns. I think maybe our Board might need a little direction in that area, and maybe a governance type class might get us all there where we can come up with something that works for everybody. Commissioner Mullen stated that he is in agreement with Mr. Lark. Whatever we choose to do, whichever direction we need to go, we need to all follow it. Chair Zerkle asked if everyone was willing as a committee to address issue after some training. She stated in the past there has been an unwritten policy or understanding regarding the media. This was something that was originally talked about several years ago and we didn't want to make it a policy, and it was the idea that we spoke from one voice. She stated that we can have further discussion at either Committee of the Whole sometime after the training on this so we have an understanding and it doesn't have to become a policy, but we'll have a clear and better understanding of how to handle things. After a lengthy discussion regarding what Committee meeting in which a continuation of this subject matter should take place. It was suggested, that the Executive Committee would deal with governance matters. It was also suggested, that the Public Service Commissioner report would be dealt with in the Committee of the Whole. Other None Excused Absence None Adjourn Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 6 of 48 On Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Zerkle, Chair Executive Committee COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE June 10, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair, Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of May 13, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Response to CRT and MPSC Reports Vice Chair Louney stated that there have been many new implementations, and many changes have occurred since the ice storm, which have all been done by the employees and directed by management; however, there are many more changes ahead of us and feels positive about the future. General Manager Lark stated the following: Tonight is a time to reflect, really, on the BWL's recent past. More importantly, it is time I think, to clearly understand where we find the BWL today, and to clearly understand where we are going because, I believe that compared to the BWL of December 2013, we are not the same company; we are stronger, and a better BWL. And we are a BWL that needs to be better still. I think we all can agree that the past six months have been difficult for us; perhaps most importantly, difficult for our customers. I think it's clear that nature has dealt us, and our communities, a powerful blow. A storm that I think we can all agree was historic; both in its sheer force and in its impact on the homes, businesses, and lives of nearly all of our BWL customers. Personally and professionally, we were all affected by this storm. None of us, especially our customers, want to go through that again. When the next major storm and outage event happens, and I can tell you it will happen again, we must all be confident that the BWL's response will be significantly improved from that response we saw in December. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 7 of 48 Our customers deserve our operations and our communication systems to meet their needs in the worst of times. While we are rightly proud of how our BWL frontline workers responded to the storm, we are equally disappointed in our own systems failure to meet our own expectations and track record of, I think, what could only be called superior performance and superior service. But enough about the past, tonight I can say with absolute confidence that the BWL is an improved utility. I can also assure you that more improvements will be announced and implemented in the coming weeks and in the coming months. The improvements flow really from 3 in-depth assessments of how we responded to the storm. They come from our own top-to-bottom internal review, if you recall the 54 points. They come from the Mayor's Citizens Review Team (CRT) assessment, and they also come from the Michigan Public Service Commission's (MPSC) evaluation. This is all a result of 6 months of exhaustive scrutiny. We are grateful for the work of the CRT and the MPSC. By adopting their recommendations, I believe the BWL will be a much stronger, better organization, and better prepared to respond to the next major storm. Compared to the BWL of 2013, we are not the same company; today we're a stronger and better BWL. Tonight, I want everyone that the BWL serves to understand clearly that we are making improvements. We are grateful to the CRT and we are grateful to the Public Service Commission for identifying actions that will improve our ability to respond to future outages and emergencies. In fact, some of the improvements are already operational, as this board knows. And if they are not, some are well along their way to being implemented. We have increased crews and staff, which improve the BWL's ability to restore power faster during outages; we have increased internal spotter crews and we have contracted for up to 17 additional spotter crews from a contractor company; we have tripled the number of tree trimmer crews in the field working today; we have tripled the number of line crews available during an outage and really much beyond tripling as to what is available. In addition, we have expanded our Mutual Aid Agreements across Michigan and across the United States to help restore service during any major outage that should befall US. We also have a more robust tree-trimming program on a 5-year cycle, which will better protect us from falling limbs. We have improved, and stress tested our outage management system that is able to record outage calls and provide restoration estimates. We have improved call center operations. As you know, we have a Social Media Specialist that was hired to better communicate with our customers. In addition, we have an Emergency Manager that will be hired, to better coordinate crises activities. That manager position has been posted and is now closed. We had a plethora of applicants, and we will begin the interview process shortly. We will participate in the City's emergency preparedness work group, which will be announced soon. The new Emergency Mast Repair and interest-free payment program that the BWL has operating is the first, in utility-industry in the State of Michigan, that I can find. It includes BWL approved contractors, and it will help customers restore their broken power line masts following storms or natural disasters. We have an online outage center that will help customers find out all information necessary, about storms and outages. We have created an interactive outage map that gives customers the information they need when the power is out. We have a more robust system that will provide our customers with accurate outage restoration information when they need it, via multiple communications channels, and Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 8 of 48 devices. In addition, in the future, we will be announcing additional improvements, including more ways we can communicate with, and receive important information from our customers using the Internet and mobile communications devices. We are going to have additional website improvements that will better serve our customers and by the fall, we will have completed updating our program to identify seniors and customers with medical alerts. This information will be available to government and community officials to perform wellness checks during emergencies. Our customers deserve a BWL with operational and communication systems that are at or above industry standards, and that are designed to function as well as possible in all types of weather. The BWL today, has many of those operational and communication systems presently in place and we will be adding more of them over time, starting in the very near future. I look forward to sharing details of our improvements directly with our customers and communities in the coming weeks and months. They deserve to hear directly from us, and they will. We have already addressed a number of neighborhood associations, and others. This summer we will continue to hold face-to-face meetings with our service areas, elected officials, business leaders, neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations and human service groups. We will also continue to communicate our improvements to our customers via mail, the website, and other means of communications. At the end of the process, the BWL will once again have the faith and confidence of our customers and our communities. The ball is in our court and we are not going to drop it. I think we have all read the CRT and the PSC report; in both of those reports, you will see things that are clearly labeled as recommendations. In the document attached to the agenda item for today, you will see the BWL's responses, I am not going to discuss all of them, but I imagine that you will have questions. Not long ago in a Board Meeting, Commissioner Ward described the CRT Report as a gift, and I want to say that I agree with that. It has provided us with numerous recommendations that will make the BWL and the Lansing community much more resilient, and better-able to respond to severe events. The BWL is grateful for all of the recommendations, including those from the CRT, the PSC as well as the BWL's own 54 points, total of roughly 180 recommendations. I will begin with the CRT recommendations on System Resilience. Under that heading, you see that the CRT notes that the BWL's role in providing a critical service to the Lansing community is important, and that there is a need to protect critical facilities. I agree with the CRT's characterization of our service and responsibility to help make Lansing a more resilient community. We are implementing the CRT's recommendations to improve resiliency during major emergency events. What we plan to do is: to regularly update critical facilities needed for public safety and welfare, for priority attention during an emergency and share this with local emergency managers. Also, as recommended by the CRT, we're beginning a survey of distributed generation opportunities in the Lansing area. We will work with sites that are promising to determine the potential for micro grids at, or, around those facilities to keep them up and operating during a major outage event. Underneath System Resilience, we go to National Incident Management System, or NIMS Training. As noted by the CRT, NIMS is a systematic approach to incident management providing a unified approach to incident management, creating standard command and Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 9 of 48 management structures and emphasizing preparedness and mutual aid. We agree that this is best practice for critical infrastructure owners; we are adopting it, as well as the recommendations made by the CRT that go with it. We agree that greater cooperation is needed between the BWL and local emergency managers and leaders. We are going to participate with local emergency mangers; share information, data, and experience to improve regional emergency response. We will maintain a sustainable ongoing working relationship with local emergency responders and emergency managers to assure that the BWL's emergency response and resources will work cooperatively and effectively with all local responders. We are going to encourage and participate in development of a regional emergency plan and cooperate in building local resiliency during an emergency. Under Continuity of Operations, the CRT notes that the BWL must plan for its own recovery from a disaster or emergencies. It has made several recommendations that will assist the BWL in protecting itself and recovering from a major threat or a major disaster. The next general heading is Interagency Communications and Emergency Operation Center. In this area, the CRT emphasizes the need for cooperation and coordination between the BWL, local ELCs and any regional ELC; I agree. This cooperation will improve the BWL's and the community's response to an emergency event. The BWL's personnel have already contacted 115 neighborhood associations, the Power of We, the Red Cross, and "Do One Thing," to help educate local organizations on emergency preparedness and coordinate communications among these organizations. The next heading in general, talks about the BWL's crisis communications. It notes that our crisis communications were insufficient for the size of Lansing's community. We agree that consistent, accurate, and timely information upon which, our customers can make decisions, is something our customers, local officials, and the media should expect, and, should receive. To that end, the CRT has provided very useful recommendations to improve the BWL's communications process. The BWL has developed a crisis communications plan based on industry best practices. Based on the CRT's recommendation, however, more can be done. We will integrate our crisis communications plan into the BWL's emergency plan; we will review additional studies and reports to refine the BWL crisis communications plan; we will require communications personnel to receive NIMS training; and we will continually monitor changes in social media to keep abreast of the latest communication sites. The next general heading of concern revolves around our storm response. In that area, the CRT has noted that, a bottleneck in our storm responses was the number of qualified spotters; the board has heard this before. Consistent with recommendations, we have increase our internal crews, and by June 30th, we will have completed a review of additional qualified spotters to add to our internal crew number. We have also signed an agreement with an outfit, called Osmos, a storm restoration firm to supply up to 17 crews to assist with spotter duty. We have also arranged to use mutual aid crews for spotter duty. The next large section is entitled Outage Management System. The failure of the OMS to operate as planned created a number of problems; tracking of outage numbers, locations, and contributing to the inability to acknowledge and verify customer outage increase, as this board is well aware. The CRT made a number of recommendations concerning the BWL's Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 10 of 48 OMS, including testing and building redundancy into the system. On March 11th, the BWL successfully tested our OMS System at 35,000 calls per hour, which is roughly equivalent to a disaster where we would have a 100% customer outage. Another area that has been of concern following this outage involved record keeping. The CRT made a number of recommendations regarding record keeping, and one of the duties of our new emergency operations director will be to produce a records retention policy for emergency operations. As this Board knows, it has approved a general records retention policy; we will charge the new Emergency Operations Director with generating a records retention policy for emergency operations. This policy will be an integral part of the BWL's emergency operations plan, and restoration personnel will be required to adhere to that policy. This will assist with our lessons learned process, and help improve our emergency response procedures. Another area that the CRT covered was entitled: Trees and Vegetation Management. The CRT has recommend that the BWL focus on our quality assurance report regarding our vegetation management program. We have done this by tasking our Supervisor of Vegetation Management with inspecting all trimming work performed by contract crews, and by publishing the supervisor's phone number so we can respond to customer concerns as quickly as possible. The next area of concern is Grid Asset Management. The BWL's reliability is not dependent on, proper maintenance and management of its electrical distribution system, however, the CRT has made recommendations for maintenance budgets and grid asset replacement. We agree with the recommendations and will incorporate them into our asset management process. Another area of concern for the CRT is securing downed lines and service masts. I am going to combine those areas and title it "Securing Downed Lines and Masts." The CRT has observed that many of the downed lines during the ice storm were due to service masts failing; to help remedy this effect, the CRT has recommended investigating breakaway service drops. The BWL is committed to studying these types of service masts to determine how effective they may be. In the meantime, the BWL is providing a funding mechanism for customers to pay for damaged or destroyed service masts in an interest-free manner. The next areas of review involve Hardening the Primary Distribution System, Accelerating Repairs to the Primary Distribution System and Accelerating Repairs to the Secondary Distribution System. I am going to bring all of those into one and indicate that the CRT has made a number of recommendations on distribution maintenance investment and design to improve the BWL's transmission and distribution resiliency. Some of these recommendations were already part of the BWL's process, but those that are not, will help make the BWL's system more robust and more resilient, and will be incorporated into our planning design maintenance and capital investment programs. There is also an area on Medical needs and Senior Citizens in the CRT Report. We believe that the CRT Team's recommendations in those regards are particularly important during an extended outage, and we are moving on with these recommendations. Once we secure Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 11 of 48 permission from our customers to share their information with local emergency operations centers, we will make sure that this information is available to local responders. The next area with recommendations in the Report is an Energy self-reliance area and islanding. We again, agree with the CRT that much more has to be done to prepare the entire Lansing community for a catastrophic emergency, and that the BWL should play its part in building community resiliency. The next item is entitled Recommendations from the MPSCStaff Report. I must mention that there is another item in the report pertaining to governance matters, which we are not taking up today and there were no recommendations. Then there is a Board of Commissioners oversight area. With all due respect, I find that it would be presumptuous of me to suggest the Board of Commissioners oversight, so I will not address those, but merely put it in the documents you have before you for the Board's considerations. Then we come to the recommendation from the MPSC staff report. That might be a little confusing in that it is not the MPSC review of the CRT, it is the MPSC review of Consumer's Energy and Detroit Edison's outage problems and from them, there were some recommendations that the CRT wanted to include. The CRT has recommended that the BWL adopt some of the PSC's service quality standards, and we agree that these standards should be adopted to assure quality service to our customers. Therefore, we are adopting the following standards: • We are going to take our customer call-answer time to less than 90 seconds. There is a call blockage factor; these are calls that were not answered. The CRT recommends that they be 5% or less; we are going to adopt that standard as well; • There are time limits during which non-utility personnel can guard downed power lines. The limit is 90% of the time utilities must relieve non-utility personnel within 240 minutes, which is 4 hours; we are going to accept that as well. Also, according to the CRT, and according to the PSC, we should maintain enough certified employees to guard downed power lines and we will also do that. The next section talks about BWL senior leadership and makes recommendations regarding senior management, and how it could be made more responsive to customer needs and concerns, and help assure that the BWL can officially implement these recommendations. I am in the process of realigning senior managers and although the details still need to be worked out, generally, I intend to do the following: have senior operations staff report directly to me; create a new administrative position responsible for finance, accounting, human resources, and other administrative functions, all reporting directly to me; and the director of governmental relations and community service will also report directly to me. PSC recommendations of the CRT's review The PSC has also provided us with recommendations that, among other things, will improve our performance during major storm events, help us identify and improve circuits that may be less reliable, keep the public better informed, back up storm responders, and improve service quality. The PSC's recommendation to monitor service quality in a circuit-by-circuit basis is very useful, and we are determining if this is possible with our existing software. If Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 12 of 48 not, we intend to procure that capability and that is because some of the circuits that we have now cross individual lines. We are implementing the PSC's recommendations advocating trained and knowledgeable secondary role employees so that they can help out and quickly expand our response staff to deal with a major outage. Both the CRT and the PSC have made recommendations to expand and train our spotter staff. And we agree, as I've stated before, that this was a significant restoration bottleneck during the December ice storm, and as you know, the BWL has increased its own spotter crews, we have contracted with outsiders we have upped our mutual aid and this really does represent a formidable increase in our spotter resources. There was a lengthy Question and Answer session following General Manager Lark's report. Commissioner Price stated since the ice storm, other municipalities that we serve beyond the city of Lansing felt like they were not represented. I think the Executive Committee had a missed opportunity last week and recommendation number 67 in the CRT report is quite clear, to create a local government liaison committee and meet quarterly, and have a clear process for consideration of things for the board. Chair Zerkle in response stated that, many options were discussed at the Executive Committee meeting last week regarding how to deal with surrounding communities, and the Committee decided to form an Ad Hoc Committee that will come up with recommendations as to how to best represent and address outside communities, and then present those recommendations to the Committee of the Whole for review and consideration. There was discussion on the "Board Oversight" and recommendations section of the CRT's report. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney, stated based on tonight's discussion that he would send an email to seek advice from Board members regarding suggestions of items that can added to the agenda for upcoming Committee of the Whole meetings. Regarding agenda items for Committee of the Whole, there was discussion regarding the Crisis Communication Review report being presented at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that it is his understanding that there would be a presentation from management and that would lead into a discussion of how the Board of Commissioners wish to proceed as a board for internal communications amongst board members and outside parties because there was no clear policy when this crisis occurred. Commissioner Ward stated that there was some discussion about how are we are going to communicate as a board and it was suggested that we were going to get some training, but putting that aside we do have a communications plan that is in place and we are still responsible for knowing what that communications plan is moving forward. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney asked General Manager Lark, if we are better prepared for the next outage. In response, General Manager Lark said "I think there is no doubt of that." Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated he believes that's what our customers want to know and that's what we've seen from all the actions that everyone's been taking. He thanked all of the employees and management for their efforts in doing so. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 13 of 48 Other General Manager Lark informed the Board that the Board of Water & Light's 1st Step program was nominated, and won the Capital Area Michigan Works 2014 Prosperity Award. This Award was for working with local partners to develop an innovative demand driven solution to local talent development. General Manager Lark also spoke about the great job that was done for the Chili Cook-off by all the employees and everyone who participated. It was a very successful event. Excused Absence None Public Comments None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenhery, the meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole HUMAN RESOURCE COMMITTEE June 10, 2014 The Human Resource Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Human Resource Committee Chairperson Tracy Thomas called the meeting to order and asked the Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Tracy Thomas, Anthony McCloud, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Also present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis Louney, Tony Mullen and David Price. Absent: None Public Comments There were no public comments. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to approve the Human Resource Committee meeting minutes of May 20, 2014, Action: Carried unanimously. FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Corporate Secretary Human Resource Chair Thomas stated that he would like to continue with the evaluation of the appointed employees and asked if there was any business or any dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's review. Chair Thomas said that he would like to recommend that the Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 14 of 48 Board restore the assistant that the Corporate Secretary had in the past and, for consideration to be under the direction of the Board. After some discussion regarding the Assistant for the Corporate Secretary the following motion occurred. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward a recommendation to the Finance Committee to appropriate in the budget a full time employee to assist the Corporate Secretary. Commissioner Zerkle, rescinded her motion and stated that she would reintroduce the motion under other later in the Agenda. After dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's evaluation Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas provided another opportunity for the Commissioners to express any thoughts or opinion or have dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's review. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle and seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Ms. Griffin to the Charter position of Corporate Secretary for fiscal year 2014-2015 to the full Board for consideration. Action: Carried Unanimously FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Internal Auditor Internal Auditor Phil Perkins requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving his contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to go into closed session. Roll Call Vote: Yeas: Commissioners' Thomas, McCloud, Ward and Zerkle Nays: None Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas conveyed to Internal Auditor Perkins the following: "Before we go into closed session, please know that you may rescind your request at any time. You must verbally or directly rescind your request, at which time closed session will end immediately and we will continue consideration of your evaluation in open session." The Human Resource Committee meeting went into closed session at 6:21 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. Action: Carried unanimously The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 7:05 p.m. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 15 of 48 Upon conclusion of the closed sessions, Human Resource Committee Chair Thomas conveyed that now would be the time for any dialogue regarding any business dealing with the Internal Auditor's review. There being none, the meeting proceeded. Motion by Commissioner McCloud and seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Mr. Perkins to the Charter position of Internal Auditor for fiscal year 2014-2015 to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. General Manager General Manager J. Peter Lark requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving his contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to go into closed session. Roll Call Vote: Yeas: Commissioners' Thomas, McCloud, Ward and Zerkle Nays: None Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas conveyed to General Manager Lark the following: "Before we go into closed session, please know that you may rescind your request at any time. You must verbally or directly rescind your request, at which time closed session will end immediately and we will continue consideration of your evaluation in open session." The Human Resource Committee meeting went into closed session at 7:10 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 8:28 p.m. Upon conclusion of the closed sessions, Human Resource Committee Chair Thomas conveyed that now would be the time for any dialogue regarding any business dealing with the Internal Auditor's review. There being none, the meeting proceeded Motion by Commissioner McCloud and seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Mr. Lark to the Charter position of General Manager for fiscal year 2013-2014 to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried (3/1 Ward) Other Commissioner Zerkle thanked Human Resource Chair Thomas for his due diligence on the evaluation process. She stated that this was a difficult process and appreciates all the efforts that he has put into this process. Chair Zerkle also requested that a recommendation be forwarded to the Finance Committee to appropriate funds in the 2015 budget for an assistant for the corporate secretary. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 16 of 48 Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to forward a recommendation to the Finance Committee to appropriate in the budget for a full time employee to assist the Corporate Secretary. Motion by Chair Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to make a friendly amendment to the main Motion to include that the employee would be under the direction of the Board of Commissioners. Action: Motion Carried with Friendly Amendment Adjourn The Human Resource Committee meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tracy Thomas, Chair Human Resource Committee NOMINATING COMMITTEE MINUTES June 26, 2014 The Nominating Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, 2014. Committee Chair Tony Mullen called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following committee members were present: Commissioners Tony Mullen, Anthony McCloud, Tracy Thomas and Cynthia Ward. Board Member Louney arrived at 5:30 p.m. Absent: None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Nominating Committee meeting minutes of June 26, 2013. Action: Motion Carried Public Comment There were no public comments. Officer & Committee Survey Form/Memo There was no dialogue under this section of the Agenda. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 17 of 48 Nominate Board Officer Candidates for FY 2014-2015 The Nominating Committee met to review the Commissioner Survey responses for consideration of board officer nominations for the Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioner's Chair and Vice Chair for fiscal year 2014-2015. Nominating Committee Chair Mullen opened the floor for nominations and the following nominations were made: • Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate David Price as Chair and Dennis Louney as Vice Chair: Discussion: Commissioner Thomas questioned how the process would be handle this year and if we are forwarding candidates as a slate. Nominating Chair Mullen stated after some thought he concluded that the nominating committee was set up for a purpose and one of the purposes is to allow for the committee to express the pro and cons of each individual candidate. He suggested a slate would be the way to go. I think that we should put all four individuals that want these positions of Chair and Vice Chair on a slate and forward to the full Board. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Vice Chair: Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Vice Chair and David Price as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner by McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate David Price as Chair. Action: Motion Carried (3/1) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Cynthia Ward as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 18 of 48 • Motion by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Anthony McCloud as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Tracy Thomas as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2 Nays/1 No/1 Abstain) • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to nominate Dennis Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2 Nays/1 No/1 Abstain) Commissioner Ward stated reasons why she supports Dennis Louney in the position of Vice Chair. She stated that he has earned the position over the past six months. Nominating Chair Mullen in response to the previous response he would like to add that he appreciate the work of the current leadership but personally believes that we need a breath of fresh air coming through the Board, both chair and vice chair position. Commissioner McCloud stated reasons why he supports Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. He stated that he has moved us forward during the rough times and deserves the opportunity continue the work he started. Commissioner Thomas stated his appreciation for the current vice chair. He also stated his support for Commissioner Bossenbery as Vice Chair, stating that she would bring in fresh, open, cooperative and collaborative leadership that will not hurt the Board as we move forward in this transition period. • Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Loney to be included in the slate to serve as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Dennis Louney as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second Commissioner Louney said that he appreciates the opportunity to serve in the role as Vice Chair and would like to continue in that role; however, he is open to other possibilities if other positions are being considered. He said that he has always indicated that the serves at the pleasure of the Board, wherever they see him fitting. Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Dennis Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 19 of 48 It seems that we are at an impasse and suggest that we bring this back to the full Board for consideration and nominating from the floor on July 22, 2014. Moving forward the nominating of Commissioner David Price for Chair. Since there was, only a partial slate of officers recommended from this committee this business matter will be taken up at the Regular Board meeting to be held on July 22, 2014 and nominations will be taken from the floor. Commissioners McCloud stated that he would like to have more discussion regarding the slate. He said that it is his hope that we can come away with a slate and want to make sure that we explore all possibilities and options. • Motion by commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commission Ward to nominate Commissioner Price as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2Yay, 1Nay, 1Abstain) Commissioner Mullen suggested either Commissioner's Thomas or McCloud step up and serve as vice chair. That way we would have full slate. • Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissine Price as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner McCloud as Vice Chair Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Second by Commissioner Ward, to nominate Commissoner Louney as Chair and Commissioner Ward as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Ward, Second by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Ward as Chair and Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Commissioner Bossenbery as Chair and Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 20 of 48 Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, to nominate Commissioner Ward as Vice Chair, Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner Ward to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner McCloud as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) We have reached an impass and Noinimanting Chair Mullen repeated that a partial slate of officers recommended from this committee this business matter will be taken up at the Regular Board meeting to be held on July 22, 2014 and nominations will be taken from the floor. The only Motion Passed at this meeting was to forward to the full Board the consideration of David Price as the Chair of the Board. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:51 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tony Mullen, Chair Nominating Committee COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE July 8 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of June 10, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 21 of 48 CRT/MPSC Reports Recommendations update General Manager Lark stated that at the last meeting we talked about the Community Review Team's (CRT) recommendations and how we hope that those recommendations, together with the Public Service Commission's (PSC) thoughts, as well as our own 54 points would operate to make the BWL a much stronger utility; in fact, ensuring that during outages that customers get their power back more quickly, and have access to better information than they had. As you know, we have begun the process of putting together a new BWL that incorporates a lot of those activities. We have been working the 54-point outage report for some months longer than we have the CRT, and for those of you who had access to your email know I did send to you that 54 point update, and you can see that many of the items are completed; those that are not will be completed shortly and some will never be completed because they are ongoing items. General Manager Peter Lark provided an update of the BWL's response to the CRT, PSC, and its own 54 recommendations. (See attached) II.Planning and Preparation Item Division CRT Recommendation BWL Division Response System Resilience 1 Lead: Emergency Working jointly with local emergency planners Agreed. The BWL will work jointly with local Operations and municipal governments, update the emergency planners and municipal governments to Director inventory of critical facilities,as part of a Regional update the Critical Facilities Inventory for both Support: Dave Emergency Operations Plan, electric and water services. The updated inventory Bolan will be completed by August 31, 2014. By September 30, 2014, the BWL will secure critical infrastructure agreements with local EOC's for sharing its Critical Facilities inventory. The BWL will then work with the Lansing EOC,and through them with other local emergency planners and municipal governments on integrating the Critical Facilities Inventory into the Regional Emergency Operations Plan. After August 31, 2014, the Critical Facilities Inventory update and integration process will take place on an as-needed basis but no less frequently than annually by the end of each calendar year. 2 Lead: Emergency Assist all units of government representing its Agreed. As part of the process and timing Operations customer base with identifying Special Needs described in CRT#!1 above, the BWL will assist all Director Facilities for power restoration efforts, including units of government representing its customer Support: Dave assisted care facilities, elder care facilities,water base with identifying the Special Needs facilities Bolan and and sewer plants, food warehouses, Capital City identified in this Recommendation. Calvin Jones airport and key industry. 3 Lead: George Undertake a program of technical assistance to Agreed. By March 31,2015,the BWL will complete Stojic critical facilities in its service area to determine a survey of critical facilities for possible combined the feasibility and net benefits of implementing a heat and power (CHP) opportunities. The survey micro-grid at each such facility, using combined will include existing distributed generators in the heat and power or renewable generation and BWL service territory as demand response storage. resources. The BWL will then work with the identified facilities to provide technical assistance in determining the feasibility of implementation of projects, including purchase power agreements. This work will be completed by May 31,2015. The BWL will also expand its distributed solar energy program by August 1,2014. The BWL will continue Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 22 of 48 its program of grid sectionalizing to help preserve service to critical facilities with onsite generation. 4 Lead: George Explore various options to participate financially Agreed. As indicated in CRT#3 above, by May 31, Stojic in implementing micro grids at critical facilities 2015, the BWL will explore participation options where they are feasible and beneficial, including with those candidates identified in its survey of power purchase agreements,joint ventures,and CHIP and distributed generation facilities. Board ownership. National Incident Management System Implementation&Training 5 Recognize its role to assist Regional, City and Township Emergency Management in disaster response by implementing all of the following: a Lead: Emergency During any event where the City EOC is activated, Agreed. On April 4,2014,the BWL assigned three Operations including during major widespread outages, a electric liaisons to the Lansing EOC and on April 8, Director trained and experienced BWL Liaison Officer 2014,the BWL assigned three water liaisons to the Support: Dave must be deployed to the City EOC. Lansing EOC. Each liaison is familiar with and Bolan and Dick either experienced in design or operations of the Peffley BWL electric or water distribution systems. Status:Completed. b Lead: Emergency Participate in all EM exercises sponsored by any Agreed. Within 60 days of being hired, the Operations units of government representing its customer Emergency Operations Director will survey local Director base EOC's for scheduled EM exercises and request Support: Dave participation. The BWL's Emergency Operations Bolan and Director will be tasked with ensuring BWL Dick Peff ley communicates with local units of government including coordinating BWL participation in local emergency exercises. c Lead: Emergency Assure that all operations employees receive Agreed. The BWL currently has the following ICS Operations basic NIMS training, trained employees: Director 100 Introduction to Incident Command:17 Support: All LBWL at a minimum the two introductory courses: ICS 200 ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Managers 1. FEMA IS-700, NIMS An Introduction; Incidents:13 2. IS-100.PW-B, Introduction to the Incident ICS 300 Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents: Command System (ICS 100) for Public Works; 14 ICS 400 Advanced ICS:13 that all first-line supervisors take those courses, IS G402 ICS for Executives/Senior Officials:35 plus ICS-200, Basic ICS; IS 700 National Incident Management System (NIMS)An Introduction:12 that all senior management officials take those 3 IS:800 National Response Framework,An courses,plus ICS-400, Advanced ICS. Introduction:2 Training is continuing for the remaining employees and must be completed no later than the following dates: 1.All BWL operations employees will complete the FEMA IS-700 IS-100 PW-B and the ICS 100 courses by March 31,2015 2.All Managers and First-line Supervisors will also take ICS 200 course by November 30,2014. 3.All BWL Directors will take courses in (1)and(2) and ICS-400 by December 31,2014. d Lead: Emergency 2) Participate in After-Action Reviews with all Agreed. The BWL 's Emergency Operations Operations units of government representing its customer Director will be tasked with participating and Director base, not just post-exercise, but after every coordinating BWL participation with units of Support: major outage,disaster and emergency government representing its customer base in all Appropriate BWL after action reviews, including exercises, major Managers outages,disasters and emergencies. The BWL will share information, data, and its experiences with other participants to improve regional emergency response. This will be an ongoing responsibility of the Emergency Operations Director with support from BWL Management and Staff. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 23 of 48 e Lead: Emergency Develop and maintain good working relationships Agreed. To develop and maintain a good working Operations with the first-responder community for all units relationship with the first-responder community Director of government representing its customer base for all units of government representing its Support: Dave customer base, by the end of the third quarter Bolan, Dick FY15 the BWL's Emergency Operations Director Peffley, and Calvin and GRCSD staff will have met with first responders Jones from throughout its service territory to discuss emergency plans and responder roles. This recommendation will be an ongoing responsibility of the Emergency Operations Director. The BWL recognizes this on-going relationship as an important component of the Unified NIMS structure and guidelines. Contingency Planning,Training and Exercises Statements Provided(pg.27) Continuity of Operations 6 Lead: Emergency Consolidate its multiple emergency response Agree. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director Operations plans within the City and Regional plan, (see will oversee and complete the consolidation of Director below) and then test that plan by scheduling a BWL Emergency Plans by October 31, 2014. The Support: Dave full staff coordinated "table top" exercise at a BWL Emergency Operations Director will be tasked Bolan and Dick minimum of every 12 months. with coordinating BWL plan with local or regional Peffley plans by December 31, 2014 and on an ongoing basis as updates are adopted. The Emergency Operations Director will also be tasked with coordinating the BWL's participation in City or regional exercises. 7 Lead: Emergency BWL Staff and upper management should Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director Operations participate in the exercises and receive training will develop and coordinate an Emergency Director on these plans and regular refresher training. Management training program for all Managers Support: Dave BWL staff with emergency responsibilities should and staff with emergency responsibilities. The Bolan and Dick be required to have training on these plans and program will include annual training. The initial Peffley their role and responsibilities and the role and training will be completed within 120 days of the responsibilities of others that will be involved Emergency Operations Director's hire. The with any emergency response. Emergency Operations Director will also conduct and coordinate emergency training with other local or regional emergency exercises. 8 Lead: Emergency Together with the communities in the greater Agreed. The BWL will work with local officials and Operations Lansing area (not just the BWL service area), others on a regional planning effort, coordinating Director undertake a regional planning effort to be better as appropriate with the State Police EMHSD District Support: Dave prepared and coordinated and assure that 1 Coordinator. When complete, the BWL will Bolan and Dick emergency communication protocols are agreed coordinate its Emergency plans with local EOC's Peffley to and followed. The mayors and township and will participate with local EOC's in regional supervisors of our communities must lead and planning and training. encourage this effort and provide the necessary resources.This planning effort should be done in coordination with the State Police EMHSD District 1 Coordinator. 9 Lead: Emergency Include Business Continuity Planning in its Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director Operations development of a comprehensive Emergency will coordinate development of a business Director Operations Plan. continuity plan as part of the BWL's EDP, with Support: Dave completion by March 30,2015. Bolan, Gennie Eva, Dick Peffley, Bruce Cook, and Nick Burwell Inter-agency Communications and Emergency Operations Center Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 24 of 48 10 Lead: Emergency Develop a comprehensive EOP, in coordination Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director Operations with the City EM officials,that is an Annex to the will consolidate BWL's emergency plans into a Director City EDP,consistent with MCL 30.410(1)(a) single BWL EDP by October 31, 2014 per CRT#6 Support: Dave above. The BWL Emergency Operations Director Bolan and Dick will be tasked with coordinating the BWL plan with Peffley local or regional plans by December 31, 2014 and on an ongoing basis as updates are adopted. The BWL is committed to a sustained partnership with local EOC's and a Regional EOC and will support development of a regional EOC, should one be adopted. 11 Lead: Emergency Working jointly with the City of Lansing and other Please see response to CRT#10 Operations regional governments, develop a regional EOP Director which includes a process for siting, supporting Support: Dave and sustaining a regional EOC. Bolan and Dick Peffley 12 Lead: Emergency Develop, in coordination with the governments Agreed. The BWL Emergency Operations Director Operations representing its customer base,an Energy Annex will coordinate the BWL Emergency Plan with local Director to a Regional Emergency Operations Plan. governments and a Regional Emergency Support: Dave Operations plan. The BWL Emergency Operations Bolan,Gennie Eva, Director will coordinate the BWL plan with local and Dick Peffley units of government by December 31,2014. 13 Lead: Calvin Jones Collaborate with Lansing Emergency Agreed. On January 23, 1014, the BWL's Support: Management, Lansing Police Department's Governmental Relations and Community Services Emergency Neighborhood Watch, Lansing Neighborhood Department (GRCSD)began a program of outreach Operations Council, East Lansing neighborhood associations to neighborhood associations. To date,the GRCSD Director and Dan and similar groups in all townships in the has been in direct communications; in person, by Barnes development of a program supporting block level phone, or by email; with all 124 known emergency response plans. This effort would neighborhood associations who's members, in build upon the well-developed social part, or entirely, fall within the BWL Service infrastructure of Lansing's 186 organized territory. The GRCSD goal has been to promote neighborhood groups and prepare them to play communications and education regarding an important role in planning for,responding to, preparations for future emergencies. The GRCSD is and recovering from extreme weather events. also collaborating with DolThing, the Red Cross, and The Power of We to make the BWL an emergency preparedness resource for the BWL's customer base. As an ongoing responsibility, the GRCSD will continue outreach to neighborhood associations and other local organizations in order to provide information, coordination, and assistance with emergency preparedness plans. Status: Completed except for Emergency Management portion. BWL Crisis Communications 14 Lead: Stephen Create a robust social media presence for its Agreed. The BWL has hired a social media Serekaian customers — this work is already underway specialist and has tasked the position with Support: Calvin internally, but must become a priority for its undertaking and coordinating social media Jones, Bruce Cook, communications operations, as consumers are communications with BWL customers including, and Nick Burwell primarily using digital communication tools to among other media,updating the BWL's Facebook, learn about outages and other service issues. twitter, Nixie, and website. The BWL has recently created a near real time outage map with restoration times on its website. Status:Completed, 15 Lead: Emergency Require all communications staff and senior Agreed. The BWL communication, GRCSD staff, Manger leadership to undergo certified NIMS and leadership have already begun NIMS training. Support: Calvin communications training in order to understand The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will be Jones and Stephen best communications practices during crisis tasked with assuring communications staff annually Serkaian situations, with associated training events and update their training and that BWL's tabletop exercises to ensure coordination of communications staff and leadership team communications functions with regional participate in local and regional emergency governments. exercises. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 25 of 48 16 Lead: Stephen Further refine the March 2014 plan. The plan Agreed. The Crisis Communications plan was Serkaian must contain greater detail on how to address developed by consultants based on industry best Support: the need for timely and accurate information; practices. The BWL agrees that customer Emergency customer information must be consistently communications must be timely, accurate, Operations explained in a way that effectively meets consistent, meet customer expectations, and Director customer expectations;and the plan must assure provide sufficient information for customers to the provision of information sufficient to allow make informed decisions. To ensure that the the public to make informed decisions on how BWL's crisis communications plan meets those they may best respond. There is a considerable objectives, the BWL will continue to review crisis body of studies on this subject that should be communications studies and reports and make any drawn upon in the development of such a plan. necessary modifications to its plan by August 31, Once this plan is completed the BWL 2014. Following this, the Crisis Communications management and employees must be trained on, plan will be updated on an as-needed basis, with periodically exercise,and follow the plan. complete review and update performed annually at a minimum. 17 Lead: Emergency The crisis communications plan must be an annex Agreed. The BWL Emergency Operations Director Operations to the Emergency Operations Plan and should be will be tasked with consolidating BWL emergency Director guided by a qualified communications plans and will include the crisis communications Support: Stephen professional certified through the NIMS plan in the consolidated plan as an annex. Serkaian protocols. Emergency communications staff will undergo NIMS training, which will be completed by November 1,2014,and at least one staff member will complete training for qualification through NIMS protocols. City Emergency Planning&the Collaborative Planning Process 18 Consider amendment of the City Charter to City of Lansing clarify the powers of the Mayor and to provide the Mayor executive authority over the BWL during disasters or emergencies 19 Lead: Emergency Emergency Management Director, working with Agreed. The BWL will participate in encouraging Operations all other member communities, including and developing a regional emergency operations Director Ingham, Clinton and Eaton Counties, create a plan. regional emergency operations plan(EOP). 20 Lead: Emergency Work with BWL Operations and Senior Agreed. The BWL stands ready to cooperate with Operations Leadership to integrate their BESOC and Crisis the City Emergency Director to fulfill this Director Command Center, using the NIMS framework, recommendation. with the City EOC. 21 Consider fully integrating BWL employees into City of Lansing the City EM structure. 22 Lead: Emergency Recommend appropriate emergency Agreed. Training will be scheduled for BWL Operations management training for BWL leadership, leadership and Commissioners by end of fiscal year Director including Commissioners,on how best to build in 2015. NIMS and ICS training will be offered to resilience and ensure full response capability to Commissioners as well as training on resiliency. storms that are increasing in severity and frequency. 23 Lead: Emergency Sponsor or encourage a full scale training Agreed. The BWL will participate in full scale Operations exercise, involving emergency management staff regional training exercises. Director of all units of government and BWL in the tri- county region,to take place annually. Emergency Declarations Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 26 of 48 24 That all units of government within or partially City of Lansing and local units of government within the BWL customer service area review their emergency operations plans to include a process for assessing the need for an anticipatory emergency declaration. ACTIONS FOLLOW-UP The BWL will include its distribution plan in its annual Expected completion date 10/16/14 table top tests designed to stress its emergency response and will use the results to continually improve its emergency plans The BWL will consider implementing a set of triggers Completed 4/14 into its distribution plan. The BWL will consolidate its Transmission and its Completed 6/30/14, both plans updated and Distribution emergency response plans into one maintained simultaneously, however plans document. will not be fully consolidated into one document due to need to demonstrate NERC transmission compliance. The BWL will investigate the benefit of collaborating Expected completion date 8/29/14 with other Michigan utilities to track and estimate the impact of inclement weather. Based on the BWL's experience with the impact of Initial phase to expand and formalize the ice storm,the BWL will make use of additional secondary role program which inlcudes secondary role employees and these roles will be identification of position and roles required discussed in subsequent sections. for the restoration plan completed. Identification of employees for secondary roles completed 6/30/14.Training employees to fill secondary roles rescheduled for completion November 30, 2014. Most utilities have not found placing overhead lines Completed 5/8/14 underground to be cost effective. Instead reviewing maintenance practices and construction standards seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWL's distribution system. However,for those customers who want and are willing to pay for undergrounding existing services,the BWL will provide the service. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year trimming Completed 3/24/14 cycle and is in the process of modifying its tree trimming standards and procedures to remove all branches located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree trimming Original expected completion date 5/16/14 contractors and assign work to contractors based on rescheduled to 8/29/14 due to contractors past performance. The contractor with the best need to develop deployment plan including record of performance will get a larger portion of the staffing levels. work. Recently,the BWL temporarily increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen. The BWL will publish the contact information for its Completed 2/18/14 supervisor responsible for trimming scheduling so customers can contact the Manager directly with questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 27 of 48 The BWL is in the process of carefully reviewing Completed 5/29/14 spotter duty during the ice storm and determining how many additional trained spotters would be needed to efficiently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty. The BWL will also utilize retired line workers to Completed 5/9/14 perform damage assessments and serve as spotters. The BWL will consider contracting with electric Completed 5/30/14 service firms for damage assessment services to supplement its own staff. The BWL is developing common reporting forms and Original expected completion date 5/30/14 methods to be used by all spotters and damage rescheduled to 8/29/14; working with assessors and will stress the importance of adhering Osmose, contract firm for spotter and line to these during the annual training sessions. crew supply, on forms that are used with other clients. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage predictive Completed tools to determine if these tools could help in assessing possible damage earlier in a storm's approach. The BWL will remind customers that lines marked Completed 5/1/14 with red and white tape are power lines and the tape indicates that the BWL is aware that the line is down. The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections newsletter. The BWL has expanded the number of utilities and Completed 3/28/14 non-utility electric service contractors with which it has mutual aid agreements or service contracts.The list is shown below. Existing Agreements• Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New Agreements• American Public Power Association•Asplundh• Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• DTE Energy(Under Negotiations)These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency,the FEMA agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere in the United States. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 additional line 2 of 3 additional line workers hired along workers and an additional dispatcher to supplement with dispatcher. its workforce and to help manage crews during the restoration process. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 28 of 48 With the addition of 3 line workers, an additional Completed 6/30/14,triple number of crews dispatcher, more trained spotters, and the new available. mutual aid agreements the BWL has tripled the number of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely and efficiently during a major outage event. The BWL does update its critical and public safety Original expected completion date 11/14/14. lists periodically to ensure that it is up to date and Electric Transmission and Distribution plans complete. The BWL will share its overall restoration updated 6/30/14. Update of critical list plans with local public officials so that they can be expected 8/29/14. Consolidation of BWL kept up to date on the BWL's restoration plans. If emergency plans scheduled for 10/31/14, another catastrophic storm does occur, local officials and coordination of BWL consolidated plan will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries with local officials expected to be completed regarding the restoration progress. by 12/31/14. Consolidation of BWL emergency plans along with table top exercises have increased the scope of this recommendation resulting multiple steps and a new final completion schedule. The BWL will review it's storm inventory based on Completed 3/21/14 the recent ice storm. The BWL will investigate connecting its line truck Completed 3/18/14 laptops to its OMS system as a tool to assist crews with storm responses. The BWL has resolved the matters related to the Completed and tested 3/11/14 OMS functionality. The conductor cuts are now operational and the OMS performs to design standards. To avoid this situation with other outage tools that Completed 3/11/14 may be employed in the future,the BWL will conduct annual stress tests of all its restoration tools including, but not limited to the OMS, outage call in number, Customer Service Center, and Communications plans. The BWL is moving forward with a project to Scheduled and budgeted for FY15 this will be implement smart grid and smart meter technology, a multi-year project which will allow it to identify individual customer outages. It will also develop a policy that will allow customers to "opt out" of smart meter use. c. customer communications: The BWL is hiring additional call center staff. Completed 2/24/14 The BWL has implemented a process to assure call Completed 2/13/14 forward to the 877 number occurs during large outages. This will allow CSR and supporting staff to concentrate on line down,voice mail and other communications mediums. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the 877 system to Completed 2/13/14 direct non-matched callers to voicemail during major outage events. The BWL has reconfigured the Call Center to send Completed 3/1/14 messages in the voice mailbox to CSR's automatically. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 29 of 48 The BWL is aggressively advertised the 877 number Completed 1/24/14 for outages including all available communications mediums, like magnets, social media, BWL Website, and other customer communications. During a major outage,the BWL Call Center staff will Completed 1/24/14 focus their efforts on responding to email,texts, Facebook,Twitter, and voicemails left on the outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary storm roles to assist with these customer service functions. The BWL will ensure that the distribution plan Completed 3/6/14 weather forecasting and storm preparation function include employees who are directly or indirectly, through secondary roles, responsible for customer service. This, along with other changes,will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly. The BWL is working with the 877 vendor to provide Original expected completion date 6/20/14 additional methods for customers to be identified or rescheduled to 7/31/14. Date moved due to matched when calling in to report an outage. This technical issues: vendor has changed the will include using the last digits of an account way the call back files must be sent and BWL number or social security number. is making the necessary technical adjustments. The interface between the 877 number and the OMS Completed 4/25/14 has been fixed and alarms will be added on each system to alert staff of any problems in the future. The BWL has added text outage reporting to the 877 Expected completion date 7/25/14 system to offer customers another method for reporting outages. The BWL is working on a method to provide quicker Completed 6/28/14 updating of customer data from BWL system to 877 system. This is intended to provide better matches of customers to service addresses. The BWL is working to improve its ability to Completed 6/27/14 automatically call back customers and provide them with updated outage information. The BWL will continue its enhancements to its phone Expected completion date 7/25/14 system. The enhancements will use newer technology to increase Internet bandwidth, increase available phone lines, and make the system fully redundant across the BWL private city-wide network. This upgrade will allow the system to dynamically increase the number of available lines to the call center during a large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is designed for large volumes. The BWL has increased the TFCC voice mailbox size Completed to 8,000 messages and is in the process of contracting with another vendor to assist in responding to voice mailbox messages during a large outage. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 30 of 48 The BWL is investigating a separate site created just Completed 3/11/14 for outage information (including outage maps). This will help ensure that the BWL's outage website will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the BWL's main website. Although the external email to Customer Service Expected completion date 8/15/14 functioned normally during the storm,the BWL is investigating establishing a redundant external email system. The BWL has developed a temporary web-based Completed 3/11/14 outage map for its website. The BWL is also working with a local vendor for a permanent outage map linked directly to the BWL's OMS system. Phase I of the project covering functionality has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is Scheduled for completion soon. In Phase II of the project,the BWL plans to continue Completed 6/28/14 enhancements to all of its Information Systems that interact with customers.The next phase of the outage map product for BWL will include further interaction with our customers, allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them specifically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated. In addition to using Twitter and Facebook,the BWL is Completed 5/9/14 investigating the use of Nixle to communicate outage and other information to its customers. The BWL will work with customers and local officials The process of identification and notification to determine how to make local officials aware of has been completed. The process will be seniors, customers with medical alerts, and other operational in the first quarter FY15 after vulnerable populations during extended outages. permission to share information has been secured from customers. The BWL will be more proactive informing customers Completed of where their responsibility for service ends, the service mast, and the BWL's begins. The BWL will maintain a list of qualified electricians Completed June 4, 2014 who can repair service masts and the BWL will help customers finance the cost of mast repair by allowing customers to pay it off on their bill over a one year period without interest. A list of qualified electricians will appear on the BWL's website. During events like the ice storm,the BWL will work Completed with local organizations to maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for Lansing area residents. Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 31 of 48 As an integral part of the Lansing community, the Completed and ongoing BWL will work with other organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future. The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empower neighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and listen to their concerns and questions. Since ice storm outage restoration,the BWL's service Completed territory has experienced a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage events ranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events,the BWL has posted, on all communications channels, at least two days prior to the forecasted weather,warning customers about the impending storm and directing them to call the BWL"877" outage number if they lost power. The BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips, and City of Lansing updates. During outages,the BWL has acknowledged the time Completed the outage began,the number of outages,the cause of the outage,the geographic area of the outage that can be found on the outage map,the projected time of restoration, and full restoration all clear. Communication improvements have been noted on Completed Facebook and Twitter with positive comments by our customers. The BWL has retained the communications firm of Completed Martin Waymire to help develop a crisis communications plan based on an examination of best practices across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during emergencies if needed. In the meantime, the BWL has a working interim crisis communications plan. The BWL has also hired a social media specialist, a Completed 2/17/14 newly created position.The social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate with our customers over all social media channels. The BWL will provide information to state and local Completed officials on a regular basis. During an event like the ice storm, it will assign a liaison to state and local officials to answer questions that they may have from their constituents. The Committee of the Whole reviewed the following: Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 32 of 48 CRT and Governance Recommendations The CRT recommends that the Board of the BWL and the City: 1) Hire an "operational auditor" to conduct annual performance audits of the BWL operations and planning. Outcome: Instruct Auditor Perkins to come back with a proposal outlining what he sees as being an operational audit scope and the estimated level of work needed from an outside contractor. That information will be brought back to committee for consideration. 2) Establish a standing committee for review of, and contract with outside expertise for, an annual operational audit. Outcome: Deferred until further conversation with the Internal Auditor 3) Institute a training process for all board members in Carver or other Policy Governance Model. Implement and use the model and continue the training on an ongoing basis. Outcome: Agreed On/In Process 4) Request the City to consider provision to the BWL Board of expense reimbursement and/or some minor stipend for attendance. Outcome: Deferred 5) Create a Local Government Liaison Committee of Board members and local government representatives from remaining governments, which will meet quarterly to review service-related issues and to recommend changes, improvements, and innovations AND the Board must institute a clear process for plenary and due consideration and action on the Committee's recommendations Outcome: An Ad Hoc Committee has been established headed by Chair Zerkle. The Committee will examine this recommendation with the goal in mind to look at involving all those other local units and then determining the procedures that that would occur. The Ad Hoc committee is charged with finding the best way to implement the recommendation. 6) Request an opinion from the Lansing City attorney to clarify whether an ordinance or City Charter amendment could establish an expanded Board to include non-Lansing residents, to represent the municipalities within the BWL customer area. Outcome: In Process/Based on the Mayor's recommendations Board of: Commissioner Crisis Communication Plan The Committee had dialogue regarding the Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners establishing own Crisis Report. After a lengthy conversation, it was determined the Committee would like to consider a draft of the Lansing City Council recommendations, and use their plan as a temple to create our own. Committee of the Whole Louney stated that he Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 33 of 48 would work with the Corporate Secretary to revise the template and bring it back to the Committee of the Whole for review. Board of Water & Light Crisis Communication Plan General Manager Lark stated that the Board of Water & Light's Communication Plan was created by the firm of Martin Waymire, who surveyed a number of utilities throughout the country, a number of relevant utilities and came up with what they believe, was the best practices of crisis communications plan. General Manager Lark introduced, Board of Water & Light Communications Director Steve Serkaian to provide details of the plan. Mr. Serkaian stated the following: We asked Martin Waymire to look at best practices of utilities all across the country and without exception, found that our customers wanted to know three important things during an outages: 1) are you aware that my power is out; 2) what caused the outage, and 3) when will my service be restored. During the ice storm, quite frankly, we could only answer one of those questions - what caused the outage. Moving forward, these three questions, and answers to these questions have become our guiding mantra. Any customer outage, large or small since the ice storm, whether it's 12 outages like we had over the 4th of July, or larger outages, I think our biggest one was perhaps 3,500; we have communicated answers to all three questions, both through traditional media and through social media. Before we get to the actual crisis document and your questions, it is important to look at what the research found and how we address the research; because, those elements and those changes are every part of this plan, and something that we operate under every day; both with regular communications to our customers through social media, and traditional media about our day to day activities. Outages and everything in between, the research came back and suggested a number of things; the changes I am going to describe and the improvements I'm going to describe, have been the direct result of work by dozens of people at the BWL. I only had a small part of it; dozens of folks continue to work on improvements lead by our general manager, Mr. Lark, and it's important to tell this Board and the public that, in my experience in working for public entities there has been a sea change of ways we have done things differently. These are important changes that we're communicating though our newsletters and to the media, but at some point there's going to be an end point to the focus on us, so that we do our day-to-day business and do it well, as we have for more than 100 years. Mr. Lark mentioned a lot of things in his review of the CRT recommendations. Let me get back to the findings of the research of Martin Waymire made, they found the best practices across the country that additional communications channels are necessary to allow customers to communicate easily and conveniently with us. During the ice storm, we only had one 877 line, and because of the problems with the OMS, we were unable to communicate with customers. They were only able to effectively communicate with us, and we couldn't tell them when their power was going to be restored. Those problems have been fixed, addressed, and tested. We now have additional sources of how we can communicate Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 34 of 48 with our customers, and our customers with us; our interactive outage map, which is in our outage center, now has the ability for customers to report an outage. They can check whether the power is on or off, and will be able to get right-now restoration time, as they were able to get that through the 877 number. Targeted for early August, we are going to launch a mobile app for all of our customers to download on their mobile platforms whether it is a smart phone, tablet, and so on; the mobile app would be able to allow customers to report outages and get updates on outages, and this coming December, we are going to launch a new feature that will allow our customers to report outages via texting from their phones. Therefore, from December and January, the communication vehicle will have multiple communication vehicles that our customers can communicate with us. During the ice storm, we had outage information scattered throughout our website, and not easily found. Since then, we have created an icon on our front page; if you click on it, it goes directly to the outage center and on that outage center is an outage map, and you can click that to see an outline of our service territory and inside our service. If there is anything inside the map relative to outages, you can just hover over it with your mouse. The site refreshes every 15 minutes. It has changed the way that I have done business with reporting outages because, once I get the alert, I go directly to the outage center to see the outage map and what the boundaries are; that has streamlined and made my job more efficient in communicating with Amy Akers' support, and reporting to the social media what the boundaries are, what the restoration time is, and through our other Internal information, what the cause of the outage is. Therefore, the outage center has been, and is interesting to see because our customers are giving each other updates; I call that the market correcting itself, and it's wonderful to observe. Now with our ability to push people to our outage map and the outage center, it is a really convenient thing, for which our customers screamed for during the ice storm, and that we now have, six months after the fact. We've got the outage center prominently displayed on our home page; the outage map has been updated to allow folks to post their outages and to get updates on restoration, that's going to be in the August "Connections," so it will go customer-to-customer directly through the billing insert. We also have a number of tabs that talk about what to do when the lights go out, how to prepare for outages, how the BWL handles outages, vegetation management information. We've got a sign up on the site along with social media streams, both on Facebook and Twitter. The research also told us that we have to do a better job communicating with all of our key audiences before the crisis happens, and before the storm hits; now at least two days before a forecasted storm, we are communicating with our customers and media both, though traditional media and social media. Advising that a big storm is on its way and we think it's going to hit, if it does we're ready, we've got crews on stand-by and that these are things that you need to do if your power goes out; in particular, we push them to two places one the 877 number. We've also expanded our constituent groups through which we send social media and traditional media updates; to those constituent groups beside the board, our internal list, all master media lists, including an expanded governmental list of all local, county, and state officials throughout our service territory. We have created our neighborhood association list throughout our service territory, we have a faith-based list and, in all press release communications, we sent emails to them not only during outages and crises, but also in our day-to-day stuff because, it is important that these constituent groups know the kind of Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 35 of 48 things that we are doing. Now in every outage, even minor outages of 10, 100, 500 or more than 1000, we always post, that we know about the outage, we know where it is, and we try to give a restoration time. Information is always posted on social media, as that's where all our customers are going for information. We post a Twitter message about an outage, and we find many times that the media, the Lansing State Journal and Channels 6 and 10 are re- tweeting our posts. A number of commissioners are also re-tweeting our posts. So there is no longer, a silver bullet of how we are communicating with our customers, it is multiple mediums and it is multiple ways that people are getting the information. We have also created an email group list that we send to our constituent groups, we have also created a number of templates, that give us direction on how to address a small outage, a medium sized outage and a large sized outage, and the same is on the back of the crisis plan that was included in your packets today. I believe there were about 9 templates that we included in March, when we released the plan and has now grown to about 17. The crisis plan itself is sort of a living breathing document that is always being adjusted. For instance, when the emergency manager comes on board, we will have to fold this new position into it to reflect this person's leadership with a crisis. Therefore, we are constantly making tweaks to the templates. We are also developing a power point presentation that senior leadership including Mr. Lark will be taking to the community. These are all things that we're doing to communicate the changes we have made since the ice storm. The BWL was also told that the tone of communications needs to be improved, and that that traditional media communications and social media posts regarding outages should reflect our humility; that we should apologize to customers for the outage; that we should thank them for their patience in enduring an outage and we try to do that in every instance of an outage. Lastly, the research said to put standard operating policies and protocols in place to guide communications during routine practices, outages, whether large or small, and crises that the ice storm reflected; we have done that. The kinds of changes that I have characterized, the elements that have gone into the crisis plan is something that we operate under every day, and if a major outage hits our community tomorrow, we are going to be in much better shape in terms of communicating with our customers and being able to respond in appropriate way both in terms of communications and operationally so that we can get our customers power back on, as quickly as possible. Mr. Sarkaian spoke about marketing efforts that have taken place, or have been put into place since the ice storm. For Example "The Power of We" and "Do 1 Thing" have been implemented as a tool to help with outreach. There was a lengthy question and answer session regarding the responsibilities of the Emergency Manager, the Board of Commissioner communicating with media, and the inclusions of a Board member on the crisis communication team. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney thanked Mr. Sarkain for his efforts on the presented crisis communication plan. Dialogue re: Board of Commissioners Governance Training. Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 36 of 48 The Committee of the Whole had dialogue regarding the desire for governance training. Board Chair Zerkle presented a proposed agenda as well as a bio on a recommended presenter for the training. After some dialogue and reviewing the presented proposed agenda, it was determined that this may be a good place to begin, however, there was uncertainty regarding this proposed agenda, and the proposed presenter regarding obtaining the desired educated outcome. Upon conclusion of the discussion, it was determined that the Board Chair would have the Corporate Secretary send an email asking the Board of Commissioner to submit to their expected learning outcome and/or specific agenda subjects that you would like addressed in the governance training. Other Board Chair Zerkle conveyed that she and Human Resource Chair Thomas are prepared to start the process for negotiating the contract for the 3 appointed employees. There was a lengthy conversation regarding the evaluation and negation process. Human Resource Chair Thomas stated that there was a process established last year and the same process would be used this year. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated during this dialogue what he heard was that we had a process in place and some board members are saying that they think the process needs to be reviewed and I feel that that is an issue for the HR committee to look at, if the chair deems it necessary. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that he was notified last week about a legal case that was not on their legal update, and asked that the General Manager contact the Commissioners' by email and provide some details. General Manager Lark in response stated that he was not aware of such a case but would look into it. Excused Absence None Public Comments None Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenhery, the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole FINANCE COMMITTEE July 8, 2014 The Finance Committee of the Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 8:23 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Finance Committee Chairperson Margaret Bossenbery called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 37 of 48 Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Dennis M. Louney; Also present Commissioners David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments Chuck Slammer, Lansing, MI, spoke in opposition of the proposed rate increase. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes of May 21, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously Finance Chair changed the order of the Agenda. External Audit Communication to the Board — Presented by Plante & Moran General Manager Lark introduced external auditor Doug Rober, Partner with Plante Moran (P&M) and Marie Stiegel, Manager with P&M, who reviewed and presented the Auditing Process. Mr. Rober said this is the beginning of the audit process and part of that process is to meet and present governance with an overall analysis of the audit plan. This also provides an opportunity for the Commissioners to provide any insight on whether there is anything specific that they are aware of or would like us to focus our time on in addition to what is planned in the audit. Mr. Rober stated that the scope of the Audit that will be performed is to express an opinion of the financial statements of the Board as well as each of the pension plans. He stated there will also be a management letter or significant deficiency letter if required at the end of the engagement, ultimately issuing an AU260 communication letter. He said their focus is to perform procedures on the financial information that is the responsibility of the management and the Board. He stated they will be getting together with the Board again to discuss the results. One of the required communications is a letter summarizing how the audit went and what the findings are, and that is in addition to the report letter pertaining to the financial statements. If there were financial matters found, that warranted the Board's attention that would also be communicated in a letter. Ms. Stiegel reviewed Management's responsibility in the Audit process as well as the following: ■ Audit Process ■ Auditor Responsibility ■ Management Responsibility ■ Testing Phases ■ Required Discussion Points ■ Significant Risk Misstatement ■ Responses to Significant Risk Misstatement ■ Additional Required Discussion Points ■ Communication to those Charged with Governance Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 38 of 48 Commissioner Price questioned the status of the pension plans with all that is going on in the economy, and wanted some reassurance that the Board of Water & Light is in good shape. In response Ms. Stiegel stated through GASB 67, you will have some disclosures that provide a measurement of that. Commissioner Louney questioned if Plante Moran did operational audit for utilities. In response Mr. Rober stated that they do have experience in that area. He stated when performing an operational audit, they listen to the scope of what an organization wants them to focus on, and then a specific audit is designed against those particulars. Mr. Rober asked the Board of Commissioners if there were any areas of concern that warrant attention or additional procedures. In response to Mr. Rober's question the Board of Commissioners stated no areas of concern. Request to Publish Notice Re: Proposed Rate Changes General Manager Lark said what is before you is a resolution a Resolution requesting approval to set a Public Hearing date of September 18, 2014 on the rate recommendations. A notice would be published in the newspaper by August 27th. There would be a Committee of the Whole of meeting on September 9, 2014, in which we would give you embellished upon, as well as refined documents regarding the rate changes, so that you can have a good idea of what we are going to put forward at the Public Hearing. The Board would meet on September 23, 2014 to decide on whether or not to invoke the rate increase. General Manager Lark reviewed the Impact of Proposed Rates Increases. He said that the proposed rate increases are Electric 7%, Water 9%, Steam 9% and Chilled Water 3%. What this increase would do is bring us a net income of approximately $8M. If we are to have a return on assets on 6.18% as the Board instructed back in 2008, that net income would be $33M. So you can see the return on assets with these increases for a full year would amount to 1.12% return on assets. The return on assets is an important figure, the money that we use to keep our plants up, refurbish, and take of the depreciation that we have at the Board of Water & Light. Without the increases, the net income becomes ($11M). General Manager Lark reviewed the following: E ffC;C t car A I i P rrl 15' I l ate Chat c,s cc,rl a Typlca i)nti7ly Fie S idle ""uII c t ri c, Bi11 ) <nr 55011 �t- I 0 f €::.I c,,,li_,111 'Nd"0nt'I-1 ELECTRIC- 6/1/2014 11/1/2014 Service Charge 4p,.i�,,,xah•; $6.10 S10.00 Renewable Energy Plan $2.50 $0.75 ConTmdity mf;;iml;J:e:tiuo:;:i, $0.0937 rv,:nen;;w -> $0.1001 Cormndity(p-v,k-m,) $OX989 $0.1056 E W $0,022095 $0.022095 Energy Optirizatlon SDA018S3 $0.001853 Escinated Monthly Use 550 kwh Service Charge S6110 $10,00 I Renewable Energy Plan $2.50 $0.75 Con-rrndity 5 64.97 g 6a.50 I T4ral 6I1 $75.57 579.25 i Increase---> 3.69 Increase"/4---> 4.E8 i Regular BoardNtg. July zz.0014 Pugo39 of 48 | Effect of 91,'4) Rate Increase oR 8 Typical Monthly Residential Water Bi|| []sing 6 Ccf0fWater Per MOOt"11 Estimated Monthly Use 4,500 gallons 4,500 gallons General Manager Lark stated that the Board should strongly consider approving a rate increase. Among the reasons is in the last 2 years, we have not had a rate increase and during that time there has been inflation. Over the last I years, there has been roughly OY6increase in inflation and that is certainly contender for reasons for a rate increase. There are expenses related to hardening our system for the storm (new hires, tree trimming expense) and the Return on Equity that is now 6.l96. General Manager Lark respectfully requested that the Finance Committee forward the proposed Resolution setting a Public Hearing for September 18, 2014 to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to forward the proposed Resolution to set a Public Hearing to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Internal Audit Update Internal Auditor Phil Perkins, presented an overview ofInternal Auditor Status Update " FY2O14 Audit Plan Progress Report ° Proposed FYZU15 Audit Plan " Other Upcoming Items FY 2014 Audit Plan Progress Report Engagement Completed: l. Fuel Procurement Audit Z. Records Retention Audit 3. Accounts Payable Audit 4. Close the Books Audit—complete; report tobe issued shortly. I Surprise Cash Counts (Z) 5. Time Reporting Reviews Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 40 of 48 1. Software Licensing Compliance Audit—fieldwork about complete; report to be issued in August. 2. Draft Report to be issued shortly; audit 95% complete. Proposed FY2015 Audit Plan Basic for plan: 1. Risk assessments and ratings for each of 100-plus auditable activities at BWL. 2. Consideration of rotational audits, audit areas with risk/scoping assessments, first-time audits, etc. 3. Review and input by management. 4. Selection of the top audit candidates based on (1) through (3) above. Proposed FY 2015 Audit Plan Planned Audits: Estimated Hours Materials Inventory Management 400 Engineering'Services —Annual Projects 400 Health Insurance & Prescription Drug Plans 400 Follow-up on Post-Outage Recommendations 400 IT— Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance 300 IT— Management of Non-Desktop Field Devices 300 Other Engagements: Surprise Cash Counts (2) 40 Time Reporting Reviews (2) 160 IT Risk Assessment (continued from FY2014) 100 Potential Consulting or Other Engagement 100 Total Estimated Hours 2 s09 Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approval to adopt the Audit Plan. Action: Motion Carried Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Price, to maintain the Internal Audit Charter as currently written. Action: Carried Unanimously Internal Auditor Perkins informed the Committee that he recently made some changes to the Internal Auditing procedures and would provide the Commissioners with an electronic list of the changes. Finance Chair Bossenbery introduced a proposed policy for the Finance Committee to take a look at, and consider forwarding to the full Board for consideration and approval. Chair Bossenbery stated that we get Audit reports from Mr. Perkins periodically and part of those audits include actions from management that need to be taken care of. There is not a formalized procedure for management to get back with Mr. Perkins in response to the Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 41 of 48 completion of actions and recommendations. Mr. Perkins has drafted a procedure, so that he has a tracking system to ensure implementation of actions, thus a policy. Mr. Perkins stated that it is important to have this policy in place because it gives him, as well as the Board, a window as to how progress is being made, and getting corrective actions completed and in turn will help with future audit planning. Di­ft P1,0I;OSeci 1�oa !PC,1 i '. ,, �U( X,' !1:11 Au i., General Responsibilities'. lntemal Audit The Internal Auditor is responsible for performing the annual Internal Audit Plan approved by the Finance Committee of the Board. This includes but is not limited to: 1. Informing management of any potential issues during audit engagements and briefing the results of audits including any findings priorto releasing a draft audit report to management. 2. �oTmpltypt��,�ntingSJl�.[esu.lt_oleach,audjtengagE.p7Q,pt.ln�;yfjj g, Reports of audit will include any reportable findings,recommendations,and management's responses to the findings and recommendations. 3. Following up on previous audit findings and management responses to ensure that the corrective action(s)noted in the responses v erg,ln.f,;cttaken.and that those actions corrected the problem(s)identified. fvlanagernent. Management is to respond with actionable responses to each reported finding and recommendation in the internal auditor's reportwithin an agreed-upon timeframe. Each management response should contain the following: 1. AS;knakYlad9�manl.oL�Sreemeat.IAfd�a9�E�m-��l.if..aAAllc�tll�),4gi)F�!he audl, f itlr!i ng,al)�pAp mm e n d�t io n; 2. .A specific action or actions being taken(or already taken)to address the problem(s)noted in the finding and recommendation 3. A statement that gjfhet,affirm,S,ln3t.tbe„S1Ttpd. ott�oU.+�, ctlan(sj,hpslhTye, already,be en,coroAlet.@�.o..r.if.oaf„an,e Stimated.dale,tYhen.manag r<m enf,b.'<lie�es„ tJ1e,coff€clhrt�,attjof,(Sjwill be completed The estimated completion date should be management's best estimate,based on available resources,priorities and schedules as to when the corrective aclion(s)S.an.feas,Rna4ly,b.?.�XA.�nled,lP bP,. csmplete,d. Follow-Up of Open Management Responses to Audit Findings: 1. Schedule of Open Actions For each management response for which the corrective action is to be_rompleted by an estimated future date,a schedule will be developed to track,on at least a quarterly basis;the status of such corrective actions until they are completed. a There should be a notation each quarter regarding progress,if any.toward completion of the corrective action If other priorities precluded further progress during a quarter,this ah0,uld.b.e..Sg.Stated. b The Internal Auditorwill receive an updated schedule each quarter and keep the Finance Chair apprised of action completion and status 2. Schedule Usage. a Management. Management will use the schedule as a tool for reporting progress on open corrective actions to the Finance Committee quarterly. b. Intemal Auditor. The Internal Auditor will use the schedule to help in future planning efforts and to ensure that management's corrective actions gr2..4�ing.lmplemeq!ed as staled in the management responses to audit reports. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney, to approve the Policy on following up to the Internal Auditors finding and recommendations. Action: Motion Carried Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 42 of 48 Excused Absence None Other None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted Margaret Bossenbery, Chair Finance Committee MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS General Manager Lark presented the Resolution for the 2015 Rate Adjustments. The Resolution provides that there a proposed rate adjustments and that they should be subject to further consideration after a Public Hearing and the Resolution further provides that this Public Hearing should take place on September 18, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. and that notice should go out. The proposed rate increases are 7% for Electric, 9% for Water, 9% for Steam and 3% for Chilled Water. When it comes to water there is a $1.75 reduction for the Renewable Energy Charge, so thus the average residential customer will see a 4.88% increase if the Board approves the rate increases. General Manager Lark respectfully requested that the Board approve the Resolution setting the Public Hearing for September 18, 2014. RESOLUTION#2014-07-01 Public Hearing for 2015 Rate Adjustments WHEREAS, the Corporate Financial Targets for each of the Lansing Board of Water and Light's strategic business units is a 6.18% return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies that would require $19.7 million of Electric net income, $9.5 million of water net income, $2.7 million of steam net income, and $1.3 million of chilled water net income; and WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015 budget filed with the City of Lansing included proposed rate increases for the electric, water, steam, and chilled water utilities; and WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in an electric net income of $532,000 or a 0.12% return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies; and WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a water net income of $2.0 million or a 0.93% return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies; and Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 43 of 48 WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a steam net loss of $814,000 or a negative 1.34% return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies; and WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a chilled water net income of$820,000 or a 2.81% return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to increase annual electric billings by $16 million; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to increase annual water billings by$3.3 million; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to increase annual steam billings by$1.0 million; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to increase annual chilled water billings by $0.2 million; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to add an Economic Development Rider for large commercial and industrial customers; and WHEREAS, BWL management proposes to roll June 2014 ECA rate into Electric Rate Base (rate neutral); and WHEREAS, the proposed rate adjustments will not take effect until November 1, 2014, RESOLVED, the proposed rate adjustments will be subject to further consideration after a public hearing is held. FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Finance Committee hereby sets the date of September 18, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. for a public hearing to solicit public input on the proposed rate adjustments. The hearing will be held in the Board of Water and Light offices, 1201 S. Washington Avenue, in the Depot facility. The Corporate Secretary is directed to file with the City Clerk no later than August 4, 2014 information regarding proposed rate adjustments with an effective date of November 1, 2014. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, to approve the Resolution setting a Public Hearing for September 18, 2014 to considerate 2015 Rate Adjustment. Action: Motion Carried UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business NEW BUSINESS Nominating Committee Chair Mullen stated there were no nominees for the Officer position of Vice Chair forwarded to the full Board for consideration. Committee Chair Mullen asked if Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 44 of 48 there were any nominations from the floor for the Officer position of Vice Chair. There were no nominations from the floor and the nominations were closed. Motion by Dennis Louney, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Margaret Bossenbery for the Officer position of Vice Chair. Action: Motion Carried Nominating Committee Chair Mullen stated consistent with the committee report, David Price is the nominee being forwarded to the full Board for consideration of the Officer position of Chair. Nominating Committee Chair Mullen asked if there were any nominations from the floor for the Officer position of Chair. There were no nominations from the floor and the nominations were closed. Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to nominate Commissioner David Price for the Officer position of Vice Chair. Action: Motion Carried (6/2 Thomas, Zerkle) Chair Zerkle stated that the Executive Committee consist of the Chair, Vice Chair, Past Chair and a 4th Member elected by the Board. There was a Point of Order raised by Commissioner Price regarding the process pertaining to the selection of the Executive Committee members. After some dialogue and confirmation from the Board of Water & Light's Rules of Procedure, Commissioner Price withdrew his objection. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, to nominate Commissioner Thomas at the 4th Member of the Executive Committee. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTION #2014-07-02 Appointment of the Charter Position of Corporate Secretary The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 1st of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED, That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Corporate Secretary for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 45 of 48 Motion by Commissioner Louney, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud Ward, to reappoint M. Denise Griffin to the Charter position of Corporate Secretary for fiscal year 2014-2015 Action: Carried Unanimously RESOLUTION #2014-07-03 Appointment of the Charter Position of Internal Auditor The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 15t of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED, That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Internal Auditor for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: Philip Perkins, Internal Auditor --------------------- Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to reappoint Philip Perkins to the Charter position of Internal Auditor for fiscal year 2014-2015. Action: Carried Unanimously RESOLUTION #2013-07-04 Appointment of the Charter Position of Director and General Manager The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 1"of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED, That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Director and General Manager for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: J. Peter Lark, Director and General Manager ---------------- Motion by Commissioner Bossenebery, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to reappoint J. Peter Lark to the Charter position of Director and General Manager for fiscal year 2014-2015. Action: Motion Carried (7/1Ward) RESOLUTION #2013-07-05 Board Policy on Follow-up to Internal Audit Findings & Recommendations General Responsibilities: Regular Board Mtg. July 22,2014 Page 46 of 48 Internal Audit. The Internal Auditor is responsible for performing the annual Internal Audit Plan approved by the Finance Committee of the Board. This includes but is not limited to: 1. Informing management of any potential issues during audit engagements and briefing the results of audits including any findings prior to releasing a draft audit report to management. 2. Formally presenting the results of each audit engagement in writing. Reports of audit will include any reportable findings, recommendations, and management's responses to the findings and recommendations. 3. Following up on previous audit findings and management responses to ensure that the corrective action(s) noted in the responses were in fact taken, and that those actions corrected the problem(s) identified. Management. Management is to respond with actionable responses to each reported finding and recommendation in the internal auditor's report within an agreed-upon timeframe. Each management response should contain the following: 1. Acknowledgement of agreement (or disagreement if applicable) with the audit finding and recommendation. 2. A specific action or actions being taken (or already taken) to address the problem(s) noted in the finding and recommendation. 3. A statement that either affirms that the stated corrective action(s) has/have already been completed or, if not, an estimated date when management believes the corrective action(s) will be completed. The estimated completion date should be management's best estimate, based on available resources, priorities and schedules as to when the corrective action(s) can reasonably be expected to be completed. Follow-Up of Open Management Responses to Audit Findings: 1. Schedule of Open Actions. For each management response for which the corrective action is to be completed by an estimated future date, a schedule will be developed to track, on at least a quarterly basis, the status of such corrective actions until they are completed. a. There should be a notation each quarter regarding progress, if any, toward completion of the corrective action. If other priorities precluded further progress during a quarter, this should be so stated. b. The Internal Auditor will receive an updated schedule each quarter and keep the Finance Chair apprised of action completion and status. Regular Board Mtg, July 22,2014 Page 47 of 48 2. Schedule Usage: a. Management. Management will use the schedule as a tool for reporting progress on open corrective actions to the Finance Committee quarterly. b. Internal Auditor. The Internal Auditor will use the schedule to help in future planning efforts and to ensure that management's corrective actions are being implemented as stated in the management responses to audit reports. Motion by Commissioner Bossenebery, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve said Policy on follow up to the Internal Audit Findings and Recommendations. Motion: Carried Unanimously MANAGER'S REMARKS General Manager Lark stated the following: The clock of life is always ticking forward pushing us in the next moment, but to embrace our future we often have to look back and appreciate our past. Chair Sandra Zerkle has lead the Board for the past five years with strength, grace and integrity. She has been at the forefront of change often without recognition. After five years of being Chair, It seems only fitting that I take a minutes to give a few examples of how her leadership improved the Board of Water & Light. Under her leadership, with the full support of the Board, we replaced ageing Chilled Water production facilities located in the floodplain with state of the art electric chillers, in a new plant located downtown Lansing Capital complex. With her firm support in July of last year, we launched our new Co-generation Plant, that replaced steam boiler that was more than one-half a century old added electric generation and provided the Board of Water & Light with a new headquarters. Our community is healthier now that less coal is being burned and for that, we applaud Sandy and the Board. Thanks to her backing and that of her colleagues, we are now Michigan's largest municipally owned solar array. The Cedar St. solar ray expansion has nearly tripled the arrays generating capacity. But these are more than just words on paper, they are reminders of how our community has grown and improved in the last five years and all of these accomplishments were successful because of the Board actions under the leadership of Sandra Zerkle. Mr. Lark thanked Chair Zerkle on behalf of everyone at the Board of Water & Light and the customers for leading this company forward and making it better. General Manager Lark presented Chair Zerkle with a commemorative plaque for her time as Chair. COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS In response to Mr. Lark's comments, Chair Zerkle, stated this was highly unexpected and very greatly appreciated. What we do here is not done by one person, it is done by eight Commissioners and she thoroughly enjoyed the support and working with the Commissioners. It has been great working with the staff and the Board's three employees. It has been a great honor to serve. Chair Zerkle announced that former Commissioner Bob Cochran passed away last week. She said that he was very helpful to her when she first became a Commissioner. Chair Zerkle also Regular Board Mtg. July 22, 2014 Page 48 of 48 said that she wanted to make note of Commissioner Thomas's efforts pertaining to the evaluation and the contract process for the Board's three employees, it has been a very transparent effort on Mr. Thomas's part. Commissioner Bossenbery, expressed her gratitude to her colleagues on the Board for selecting her as Vice Chair and said that she is looking forward to working with everyone in the Vice Chair capacity over the next year. She said that she has served on the Board for five years and during that time the Board has achieve much, but more can be done. She stated that the Board has been through a trying time and there is a lot of work to do to move forward. She stated while those of us around this horseshoe may have differences of opinions on issues that may come before us, at the end of the day we all agree that what we all want is to make the Board of Water & Light the best it can be. Commissioner Price said that he looks forward to working with all of his fellow Commissioners, the three staff members and the Board of Water & Light's staff. It has been a tough six months for everyone but believes that we are over the biggest hump. We have a road map and we are grateful to the CRT Team for their suggestions; The Board of Water & Light's staff has gone a long way with implementing most of the CRT's suggestions and will continue to work on those. The Board of Commissioners' have some work to do on the suggested recommendations in which we started working on at the last Committee of the Whole meeting. He said that he is looking forward to implementing the recommendations and thanked everyone for their support. Commissioner Thomas thanked his fellow Commissioners for their vote of confidence regarding the Executive Committee. He congratulated the new Chair and Vice Chair on the election to their new positions. For the Record Commissioner Thomas stated that he is looking forward to working under the leadership of newly elected Vice Chair Bossenbery and is ready, willing and able to serve. He also congratulated the Board's three appointed employees on their reappointments and he thanked Legal Counsel Ekren for her assistance over the last few months. EXCUSED ABSENCE None PUBLIC COMMENTS Mary Brady Anderson of Lansing spoke on behalf of Clean Water Action. She congratulated the Board of Water & Light on being the largest solar array municipality in Michigan. She provided the Board with information pertaining to results from a survey that her organization performed regarding community solar. She stated that complete results would be provided at a later date. ADJOURNMENT The Gavel was passed from Chair Zerkle to Commissioner Price to assume the duties of Chairperson of the Board of water&Light Board of Commissioners'for 2014-2015. On motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, seconded by Commissioner Mullen the meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Preliminary Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:August 6,2014 official Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:September 25,2014 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE June 10, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair, Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price,Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of May 13, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Response to CRT and MPSC Reports Vice Chair Louney stated that there have been many new implementations, and many changes have occurred since the ice storm, which have all been done by the employees and directed by management; however, there are many more changes ahead of us and feels positive about the future. General Manager Lark stated the following: Tonight is a time to reflect, really, on the BWL's recent past. More importantly, it is time I think, to clearly understand where we find the BWL today, and to clearly understand where we are going because, I believe that compared to the BWL of December 2013, we are not the same company; we are stronger, and a better BWL. And we are a BWL that needs to be better still. I think we all can agree that the past six months have been difficult for us; perhaps most importantly, difficult for our customers. I think it's clear that nature has dealt us, and our communities, a powerful blow. A storm that I think we can all agree was historic; both in its sheer force and in its impact on the homes, businesses, and lives of nearly all of our BWL customers. Personally and professionally, we were all affected by this storm. None of us, especially our customers, want to go through that again. When the next major storm and outage event happens, and I can tell you it will happen again, we must all be confident that the BWL's response will be significantly improved from that response we saw in December. Our customers deserve our operations and our communication systems to meet their needs in the worst of times. While we are rightly proud of how our BWL frontline workers responded to the storm, we are equally disappointed in our own systems failure to meet our own expectations and track record of, I think, what could only be called superior performance and superior service. But enough about the past, tonight I can say with absolute confidence that the BWL is an improved utility. I can also assure you that more improvements will be announced and implemented in the coming weeks and in the coming months. The improvements flow really from 3 in-depth assessments of how we responded to the storm. They come from our own top-to-bottom internal review, if you recall the 54 points. They come from the Mayor's Citizens Review Team (CRT) assessment, and they also come from the Michigan Public Service Commission's (MPSC) evaluation. This is all a result of 6 months of exhaustive scrutiny. We are grateful for the work of the CRT and the MPSC. By adopting their recommendations, I believe the BWL will be a much stronger, better organization, and better prepared to respond to the next major storm. Compared to the BWL of 2013, we are not the same company; today we're a stronger and better BWL. Tonight, I want everyone that the BWL serves to understand clearly that we are making improvements. We are grateful to the CRT and we are grateful to the Public Service Commission for identifying actions that will improve our ability to respond to future outages and emergencies. In fact, some of the improvements are already operational, as this board knows. And if they are not, some are well along their way to being implemented. We have increased crews and staff, which improve the BWL's ability to restore power faster during outages; we have increased internal spotter crews and we have contracted for up to 17 additional spotter crews from a contractor company; we have tripled the number of tree trimmer crews in the field working today; we have tripled the number of line crews available during an outage and really much beyond tripling as to what is available. In addition, we have expanded our Mutual Aid Agreements across Michigan and across the United States to help restore service during any major outage that should befall us. We also have a more robust tree-trimming program on a 5-year cycle, which will better protect us from falling limbs. We have improved, and stress tested our outage management system that is able to record outage calls and provide restoration estimates. We have improved call center operations. As you know, we have a Social Media Specialist that was hired to better communicate with our customers. In addition, we have an Emergency Manager that will be hired, to better coordinate crises activities. That manager position has been posted and is now closed. We had a plethora of applicants, and we will begin the interview process shortly. We will participate in the City's emergency preparedness work group, which will be announced soon. The new Emergency Mast Repair and interest-free payment program that the BWL has operating is the first, in utility-industry in the State of Michigan, that I can find. It includes BWL approved contractors, and it will help customers restore their broken power line masts following storms or natural disasters. We have an online outage center that will help customers find out all information necessary, about storms and outages. We have created an interactive outage map that gives customers the information they need when the power is out. We have a more robust system that will provide our customers with accurate outage restoration information when they need it, via multiple communications channels, and devices. In addition, in the future, we will be announcing additional improvements, including more ways we can communicate with, and receive important information from our customers using the Internet and mobile communications devices. We are going to have additional website improvements that will better serve our customers and by the fall, we will have completed updating our program to identify seniors and customers with medical alerts. This information will be available to government and community officials to perform wellness checks during emergencies. Our customers deserve a BWL with operational and communication systems that are at or above industry standards, and that are designed to function as well as possible in all types of weather. The BWL today, has many of those operational and communication systems presently in place and we will be adding more of them over time, starting in the very near future. I look forward to sharing details of our improvements directly with our customers and communities in the coming weeks and months. They deserve to hear directly from us, and they will. We have already addressed a number of neighborhood associations, and others. This summer we will continue to hold face-to-face meetings with our service areas, elected officials, business leaders, neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations and human service groups. We will also continue to communicate our improvements to our customers via mail, the website, and other means of communications. At the end of the process, the BWL will once again have the faith and confidence of our customers and our communities. The ball is in our court and we are not going to drop it. I think we have all read the CRT and the PSC report; in both of those reports, you will see things that are clearly labeled as recommendations. In the document attached to the agenda item for today, you will see the BWL's responses, I am not going to discuss all of them, but I imagine that you will have questions. Not long ago in a Board Meeting, Commissioner Ward described the CRT Report as a gift, and I want to say that I agree with that. It has provided us with numerous recommendations that will make the BWL and the Lansing community much more resilient, and better-able to respond to severe events. The BWL is grateful for all of the recommendations, including those from the CRT, the PSC as well as the BWL's own 54 points, total of roughly 180 recommendations. I will begin with the CRT recommendations on System Resilience. Under that heading, you see that the CRT notes that the BWL's role in providing a critical service to the Lansing community is important, and that there is a need to protect critical facilities. I agree with the CRT's characterization of our service and responsibility to help make Lansing a more resilient community. We are implementing the CRT's recommendations to improve resiliency during major emergency events. What we plan to do is: to regularly update critical facilities needed for public safety and welfare, for priority attention during an emergency and share this with local emergency managers. Also, as recommended by the CRT, we're beginning a survey of distributed generation opportunities in the Lansing area. We will work with sites that are promising to determine the potential for micro grids at, or, around those facilities to keep them up and operating during a major outage event. Underneath System Resilience, we go to National Incident Management System, or NIMS Training. As noted by the CRT, NIMS is a systematic approach to incident management providing a unified approach to incident management, creating standard command and management structures and emphasizing preparedness and mutual aid. We agree that this is best practice for critical infrastructure owners; we are adopting it, as well as the recommendations made by the CRT that go with it. We agree that greater cooperation is needed between the BWL and local emergency managers and leaders. We are going to participate with local emergency mangers; share information, data, and experience to improve regional emergency response. We will maintain a sustainable ongoing working relationship with local emergency responders and emergency managers to assure that the BWL's emergency response and resources will work cooperatively and effectively with all local responders. We are going to encourage and participate in development of a regional emergency plan and cooperate in building local resiliency during an emergency. Under Continuity of Operations, the CRT notes that the BWL must plan for its own recovery from a disaster or emergencies. It has made several recommendations that will assist the BWL in protecting itself and recovering from a major threat or a major disaster. The next general heading is Interagency Communications and Emergency Operation Center. In this area, the CRT emphasizes the need for cooperation and coordination between the BWL, local ELCs and any regional ELC; I agree. This cooperation will improve the BWL's and the community's response to an emergency event. The BWL's personnel have already contacted 115 neighborhood associations, the Power of We, the Red Cross, and "Do One Thing," to help educate local organizations on emergency preparedness and coordinate communications among these organizations. The next heading in general, talks about the BWL's crisis communications. It notes that our crisis communications were insufficient for the size of Lansing's community. We agree that consistent, accurate, and timely information upon which, our customers can make decisions, is something our customers, local officials, and the media should expect, and, should receive. To that end, the CRT has provided very useful recommendations to improve the BWL's communications process. The BWL has developed a crisis communications plan based on industry best practices. Based on the CRT's recommendation, however, more can be done. We will integrate our crisis communications plan into the BWL's emergency plan; we will review additional studies and reports to refine the BWL crisis communications plan; we will require communications personnel to receive NIMS training; and we will continually monitor changes in social media to keep abreast of the latest communication sites. The next general heading of concern revolves around our storm response. In that area, the CRT has noted that, a bottleneck in our storm responses was the number of qualified spotters; the board has heard this before. Consistent with recommendations, we have increase our internal crews, and by June 30th, we will have completed a review of additional qualified spotters to add to our internal crew number. We have also signed an agreement with an outfit, called Osmos, a storm restoration firm to supply up to 17 crews to assist with spotter duty. We have also arranged to use mutual aid crews for spotter duty. The next large section is entitled Outage Management System. The failure of the OMS to operate as planned created a number of problems; tracking of outage numbers, locations, and contributing to the inability to acknowledge and verify customer outage increase, as this board is well aware. The CRT made a number of recommendations concerning the BWL's OMS, including testing and building redundancy into the system. On March 11th, the BWL successfully tested our OMS System at 35,000 calls per hour, which is roughly equivalent to a disaster where we would have a 100% customer outage. Another area that has been of concern following this outage involved record keeping. The CRT made a number of recommendations regarding record keeping, and one of the duties of our new emergency operations director will be to produce a records retention policy for emergency operations. As this Board knows, it has approved a general records retention policy; we will charge the new Emergency Operations Director with generating a records retention policy for emergency operations. This policy will be an integral part of the BWL's emergency operations plan, and restoration personnel will be required to adhere to that policy. This will assist with our lessons learned process, and help improve our emergency response procedures. Another area that the CRT covered was entitled: Trees and Vegetation Management. The CRT has recommend that the BWL focus on our quality assurance report regarding our vegetation management program. We have done this by tasking our Supervisor of Vegetation Management with inspecting all trimming work performed by contract crews, and by publishing the supervisor's phone number so we can respond to customer concerns as quickly as possible. The next area of concern is Grid Asset Management. The BWL's reliability is not dependent on, proper maintenance and management of its electrical distribution system, however, the CRT has made recommendations for maintenance budgets and grid asset replacement. We agree with the recommendations and will incorporate them into our asset management process. Another area of concern for the CRT is securing downed lines and service masts. I am going to combine those areas and title it "Securing Downed Lines and Masts." The CRT has observed that many of the downed lines during the ice storm were due to service masts failing; to help remedy this effect, the CRT has recommended investigating breakaway service drops. The BWL is committed to studying these types of service masts to determine how effective they may be. In the meantime, the BWL is providing a funding mechanism for customers to pay for damaged or destroyed service masts in an interest-free manner. The next areas of review involve Hardening the Primary Distribution System, Accelerating Repairs to the Primary Distribution System and Accelerating Repairs to the Secondary Distribution System. I am going to bring all of those into one and indicate that the CRT has made a number of recommendations on distribution maintenance investment and design to improve the BWL's transmission and distribution resiliency. Some of these recommendations were already part of the BWL's process, but those that are not, will help make the BWL's system more robust and more resilient, and will be incorporated into our planning design maintenance and capital investment programs. There is also an area on Medical needs and Senior Citizens in the CRT Report. We believe that the CRT Team's recommendations in those regards are particularly important during an extended outage, and we are moving on with these recommendations. Once we secure permission from our customers to share their information with local emergency operations centers, we will make sure that this information is available to local responders. The next area with recommendations in the Report is an Energy self-reliance area and islanding. We again, agree with the CRT that much more has to be done to prepare the entire Lansing community for a catastrophic emergency, and that the BWL should play its part in building community resiliency. The next item is entitled Recommendations from the MPSC Staff Report. I must mention that there is another item in the report pertaining to governance matters, which we are not taking up today and there were no recommendations. Then there is a Board of Commissioners oversight area. With all due respect, I find that it would be presumptuous of me to suggest the Board of Commissioners oversight, so I will not address those, but merely put it in the documents you have before you for the Board's considerations. Then we come to the recommendation from the MPSC staff report. That might be a little confusing in that it is not the MPSC review of the CRT, it is the MPSC review of Consumer's Energy and Detroit Edison's outage problems and from them, there were some recommendations that the CRT wanted to include. The CRT has recommended that the BWL adopt some of the PSC's service quality standards, and we agree that these standards should be adopted to assure quality service to our customers. Therefore, we are adopting the following standards: • We are going to take our customer call-answer time to less than 90 seconds. There is a call blockage factor; these are calls that were not answered. The CRT recommends that they be 5%or less; we are going to adopt that standard as well; • There are time limits during which non-utility personnel can guard downed power lines. The limit is 90% of the time utilities must relieve non-utility personnel within 240 minutes, which is 4 hours; we are going to accept that as well. Also, according to the CRT, and according to the PSC, we should maintain enough certified employees to guard downed power lines and we will also do that. The next section talks about BWL senior leadership and makes recommendations regarding senior management, and how it could be made more responsive to customer needs and concerns, and help assure that the BWL can officially implement these recommendations. I am in the process of realigning senior managers and although the details still need to be worked out, generally, I intend to do the following: have senior operations staff report directly to me; create a new administrative position responsible for finance, accounting, human resources, and other administrative functions, all reporting directly to me; and the director of governmental relations and community service will also report directly to me. PSC recommendations of the CRT's review The PSC has also provided us with recommendations that, among other things, will improve our performance during major storm events, help us identify and improve circuits that may be less reliable, keep the public better informed, back up storm responders, and improve service quality. The PSC's recommendation to monitor service quality in a circuit-by-circuit basis is very useful, and we are determining if this is possible with our existing software. If not, we intend to procure that capability and that is because some of the circuits that we have now cross individual lines. We are implementing the PSC's recommendations advocating trained and knowledgeable secondary role employees so that they can help out and quickly expand our response staff to deal with a major outage. Both the CRT and the PSC have made recommendations to expand and train our spotter staff. And we agree, as I've stated before, that this was a significant restoration bottleneck during the December ice storm, and as you know, the BWL has increased its own spotter crews, we have contracted with outsiders we have upped our mutual aid and this really does represent a formidable increase in our spotter resources. There was a lengthy Question and Answer session following General Manager Lark's report. Commissioner Price stated since the ice storm, other municipalities that we serve beyond the city of Lansing felt like they were not represented. I think the Executive Committee had a missed opportunity last week and recommendation number 67 in the CRT report is quite clear, to create a local government liaison committee and meet quarterly, and have a clear process for consideration of things for the board. Chair Zerkle in response stated that, many options were discussed at the Executive Committee meeting last week regarding how to deal with surrounding communities, and the Committee decided to form an Ad Hoc Committee that will come up with recommendations as to how to best represent and address outside communities, and then present those recommendations to the Committee of the Whole for review and consideration. There was discussion on the "Board Oversight" and recommendations section of the CRT's report. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney, stated based on tonight's discussion that he would send an email to seek advice from Board members regarding suggestions of items that can added to the agenda for upcoming Committee of the Whole meetings. Regarding agenda items for Committee of the Whole, there was discussion regarding the Crisis Communication Review report being presented at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that it is his understanding that there would be a presentation from management and that would lead into a discussion of how the Board of Commissioners wish to proceed as a board for internal communications amongst board members and outside parties because there was no clear policy when this crisis occurred. Commissioner Ward stated that there was some discussion about how are we are going to communicate as a board and it was suggested that we were going to get some training, but putting that aside we do have a communications plan that is in place and we are still responsible for knowing what that communications plan is moving forward. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney asked General Manager Lark, if we are better prepared for the next outage. In response, General Manager Lark said I think there is no doubt of that." Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated he believes that's what our customers want to know and that's what we've seen from all the actions that everyone's been taking. He thanked all of the employees and management for their efforts in doing so. Other General Manager Lark informed the Board that the Board of Water & Light's 1st Step program was nominated, and won the Capital Area Michigan Works 2014 Prosperity Award. This Award was for working with local partners to develop an innovative demand driven solution to local talent development. General Manager Lark also spoke about the great job that was done for the Chili Cook-off by all the employees and everyone who participated. It was a very successful event. Excused Absence None Public Comments None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenhery, the meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole HUMAN RESOURCE COMMITTEE June 10, 2014 The Human Resource Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Human Resource Committee Chairperson Tracy Thomas called the meeting to order and asked the Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Tracy Thomas, Anthony McCloud, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Also present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis Louney, Tony Mullen and David Price. Absent: None Public Comments There were no public comments. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to approve the Human Resource Committee meeting minutes of May 20, 2014. Action: Carried unanimously. FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Corporate Secretary Human Resource Chair Thomas stated that he would like to continue with the evaluation of the appointed employees and asked if there was any business or any dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's review. Chair Thomas said that he would like to recommend that the Board restore the assistant that the Corporate Secretary had in the past and, for consideration to be under the direction of the Board. After some discussion regarding the Assistant for the Corporate Secretary the following motion occurred. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward a recommendation to the Finance Committee to appropriate in the budget a full time employee to assist the Corporate Secretary. Commissioner Zerkle, rescinded her motion and stated that she would reintroduce the motion under other later in the Agenda. After dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's evaluation Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas provided another opportunity for the Commissioners to express any thoughts or opinion or have dialogue regarding the Corporate Secretary's review. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle and seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Ms. Griffin to the Charter position of Corporate Secretary for fiscal year 2014-2015 to the full Board for consideration. HR Committee June 10,2014 Page 2 of 4 Action: Carried Unanimously FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Internal Auditor Internal Auditor Phil Perkins requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving his contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to go into closed session. Roll Call Vote: Yeas: Commissioners'Thomas, McCloud, Ward and Zerkle Nays: None Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas conveyed to Internal Auditor Perkins the following: "Before we go into closed session, please know that you may rescind your request at any time. You must verbally or directly rescind your request, at which time closed session will end immediately and we will continue consideration of your evaluation in open session." The Human Resource Committee meeting went into closed session at 6:21 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. Action: Carried unanimously The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 7:05 p.m. Upon conclusion of the closed sessions, Human Resource Committee Chair Thomas conveyed that now would be the time for any dialogue regarding any business dealing with the Internal Auditor's review. There being none, the meeting proceeded. Motion by Commissioner McCloud and seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Mr. Perkins to the Charter position of Internal Auditor for fiscal year 2014-2015 to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. General Manager General Manager J. Peter Lark requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving his contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). HR Committee June 10,2014 Page 3 of 4 Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to go into closed session. Roll Call Vote:Yeas: Commissioners'Thomas, McCloud, Ward and Zerkle Nays: None Human Resource Chair Tracy Thomas conveyed to General Manager Lark the following: "Before we go into closed session, please know that you may rescind your request at any time. You must verbally or directly rescind your request, at which time closed session will end immediately and we will continue consideration of your evaluation in open session." The Human Resource Committee meeting went into closed session at 7:10 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 8:28 p.m. Upon conclusion of the closed sessions, Human Resource Committee Chair Thomas conveyed that now would be the time for any dialogue regarding any business dealing with the Internal Auditor's review. There being none, the meeting proceeded Motion by Commissioner McCloud and seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for the reappointment of Mr. Lark to the Charter position of General Manager for fiscal year 2013-2014 to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried (3/1 Ward) Other Commissioner Zerkle thanked Human Resource Chair Thomas for his due diligence on the evaluation process. She stated that this was a difficult process and appreciates all the efforts that he has put into this process. Chair Zerkle also requested that a recommendation be forwarded to the Finance Committee to appropriate funds in the 2015 budget for an assistant for the corporate secretary. Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to forward a recommendation to the Finance Committee to appropriate in the budget for a full time employee to assist the Corporate Secretary. Motion by Chair Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to make a friendly amendment to the main Motion to include that the employee would be under the direction of the Board of Commissioners. Action: Motion Carried with Friendly Amendment Adiourn HR Committee June 10,2014 Page 4 of 4 The Human Resource Committee meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tracy Thomas, Chair Human Resource Committee NOMINATING COMMITTEE MINUTES June 26, 2014 The Nominating Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters- REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, 2014. Committee Chair Tony Mullen called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following committee members were present: Commissioners Tony Mullen, Anthony McCloud,Tracy Thomas and Cynthia Ward. Board Member Louney arrived at 5:30 p.m. Absent: None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Nominating Committee meeting minutes of June 26, 2013. Action: Motion Carried Public Comment There were no public comments. Officer & Committee Survey Form/Memo There was no dialogue under this section of the Agenda. Nominate Board Officer Candidates for FY 2014-2015 The Nominating Committee met to review the Commissioner Survey responses for consideration of board officer nominations for the Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioner's Chair and Vice Chair for fiscal year 2014-2015. Nominating Committee Chair Mullen opened the floor for nominations and the following nominations were made: • Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate David Price as Chair and Dennis Louney as Vice Chair: Discussion: Commissioner Thomas questioned how the process would be handle this year and if we are forwarding candidates as a slate. Nominating Chair Mullen stated after some thought he concluded that the Nominating Committee was set up for a purpose and one of the purposes is to allow for the Committee to express the pros and cons of each individual candidate. He suggested a slate would be the way to go. I think that we should put all four individuals that want these positions of Chair and Vice Chair on a slate and forward to the full Board. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Vice Chair: Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Vice Chair and David Price as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner by McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate David Price as Chair. Action: Motion Carried (3/1) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Margaret Bossenbery as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Cynthia Ward as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Anthony McCloud as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to nominate Tracy Thomas as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2 Nays/1 No/1 Abstain) • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to nominate Dennis Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2 Nays/1 No/1 Abstain) Commissioner Ward stated reasons why she supports Dennis Louney in the position of Vice Chair. She stated that he has earned the position over the past six months. Nominating Chair Mullen in response to the previous response he would like to add that he appreciates the work of the current leadership but personally believes that we need a breath of fresh air coming through the Board, both Chair and Vice Chair positions. Commissioner McCloud stated reasons why he supports Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. He stated that he has moved us forward during the rough times and deserves the opportunity to continue the work he started. Commissioner Thomas stated his appreciation for the current Vice Chair. He also stated his support for Commissioner Bossenbery as Vice Chair, stating that she would bring in fresh, open, cooperative and collaborative leadership that will not hurt the Board as we move forward in this transition period. • Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Louney to be included in the slate to serve as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Dennis Louney as Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second Commissioner Louney said that he appreciates the opportunity to serve in the role as Vice Chair and would like to continue in that role; however, he is open to other possibilities if other positions are being considered. He said that he has always indicated that he serves at the pleasure of the Board, wherever they see him fitting. Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Dennis Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second It seems that we are at an impasse and suggest that we bring this back to the full Board for consideration and nominating from the floor on July 22, 2014. Moving forward the nominating of Commissioner David Price for Chair. Since there was, only a partial slate of officers recommended from this committee this business matter will be taken up at the Regular Board meeting to be held on July 22, 2014 and nominations will be taken from the floor. Commissioner McCloud stated that he would like to have more discussion regarding the slate. He said that it is his hope that we can come away with a slate and want to make sure that we explore all possibilities and options. • Motion by commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commission Ward to nominate Commissioner Price as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2Yay, 1Nay, 1Abstain) Commissioner Mullen suggested either Commissioner's Thomas or McCloud step up and serve as Vice Chair. That way we would have full slate. • Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner Price as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Fails (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner Bossenbery as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner McCloud as Vice Chair Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Second by Commissioner Ward, to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner Ward as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Ward, Second by Commissioner McCloud to nominate Commissioner Ward as Chair and Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas to nominate Commissioner Bossenbery as Chair and Commissioner Louney as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Died, No Second • Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, to nominate Commissioner Ward as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) • Motion by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner Ward to nominate Commissioner Louney as Chair and Commissioner McCloud as Vice Chair. Action: Motion Failed (2/2) We have reached an impasse and Nominating Chair Mullen repeated that a partial slate of officers recommended from this committee will be taken up at the Regular Board meeting to be held on July 22, 2014 and nominations will be taken from the floor. The only Motion Passed at this meeting was to forward to the full Board the consideration of David Price as the Chair of the Board. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:51 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tony Mullen, Chair Nominating Committee COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE July 8 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price,Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of June 10, 2014. Action: Motion Carried CRT/MPSC Reports Recommendations update General Manager Lark stated that at the last meeting we talked about the Community Review Team's (CRT) recommendations and how we hope that those recommendations, together with the Public Service Commission's (PSC) thoughts, as well as our own 54 points would operate to make the BWL a much stronger utility; in fact, ensuring that during outages that customers get their power back more quickly, and have access to better information than they had. As you know, we have begun the process of putting together a new BWL that incorporates a lot of those activities. We have been working the 54-point outage report for some months longer than we have the CRT, and for those of you who had access to your email know I did send to you that 54 point update, and you can see that many of the items are completed; those that are not will be completed shortly and some will never be completed because they are ongoing items. General Manager Peter Lark provided an update of the BWL's response to the CRT, PSC, and its own 54 recommendations. (See attached) II.Planning and Preparation Item Division CRT Recommendation BWL Division Response System Resilience 1 Lead: Emergency Working jointly with local emergency planners Agreed. The BWL will work jointly with local emergency Operations and municipal governments, update the planners and municipal governments to update the Critical Director inventory of critical facilities,as part of a Regional Facilities Inventory inventoryfor bot will behcompelectric and by August services. 31, The Support: Dave Emergency Operations Plan. updated 014. Bolan By September 30, 2014, the BWL will secure critical infrastructure agreements with local EOC's for sharing its Critical Facilities inventory. The BWL will then work with the Lansing EOC, and through them with other local emergency planners and municipal governments on integrating the Critical Facilities Inventory into the Regional Emergency Operations Plan. After August 31, 2014, the Critical Facilities Inventory update and integration process will take place on an as-needed basis but no less frequently than annually by the end of each calendar year. 2 Lead: Emergency Assist all units of government representing its Agreed. As part of the process and timing described in Operations customer base with identifying Special Needs CRT#1 above, the BWL will assist all units of government Director Facilities for power restoration efforts, including representing its customer base with identifying the Special Support: Dave assisted care facilities,elder care facilities,water Needs facilities identified in this Recommendation. Bolan and and sewer plants,food warehouses, Capital City Calvin Jones airport and key industry. 3 Lead: George Undertake a program of technical assistance to Agreed. By March 31,2015,the BWL will complete a survey Stojic critical facilities in its service area to determine of critical facilities for possible combined heat and power the feasibility and net benefits of implementing a (CHP) opportunities. The survey will include existing micro-grid at each such facility, using combined distributed generators in the BWL service territory as heat and power or renewable generation and demand response resources. The BWL will then work with storage. the identified facilities to provide technical assistance in determining the feasibility of implementation of projects, including purchase power agreements. This work will be completed by May 31, 2015. The BWL will also expand its distributed solar energy program by August 1, 2014. The BWL will continue its program of grid sectionalizing to help preserve service to critical facilities with onsite generation. 4 Lead: George Explore various options to participate financially Agreed. As indicated in CRT#3 above,by May 31,2015,the Stojic in implementing micro grids at critical facilities BWL will explore participation options with those where they are feasible and beneficial, including candidates identified in its survey of CHP and distributed power purchase agreements,joint ventures,and generation facilities. Board ownership. National Incident Management System Implementation&Training 5 Recognize its role to assist Regional, City and Township Emergency Management in disaster response by implementing all of the following: a Lead: Emergency During any event where the City EOC is activated, Agreed. On April 4,2014,the BWL assigned three electric Operations including during major widespread outages, a liaisons to the Lansing EOC and on April 8, 2014,the BWL Director trained and experienced BWL Liaison Officer assigned three water liaisons to the Lansing EOC. Each Support: Dave must be deployed to the City EOC, liaison is familiar with and either experienced in design or Bolan and Dick operations of the BWL electric or water distribution Peffley systems. Status:Completed. b Lead: Emergency Participate in all EM exercises sponsored by any Agreed. Within 60 days of being hired, the Emergency Operations units of government representing its customer Operations Director will survey local EOC's for scheduled Director base EM exercises and request participation. The BWL's Support: Dave Emergency Operations Director will be tasked with Bolan and ensuring BWL communicates with local units of government Dick Peffley including coordinating BWL participation in local emergency exercises. c Lead: Emergency Assure that all operations employees receive Agreed. The BWL currently has the following ICS trained Operations basic NIMS training, employees: Director 100 Introduction to Incident Command: 17 Support: All LBWL at a minimum the two introductory courses: ICS 200 ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents: Managers 1. FEMA IS-700, NIMS An Introduction; 13 2. IS-100.PW-B, Introduction to the Incident ICS 300 Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents: 14 Command System (ICS 100) for Public Works; ICS 400 Advanced ICS: 13 IS G402 ICS for Executives/Senior Officials: 35 that all first-line supervisors take those courses, IS 700 National Incident Management System (NIMS) An plus ICS-200, Basic ICS; Introduction: 12 IS: 800 National Response Framework, An Introduction: 2 that all senior management officials take those 3 Training is continuing for the remaining employees and courses,plus ICS-400, Advanced ICS. must be completed no later than the following dates: 1.All BWL operations employees will complete the FEMA IS-700 IS-100 PW-B and the ICS 100 courses by March 31, 2015 2.All Managers and First-line Supervisors will also take ICS 200 course by November 30, 2014. 3.All BWL Directors will take courses in (1)and(2)and ICS- 400 by December 31,2014. d Lead: Emergency 2) Participate in After-Action Reviews with all Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will be Operations units of government representing its customer tasked with participating and coordinating BWL Director base, not just post-exercise, but after every participation with units of government representing its Support: major outage,disaster and emergency customer base in all after action reviews, including Appropriate BWL exercises, major outages,disasters and emergencies. The Managers BWL will share information,data,and its experiences with other participants to improve regional emergency response. This will be an ongoing responsibility of the Emergency Operations Director with support from BWL Management and Staff. e Lead: Emergency Develop and maintain good working relationships Agreed. To develop and maintain a good working Operations with the first-responder community for all units relationship with the first-responder community for all units Director of government representing its customer base of government representing its customer base,by the end Support: Dave of the third quarter FY15 the BWL's Emergency Operations Bolan, Dick Director and GRCSD staff will have met with first responders Peffley,and Calvin from throughout its service territory to discuss emergency Jones plans and responder roles. This recommendation will be an ongoing responsibility of the Emergency Operations Director. The BWL recognizes this on-going relationship as an important component of the Unified NIMS structure and guidelines. Contingency Planning,Training and Exercises Statements Provided(pg.27) Continuity of Operations 6 Lead: Emergency Consolidate its multiple emergency response Agree. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will Operations plans within the City and Regional plan, (see oversee and complete the consolidation of BWL Emergency Director below) and then test that plan by scheduling a Plans by October 31,2014. The BWL Emergency Operations Support: Dave full staff coordinated "table top" exercise at a Director will be tasked with coordinating BWL plan with Bolan and Dick minimum of every 12 months. local or regional plans by December 31, 2014 and on an Peffley ongoing basis as updates are adopted. The Emergency Operations Director will also be tasked with coordinating the BWL's participation in City or regional exercises. 7 Lead: Emergency BWL Staff and upper management should Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will Operations participate in the exercises and receive training develop and coordinate an Emergency Management Director on these plans and regular refresher training. training program for all Managers and staff with emergency Support: Dave BWL staff with emergency responsibilities should responsibilities. The program will include annual training. Bolan and Dick be required to have training on these plans and The initial training will be completed within 120 days of the Peffley their role and responsibilities and the role and Emergency Operations Director's hire. The Emergency responsibilities of others that will be involved Operations Director will also conduct and coordinate with any emergency response. emergency training with other local or regional emergency exercises. 8 Lead: Emergency Together with the communities in the greater Agreed. The BWL will work with local officials and others Operations Lansing area (not just the BWL service area), on a regional planning effort, coordinating as appropriate Director undertake a regional planning effort to be better with the State Police EMHSD District 1 Coordinator. When Support: Dave prepared and coordinated and assure that complete,the BWL will coordinate its Emergency plans with Bolan and Dick emergency communication protocols are agreed local EOC's and will participate with local EOC's in regional Peffley to and followed. The mayors and township planning and training. supervisors of our communities must lead and encourage this effort and provide the necessary resources.This planning effort should be done in coordination with the State Police EMHSD District 1 Coordinator. 9 Lead: Emergency Include Business Continuity Planning in its Agreed. The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will Operations development of a comprehensive Emergency coordinate development of a business continuity plan as Director Operations Plan. part of the BWL's EOP,with completion by March 30,2015. Support: Dave Bolan,Gennie Eva, Dick Peffley, Bruce Cook, and Nick Burwell Inter-agency Communications and Emergency Operations Center 10 Lead: Emergency Develop a comprehensive EOP, in coordination Agreed, The BWL's Emergency Operations Director will Operations with the City EM officials,that is an Annex to the consolidate BWL's emergency plans into a single BWL EOP Director City EOP,consistent with MCL 30.410(1)(a) by October 31,2014 per CRT#6 above. The BWL Emergency Support: Dave Operations Director will be tasked with coordinating the Bolan and Dick BWL plan with local or regional plans by December 31,2014 Peffley and on an ongoing basis as updates are adopted. The BWL is committed to a sustained partnership with local EOC's and a Regional EOC and will support development of a regional EOC,should one be adopted. 11 Lead: Emergency Working jointly with the City of Lansing and other Please see response to CRT#10 Operations regional governments, develop a regional EOP Director which includes a process for siting, supporting Support: Dave and sustaining a regional EOC. Bolan and Dick Peffley 12 Lead: Emergency Develop, in coordination with the governments Agreed. The BWL Emergency Operations Director will Operations representing its customer base,an Energy Annex coordinate the BWL Emergency Plan with local Director to a Regional Emergency Operations Plan. governments and a Regional Emergency Operations plan. Support: Dave The BWL Emergency Operations Director will coordinate Bolan,Gennie Eva, the BWL plan with local units of government by December and Dick Peffley 31,2014. 13 Lead: Calvin Jones Collaborate with Lansing Emergency Agreed. On January 23, 1014, the BWL's Governmental Support: Management, Lansing Police Department's Relations and Community Services Department (GRCSD) Emergency Neighborhood Watch, Lansing Neighborhood began a program of outreach to neighborhood associations. Operaons;in tions Council, East Lansing neighborhood associations To date,the Gho D hor by as nemail;in ewith act 11u124tiknown Director and Dan and similar groups in all townships in the person, by p Barnes development of a program supporting block level neighborhood associations who's members, in part, or emergency response plans. This effort would entirely,fail within the BWL Service territory. The GRCSD build upon the well-developed social goal has been to promote communications and education infrastructure of Lansing's 186 organized regarding preparations for future emergencies. The GRCSD neighborhood groups and prepare them to play is also collaborating with DolThing,the Red Cross,and The an important role in planning for,responding to, Power of We to make the BWL an emergency preparedness and recovering from extreme weather events. resource for the BWL's customer base. As an ongoing responsibility, the GRCSD will continue outreach to neighborhood associations and other local organizations in order to provide information,coordination,and assistance with emergency preparedness plans. Status: Completed except for Emergency Management portion. BWL Crisis Communications 14 Lead: Stephen Create a robust social media presence for its Agreed. The BWL has hired a social media specialist and Serekaian customers — this work is already underway has tasked the position with undertaking and coordinating Support: Calvin internally, but must become a priority for its social media communi among cations media, updating BWL trust mars Jones,Bruce Cook, communications operations, as consumers are including, and Nick Burwell primarily using digital communication tools to Facebook, twitter, Nixie, and website. The BWL has with learn about outages and other service issues. recentlyiocreated times ar real ontimeof Sage mawebsite. Status:Completed. 15 Lead: Emergency Require all communications staff and senior Agreed. The BWL communication, GRCSD staff, and Manger leadership to undergo certified NIMS leadership have already begun NIMS training. The BWL's Support: Calvin communications training in order to understand Emergency Operations Director will be tasked with assuring Jones and Stephen best communications practices during crisis communications staff annually update their training and Serkaian situations, with associated training events and that BWL's communications staff and leadership team tabletop exercises to ensure coordination of participate in local and regional emergency exercises. communications functions with regional governments. 16 Lead: Stephen Further refine the March 2014 plan. The plan Agreed. The Crisis Communications plan was developed by Serkaian must contain greater detail on how to address consultants based on industry best practices. The BWL Support: the need for timely and accurate information; agrees that customer communications must be timely, Emergency customer information must be consistently accurate, consistent, meet customer expectations, and Operations explained in a way that effectively meets provide sufficient information for customers to make Director customer expectations;and the plan must assure informed decisions. To ensure that the BWL's crisis the provision of information sufficient to allow communications plan meets those objectives,the BWL will the public to make informed decisions on how continue to review crisis communications studies and they may best respond. There is a considerable reports and make any necessary modifications to its plan by body of studies on this subject that should be August 31,2014. Following this,the Crisis Communications d on an as-needed bas, On en upn thins 'plan developmenticompleted such the BIan. plan WL review landl eupdateeperformed annually at aminimum.'th complete management and employees must be trained on, periodically exercise,and follow the plan. 17 Lead: EmergencyFena unications plan must be an annex Agreed. The BWL Emergency Operations Director will be Operations cy Operations Plan and shoons uld be tasked with consolidating BWL emergency plans and will Director a qualified communications include the crisis communications plan in the consolidated Support: Stephencertified through the NIMS unadergon a n as aNlMSetrainingx. rgwhehency coWmubeaeompl ons staff will t d bwill Serkaian ll November 1, 2014, and at least one staff member wi ll complete training for qualification through NIMS protocols. City Emergency Planning&the Collaborative Planning Process 18 Consider amendment of the City Charter to City of Lansing clarify the powers of the Mayor and to provide the Mayor executive authority over the BWL during disasters or emergencies 19 Lead: Emergency Emergency Management Director, working with Agreed. The BWL will participate in encouraging and Operations all other member communities, including developing a regional emergency operations plan. Director Ingham, Clinton and Eaton Counties, create a regional emergency operations plan(EOP). 20 Lead: Emergency Work with BWL Operations and Senior Agreed. The BWL stands ready to cooperate with the City Operations Leadership to integrate their BESOC and Crisis Emergency Director to fulfill this recommendation. Director Command Center, using the NIMS framework, with the City EOC. 21 Consider fully integrating BWL employees into City of Lansing the City EM structure. 22 Lead ro riate emergency Agreed. Training will be scheduled for BWL leadership and Oper: Emergency Recommend appropriate management training for BWL leadership, Commissioners by end of fiscal year 2015. NIMS and I CS Director including Commissioners,on how best to build in training will be offered to commissioners as well as training resilience and ensure full response capability to on resiliency. storms that are increasing in severity and frequency. 23 Lead: Emergency Sponsor or encourage a full scale training Agreed. The BWL will participate in full scale regional Operations exercise, involving emergency management staff training exercises. Director of all units of government and BWL in the tri- county region,to take place annually. Emergency Declarations 24 That all units of government within or partially City of Lansing and local units of government within the BWL customer service area review their emergency operations plans to include a process for assessing the need for an anticipatory emergency declaration. ACTIONS FOLLOW-UP 1. The BWL will include its distribution plan in its annual Expected completion date 10/16/14 table top tests designed to stress its emergency response and will use the results to continually improve its emergency plans 2. The BWL will consider implementing a set of triggers Completed 4/14 into its distribution plan. 3. The BWL will consolidate its Transmission and its Completed 6/30/14,both plans updated jdaintainedDistribution emergency response plans into one simultaneously,however plans will not bconsolidated intodocument. one document due to need to demonstraRC transmission compliance. 4. The BWL will investigate the benefit of collaborating Expected completion date 8/29/14 with other Michigan utilities to track and estimate the impact of inclement weather. 5. Based on the BWL's experience with the impact of Initial phase to expand and formalize secondary role program the ice storm,the BWL will make use of additional which inlcudes identification of position and roles required for the secondary role employees and these roles will be restoration plan completed. discussed in subsequent sections. Identification of employees for secondary roles completed 6/30/14.Training employees to fill secondary roles rescheduled for completion November 30, 2014. 6. Most utilities have not found placing overhead lines Completed 5/8/14 underground to be cost effective. Instead reviewing maintenance practices and construction standards seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWL's distribution system. However,for those customers who want and are willing to pay for undergrounding existing services,the BWL will provide the service. 7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year trimming Completed 3/24/14 cycle and is in the process of modifying its tree trimming standards and procedures to remove all branches located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm. 8. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree trimming Original expected completion date 5/16/14 rescheduled to contractors and assign work to contractors based on 8/29/14 due to contractors need to develop deployment plan past performance. The contractor with the best including staffing levels. record of performance will get a larger portion of the work. Recently,the BWL temporarily increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen. 9. The BWL will publish the contact information for its Completed 2/18/14 supervisor responsible for trimming scheduling so customers can contact the Manager directly with questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship. 10. The BWL is in the process of carefully reviewing Completed 5/29/14 spotter duty during the ice storm and determining how many additional trained spotters would be needed to efficiently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty. 11. The BWL will also utilize retired line workers to Completed 5/9/14 perform damage assessments and serve as spotters. 12. The BWL will consider contracting with electric Completed 5/30/14 service firms for damage assessment services to supplement its own staff. 13. The BWL is developing common reporting forms and Original expected completion date 5/30/14 rescheduled to methods to be used by all spotters and damage 8/29/14; working with Osmose, contract firm for spotter and line assessors and will stress the importance of adhering crew supply, on forms that are used with other clients. to these during the annual training sessions. 14. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage predictive Completed tools to determine if these tools could help in assessing possible damage earlier in a storm's approach. 15. The BWL will remind customers that lines marked Completed 5/1/14 with red and white tape are power lines and the tape indicates that the BWL is aware that the line is down. The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections newsletter. 16. The BWL has expanded the number of utilities and Completed 3/28/14 non-utility electric service contractors with which it has mutual aid agreements or service contracts.The list is shown below. Existing Agreements• Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New Agreements• American Public Power Association•Asplundh• Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• DTE Energy(Under Negotiations)These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency,the FEMA agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere in the United States. 17. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 additional line 2 of 3 additional line workers hired along with dispatcher. workers and an additional dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage crews during the restoration process. 18. With the addition of 3 line workers,an additional Completed 6/30/14,triple number of crews available. dispatcher, more trained spotters,and the new mutual aid agreements the BWL has tripled the number of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely and efficiently during a major outage event. 19. The BWL does update its critical and public safety Original expected completion date 11/14/14. Electric lists periodically to ensure that it is up to date and Transmission and Distribution plans updated 6/30/14. Update of complete. The BWL will share its overall restoration critical list expected 8/29/14. Consolidation of BWL emergency plans with local public officials so that they can be plans scheduled for 10/31/14, and coordination of BWL kept up to date on the BWL's restoration plans. If consolidated plan with local officials expected to be completed by another catastrophic storm does occur, local officials 12/31/14. Consolidation of BWL emergency plans along with table will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries top exercises have increased the scope of this recommendation regarding the restoration progress. resulting multiple steps and a new final completion schedule. 20. The BWL will review it's storm inventory based on Completed 3/21/14 the recent ice storm. 21. The BWL will investigate connecting its line truck Completed 3/18/14 laptops to its OMS system as a tool to assist crews with storm responses. 22. The BWL has resolved the matters related to the Completed and tested 3/11/14 OMS functionality. The conductor cuts are now operational and the OMS performs to design standards. 23. To avoid this situation with other outage tools that Completed 3/11/14 may be employed in the future,the BWL will conduct annual stress tests of all its restoration tools including, but not limited to the OMS,outage call in number, Customer Service Center,and Communications plans. 24. The BWL is moving forward with a project to Scheduled and budgeted for FY15 this will be a multi-year project implement smart grid and smart meter technology, which will allow it to identify individual customer outages. It will also develop a policy that will allow customers to"opt out"of smart meter use.c. customer communications: 25. The BWL is hiring additional call center staff. Completed 2/24/14 26. The BWL has implemented a process to assure call Completed 2/13/14 forward to the 877 number occurs during large outages. This will allow CSR and supporting staff to concentrate on line down,voice mail and other communications mediums. 27. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the 877 system to Completed 2/13/14 direct non-matched callers to voicemail during major outage events. 28. The BWL has reconfigured the Call Center to send Completed 3/1/14 messages in the voice mailbox to CSR's automatically. 29. The BWL is aggressively advertised the 877 number Completed 1/24/14 for outages including all available communications mediums, like magnets, social media, BWL Website, and other customer communications. 30. During a major outage,the BWL Call Center staff will Completed 1/24/14 focus their efforts on responding to email,texts, Facebook,Twitter,and voicemails left on the outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary storm roles to assist with these customer service functions. 31. The BWL will ensure that the distribution plan Completed 3/6/14 weather forecasting and storm preparation function include employees who are directly or indirectly, through secondary roles, responsible for customer service. This, along with other changes,will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly. 32. The BWL is working with the 877 vendor to provide Original expected completion date 6/20/14 rescheduled to additional methods for customers to be identified or 7/31/14. Date moved due to technical issues: vendor has matched when calling in to report an outage. This changed the way the call back files must be sent and BWL is will include using the last digits of an account making the necessary technical adjustments. number or social security number. 33. The interface between the 877 number and the OMS Completed 4/25/14 has been fixed and alarms will be added on each system to alert staff of any problems in the future. 34. The BWL has added text outage reporting to the 877 Expected completion date 7/25/14 system to offer customers another method for reporting outages. 35. The BWL is working on a method to provide quicker Completed 6/28/14 updating of customer data from BWL system to 877 system. This is intended to provide better matches of customers to service addresses. 36. The BWL is working to improve its ability to Completed 6/27/14 automatically call back customers and provide them with updated outage information. 37. The BWL will continue its enhancements to its phone Expected completion date 7/25/14 system. The enhancements will use newer technology to increase Internet bandwidth, increase available phone lines, and make the system fully redundant across the BWL private city-wide network. This upgrade will allow the system to dynamically increase the number of available lines to the call center during a large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is designed for large volumes. 38. The BWL has increased the TFCC voice mailbox size Completed to 8,000 messages and is in the process of contracting with another vendor to assist in responding to voice mailbox messages during a large outage. 39. The BWL is investigating a separate site created just Completed 3/11/14 for outage information (including outage maps). This will help ensure that the BWL's outage website will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the BWL's main website. 40. Although the external email to Customer Service Expected completion date 8/15/14 functioned normally during the storm,the BWL is investigating establishing a redundant external email system. 41. The BWL has developed a temporary web-based Completed 3/11/14 outage map for its website. The BWL is also working with a local vendor for a permanent outage map linked directly to the BWL's OMS system. Phase I of the project covering functionality has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is Scheduled for completion soon. 42. In Phase 11 of the project,the BWL plans to continue Completed 6/28/14 enhancements to all of its Information Systems that interact with customers.The next phase of the outage map product for BWL will include further interaction with our customers,allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them specifically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated. 43. In addition to using Twitter and Facebook,the BWL is Completed 5/9/14 investigating the use of Nixle to communicate outage and other information to its customers. 44. The BWL will work with customers and local officials The process of identification and notification has been completed. to determine how to make local officials aware of The process will be operational in the first quarter FY15 after seniors,customers with medical alerts, and other permission to share information has been secured from vulnerable populations during extended outages. customers. 45. The BWL will be more proactive informing customers Completed of where their responsibility for service ends,the service mast, and the BWL's begins. 46. The BWL will maintain a list of qualified electricians Completed June 4, 2014 who can repair service masts and the BWL will help customers finance the cost of mast repair by allowing customers to pay it off on their bill over a one year period without interest. A list of qualified electricians will appear on the BWL's website. 47. During events like the ice storm,the BWL will work Completed with local organizations to maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for Lansing area residents. 48. As an integral part of the Lansing community,the Completed and ongoing BWL will work with other organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future. The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empower neighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and listen to their concerns and questions. 49. Since ice storm outage restoration,the BWL's service Completed territory has experienced a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage events ranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events,the BWL has posted, on all communications channels,at least two days prior to the forecasted weather,warning customers about the impending storm and directing them to call the BWL"877"outage number if they lost power. The BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips, and City of Lansing updates. 50. During outages,the BWL has acknowledged the time Completed the outage began,the number of outages,the cause of the outage,the geographic area of the outage that can be found on the outage map,the projected time of restoration, and full restoration all clear. 51. Communication improvements have been noted on Completed Facebook and Twitter with positive comments by our customers. 52. The BWL has retained the communications firm of Completed Martin Waymire to help develop a crisis communications plan based on an examination of best practices across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during emergencies if needed. In the meantime,the BWL has a working interim crisis communications plan. 53. The BWL has also hired a social media specialist,a Completed 2/17/14 newly created position.The social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate with our customers over all social media channels. 54. The BWL will provide information to state and local Completed officials on a regular basis. During an event like the ice storm, it will assign a liaison to state and local officials to answer questions that they may have from their constituents. The Committee of the Whole reviewed the following: CRT and Governance Recommendations The CRT recommends that the Board of the BWL and the City: 1) Hire an "operational auditor" to conduct annual performance audits of the BWL operations and planning. Outcome: Instruct Auditor Perkins to come back with a proposal outlining what he sees as being an operational audit scope and the estimated level of work needed from an outside contractor. That information will be brought back to committee for consideration. 2) Establish a standing committee for review of, and contract with outside expertise for, an annual operational audit. Outcome: Deferred until further conversation with the Internal Auditor 3) Institute a training process for all board members in Carver or other Policy Governance Model. Implement and use the model and continue the training on an ongoing basis. Outcome: Agreed On/In Process 4) Request the City to consider provision to the BWL Board of expense reimbursement and/or some minor stipend for attendance. Outcome: Deferred 5) Create a Local Government Liaison Committee of Board members and local government representatives from remaining governments, which will meet quarterly to review service-related issues and to recommend changes, improvements, and innovations AND the Board must institute a clear process for plenary and due consideration and action on the Committee's recommendations Outcome: An Ad Hoc Committee has been established headed by Chair Zerkle. The Committee will examine this recommendation with the goal in mind to look at involving all those other local units and then determining the procedures that that would occur. The Ad Hoc committee is charged with finding the best way to implement the recommendation. 6) Request an opinion from the Lansing City attorney to clarify whether an ordinance or City Charter amendment could establish an expanded Board to include non-Lansing residents, to represent the municipalities within the BWL customer area. Outcome: In Process/Based on the Mayor's recommendations Board of: Commissioner Crisis Communication Plan The Committee had dialogue regarding the Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners establishing own Crisis Report. After a lengthy conversation, it was determined the Committee would like to consider a draft of the Lansing City Council recommendations, and use their plan as a temple to create our own. Committee of the Whole Louney stated that he would work with the Corporate Secretary to revise the template and bring it back to the Committee of the Whole for review. Board of Water& Light Crisis Communication Plan General Manager Lark stated that the Board of Water & Light's Communication Plan was created by the firm of Martin Waymire, who surveyed a number of utilities throughout the country, a number of relevant utilities and came up with what they believe, was the best practices of crisis communications plan. General Manager Lark introduced, Board of Water & Light Communications Director Steve Serkaian to provide details of the plan. Mr. Serkaian stated the following: We asked Martin Waymire to look at best practices of utilities all across the country and without exception, found that our customers wanted to know three important things during an outages: 1) are you aware that my power is out; 2) what caused the outage, and 3) when will my service be restored. During the ice storm, quite frankly, we could only answer one of those questions - what caused the outage. Moving forward, these three questions, and answers to these questions have become our guiding mantra. Any customer outage, large or small since the ice storm, whether it's 12 outages like we had over the 4th of July, or larger outages, I think our biggest one was perhaps 3,500; we have communicated answers to all three questions, both through traditional media and through social media. Before we get to the actual crisis document and your questions, it is important to look at what the research found and how we address the research; because, those elements and those changes are every part of this plan, and something that we operate under every day; both with regular communications to our customers through social media, and traditional media about our day to day activities. Outages and everything in between, the research came back and suggested a number of things; the changes I am going to describe and the improvements I'm going to describe, have been the direct result of work by dozens of people at the BWL. I only had a small part of it; dozens of folks continue to work on improvements lead by our general manager, Mr. Lark, and it's important to tell this Board and the public that, in my experience in working for public entities there has been a sea change of ways we have done things differently. These are important changes that we're communicating though our newsletters and to the media, but at some point there's going to be an end point to the focus on us, so that we do our day-to-day business and do it well, as we have for more than 100 years. Mr. Lark mentioned a lot of things in his review of the CRT recommendations. Let me get back to the findings of the research of Martin Waymire made, they found the best practices across the country that additional communications channels are necessary to allow customers to communicate easily and conveniently with us. During the ice storm, we only had one 877 line, and because of the problems with the OMS, we were unable to communicate with customers. They were only able to effectively communicate with us, and we couldn't tell them when their power was going to be restored. Those problems have been fixed, addressed, and tested. We now have additional sources of how we can communicate with our customers, and our customers with us; our interactive outage map, which is in our outage center, now has the ability for customers to report an outage. They can check whether the power is on or off, and will be able to get right-now restoration time, as they were able to get that through the 877 number. Targeted for early August, we are going to launch a mobile app for all of our customers to download on their mobile platforms whether it is a smart phone, tablet, and so on; the mobile app would be able to allow customers to report outages and get updates on outages, and this coming December, we are going to launch a new feature that will allow our customers to report outages via texting from their phones. Therefore, from December and January, the communication vehicle will have multiple communication vehicles that our customers can communicate with us. During the ice storm, we had outage information scattered throughout our website, and not easily found. Since then, we have created an icon on our front page; if you click on it, it goes directly to the outage center and on that outage center is an outage map, and you can click that to see an outline of our service territory and inside our service. If there is anything inside the map relative to outages, you can just hover over it with your mouse.The site refreshes every 15 minutes. It has changed the way that I have done business with reporting outages because, once I get the alert, I go directly to the outage center to see the outage map and what the boundaries are; that has streamlined and made my job more efficient in communicating with Amy Akers' support, and reporting to the social media what the boundaries are, what the restoration time is, and through our other Internal information, what the cause of the outage is. Therefore, the outage center has been, and is interesting to see because our customers are giving each other updates; I call that the market correcting itself, and it's wonderful to observe. Now with our ability to push people to our outage map and the outage center, it is a really convenient thing, for which our customers screamed for during the ice storm, and that we now have, six months after the fact. We've got the outage center prominently displayed on our home page; the outage map has been updated to allow folks to post their outages and to get updates on restoration, that's going to be in the August "Connections," so it will go customer-to-customer directly through the billing insert. We also have a number of tabs that talk about what to do when the lights go out, how to prepare for outages, how the BWL handles outages, vegetation management information. We've got a sign up on the site along with social media streams, both on Facebook and Twitter. The research also told us that we have to do a better job communicating with all of our key audiences before the crisis happens, and before the storm hits; now at least two days before a forecasted storm, we are communicating with our customers and media both, though traditional media and social media. Advising that a big storm is on its way and we think it's going to hit, if it does we're ready, we've got crews on stand-by and that these are things that you need to do if your power goes out; in particular, we push them to two places one the 877 number. We've also expanded our constituent groups through which we send social media and traditional media updates; to those constituent groups beside the board, our internal list, all master media lists, including an expanded governmental list of all local, county, and state officials throughout our service territory. We have created our neighborhood association list throughout our service territory, we have a faith-based list and, in all press release communications, we sent emails to them not only during outages and crises, but also in our day-to-day stuff because, it is important that these constituent groups know the kind of things that we are doing. Now in every outage, even minor outages of 10, 100, 500 or more than 1000, we always post, that we know about the outage, we know where it is, and we try to give a restoration time. Information is always posted on social media, as that's where all our customers are going for information. We post a Twitter message about an outage, and we find many times that the media, the Lansing State Journal and Channels 6 and 10 are re-tweeting our posts. A number of commissioners are also re-tweeting our posts. So there is no longer, a silver bullet of how we are communicating with our customers, it is multiple mediums and it is multiple ways that people are getting the information. We have also created an email group list that we send to our constituent groups, we have also created a number of templates, that give us direction on how to address a small outage, a medium sized outage and a large sized outage, and the same is on the back of the crisis plan that was included in your packets today. I believe there were about 9 templates that we included in March, when we released the plan and has now grown to about 17. The crisis plan itself is sort of a living breathing document that is always being adjusted. For instance, when the emergency manager comes on board, we will have to fold this new position into it to reflect this person's leadership with a crisis. Therefore, we are constantly making tweaks to the templates. We are also developing a power point presentation that senior leadership including Mr. Lark will be taking to the community. These are all things that we're doing to communicate the changes we have made since the ice storm. The BWL was also told that the tone of communications needs to be improved, and that that traditional media communications and social media posts regarding outages should reflect our humility; that we should apologize to customers for the outage; that we should thank them for their patience in enduring an outage and we try to do that in every instance of an outage. Lastly, the research said to put standard operating policies and protocols in place to guide communications during routine practices, outages, whether large or small, and crises that the ice storm reflected; we have done that. The kinds of changes that I have characterized, the elements that have gone into the crisis plan is something that we operate under every day, and if a major outage hits our community tomorrow, we are going to be in much better shape in terms of communicating with our customers and being able to respond in appropriate way both in terms of communications and operationally so that we can get our customers power back on, as quickly as possible. Mr. Sarkaian spoke about marketing efforts that have taken place, or have been put into place since the ice storm. For Example "The Power of We" and "Do 1 Thing" have been implemented as a tool to help with outreach. There was a lengthy question and answer session regarding the responsibilities of the Emergency Manager, the Board of Commissioner communicating with media, and the inclusions of a Board member on the crisis communication team. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney thanked Mr. Sarkain for his efforts on the presented crisis communication plan. Dialogue re: Board of Commissioners Governance Training. The Committee of the Whole had dialogue regarding the desire for governance training. Board Chair Zerkle presented a proposed agenda as well as a bio on a recommended presenter for the training. After some dialogue and reviewing the presented proposed agenda, it was determined that this may be a good place to begin, however, there was uncertainty regarding this proposed agenda, and the proposed presenter regarding obtaining the desired educated outcome. Upon conclusion of the discussion, it was determined that the Board Chair would have the Corporate Secretary send an email asking the Board of Commissioner to submit to their expected learning outcome and/or specific agenda subjects that you would like addressed in the governance training. Other Board Chair Zerkle conveyed that she and Human Resource Chair Thomas are prepared to start the process for negotiating the contract for the 3 appointed employees. There was a lengthy conversation regarding the evaluation and negation process. Human Resource Chair Thomas stated that there was a process established last year and the same process would be used this year. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated during this dialogue what he heard was that we had a process in place and some board members are saying that they think the process needs to be reviewed and I feel that that is an issue for the HR committee to look at, if the chair deems it necessary. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that he was notified last week about a legal case that was not on their legal update, and asked that the General Manager contact the Commissioners' by email and provide some details. General Manager Lark in response stated that he was not aware of such a case but would look into it. Excused Absence None Public Comments None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenhery, the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole FINANCE COMMITTEE July 8, 2014 The Finance Committee of the Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 8:23 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Finance Committee Chairperson Margaret Bossenbery called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Dennis M. Louney; Also present Commissioners David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments Chuck Slammer, Lansing, MI, spoke in opposition of the proposed rate increase. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes of May 21, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously Finance Chair changed the order of the Agenda. External Audit Communication to the Board— Presented by Plante & Moran General Manager Lark introduced external auditor Doug Rober, Partner with Plante Moran (P&M) and Marie Stiegel, Manager with P&M, who reviewed and presented the Auditing Process. Mr. Rober said this is the beginning of the audit process and part of that process is to meet and present governance with an overall analysis of the audit plan. This also provides an opportunity for the Commissioners to provide any insight on whether there is anything specific that they are aware of or would like us to focus our time on in addition to what is planned in the audit. Mr. Rober stated that the scope of the Audit that will be performed is to express an opinion of the financial statements of the Board as well as each of the pension plans. He stated there will also be a management letter or significant deficiency letter if required at the end of the engagement, ultimately issuing an AU260 communication letter. He said their focus is to perform procedures on the financial information that is the responsibility of the management and the Board. He stated they will be getting together with the Board again to discuss the results. One of the required communications is a letter summarizing how the audit went and what the findings are, and that is in addition to the report letter pertaining to the financial statements. If there were financial matters found, that warranted the Board's attention that would also be communicated in a letter. Ms. Stiegel reviewed Management's responsibility in the Audit process as well as the following: ■ Audit Process ■ Auditor Responsibility ■ Management Responsibility ■ Testing Phases ■ Required Discussion Points ■ Significant Risk Misstatement ■ Responses to Significant Risk Misstatement ■ Additional Required Discussion Points ■ Communication to those Charged with Governance Finance Committee July 8,2014 Page 2 of 6 Commissioner Price questioned the status of the pension plans with all that is going on in the economy, and wanted some reassurance that the Board of Water& Light is in good shape. In response Ms. Stiegel stated through GASB 67, you will have some disclosures that provide a measurement of that. Commissioner Louney questioned if Plante Moran did operational audit for utilities. In response Mr. Rober stated that they do have experience in that area. He stated when performing an operational audit, they listen to the scope of what an organization wants them to focus on, and then a specific audit is designed against those particulars. Mr. Rober asked the Board of Commissioners if there were any areas of concern that warrant attention or additional procedures. In response to Mr. Rober's question the Board of Commissioners stated no areas of concern. Request to Publish Notice Re: Proposed Rate Changes General Manager Lark said what is before you is a resolution a Resolution requesting approval to set a Public Hearing date of September 18, 2014 on the rate recommendations. A notice would be published in the newspaper by August 27th. There would be a Committee of the Whole of meeting on September 9, 2014, in which we would give you embellished upon, as well as refined documents regarding the rate changes, so that you can have a good idea of what we are going to put forward at the Public Hearing. The Board would meet on September 23, 2014 to decide on whether or not to invoke the rate increase. General Manager Lark reviewed the Impact of Proposed Rates Increases. He said that the proposed rate increases are Electric 7%, Water 9%, Steam 9% and Chilled Water 3%. What this increase would do is bring us a net income of approximately $8M. If we are to have a return on assets on 6.18% as the Board instructed back in 2008, that net income would be $33M. So you can see the return on assets with these increases for a full year would amount to 1.12% return on assets. The return on assets is an important figure, the money that we use to keep our plants up, refurbish, and take of the depreciation that we have at the Board of Water & Light. Without the increases, the net income becomes ($11M). General Manager Lark reviewed the following: Effect of All Proposed Rate Changes on a Typical Monthly Residential Electric Bill Using 550 kWh of Electricity Per Month ELECTRIC: 6/1/2014 11/1/2014 Service Charge(per month) $8.10 $10.00 Renewable Energy Plan $2.50 $0.75 Conrrndity(per kWh)lot 50o kWh $0.0937 -----/;t,incrmsr-----> $0.1001 COmrodity(per kwh)Excess kWh $0.0989 ---...7?�in<'re.ise-- � $0.1056 ECA $0.02209S $0.02209S Energy Optimzation $0.001853 50.001BS3 Estirreted Monthly Use 550 kWh Service Charge $8.10 $10.00 Renewable Enerqy Plan $2.S0 50.75 Conymclity S 64.97 5 68.50 Total Bill S75.57 S79.25 Increase---> S 3.69 Increase%---> 4.88% Finance Committee July 8,2014 Page 3 of 6 Effect of a 9% Rate Increase on a Typical Monthly Residential Water gill Using 6 ccf of Water Per Month WATER: 6/1/2014 11/1/2014 Service Charge(per month) $11.19 ----9.os;,increase----> $12.20 Corrrrodity(Per ccf) $2.56 ----9,D1%increase----> $2.79 PCA $0.128 $0.128 Estimated Monthly Use 4,500 gallons 4,500 gallons 6 ccf 6 ccf Service Charge $ 11.19 $ 12.20 Convmclity $ 16.13 17,51 Total Bill $ 27.32 $ 29.71 Increase---> S 2.39 Increase a/o--• 8.75% General Manager Lark stated that the Board should strongly consider approving a rate increase. Among the reasons is in the last 2 years, we have not had a rate increase and during that time there has been inflation. Over the last 2 years, there has been roughly 6%increase in inflation and that is certainly a contender for reasons for a rate increase. There are expenses related to hardening our system for the storm (new hires, tree trimming expense) and the Return on Equity that is now 6.1%. General Manager Lark respectfully requested that the Finance Committee forward the proposed Resolution setting a Public Hearing for September 18, 2014 to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to forward the proposed Resolution to set a Public Hearing to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Internal Audit Update Internal Auditor Phil Perkins, presented an overview of Internal Auditor Status Update • FY 2014 Audit Plan Progress Report • Proposed FY 2015 Audit Plan • Other Upcoming Items FY 2014 Audit Plan Progress Report Engagement Completed: 1. Fuel Procurement Audit 2. Records Retention Audit 3. Accounts Payable Audit 4. Close the Books Audit—complete; report to be issued shortly. 5. Surprise Cash Counts (2) 6. Time Reporting Reviews Engagement in Progress: Finance Committee July 8,2014 Page 4 of 6 1. Software Licensing Compliance Audit—fieldwork about complete; report to be issued in August. 2. Draft Report to be issued shortly; audit 95% complete. Proposed FY2015 Audit Plan Basic for plan: 1. Risk assessments and ratings for each of 100-plus auditable activities at BWL. 2. Consideration of rotational audits, audit areas with risk/scoping assessments, first-time audits, etc. 3. Review and input by management. 4. Selection of the top audit candidates based on (1) through (3) above. Proposed FY 2015 Audit Plan Planned Audits: Estimated Hours Materials Inventory Management 400 Engineering Services —Annual Projects 400 Health Insurance & Prescription Drug Plans 400 Follow-up on Post-Outage Recommendations 400 IT — Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance 300 IT — Management of Non-Desktop Field Devices 300 Other Engagements: Surprise Cash Counts (2) 40 Time Reporting Reviews (2) 160 IT Risk Assessment (continued from FY2014) 100 Potential Consulting or Other Engagement 100 Total Estimated Hours 2= Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approval to adopt the Audit Plan. Action: Motion Carried Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Price, to maintain the Internal Audit Charter as currently written. Action: Carried unanimously Internal Auditor Perkins informed the Committee that he recently made some changes to the Internal Auditing procedures and would provide the Commissioners with an electronic list of the changes. Finance Committee July 8,2014 Page 5 of 6 Finance Chair Bossenbery introduced a proposed policy for the Finance Committee to take a look at, and consider forwarding to the full Board for consideration and approval. Chair Bossenbery stated that we get Audit reports from Mr. Perkins periodically and part of those audits include actions from management that need to be taken care of. There is not a formalized procedure for management to get back with Mr. Perkins in response to the completion of actions and recommendations. Mr. Perkins has drafted a procedure, so that he has a tracking system to ensure implementation of actions, thus a policy. Mr. Perkins stated that it is important to have this policy in place because it gives him, as well as the Board, a window as to how progress is being made, and getting corrective actions completed and in turn will help with future audit planning. Draft - Proposed Board Policy on Pollov.-up to Internal Audit Flndinc,s &ReconmieIldatlons General Responsibilities: Internal,Audit,. The Internal Auditor is responsible for performing the annual Internal Audit Plan approved by the Finance Committee of the Board. This includes but is not limited.to,: 1. Informing management of any potential issues during audit engagements and briefing the results of audits including any findings priorto releasing a draft audit report to management. 2. Fomllyres_e>ztingl)e results of e„ I�, ud1t_ nggelt7n i>a_yyrjting, Reports of audit will include any reportable findings, recommendations,and management's responses to the findings and recommendations. 3_ Following up on previous audit findings and management responses to ensure that the corrective action(s)noted in the responses wqre.iD-fit tkp: and that those actions corrected the problem(s)identified. Management. Management is to respond with actionable responses to each reported finding and recommendation in the internal auditor's report within an agreed-upon timeframe. Each management response should contain the following: 1. &c}cif. �yJ.edgemerlt:of_ ire merit-�arci _ l�eeln nt �f_ RRI�-c kzleJ v�t)�_tl7.e.. utlii, ,fyi,cling_4r3,d_r�C_QMMe d4I1Pn: 2. A specific action or actions being taken (or already taken) to address the problem(s)noted in the finding and recommendation. 3. A statement that either 4f f kmitlat1l1e tsterl G��r� tiv�= Gti9nfs):h jla ve., l� der b !1cQm zleted szr_ifr� I-an."Ji.mXP__d datQ__t lae.0 rm n-a 9 nt be_liev�s., thq__ Qrrectjy_e_ rtionW5.will be completed. The estimated completion date should be management's best estimate,, based on available resources; priorities and schedules as to when the corrective action(s).c �t re_ snblX be�ergeed.tQ be., Finance Committee July B,2014 Page 6 of 6 Follow-Up of Open Management Responses to Audit Findings: 1. Schedule_af Open.Acti.ons.. For each management response for which the corrective action is to e, Qr Je_t%0 by an estimated future date, a schedule will be developed to track, on at least a quarterly basis, the status of such corrective actions until they are completed. a. There should be a notation each quarter regarding progress, if any,toward completion of the corrective action. If other priorities precluded further progress during a quarter, this sJ-1g-v �q�p-stated.- b. The Internal Auditorwill receive an updated schedule each quarter and keep the Finance Chair apprised of action completion and status_ 2. Schedule Usage. a. Management,. Management will use the schedule as a tool for reporting progress on open corrective actions to the Finance Committee quarterly. b. .InternatAudito.r. The Internal Auditorwill use the schedule to help in future planning efforts and to ensure that management's corrective actions r _b irig_ir Rl M—.enled.as stated in the management responses to audit reports. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney, to approve the Policy on following up to the Internal Auditors finding and recommendations. Action: Motion Carried Excused Absence None Other None Adiiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted Margaret Bossenbery, Chair Finance Committee Proposed Resolution Public Hearing for 2015 Rate Adjustments WHEREAS,the Corporate Financial Targets for each of the Lansing Board of Water and Light's strategic business units is a 6.18%return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies that would require$19.7 million of Electric net income,$9.5 million of water net income,$2.7 million of steam net income,and $1.3 million of chilled water net income;and WHEREAS,the Fiscal Year 2015 budget filed with the City of Lansing included proposed rate increases for the electric,water,steam,and chilled water utilities;and WHEREAS,the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in an electric net income of$532,000 or a 0.12%return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies;and WHEREAS,the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a water net income of$2.0 million or a 0.93%return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies;and WHEREAS,the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a steam net loss of$814,000 or a negative 1.34%return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies; and WHEREAS,the Fiscal Year 2015 budget with the proposed rate adjustments would result in a chilled water net income of$820,000 or a 2.81%return on net fixed assets and materials and supplies;and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to increase annual electric billings by$16 million;and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to increase annual water billings by$3.3 million;and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to increase annual steam billings by$1.0 million;and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to increase annual chilled water billings by$0.2 million;and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to add an Economic Development Rider for large commercial and industrial customers; and WHEREAS,BWL management proposes to roll June 2014 ECA rate into Electric Rate Base(rate neutral); and WHEREAS,the proposed rate adjustments will not take effect until November 1,2014, RESOLVED,the proposed rate adjustments will be subject to further consideration after a public hearing is held. FURTHER RESOLVED,that the Finance Committee hereby sets the date of September 18,2014 at 5:30 p.m.for a public hearing to solicit public input on the proposed rate adjustments. The hearing will be held in the Board of Water and Light offices, 1201 S.Washington Avenue,in the Depot facility. The Corporate Secretary is directed to file with the City Clerk no later than August 4,2014 information regarding proposed rate adjustments with an effective date of November 1,2014. Resolution # Appointment of the Charter Position of Corporate Secretary The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 15t of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED,That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Corporate Secretary for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary ---------------- Resolution Appointment of the Charter Position of Internal Auditor The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 1st of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED, That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Internal Auditor for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: Philip Perkins, Internal Auditor ---------------- Resolutio Appointment of the Charter Position of Director and General Manager The Board's Rules of Administrative Procedures specify that the Board is to appoint a Director and General Manager, Internal Auditor, and Corporate Secretary, respectively at its first regular meeting following July 1st of each year or as soon thereafter as may be appropriate. RESOLVED, That the Board of Commissioners hereby appoints the following individual to the Charter position of Director and General Manager for fiscal year 2014-2015, or, until a successor is appointed, whichever last occurs: J. Peter Lark, Director and General Manager ---------------- Draft - Proposed Board Policy on Follow-up to Internal Audit Findings & Recommendations General Responsibilities: Internal Audit. The Internal Auditor is responsible for performing the annual Internal Audit Plan approved by the Finance Committee of the Board. This includes but is not limited to: 1. Informing management of any potential issues during audit engagements and briefing the results of audits including any findings prior to releasing a draft audit report to management. 2. Formally presenting the results of each audit engagement in writing. Reports of audit will include any reportable findings, recommendations, and management's responses to the findings and recommendations. 3. Following up on previous audit findings and management responses to ensure that the corrective action(s) noted in the responses were in fact taken, and that those actions corrected the problem(s) identified. Management. Management is to respond with actionable responses to each reported finding and recommendation in the internal auditor's report within an agreed-upon timeframe. Each management response should contain the following: 1. Acknowledgement of agreement (or disagreement if applicable) with the audit finding and recommendation. 2. A specific action or actions being taken (or already taken) to address the problem(s) noted in the finding and recommendation. 3. A statement that either affirms that the stated corrective action(s) has/have already been completed or, if not, an estimated date when management believes the corrective action(s) will be completed. The estimated completion date should be management's best estimate, based on available resources, priorities and schedules as to when the corrective action(s) can reasonably be expected to be completed. 1 Draft - Proposed Board Policy on Follow-up to Internal Audit Findings & Recommendations Follow Up of Open Management Responses to Audit Findings: 1. Schedule of Open Actions. For each management response for which the corrective action is to be completed by an estimated future date, a schedule will be developed to track, on at least a quarterly basis, the status of such corrective actions until they are completed. a. There should be a notation each quarter regarding progress, if any, toward completion of the corrective action. If other priorities precluded further progress during a quarter, this should be so stated. b. The Internal Auditor will receive an updated schedule each quarter and keep the Finance Chair apprised of action completion and status. 2. Schedule Usage. a. Management. Management will use the schedule as a tool for reporting progress on open corrective actions to the Finance Committee quarterly. b. Internal Auditor. The Internal Auditor will use the schedule to help in future planning efforts and to ensure that management's corrective actions are being implemented as stated in the management responses to audit reports. 2 UNOFFICIAL MINUTES To be approved by the Board oI Commissioners on:7-22-2014 �T J MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT May 27, 2014 � N The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot locat6at;r201;;0 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. � cam— N Chairperson Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. -: - ; ;Tl Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McCloR, Tey Mullen, David Price, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner Tracy Thomas The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Bossenbery led the Pledge of Allegiance. On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Bossenbery presented Board Appointed employee, Internal Auditor Phil Perkins with a certificate of appreciation for his 5tn year employment anniversary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Bossenery, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes of March 25, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS a. Letter from State Representative Andy Schor re: Congratulations on "Build MI" Received and Placed on File Approved on:7.22-2014 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT May 27, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Chairperson Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony M` tClqu , Tony Mullen, David Price, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. � p Absent: Commissioner Tracy Thomas _ r-- rrl N n co M The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. M 1- � CD. Commissioner Bossenbery led the Pledge of Allegiance. r-i, On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Bossenbery presented Board Appointed employee, Internal Auditor Phil Perkins with a certificate of appreciation for his 5tn year employment anniversary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Bossenery, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes of March 25, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS a. Letter from State Representative Andy Schor re: Congratulations on "Build MI" Received and Placed on File COMMITTEE REPORTS Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 2 of 25 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE April 8, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Head qua rters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioners David Price and Anthony McCloud. Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Thomas to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of March 11, 2014. Action: Motion Carried *Agenda Items rearranged to accommodate guest speakers'late arrival.* Report on Energy Efficiency/Renewable Portfolio Standard This report is a Public Act requirement by the State of Michigan's Public Service Commission (MPSC). Public Act 295 (PA295) requires that the Board of Water & Light provide an annual update on its Renewable Energy Plans and Energy Optimization Plans to its Governing Board. This report is being presented to the Board of Water & Light's Commissioners, customers and the Public Service Commission. This report will also be posted in the Board of Water & Light's Connections Publication. • Energy Efficiency Sue Warren, Manager of Energy and Eco Strategies, provided an update on the Board of Water & Light's "Hometown Energy Savers" program. New to the program is an online audit and behavior program, which provides an analysis of customers' actual energy usage and provides information on potential savings opportunities. In addition, the low-income program has been renamed to "Hometown Help". Ms. Warren stated said there are four customers whom have saved 1 million kilowatt hours of energy and they are being recognized with a plaque by the Board of Water & Light for their success. Ms. Warren stated that the Board of Water & Light is meeting its goals for Renewable Energy and Energy Optimization as well as staying well under their budget. • Renewable Energy Plan George Stojic, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Development said all load serving utilities in the State of Michigan are required to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standards -„ --+—A k— DA-MC —47-)nno -ri— .- ­;.- A v+ni,A 4 nr„ o.,.,.,,.,nkI rr f1;+i, + —inI- Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 3 of 25 • 2%of retail sales by 2012 • 3.3%of retail sales by 2013 • 5%of retail sales by 2014 • 10%of retail sales by 2015 Mr. Stojic indicated that the BWL gets a credit rec for every megawatt hour that comes from a Renewable Energy Source that we either own or produce or that we procure through a purchase power agreement, and most of the Board of Water & Light's credits right now come through a purchase power agreement. The Board of Water & Light produces about 4% of retails sales from renewable energy sources. The Board of Water & Light has accumulated an inventory of REC's since 2009. With the 4% of REC's that the BWL produces and what is left in the inventory will get us through 2016; Also last year the BWL signed a wind contract that will help us meet requirements into 2017. Mr. Stojic provided a brief overview of the Board of Water & Light's current portfolio that included: • Granger landfill gas • Tower Kleber Hydro • Wind from Exelon Wind in Gratiot County • Board of Water & Light's Solar & Hydro Mr. Stojic commented that when the resources mentioned in the portfolio are producing as expected, there is close to 170,000 REC's coming in every year and 210,000-220,000 a year are needed, so additional REC's are needed to be obtained. Mr. Stojic stated that the BWL is looking at further wind development and is expanding the solar portfolio to meet the requirements and if necessary, purchasing REC's. In addition, the Board of Water & Light will continue to look at biomass products that would be compatible with existing generating plants. "Do 1 Thing" Committee of the Whole Chair Dennis Louney introduced Rhonda Overland-Program Founder and Ericka Mahoney-Executive Director of"Do 1 Thing" Ms. Overland stated that "Do 1 Thing" is a program that started in 2005 after researching people's unpreparedness for disaster. As a result of the study, it was determined that people believe that being prepared for emergencies or disasters is too expensive or too hard, but the real reason is, people do not believe disaster will ever affect them and they do not personalize it. Ms. Overland stated that she decided to create a program that would address barriers of being unprepared. Out of the program, she developed "Do 1 Thing" as a 12-month program in the form of a calendar. Ms. Overland presented and reviewed the calendar that contained three small steps for each month of the year to help families become better prepared for emergencies and disasters. Ms. Overland indicated that she would like to collaborate with Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 4 of 25 the Board of Water & Light to help inform people about the "Do 1 Thing" program as well encourage people to get prepared for disasters. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney said this would be win-win collaboration because the BWL does have resources to help make this program successful. Easement (Exchange) General Manager Lark presented a Resolution for an easement exchange with BWB LLC, formerly known as Blue Ribbon Builders Inc. as they have requested an easement exchange. Mr. Lark stated this resolution would authorize the release of an existing easement in exchange for a new easement that meets our operational standards and there is no cost to the Board of Water & Light for this exchange. General Manager Lark respectfully asked the Board move the Resolution to the full Board for consideration. PROPOSED RESOLUTION EASEMENT EXCHANGE WITH A BWB LLC RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the General Manager to release its Existing Easement(Attachment A) granted by Blue Ribbon Builders, Inc. recording on August 5, 1959 (Liber 772, Page 065) in exchange for a new easement (Attachment B) granted by the current fee property owner, BWB LLC. -------------------- Staff Comments: The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has an easement ([Liber 772, Page 065 [BWL # 330103 3002]) for its utility operations located at/near Lake Lansing Road, hereinafter referred to as "Existing Easement". The fee owner and successor grantor is BWB, LLC, hereinafter referred to as "Grantor". Currently, the BWL does not utilize the Existing Easement and would like install facilities to another location on Grantor's property. Additionally, the Grantor would like to free up utilization of its property within the Existing Easement area. The BWL and the Grantor would like to resolve their needs by exchanging easement interest. Therefore, it is requested that the Board of Commissioners authorize the release of its Existing Easement in exchange for a new easement that meets its operational needs. -------------------- After some dialogue between Commissioners and the Administration, regarding the specifications of the new easement and clarification of dates incorporated in the resolution Committee of the Whole Chair Louney requested a motion to forward the Resolution. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the proposed Easement Exchange Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Update on Outage Report General Manager Lark presented a Storm Outage Report follow up on the 54 Actions recommended in the outage report. General Manager Lark spoke particularly about the following items: Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 5 of 25 • Item#2 regarding the implementation of triggers stating this has been 100%completed at this point. • Item#9 regarding the publishing of information with respect to tree trimming schedules,this is also 100%completed as well. • Item #13 regarding contracting with electric service firms for damage assessments that is 100% complete as well. • Item #15 regarding the particulars of what type of tape used to put on downed power-lines that has been handled and published in the most recent issue of Connections is considered 100% complete. • Item #16 regarding contracting line crews, by next month we will be 100% complete, meaning the expansion of the number of electric service contracts or mutual aid agreements have increased to 35 Municipal Utilities and 11 entities. • Item #22, 100% complete is the installation of patches and the passage of all regression and stress testing for the OMS systems. • Item #41 is also complete, the outage map has been launched and Phase 1 is complete. General Manager Lark said periodically the Commissioners' would be provided a Gantt chart, which indicates time lines of the completion of items included in the outage, which is a continuous work in progress. Committee of the Whole Louney stated that he understands a lot of work goes into this and appreciates everyone's efforts. *Updated Outage Report attached* Other None Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to excuse Commissioners McCloud and Price from tonight's meeting. Action: Motion Carried Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole ACTIONS FOLLOW-UP 1. The BWL will include its distribution plan BWL has a draft distribution plan.After the plan in its annual table top tests designed to has been updated and revised an annual table top stress its emergency response and will review and drill will be performed for various use the results to continually improve its outage levels. emergencv plans Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 6 of 25 2. The BWL will consider implementing a This will be considered for the updates as part of set of triggers into its distribution plan. the revisions to the distribution plan. 3. The BWL will consolidate its Transmission Once distribution plan has been updated and and its Distribution emergency response revised, discussions will begin on how to integrate plans into one document. into the Transmission Emergency Operations Plan. 4. The BWL will investigate the benefit of This will likely start with other Municipal Utilities. collaborating with other Michigan Conference call took place on 3-6-2014 to start utilities to track and estimate the impact discussion on how to track using the MMEA. of inclement weather. Continuing to explore further options with the APPA, Investor Owned Utilities, and Co-ops. 5. Based on the BWL's experience with the BWL has developed a list of positions that should impact of the ice storm,the BWL will be designated as either a Spotter or Assessor role. make use of additional secondary role It will be determined by upper management if this employees and these roles will be should be a mandatory part of this position. discussed in subsequent sections. 6. Most utilities have not found placing BWL can provide costing information for any overhead lines underground to be cost customer that is interested in paying to have an effective. Instead reviewing maintenance underground line installed for their service. practices and construction standards seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWL's distribution system. However,for those customers who want and are willing to pay for undergrounding existing services, the BWL will provide the service. 7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year A five year cycle has been incorporated into our trimming cycle and is in the process of tree trimming program.The BWL will try to modifying its tree trimming standards resolve why a three year was included in the and procedures to remove all branches DSTAR best practices. located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm. 8. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree The BWL is working to develop an agreement with trimming contractors and assign work to Asplundh for tree trimming services. In addition, contractors based on past performance. plans are to evaluate NG Gilbert(Indiana)for this The contractor with the best record of service. Once past performance is established performance will get a larger portion of the BWL will utilize that in their decision for the work. Recently,the BWL temporarily future work. increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen. 9. The BWL will publish the contact Completed.This information has been published information for its supervisor responsible on the LBWL website and is included on the door for trimming scheduling so customers can notices utilized by the inspecting tree trimming contact the Manager directly with crews. questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 7 of 25 10. The BWL is in the process of carefully Spotter and assessor training is being revised to reviewing spotter duty during the ice enhance the process and procedures. This storm and determining how many revision will provide more training for reporting, additional trained spotters would be spotting, and general overall assessments. needed to efficiently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty. 11. The BWL will also utilize retired line We are working with an outside vendor to set up workers to perform damage assessments a contract for retired qualified individuals.We will and serve as spotters. also send out a letter to them once the contract is set, and publish a list of available retired workers for the next storm to serve as guides. 12. The BWL will consider contracting with We are now in discussions with a firm called electric service firms for damage OSMOSE who provides storm assessment services. assessment services to supplement its This company is used by several other local own staff. utilities such as Consumers Energy and we have met with OSMOSE to discuss their services. We will pursue using this service upon a thorough review and management approval. 13. The BWL is developing common The Assessors and Spotters program is being reporting forms and methods to be used revised and the reporting tools and forms will be by all spotters and damage assessors and addressed in this enhanced revision. These will stress the importance of adhering to changes will also be part of the annual training as these during the annual training sessions. well. 14. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage The BWL is working with OSMOSE and other predictive tools to determine if these various consultants to determine the most tools could help in assessing possible appropriate method to use as a predictive tool. damage earlier in a storm's approach. This will be included in the training for the assessor as well. 15. The BWL will remind customers that lines Completed and ongoing. "Red and White Tape" marked with red and white tape are information has been updated in the Outage power lines and the tape indicates that Center and Connections. the BWL is aware that the line is down. The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections newsletter. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 8 of 25 16. The BWL has expanded the number of The agreements we have in place are as follows: utilities and non-utility electric service Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 contractors with which it has mutual aid Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New agreements or service contracts.The list Agreements• American Public Power Association• is shown below. Existing Agreements• Asplundh• Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• Michigan Municipal Electric Association FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State (35 Municipal Utilities)• Consumers of Emergency) Pending Agreements• Midwest Energy New Agreements•American Powerline, C.C. Power Public Power Association• Asplundh• Pending Agreement are as follows: Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• FEMA DTE Energy, Extreme Linework, Newkirk, NG Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a Gilbert,J Ranck State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• DTE Energy(Under Negotiations)These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency,the FEMA agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere in the United States. 17. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 One lineworker and two apprentices are in the additional line workers and an additional process of being hired. dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage crews during the Applications have been received for another restoration process. dispatcher. 18. With the addition of 3 line workers, an With the additional Lineworker,contractor crews, additional dispatcher, more trained plus added spotters and spotter support from spotters,and the new mutual aid OSMOSE our restoration capability will be greatly agreements the BWL has tripled the expanded. number of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely and efficiently during a major outage event. 19. The BWL does update its critical and Once completed,the restoration plan will be public safety lists periodically to ensure distributed to EOC as confidential documents. that it is up to date and complete. The BWL will share its overall restoration plans with local public officials so that they can be kept up to date on the BWL's restoration plans. If another catastrophic storm does occur, local officials will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries regarding the restoration progress. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 9 of 25 20. The BWL will review its storm inventory Completed. BWL's Purchasing&Warehousing based on the recent ice storm. Department continually reviews the storm items that we keep in inventory,as well as the specific quantities kept on-hand for storm restoration work and makes adjustments as necessary. We were able to procure and provide all the required materials during the ice storm without causing delay of restoration work. We are in constant communications with our primary line material suppliers to ensure they have materials on hand as backup to our own warehouse's inventory. 21. The BWL will investigate connecting its OMS is web based, and is already available to be line truck laptops to its OMS system as a used in trucks.Training will be offered for tool to assist crews with storm inexperienced users, on how to fully use the responses. system. 22. The BWL has resolved the matters Completed. BWL's OMS system is now up to date related to the OMS functionality. The on patches and has passed regression and stress conductor cuts are now operational and testing.As with all complex systems, BWL is the OMS performs to design standards. working to maintain the system to keep it healthy and responsive. 23. To avoid this situation with other outage Completed. BWL has had a successful stress test tools that may be employed in the of its storm systems(877 call-in,OMS and outage future,the BWL will conduct annual map). BWL will continue to test annually, stress tests of all its restoration tools including the communication plan when including, but not limited to the OMS, complete, or when making significant system outage call in number, Customer Service changes. Center, and Communications plans. 24. The BWL is moving forward with a The BWL is evaluating responses from two project to implement smart grid and Request For Proposals aimed at smartgrid—one smart meter technology,which will allow for a city-wide wireless network,and the other for it to identify individual customer a specific Volt/Var project. outages. It will also develop a policy that will allow customers to "opt out"of Additionally, BWL is in the midst of rolling out a smart meter use.c. customer communications ring to its primary substations communications: meant to support communications for smartgrid initiatives. 25. The BWL is hiring additional call center Completed.Three permanent call center customer staff. service reps have been hired. 26. The BWL has implemented a process to This process is in place right now and has been assure call forward to the 877 number used more than once during recent outage events. occurs during large outages. This will The process is currently manual, however,the allow CSR and supporting staff to BWL continues to review and improve its call concentrate on line down,voice mail and center technology and has plans in place so that other communications mediums. this will happen automatically once technology upgrades are in place. Expected completion date July, 2014. 27. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the 877 Completed. system to direct non-matched callers to voicemail during major outage events. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 10 of 25 28. The BWL has reconfigured the Call Center Completed. to send messages in the voice mailbox to CSR's automatically. 29. The BWL is aggressively advertised the Completed and ongoing. 877 number for outages including all available communications mediums, like magnets, social media, BWL Website, and other customer communications. 30. During a major outage,the BWL Call Completed. As part of its severe weather Center staff will focus their efforts on preparation process, BWL actively solicits a list of responding to email,texts, Facebook, volunteers from other departments to assist with Twitter, Nixle and voicemails left on the these customer service functions. outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary storm roles to assist with these customer service functions. 31. The BWL will ensure that the distribution A recommendation making mandatory plan weather forecasting and storm participation in storm duty for designated preparation function include employees positions will be included as part of our storm who are directly or indirectly,through restoration plan, see Action Items 1-3 and 5 secondary roles, responsible for subject to management approval. customer service. This, along with other changes,will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly. 32. The BWL is working with the 877 vendor The BWL has worked with the 877 vendor and has to provide additional methods for a proposed solution for this. BWL has also been, customers to be identified or matched from a higher level, reviewing its entire IVR call when calling in to report an outage. This flow.These changes will both be submitted will include using the last digits of an together so that the changes to the internal BWL account number or social security phone system and our 877 vendor are thoroughly number. tested and happen in a coordinated effort. Expected completion date July, 2014 33. The interface between the 877 number Alarms for both sides are being tested for release and the OMS has been fixed and alarms into production. Expected to be completed by will be added on each system to alert Mid-April. staff of any problems in the future. 34. The BWL will add text outage reporting The BWL has released a PO and filled out the to the 877 system to offer customers paperwork for the cellular carriers. It is a multi- another method for reporting outages. step process and BWL is aggressively pursuing implementation. 35. The BWL is working on a method to BWL has worked out a tentative agreement with provide quicker updating of customer our 877 vendor to update them from our records data from BWL system to 877 system. four times as often (twice weekly)as well as being This is intended to provide better allowed to send daily updates during a storm or matches of customers to service similarly large outage.This agreement should be addresses. ratified when the IVR changes are submitted and put into effect. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 11 of 25 36. The BWL is working to improve its ability BWL is working with our 877 vendor to complete to automatically call back customers and this issue. provide them with updated outage information. 37. The BWL will continue its enhancements The BWL has entered into a contract with AT&T to its phone system. The enhancements for these communication lines and is aggressively will use newer technology to increase pursuing their implementation.Additionally BWL Internet bandwidth, increase available has contracted with two other vendors to assist in phone lines, and make the system fully configuring and implementing the call center and redundant across the BWL private city- network technology to make full use of the wide network. This upgrade will allow increased capacity from the phone system. the system to dynamically increase the Expected to be completed July,2014. number of available lines to the call center during a large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is designed for large volumes. 38. The BWL has increased the TFCC voice The BWL now has a contract with a third party mailbox size to 8,000 messages and is in company to help take additional calls. BWL is in the process of contracting with another the process of working out the call flow process vendor to assist in responding to voice and technological implementation with this mailbox messages during a large outage. vendor. In addition,the Communications Department is directing after hour and weekend media calls to this third party company in order the be more responsive to reporter needs with the Communications staff member who is assigned to"on call" duty. Expected completion date mid-May, 2014. 39. The BWL is investigating a separate site Completed.The BWL has launched a separated created just for outage information "Outage Center" framework on the Internet.This (including outage maps). This will help includes a link to its new outage map product. ensure that the BWL's outage website will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the BWL's main website. 40. Although the external email to Customer The BWL has set up the back-end infrastructure Service functioned normally during the for this and is awaiting the new communications storm,the BWL is investigating lines from AT&T to bring this on operationally. establishing a redundant external email Expected completion date,July, 2014. system. 41. The BWL has developed a temporary Completed. The BWL outage map has been web-based outage map for its website. launched and Phase I is complete. The BWL is also working with a local vendor for a permanent outage map linked directly to the BWL's OMS system. Phase I of the project covering functionality has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is expected to be completed soon. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 12 of 25 42. In Phase II of the project,the BWL plans BWL has created a functional list for this and a to continue enhancements to all of its purchase order has been cut to the vendor. BWL is Information Systems that interact with currently working out technical and security customers.The next phase of the outage details of the interfaces and design. map product for BWL will include further interaction with our customers,allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them specifically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated. 43. In addition to using Twitter and The BWL will soon reactive its Nixie account as Facebook,the BWL is investigating the another way to communicate with its customers use of Nixie to communicate outage and during outages or emergencies. other information to its customers. 44. The BWL will work with customers and Completed and ongoing. local officials to determine how to make local officials aware of seniors,customers with medical alerts,and other vulnerable populations during extended outages. 45. The BWL will be more proactive Completed and ongoing. Mast repair information informing customers of where their has been included in the Outage Center. In responsibility for service ends,the addition,The BWL has issued a RFP for qualified service mast, and the BWL's begins. electricians. Once they are selected,the electricians will be posted on the BWL website and the mast repair program will be launched. This will be communicated in Connections, and to traditional and social media. 46. The BWL will maintain a list of qualified The BWL has issued a RFP for qualified electricians who can repair service masts electricians. Once they are selected,the and the BWL will help customers finance electricians will be posted on the BWL website the cost of mast repair by allowing and the mast repair program will be launched. customers to pay it off on their bill over a This will be communicated in Connections, and to one year period without interest. A list traditional and social media. of qualified electricians will appear on the BWL's website. 47. During events like the ice storm,the BWL Completed and ongoing. will work with local organizations to maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for Lansing area residents. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 13 of 25 48. As an integral part of the Lansing Completed and ongoing, community,the BWL will work with other organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future. The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empower neighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and listen to their concerns and questions. External communications: 49. Since ice storm outage restoration,the Completed and ongoing. BWL's service territory has experienced a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage events ranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events,the BWL has posted, on all communications channels, at least two days prior to the forecasted weather,warning customers about the impending storm and directing them to call the BWL"877" outage number if they lost power. The BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips,and City of Lansing updates. 50. During outages,the BWL has Completed and ongoing. acknowledged the time the outage began,the number of outages,the cause of the outage,the geographic area of the outage that can be found on the outage map,the projected time of restoration, and full restoration all clear. 51. Communication improvements have Completed and ongoing. been noted on Facebook and Twitter with positive comments by our customers. 52. The BWL has retained the Completed and ongoing. A permanent Crisis communications firm of Martin Waymire Communications Plan has been completed and to help develop a crisis communications implemented. plan based on an examination of best practices across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during emergencies if needed. In the meantime,the BWL has a working interim crisis communications plan. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 14 of 25 53. The BWL has also hired a social media Completed and ongoing. specialist, a newly created position.The social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate with our customers over all social media channels. 54. The BWL will provide information to Completed and ongoing.The Communications state and local officials on a regular basis. Department and Governmental Relations and During an event like the ice storm, it will Community Services Department collaborates to assign a liaison to state and local officials provide information to state and local officials.All to answer questions that they may have press releases are now sent to an expanded local from their constituents. elected officials" list and other community lists. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE May 13, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, David Price, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments Joe Davis, IBEW International Representative, spoke in support of General Manager Lark's leadership ability on behalf of the IBEW. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of April 8, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Rules and Regulations Ray Moore, Manager of Customer Projects and Development, reviewed the FY 2015 proposed changes to Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services. The proposed changes include: RULES AND REGULATIONS UPDATE For Fiscal Year 2015 Electric,Water, Steam and Chilled Water • Revision of Rule 3.1, Service Conditions, Character of Service" o Aligned language with State law. Electric • Revision of Rule 11.8, Services, Multi-Dwelling Structure Services Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 15 of 25 o Added language allowing for three phase services for these types of buildings. Water • Revision of Rule 5.2, Metering,Sizing/Installation/Ownership o Added language to clarify how the metering tampering charge is defined. • Revision of Rule 5.6.D, Metering, Damaged Meter o Added language to address costs that arise from stolen meters and copper theft. • Revision of Rule 11.4.A, Services, Domestic Water Service. General o Added language to align this rule with Rule 3.2.A.4. This states easement or dedicated right-of-way is needed is to serve a customer through an adjacent parcel. Steam There were no changes to this document. Chilled Water • Revision of Rule 5.2, Metering,Sizing/Installation/Ownership o Added language that gives more detail about metering ownership and clarifies the responsibilities of the customer and the BWL. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that he has received compliments regarding Mr. Moore and how he is so accommodating when working with developers and that it is always nice to receive and hear compliments about Board of Water & Light. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for proposed changes to the FY 2015 Rules and Regulations to full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Naming New Alternate Representative to MPPA General Manager Lark stated that the presented Resolution is naming Robert Lalonde and the new First Alternate MPPA Representative to replace Dave Bolan who has been promoted to Director of Electric Transmission and Distribution and asked that the Resolution be forwarded to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward the Resolution naming Mr. Lalonde as the First Alternate Representative to full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Regulatory Activities General Manager Lark stated that there has been some discussion of MIOSHA matters coming before the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Mullen with assistance of Legal Counsel Ekren drafted and a proposed Resolution directing Executive Management to inform the Board of Commissioners MIOSHA matters as well as other regulatory matters. This Resolution calls for a regular quarterly update on all regulatory violations, fines, citations and or settlements to the Board and will be circulated in the same manner as the quarterly legal update. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 16 of 25 General Manager Lark asks that the proposed Resolution be supported and forwarded to the full Board for consideration? Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Price to forward the proposed Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Discussion: Commissioner Ward stated that she agrees that the Board should receive information with respect to regulatory matters. She stated that the quarterly frequency might be too broad of a time-period. Motion by Commissioner Price , Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to Amend the Resolution with two adjustments (1) strike quarterly update and insert monthly update, and (2) strike the last Further Resolved paragraph from the Resolution entirely. Discussion: Commissioner Mullen supported the spirit of the amendment but felt the Further Resolved paragraph in the Resolution should have been included. Action: Motion Carried (7/1 Mullen) Discussion: After some discussion regarding how to receive the report, it was established that the Regulatory Report would be received on a monthly basis separate from the legal report/update. The Question of adoption of the Resolution as amended Action: Motion Carried Tree Trimming Update Dave Bolan provided an update on the Board of Water & Light's tree trimming efforts since the ice storm. • Crews Right now, we have two internal Board of Water& Light crew members, which equal one crew. In addition, the Board of Water & Light has 39 contract crews on site from Wright Tree Services. All crewmembers have certification in Line Clearance Arbor Certification, Electric Hazard Training, Crewmembers also have Annual Electrical Hazard refresher training, pesticide application update training and they are required to maintain their certifications through a specified number of CEU's each year. • Policy/Standards The BWL is currently on a 5 year cycle. We utilize standards that are based on best practices. (International Society of Arboriculture) and (ANSI A300 Pruning Standards). Our tree trimming standard's clearance requirements are 10 feet from primary wires and 2 feet from secondary and services wires. Crews will take wood from property 4 inches or less, if wood is in excess of 4 inches in diameter, it is cut into pieces and stacked on the customer's site and it is the customer's responsibility for removal. The BWL is actively in discussions with other tree trimming firms that can bid against Wright. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 17 of 25 • Notification of Tree Trimming BWL sends each customer on a route, a letter notifying them that BWL tree trimming crews will be in inspecting trees for trimming or removal. A Planner surveys a route for tree's that have branches within our clearing zone. ■ If only trimming is necessary, the tree is marked with a blue dot. ■ If only trimming is significant enough to kill the tree, the tree is wrapped with a red ribbon. After a site has been inspected, a red door card will indicate what needs to be trimmed or , removed. Trimming will begin anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months after the letter was sent. Customers can request a notification of 24 hours prior to tree trimming initiative. The Board of Water & Light's website has a map that indicates current and future trimming activity. ❖ Dennis Parker, President of Local UAW 2256, Representative for City of Lansing, spoke about the City of Lansing and Board of Water & Light coordinating with the City of Lansing's Forestry Department for tree trimming activities in conjunction with right-of ways. He also spoke about the possibility of contracting City of Lansing employees to do Board of Water & Light tree trimming. Ron Byrnes, Business Manager of IBEW Local 352, stated that he believes there should be better coordination between the Board of Water & Light and the City of Lansing as well as all surrounding municipalities that we serve for electric power. Mr. Byrnes said in 2008 the Board of Water & Light brought in our own tree-trimming crews and that instilled more accountability, productivity and control of tree trimming issues and process. Mr. Byrnes stated that if the Board of Water & Light is going to bring tree trimmers internal, they should be Board of Water & Light employees opposed to City of Lansing employees and does not see any benefit to the Board of Water & Light subsidizing the City employees to do the Board's tree trimming. Committee of the Whole Louney spoke about the possibility of Hybrid crews, a crew of three with two Board of Water& Light employees and one City employee. In response, Mr. Byrnes said that could be a discussion in the future. Joint Purchasing Agreement with City of Lansing General Manager Lark said there is presently no Joint Purchasing Agreement with the City of Lansing but we are always looking at ways to partner with the City to determine if their economy is of scale that we can avail ourselves of and the City can avail itself of to make it more cost efficient for the citizens of Lansing and our customers. The Board of Water & Light is considering a joint purchasing agreement with the City, but is waiting for action by the City or at least some offer of how the agreement would be done. There is a possibility for both the Board of Water & Light and the City of Lansing to benefit from a joint purchasing agreement. Susan Devon, Assistant General Manager, informed the Board that a Joint Purchasing Agreement has been in discussion. We do believe that there are a lot of similar purchases Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 18 of 25 and processes that we have that would make it an activity that we could coordinate. The Board of Water & Light would provide managerial and buyer support to the City. The City is working on a draft contract for the Board of Water & Light to review but has not seen it yet. Brief Discussion of CRT Report Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that General Manager Lark and Board Chair Zerkle indicated that we would be waiting to do a full analysis of the CRT Report, it took over 90 days for the CRT Team to compile their report and it is not fair to the Board or Management to have to respond to all of the information that is available in the report in less than two weeks. So at the next Committee of the Whole meeting we would like to have a thorough evaluation of their response. General Manager Lark stated with the permission of the Chair, he would like to have the CRT Report as an agenda item at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. General Manager Lark said that he speaks for everyone at the Board and as well as the Board of Commissioners when thanking the CRT Team for all of their work as this was a difficult task. This report was released last week and we are analyzing every single one of the recommendations. Mr. Lark stated that the Board of Water & Light is a stronger utility today than it was in November and that is attributable to the employees and the Board itself. General Manager Lark stated that there was one thing that he feels that was incorrect in the CRT Report. On page 73, the CRT Team's conclusion that the Board of Water & Light's structure and culture make reform difficult, if not impossible. Mr. Lark said this is a conclusion and not supported by fact and it is not correct. General Manager Lark stated that since his earliest days at the Board he has supported reform and change and is unaware of any information that was given to the CRT Team that would support such a statement and strongly disagrees with that statement. General Manager Lark spoke about how he feels cultural change and reform has been implemented since his leadership. To name a few, the relationship with management and IBEW, the new plant, renewables, and removal of assets from the flood plain. One very important change is the change in the culture of the Board of Water & Light to embrace inclusion and equity throughout the organization by increasing the number of minorities and women in the management ranks to 46%. These are just a few of the changes that have taken place under his management. Other Commissioner Ward spoke about a request that she made to have an item placed on the May agenda and it was not. She said going forward she would like for any agenda item that she or any Commissioner requests, to be placed on the agenda, or be provided a thoughtful reason of why it should not be included. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that all recommendations are taken into account and the item requested will be reviewed at the next Committee of the Whole Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 19 of 25 Excused Absence None Public Comments Janice Hicks spoke and stated her concerns regarding the placement of hydrochloric acid that is placed in the public drinking water. Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 7:03 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole HUMAN RESOURCE COMMITTEE May 20, 2013 The Human Resource Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Human Resource Committee Chairperson Tracy Thomas called the meeting to order and asked the Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Tracy Thomas, Anthony McCloud, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Also present Alternate Committee member Dennis M. Louney and Board members Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen and David Price. Absent: None Human Resource Chair Thomas thanked Commissioner Ward for her work in compiling the Board Appointee Evaluations. He also said an honest mistake was made last week and apologized to the three involved employees. He said there was not a mistake however, in the information that was sent out. Public Comments There were no public comments. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Human Resource Committee meeting minutes of November 12, 2014. Action: Carried unanimously. FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Corporate Secretary Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 20 of 25 Corporate Secretary M. Denise Griffin, requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving her contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to go into closed session. Action: Carried unanimously. The Human Resource Committee meeting went in to closed session at 5:04 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. Action: Carried unanimously The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 5:43 p.m. There was a long discussion regarding the Open Meeting Act. Upon conclusion of the discussion, the following motion was made. Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to Adjourn the meeting until we can clarify or get definitive information on the Open Meetings Act regarding closed session meeting. Action: Motion Carried (3/1 Zerkle) Adiourn The Human Resource Committee meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tracy Thomas, Chair Human Resource Committee FINANCE COMMITTEE May 21, 2014 The Finance Committee of the Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, 2014. Finance Committee Chairperson Margaret Bossenbery called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Dennis M. Louney, David Price and Alternate Committee Members Cynthia Ward.. Absent: None Public Comments There was no Public Comment. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 21 of 25 Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes of February 18, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously FY 2015 Budget General Manager J. Peter Lark provided an overview of the proposed financial plan for fiscal year (FY) 2015 for the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL). Sales Forecast %'15 Forecast Ctilih, FI75 Forecast FY14 Budget to'14 Budget Electric-Retail 2,189,661 2,171,061 0.9" Electric-'%Vholesale 871399 639,394 363% Flectric(Invv11) 3,061,060 2,810,455 8.91!'o Water(cc1) 9,460,006 9.367,743 1.0% Steam(nilb) 730,936 687,979 6.2% Chilled Water(whys) 10,307,100 10,276,000 0.3% Elecuic: •Retail wiles es colsu» by customer eL<ss art expected to hretease slightly conspired to FY_01 4. •N7tolesale tale.column are expected to in FY ?015. ll Ttcr: •Rctul Salt•S t'Vhnnea mes•XpeCtstl 1p irleie"'e slidsth•ut FY 2015. Stearn: . Steam sales projected increase more consistent with acnLal experience. Chilled\Catee -chilled water sales Luc expected to mete;—5huhtly m FY.015.a Mr. Lark respectfully requested that the Committee forward the proposed Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to forward the proposed resolution for the FY 2015 Operating and Capital Budget to the Board for consideration. Quarterly Financial Update General Manager Lark provided a quarterly financial update that included information relative to Fiscal Year to date of March 31, 2014 for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water services. �utlgetotl Noe heor,m "•"" W lxNcs:Ne Lcelnc Cr:�11W Yi 1net Sala:v -r f>tx•r:n,M.F:.r tx-r,ac Gr�Ln9-. (JPpc<n,nrxr i,PLf. Labor.Rralr,al.arM t')lNrt i.L.:i! v,nxn,o,cn.x,o•• m c.n•*:nor.,x,�,+n, ^:,'.� n i�rnrKr.n«..orN:ranra var.>nc«., _�±.?'T �•onmr.N.,n.x t>rti m tnrur„uo,n.: hctu'it Net b,coma r>.,V> Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 22 of 25 Net Income Projection -FY2014 (000s) Net Income-Original Budget-Annual S 2,665 FYfDFavorableIncomeVariance ($15,187actualminus$4,555bud(get) S 10,632 Temporary O&M Expense Timing Differences $ (5,811) Temporary Non-Operating Income Timing Differences $ (4,115) Effect of Deferral of Rate Increases $ (2,420) Effect of PILOT Increase from 5%to 6.1% $ (913) Projected Net Income S 38 Excused Absence None Other None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Louney, the meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted Margaret Bossenbery, Chair Finance Committee MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS RESOLUTION#2014-05-01 Easement Exchange With A BWB LLC RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the General Manager to release its Existing Ease ment(Attachment A) granted by Blue Ribbon Builders, Inc. recording on August 5, 1959 (Liber 772, Page 065) in exchange for a new easement (Attachment B) granted by the current fee property owner, BWB LLC. -------------------- Staff Comments:The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has an easement ([Liber 772, Page 065 [BWL#330103 3002]) for its utility operations located at/near Lake Lansing Road, hereinafter referred to as Existing Easement". The fee owner and successor grantor is BWB, LLC, hereinafter referred to as "Grantor". Currently, the BWL does not utilize the Existing Easement and would like install facilities to another location on Grantor's property. Additionally, the Grantor would like to free up utilization of its property within the Existing Easement area. The BWL and the Grantor would like to resolve their needs by exchanging easement interest. Therefore, it is requested that the Board of Commissioners authorize the release of its Existing Easement in exchange for a new easement that meets its operational needs. -------------------- Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 23 of 25 Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution for an easement exchange with BWB, LLC. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-02 _Rules and Regulations for Electric Water Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services RESOLVED, THAT THE AMENDMENTS TO THE Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Services be approved as presented, to be effective July 1, 2014. Staff Comments: Staff recommends these amendments to the Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services. If the Committee of the Whole agrees to these amendments at their meeting on May 13, 2014, they will be presented to the full board for adoption at its regular Board Meeting on May 27, 2014. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the resolution for the FY 15 Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services, to be effective on July 1, 2014. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-03 Amending Appointments to the Michigan Public Power Agency WHEREAS, George Stojic is the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) Commissioner on behalf of the Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), along with David Bolan and Lori Pung, who serve as First and Second Alternate Commissioners, respectively; and WHEREAS, the First Alternate, Mr. Bolan has been promoted to the position of Director of Electric Transmission and Distribution; and WHEREAS, it is appropriate and in the best interest of the BWL to name a replacement for the First Alternate MPPA Commissioner position. NOW, BE IT RESOLVED, that George Stojic will remain as the MPPA Commissioner on behalf of the BWL, along with Lori Pung as the Second Alternate Commissioner. FURTHER RESOLVED, that Robert Lalonde is named as the BWL's First Alternate MPPA Commissioner. Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution naming Robert Lalonde as the the BWL's First Alternate MPPA Commissioner. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-04 Notification of Regulatory Activities Resolution RESOLVED, that the Lansing Board of Water & Light Commissioners ("Board") direct Executive Management to notify the Board of all regulatory violations, fines, citations and/or settlements ("regulatory activities") in a monthly update. ................ Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 24 of 25 Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the resolution directing Executive Management to provide the Board of Commissioners with a monthly update on regulatory activities. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-05 Fiscal Year 2015 Operating and Capital Budget RESOLVED, that the annual Operating Budget covering Fiscal Year 2015 is hereby approved as presented; and RESOLVED, that the Fiscal Year 2015 Capital Budget is hereby approved as presented; and RESOLVED, that the forecast for capital expenditures for the Fiscal Years 2015-2020 is hereby accepted as presented; and RESOLVED FURTHER, that the Corporate Secretary be directed to make the appropriate filings with the Lansing City Clerk's office and the Mayor's office in accordance with the Lansing City Charter regarding the above actions. -------------------- Staff Comments: Staff recommends an operating and maintenance budget of$288.4 million and a capital budget of$65.4 million for Fiscal Year 2015. The capital budget is to provide for on-going services to our utility customers and to sustain our plant facilities for future operations. Capital expenditures for Fiscal year 2015-2020 are estimated to be $463 million. Staff recommends that the Finance Committee approve these budgets and resolution for presentation and adoption by the Board at its May 27, 2014 Board meeting. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution for the Annual Operating Budget for FY 2015; Capital Budget for FY 15; Acceptance of the Capital Expenditures Forecast for FY 2015-2020. Action: Motion Carried UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business RESOLUTIONS There was no Resolution MANAGER'S REMARKS General Manager Lark provided the following remarks: The Chili Cook-Off is this Friday, May 30, 2014 from 4-9 p.m. at Louis Adado Park. This year's theme is honoring our Military. The proceeds from the Chili Cook-Off are donated to the Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing Promise/Hope Scholarship and Sparrow Foundation. Regular Board Mtg. May 27.2014 Page 25 of 25 The American Public Power Association (APPA) has named the Board Water of & Depot), also the Innovator of the Year for the Reo Headquarters complexes (Headquarters these complexes have been awarded a LEAD Certification at the Gold Level. There was a nice reception at the Depot for the 6" 1't STEP Graduating ina Safety Awareness event at The Board of Water & Light along with IBEW 352 participated the Capital and was the only Municipal present. COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS Chair Sandra Zerkle stated that training for Commissioners' wouldplace closer t the fall lso and everyone would be informed as more detailed information becomes year and that it is a stated that she gets very excited about the 15YStep Program every y remarkable program and the Board can be very proud. Commissioner Cynthia Ward stated ow up to General Manager Lark's comments with respect to the e t Awahenessnevent that hat se wated to l took place at the Capital. She did of Water & Light truck at the have the pleasure of walking downtown and did see a Bo hat t e Board of Water & Light event. It was a very nice truck and was happy to see t participated in such an important event. Commissioner uc d also offered personal horoughkand s to p producing the Community Review Team for their work in P ortunit to review the report in its instructive report. She stated that she has had an op Y entirety; and in many ways, she feels that we were given a gift and is looking forward to Management's response to the CRT report. EXCUSED ABSENCE Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner Price to excuse Commissioners Thomas from tonight's meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no Public Comments ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery the meeting adjourned at 5:52 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Preliminary Minutes filed(electronically)wit the Lansing City Clerk:July 25,2014 official Minutes filed(electronically) Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 2 of 25 COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE April 8, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioners David Price and Anthony McCloud. Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Thomas to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of March 11, 2014. Action: Motion Carried *Agenda Items rearranged to accommodate guest speakers'late arrival.* Report on Energy Efficiency/Renewable Portfolio Standard This report is a Public Act requirement by the State of Michigan's Public Service Commission (MPSC). Public Act 295 (PA295) requires that the Board of Water & Light provide an annual update on its Renewable Energy Plans and Energy Optimization Plans to its Governing Board. This report is being presented to the Board of Water & Light's Commissioners, customers and the Public Service Commission. This report will also be posted in the Board of Water& Light's Connections Publication. • Energy Efficiency Sue Warren, Manager of Energy and Eco Strategies, provided an update on the Board of Water & Light's "Hometown Energy Savers" program. New to the program is an online audit and behavior program, which provides an analysis of customers' actual energy usage and provides information on potential savings opportunities. In addition, the low-income program has been renamed to "Hometown Help". Ms. Warren stated said there are four customers whom have saved 1 million kilowatt hours of energy and they are being recognized with a plaque by the Board of Water & Light for their success. Ms. Warren stated that the Board of Water & Light is meeting its goals for Renewable Energy and Energy Optimization as well as staying well under their budget. 0 Renewable Energy Plan Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 3 of 25 George Stojic, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Development said all load serving utilities in the State of Michigan are required to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standards adopted by PA295 of 2008. The required standards are Renewable Credits to equal: • 2% of retail sales by 2012 • 3.3%of retail sales by 2013 • 5%of retail sales by 2014 • 10% of retail sales by 2015 Mr. Stojic indicated that the BWL gets a credit rec for every megawatt hour that comes from a Renewable Energy Source that we either own or produce or that we procure through a purchase power agreement, and most of the Board of Water& Light's credits right now come through a purchase power agreement. The Board of Water & Light produces about 4% of retails sales from renewable energy sources. The Board of Water & Light has accumulated an inventory of REC's since 2009. With the 4% of REC's that the BWL produces and what is left in the inventory will get us through 2016; Also last year the BWL signed a wind contract that will help us meet requirements into 2017. Mr. Stojic provided a brief overview of the Board of Water & Light's current portfolio that included: • Granger landfill gas • Tower Kleber Hydro • Wind from Exelon Wind in Gratiot County • Board of Water& Light's Solar& Hydro Mr. Stojic commented that when the resources mentioned in the portfolio are producing as expected, there is close to 170,000 REC's coming in every year and 210,000-220,000 a year are needed, so additional REC's are needed to be obtained. Mr. Stojic stated that the BWL is looking at further wind development and is expanding the solar portfolio to meet the requirements and if necessary, purchasing REC's. In addition, the Board of Water & Light will continue to look at biomass products that would be compatible with existing generating plants. "Do 1 Thing" Committee of the Whole Chair Dennis Louney introduced Rhonda Overland-Program Founder and Ericka Mahoney-Executive Director of"Do 1 Thing" Ms. Overland stated that "Do 1 Thing" is a program that started in 2005 after researching people's unpreparedness for disaster. As a result of the study, it was determined that people believe that being prepared for emergencies or disasters is too expensive or too hard, but the real reason is, people do not believe disaster will ever affect them and they do not personalize it. Ms. Overland stated that she decided to create a program that would address barriers of being unprepared. Out of the program, she developed "Do 1 Thing" as a 12-month program in the form of a calendar. Ms. Overland presented and reviewed the calendar that contained Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 4 of 25 three small steps for each month of the year to help families become better prepared for emergencies and disasters. Ms. Overland indicated that she would like to collaborate with the Board of Water & Light to help inform people about the "Do 1 Thing" program as well encourage people to get prepared for disasters. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney said this would be win-win collaboration because the BWL does have resources to help make this program successful. Easement (Exchange) General Manager Lark presented a Resolution for an easement exchange with BWB LLC, formerly known as Blue Ribbon Builders Inc. as they have requested an easement exchange. Mr. Lark stated this resolution would authorize the release of an existing easement in exchange for a new easement that meets our operational standards and there is no cost to the Board of Water & Light for this exchange. General Manager Lark respectfully asked the Board move the Resolution to the full Board for consideration. PROPOSED RESOLUTION EASEMENT EXCHANGE WITH A BWB LLC RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the General Manager to release its Existing Easement(Attachment A) granted by Blue Ribbon Builders, Inc. recording on August 5, 1959 (Liber 772, Page 065) in exchange for a new easement (Attachment B) granted by the current fee property owner, BWB LLC. -------------------- Staff Comments: The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has an easement ([Liber 772, Page 065 [BWL # 330103 3002]) for its utility operations located at/near Lake Lansing Road, hereinafter referred to as "Existing Easement". The fee owner and successor grantor is BWB, LLC, hereinafter referred to as "Grantor". Currently, the BWL does not utilize the Existing Easement and would like install facilities to another location on Grantor's property. Additionally, the Grantor would like to free up utilization of its property within the Existing Easement area. The BWL and the Grantor would like to resolve their needs by exchanging easement interest. Therefore, it is requested that the Board of Commissioners authorize the release of its Existing Easement in exchange for a new easement that meets its operational needs. -------------------- After some dialogue between Commissioners and the Administration, regarding the specifications of the new easement and clarification of dates incorporated in the resolution Committee of the Whole Chair Louney requested a motion to forward the Resolution. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the proposed Easement Exchange Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Update on Outage Report Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 5 of 25 General Manager Lark presented a Storm Outage Report follow up on the 54 Actions recommended in the outage report. General Manager Lark spoke particularly about the following items: • Item#2 regarding the implementation of triggers stating this has been 100% completed at this point. • Item#9 regarding the publishing of information with respect to tree trimming schedules,this is also 100%completed as well. • Item #13 regarding contracting with electric service firms for damage assessments that is 100% complete as well. • Item #15 regarding the particulars of what type of tape used to put on downed power-lines that has been handled and published in the most recent issue of Connections is considered 100% complete. • Item #16 regarding contracting line crews, by next month we will be 100%complete, meaning the expansion of the number of electric service contracts or mutual aid agreements have increased to 35 Municipal Utilities and 11 entities. • Item #22, 100%complete is the installation of patches and the passage of all regression and stress testing for the OMS systems. • Item #41 is also complete, the outage map has been launched and Phase 1 is complete. General Manager Lark said periodically the Commissioners' would be provided a Gantt chart, which indicates time lines of the completion of items included in the outage, which is a continuous work in progress. Committee of the Whole Louney stated that he understands a lot of work goes into this and appreciates everyone's efforts. *Updated Outage Report attached* Other None Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to excuse Commissioners McCloud and Price from tonight's meeting. Action: Motion Carried Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole ACTIONS I FOLLOW-UP Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 6 of 25 1. The BWL will include its distribution plan BWL has a draft distribution plan.After the plan in its annual table top tests designed to has been updated and revised an annual table top stress its emergency response and will review and drill will be performed for various use the results to continually improve its outage levels. emergency plans 2. The BWL will consider implementing a This will be considered for the updates as part of set of triggers into its distribution plan. the revisions to the distribution plan. 3. The BWL will consolidate its Transmission Once distribution plan has been updated and and its Distribution emergency response revised, discussions will begin on how to integrate plans into one document. into the Transmission Emergency Operations Plan. 4. The BWL will investigate the benefit of This will likely start with other Municipal Utilities. collaborating with other Michigan Conference call took place on 3-6-2014 to start utilities to track and estimate the impact discussion on how to track using the MMEA. of inclement weather. Continuing to explore further options with the APPA, Investor Owned Utilities, and Co-ops. 5. Based on the BWL's experience with the BWL has developed a list of positions that should impact of the ice storm,the BWL will be designated as either a Spotter or Assessor role. make use of additional secondary role It will be determined by upper management if this employees and these roles will be should be a mandatory part of this position. discussed in subsequent sections. 6. Most utilities have not found placing BWL can provide costing information for any overhead lines underground to be cost customer that is interested in paying to have an effective. Instead reviewing maintenance underground line installed for their service. practices and construction standards seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWL's distribution system. However,for those customers who want and are willing to pay for undergrounding existing services, the BWL will provide the service. 7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year A five year cycle has been incorporated into our trimming cycle and is in the process of tree trimming program.The BWL will try to modifying its tree trimming standards resolve why a three year was included in the and procedures to remove all branches DSTAR best practices. located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm. 8. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree The BWL is working to develop an agreement with trimming contractors and assign work to Asplundh for tree trimming services. In addition, contractors based on past performance. plans are to evaluate NG Gilbert(Indiana)for this The contractor with the best record of service. Once past performance is established performance will get a larger portion of the BWL will utilize that in their decision for the work. Recently,the BWL temporarily future work. increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen. 9. The BWL will publish the contact Completed.This information has been published information for its supervisor responsible on the LBWL website and is included on the door for trimming scheduling so customers can notices utilized by the inspecting tree trimming contact the Manager directly with crews. questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 7 of 25 10. The BWL is in the process of carefully Spotter and assessor training is being revised to reviewing spotter duty during the ice enhance the process and procedures. This storm and determining how many revision will provide more training for reporting, additional trained spotters would be spotting, and general overall assessments. needed to efficiently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty. 11. The BWL will also utilize retired line We are working with an outside vendor to set up workers to perform damage assessments a contract for retired qualified individuals.We will and serve as spotters. also send out a letter to them once the contract is set, and publish a list of available retired workers for the next storm to serve as guides. 12. The BWL will consider contracting with We are now in discussions with a firm called electric service firms for damage OSMOSE who provides storm assessment services. assessment services to supplement its This company is used by several other local own staff. utilities such as Consumers Energy and we have met with OSMOSE to discuss their services. We will pursue using this service upon a thorough review and management approval. 13. The BWL is developing common The Assessors and Spotters program is being reporting forms and methods to be used revised and the reporting tools and forms will be by all spotters and damage assessors and addressed in this enhanced revision. These will stress the importance of adhering to changes will also be part of the annual training as these during the annual training sessions. well. 14. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage The BWL is working with OSMOSE and other predictive tools to determine if these various consultants to determine the most tools could help in assessing possible appropriate method to use as a predictive tool. damage earlier in a storm's approach. This will be included in the training for the assessor as well. 15. The BWL will remind customers that lines Completed and ongoing. "Red and White Tape" marked with red and white tape are information has been updated in the Outage power lines and the tape indicates that Center and Connections. the BWL is aware that the line is down. The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections newsletter. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Pa e 8 of 25 16. The BWL has expanded the number of The agreements we have in place are as follows: utilities and non-utility electric service Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 contractors with which it has mutual aid Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New agreements or service contracts.The list Agreements• American Public Power Association• is shown below. Existing Agreements• Asplundh• Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• Michigan Municipal Electric Association FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State (35 Municipal Utilities)• Consumers of Emergency) Pending Agreements• Midwest Energy New Agreements• American Powerline,C.C. Power Public Power Association•Asplundh• Pending Agreement are as follows: Kent Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• FEMA DTE Energy, Extreme Linework, Newkirk, NG Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a Gilbert,J Ranck State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• DTE Energy(Under Negotiations)These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency,the FEMA agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere in the United States. 17. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 One lineworker and two apprentices are in the additional line workers and an additional process of being hired. dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage crews during the Applications have been received for another restoration process. dispatcher. 18. With the addition of 3 line workers, an With the additional Lineworker, contractor crews, additional dispatcher, more trained plus added spotters and spotter support from spotters,and the new mutual aid OSMOSE our restoration capability will be greatly agreements the BWL has tripled the expanded. number of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely and efficiently during a major outage event. 19. The BWL does update its critical and Once completed,the restoration plan will be public safety lists periodically to ensure distributed to EOC as confidential documents. that it is up to date and complete. The BWL will share its overall restoration plans with local public officials so that they can be kept up to date on the BWL's restoration plans. If another catastrophic storm does occur, local officials will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries regarding the restoration progress. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Pa e 9 of 25 20. The BWL will review its storm inventory Completed. BWL's Purchasing&Warehousing based on the recent ice storm. Department continually reviews the storm items that we keep in inventory,as well as the specific quantities kept on-hand for storm restoration work and makes adjustments as necessary. We were able to procure and provide all the required materials during the ice storm without causing delay of restoration work. We are in constant communications with our primary line material suppliers to ensure they have materials on hand as backup to our own warehouse's inventory. 21. The BWL will investigate connecting its OMS is web based,and is already available to be line truck laptops to its OMS system as a used in trucks.Training will be offered for tool to assist crews with storm inexperienced users, on how to fully use the responses. system. 22. The BWL has resolved the matters Completed. BWL's OMS system is now u7stress related to the OMS functionality. The on patches and has passed regression anconductor cuts are now operational and testing.As with all complex systems, BWthe OMS performs to design standards. working to maintain the system to keep and responsive. 23. To avoid this situation with other outage Completed. BWL has had a successful stress test tools that may be employed in the of its storm systems(877 call-in,OMS and outage future,the BWL will conduct annual map). BWL will continue to test annually, stress tests of all its restoration tools including the communication plan when including, but not limited to the OMS, complete,or when making significant system outage call in number,Customer Service changes. Center,and Communications plans. 24. The BWL is moving forward with a The BWL is evaluating responses from two project to implement smart grid and Request For Proposals aimed at smartgrid—one smart meter technology,which will allow for a city-wide wireless network, and the other for it to identify individual customer a specific Volt/Var project. outages. It will also develop a policy that Additionally, BWL is in the midst of rolling out a will allow customers to"opt out" of smart meter use.c.customer communications ring to its primary substations meant to support communications for smartgrid communications: initiatives. 25. The BWL is hiring additional call center Completed.Three permanent call center customer staff. service reps have been hired. 26. The BWL has implemented a process to This process is in place right now and has been assure call forward to the 877 number used more than once during recent outage events. occurs during large outages. This will The process is currently manual, however,the allow CSR and supporting staff to BWL continues to review and improve its call concentrate on line down,voice mail and center technology and has plans in place so that other communications mediums. this will happen automatically once technology upgrades are in place. Expected completion date July, 2014. 27. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the 877 Completed. system to direct non-matched callers to voicemail during major outage events. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Ple 28. The BWL has reconfigured the Call Center Completed. to send messages in the voice mailbox to CSR's automatically. 29. The BWL is aggressively advertised the Completed and on>;oin�. 877 number for outages including all available communications mediums, like magnets,social media, BWL Website,and other customer communications. re weather 30. During a major outage,the BWL Call Completed. As process, BWL actively soliciCenter staff will focus their efforts on p p presponding to email,texts, Facebook, volunteers from other departments to a Twitter,Nixle and voicemails left on the these customer service functions. outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary storm roles to assist with these customer service functions. 31. The BWL will ensure that the distribution A recommendation making mandatory plan weather forecasting and storm participation in storm duty for designated preparation function include employees positions will be included as part of our storm who are directly or indirectly,through restoration plan,see Action Items 1-3 and 5 secondary roles, responsible for subject to management approval. customer service. This,along with other changes,will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly. 32. The BWL is working with the 877 vendor The BWL has worked with the 877 vendor and has to provide additional methods for a proposed solution for this. BWL has also been, customers to be identified or matched from a higher level, reviewing its entire IVR call when calling into report an outage. This flow.These changes will both be submitted will include using the last digits of an together so that the changes to the internal BWL account number or social security phone system and our 877 vendor are thoroughly number. tested and happen in a coordinated effort. Expected completion date July,2014 33. The interface between the 877 number Alarms for both sides are being tested for release and the OMS has been fixed and alarms into production. Expected to be completed by will be added on each system to alert Mid-April. staff of any problems in the future. s relea 34. Thfintended ill add text outat the ge reporting TpBWL afor the cellular carrier .filled sua multi- re I to system to offer customers paperwork anethod for reporting outages. step process and BWL is aggressively pursuing implementation. 35. Ths working on a method to BWL has worked out a tentative agreement with pruicker updating of customer our 877 vendor to update them from our records da BWL system to 877 system. four times as often (twice weekly) as well as being Thended to provide better allowed to send daily updates during a storm or mof customers to servicesimilarly large outage.This agreement should be ads. ratified when the IVR changes are submitted and put into effect. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 11 of 25 36. The BWL is working to improve its ability BWL is working with our 877 vendor to complete to automatically call back customers and this issue. provide them with updated outage information. 37. The BWL will continue its enhancements The BWL has entered into a contract with AT&T to its phone system. The enhancements for these communication lines and is aggressively will use newer technology to increase pursuing their implementation. Additionally BWL Internet bandwidth, increase available has contracted with two other vendors to assist in phone lines, and make the system fully configuring and implementing the call center and redundant across the BWL private city- network technology to make full use of the wide network. This upgrade will allow increased capacity from the phone system. the system to dynamically increase the Expected to be completed July, 2014. number of available lines to the call center during a large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is designed for large volumes. 38. The BWL has increased the TFCC voice The BWL now has a contract with a third party mailbox size to 8,000 messages and is in company to help take additional calls. BWL is in the process of contracting with another the process of working out the call flow process vendor to assist in responding to voice and technological implementation with this mailbox messages during a large outage. vendor. In addition,the Communications Department is directing after hour and weekend media calls to this third party company in order the be more responsive to reporter needs with the Communications staff member who is assigned to"on call"duty. Expected completion date mid-May, 2014. 39. The BWL is investigating a separate site Completed.The BWL has launched a separated created just for outage information "Outage Center"framework on the Internet.This (including outage maps). This will help includes a link to its new outage map product. ensure that the BWL's outage website will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the BWL's main website. 40. Although the external email to Customer The BWL has set up the back-end infrastructure Service functioned normally during the for this and is awaiting the new communications storm,the BWL is investigating lines from AT&T to bring this on operationally. establishing a redundant external email Expected completion date,July,2014. system. 41. The BWL has developed a temporary Completed. The BWL outage map has been web-based outage map for its website. launched and Phase I is complete. The BWL is also working with a local vendor for a permanent outage map linked directly to the BWL's OMS system. Phase I of the project covering functionality has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is expected to be completed soon. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 12 of 25 42. In Phase II of the project,the BWL plans BWL has created a functional list for this and a to continue enhancements to all of its purchase order has been cut to the vendor. BWL is Information Systems that interact with currently working out technical and security customers.The next phase of the outage details of the interfaces and design. map product for BWL will include further interaction with our customers,allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them specifically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated. 43. In addition to using Twitter and The BWL will soon reactive its Nixie account as Facebook,the BWL is investigating the another way to communicate with its customers use of Nixie to communicate outage and during outages or emergencies. other information to its customers. 44. The BWL will work with customers and Completed and ongoing. local officials to determine how to make local officials aware of seniors,customers with medical alerts, and other vulnerable populations during extended outages. 45. The BWL will be more proactive Completed and ongoing. Mast repair information informing customers of where their has been included in the Outage Center. In responsibility for service ends,the addition,The BWL has issued a RFP for qualified service mast, and the BWL's begins. electricians.Once they are selected,the electricians will be posted on the BWL website and the mast repair program will be launched. This will be communicated in Connections, and to traditional and social media. 46. The BWL will maintain a list of qualified The BWL has issued a RFP for qualified electricians who can repair service masts electricians. Once they are selected,the and the BWL will help customers finance electricians will be posted on the BWL website the cost of mast repair by allowing and the mast repair program will be launched. customers to pay it off on their bill over a This will be communicated in Connections, and to one year period without interest. A list traditional and social media. of qualified electricians will appear on the BWL's website. 47. During events like the ice storm,the BWL Completed and ongoing. will work with local organizations to maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for Lansing area residents. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 13 of 25 48. As an integral part of the Lansing Completed and ongoing. community,the BWL will work with other organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future. The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empower neighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and listen to their concerns and questions. External communications: 49. Since ice storm outage restoration,the Completed and ongoing. BWUs service territory has experienced a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage events ranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events,the BWL has posted, on all communications channels,at least two days prior to the forecasted weather,warning customers about the impending storm and directing them to call the BWL"877"outage number if they lost power. The BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips,and City of Lansing updates. 50. During outages,the BWL has Completed and ongoing. acknowledged the time the outage began,the number of outages,the cause of the outage,the geographic area of the outage that can be found on the outage map,the projected time of restoration, and full restoration all clear. 51. Communication improvements have Completed and ongoing. been noted on Facebook and Twitter with positive comments by our customers. 52. The BWL has retained the Completed and ongoing.A permanent Crisis communications firm of Martin Waymire Communications Plan has been completed and to help develop a crisis communications implemented. plan based on an examination of best practices across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during emergencies if needed. In the meantime,the BWL has a working interim crisis communications plan. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 14 of 25 53. The BWL has also hired a social media Completed and ongoinm. specialist,a newly created position.The social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate with our customers over all social media channels. 54. The BWL will provide information to Completed and ongoing.The Communications state and local officials on a regular basis. Department and Governmental Relations and During an event like the ice storm,it will Community Services Department collaborates to assign a liaison to state and local officials provide information to state and local officials.All to answer questions that they may have press releases are now sent to an expanded local from their constituents. I elected officials" list and other community lists. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE May 13, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen,Tracy Thomas, David Price, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments Joe Davis, Business Manager of IBEW Local 352 spoke in support of General Manager Lark's leadership ability on behalf of the IBEW. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of April 8, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Rules and Regulations Ray Moore, Manager of Customer Projects and Development, reviewed the FY 2015 proposed changes to Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services. The proposed changes include: RULES AND REGULATIONS UPDATE For Fiscal Year 2015 Electric Water Steam and Chilled Water • Revision of Rule 3.1,Service Conditions, Character of Service" o Aligned language with State law. Electric • Revision of Rule 11.8,Services, Multi-Dwelling Structure Services Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 15 of 25 o Added language allowing for three phase services for these types of buildings. Water • Revision of Rule 5.2, Metering,Sizing/Installation/Ownership o Added language to clarify how the metering tampering charge is defined. • Revision of Rule 5.6.D, Metering, Damaged Meter o Added language to address costs that arise from stolen meters and copper theft. • Revision of Rule 11.4.A, Services,Domestic Water Service. General o Added language to align this rule with Rule 3.2.A.4. This states easement or dedicated right-of-way is needed is to serve a customer through an adjacent parcel. Steam There were no changes to this document. Chilled Water • Revision of Rule 5.2, Metering,Sizing/Installation/Ownership o Added language that gives more detail about metering ownership and clarifies the responsibilities of the customer and the BWL. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that he has received compliments regarding Mr. Moore and how he is so accommodating when working with developers and that it is always nice to receive and hear compliments about Board of Water & Light. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the resolution for proposed changes to the FY 2015 Rules and Regulations to full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Naming New Alternate Representative to MPPA General Manager Lark stated that the presented Resolution is naming Robert Lalonde and the new First Alternate MPPA Representative to replace Dave Bolan who has been promoted to Director of Electric Transmission and Distribution and asked that the Resolution be forwarded to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to forward the Resolution naming Mr. Lalonde as the First Alternate Representative to full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried Regulatory Activities General Manager Lark stated that there has been some discussion of MIOSHA matters coming before the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Mullen with assistance of Legal Counsel Ekren drafted and a proposed Resolution directing Executive Management to inform the Board of Commissioners MIOSHA matters as well as other regulatory matters. This Resolution calls for a regular quarterly update on all regulatory violations, fines, citations and or settlements to the Board and will be circulated in the same manner as the quarterly legal update. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 16 of 25 General Manager Lark asks that the proposed Resolution be supported and forwarded to the full Board for consideration? Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Price to forward the proposed Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Discussion: Commissioner Ward stated that she agrees that the Board should receive information with respect to regulatory matters. She stated that the quarterly frequency might be too broad of a time-period. Motion by Commissioner Price , Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to Amend the Resolution with two adjustments (1) strike quarterly update and insert monthly update, and (2) strike the last Further Resolved paragraph from the Resolution entirely. Discussion: Commissioner Mullen supported the spirit of the amendment but felt the Further Resolved paragraph in the Resolution should have been included. Action: Motion Carried (7/1 Mullen) Discussion: After some discussion regarding how to receive the report, it was established that the Regulatory Report would be received on a monthly basis separate from the legal report/update. The Question of adoption of the Resolution as amended Action: Motion Carried Tree Trimming Update Dave Bolan provided an update on the Board of Water & Light's tree trimming efforts since the ice storm. • Crews Right now, we have two internal Board of Water& Light crew members, which equal one crew. In addition, the Board of Water& Light has 39 contract crews on site from Wright Tree Services. All crewmembers have certification in Line Clearance Arbor Certification, Electric Hazard Training, Crewmembers also have Annual Electrical Hazard refresher training, pesticide application update training and they are required to maintain their certifications through a specified number of CEU's each year. • Policy/Standards The BWL is currently on a 5 year cycle. We utilize standards that are based on best practices. (International Society of Arboriculture) and (ANSI A300 Pruning Standards). Our tree trimming standard's clearance requirements are 10 feet from primary wires and 2 feet from secondary and services wires. Crews will take wood from property 4 inches or less, if wood is in excess of 4 inches in diameter, it is cut into pieces and stacked on the customer's site and it is the customer's responsibility for removal. The BWL is actively in discussions with other tree trimming firms that can bid against Wright. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 17 of 25 • Notification of Tree Trimming BWL sends each customer on a route, a letter notifying them that BWL tree trimming crews will be in inspecting trees for trimming or removal. A Planner surveys a route for tree's that have branches within our clearing zone. ■ If only trimming is necessary, the tree is marked with a blue dot. ■ If only trimming is significant enough to kill the tree, the tree is wrapped with a red ribbon. After a site has been inspected, a red door card will indicate what needs to be trimmed or removed.Trimming will begin anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months after the letter was sent. Customers can request a notification of 24 hours prior to tree trimming initiative.The Board of Water& Light's website has a map that indicates current and future trimming activity. ❖ Dennis Parker, President of Local UAW 2256, Representative for City of Lansing, spoke about the City of Lansing and Board of Water & Light coordinating with the City of Lansing's Forestry Department for tree trimming activities in conjunction with right-of ways. He also spoke about the possibility of contracting City of Lansing employees to do Board of Water& Light tree trimming. Ron Byrnes, Business Manager of IBEW Local 352, stated that he believes there should be better coordination between the Board of Water & Light and the City of Lansing as well as all surrounding municipalities that we serve for electric power. Mr. Byrnes said in 2008 the Board of Water & Light brought in our own tree-trimming crews and that instilled more accountability, productivity and control of tree trimming issues and process. Mr. Byrnes stated that if the Board of Water & Light is going to bring tree trimmers internal, they should be Board of Water & Light employees opposed to City of Lansing employees and does not see any benefit to the Board of Water & Light subsidizing the City employees to do the Board's tree trimming. Committee of the Whole Louney spoke about the possibility of Hybrid crews, a crew of three with two Board of Water& Light employees and one City employee. In response, Mr. Byrnes said that could be a discussion in the future. Joint Purchasing Agreement with City of Lansing General Manager Lark said there is presently no Joint Purchasing Agreement with the City of Lansing but we are always looking at ways to partner with the City to determine if their economy is of scale that we can avail ourselves of and the City can avail itself of to make it more cost efficient for the citizens of Lansing and our customers. The Board of Water & Light is considering a joint purchasing agreement with the City, but is waiting for action by the City or at least some offer of how the agreement would be done. There is a possibility for both the Board of Water & Light and the City of Lansing to benefit from a joint purchasing agreement. Susan Devon, Assistant General Manager, informed the Board that a Joint Purchasing Agreement has been in discussion. We do believe that there are a lot of similar purchases Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 18 of 25 and processes that we have that would make it an activity that we could coordinate. The Board of Water & Light would provide managerial and buyer support to the City. The City is working on a draft contract for the Board of Water& Light to review but has not seen it yet. Brief Discussion of CRT Report Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that General Manager Lark and Board Chair Zerkle indicated that we would be waiting to do a full analysis of the CRT Report, it took over 90 days for the CRT Team to compile their report and it is not fair to the Board or Management to have to respond to all of the information that is available in the report in less than two weeks. So at the next Committee of the Whole meeting we would like to have a thorough evaluation of their response. General Manager Lark stated with the permission of the Chair, he would like to have the CRT Report as an agenda item at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. General Manager Lark said that he speaks for everyone at the Board and as well as the Board of Commissioners when thanking the CRT Team for all of their work as this was a difficult task. This report was released last week and we are analyzing every single one of the recommendations. Mr. Lark stated that the Board of Water & Light is a stronger utility today than it was in November and that is attributable to the employees and the Board itself. General Manager Lark stated that there was one thing that he feels that was incorrect in the CRT Report. On page 73, the CRT Team's conclusion that the Board of Water & Light's structure and culture make reform difficult, if not impossible. Mr. Lark said this is a conclusion and not supported by fact and it is not correct. General Manager Lark stated that since his earliest days at the Board he has supported reform and change and is unaware of any information that was given to the CRT Team that would support such a statement and strongly disagrees with that statement. General Manager Lark spoke about how he feels cultural change and reform has been implemented since his leadership. To name a few, the relationship with management and IBEW, the new plant, renewables, and removal of assets from the flood plain. One very important change is the change in the culture of the Board of Water & Light to embrace inclusion and equity throughout the organization by increasing the number of minorities and women in the management ranks to 46%. These are just a few of the changes that have taken place under his management. Other Commissioner Ward spoke about a request that she made to have an item placed on the May agenda and it was not. She said going forward she would like for any agenda item that she or any Commissioner requests, to be placed on the agenda, or be provided a thoughtful reason of why it should not be included. Committee of the Whole Chair Louney stated that all recommendations are taken into account and the item requested will be reviewed at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 19 of 25 Excused Absence None Public Comments Janice Hicks spoke and stated her concerns regarding the placement of hydrochloric acid that is placed in the public drinking water. Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 7:03 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole HUMAN RESOURCE COMMITTEE May 20, 2013 The Human Resource Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Human Resource Committee Chairperson Tracy Thomas called the meeting to order and asked the Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Tracy Thomas, Anthony McCloud, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Also present Alternate Committee member Dennis M. Louney and Board members Margaret Bossenbery,Tony Mullen and David Price. Absent: None Human Resource Chair Thomas thanked Commissioner Ward for her work in compiling the Board Appointee Evaluations. He also said an honest mistake was made last week and apologized to the three involved employees. He said there was not a mistake however, in the information that was sent out. Public Comments There were no public comments. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the Human Resource Committee meeting minutes of November 12, 2014. Action: Carried unanimously. FY 2014 Board Appointee Performance a. Corporate Secretary Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 20 of 25 Corporate Secretary M. Denise Griffin, requested a closed session for the purpose of receiving her contractual year-end performance evaluation as permitted by the Open Meetings Act exemption MCL 15.268(a). Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to go into closed session. Action: Carried unanimously. The Human Resource Committee meeting went in to closed session at 5:04 p.m. Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, seconded by Commissioner McCloud that the Human Resource Committee return to open session. Action: Carried unanimously The Human Resource Committee meeting reconvened in open session at 5:43 p.m. There was a long discussion regarding the Open Meeting Act. Upon conclusion of the discussion, the following motion was made. Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to Adjourn the meeting until we can clarify or get definitive information on the Open Meetings Act regarding closed session meeting. Action: Motion Carried (3/1 Zerkle) Adjourn The Human Resource Committee meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tracy Thomas, Chair Human Resource Committee FINANCE COMMITTEE May 21, 2014 The Finance Committee of the Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, 2014. Finance Committee Chairperson Margaret Bossenbery called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. The following members were present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Tony Mullen, Dennis M. Louney, David Price and Alternate Committee Members Cynthia Ward.. Absent: None Public Comments There was no Public Comment. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 21 of 25 Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Louney to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes of February 18, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously FY 2015 Budget General Manager I Peter Lark provided an overview of the proposed financial plan for fiscal year (FY) 2015 for the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL). Sales Forecast %'15 Forecast UtilitV F1'15 Forecast F1'14 Bu *et to'14 Budget Dectric-Retail 2,189,661 2,171,061 0.9`'/0 Flee tHe-Wholesale 871,399 639,394 36.31N 1]ectric(nndl) 3,O61,060 2,810,455 8.94-n Water(ccl) 9,460,006 9,367,743 1.0% Steam(ndb) 730,936 687,979 6.2% Chilled Rater(tours) 10,307,100 10,276,000 0.3% ----------- - Elecn;c: •Reed ales v�olttmes by customer cLiss are expected to increase slightly compued to FY 201-I. Whole'ale sales volumes.ve expected to increase as a result of more fable—lot conditions in F1' 2U1}. \Pater: •Rclail sales volmnes ate expected to iw-"a slightly iu 1-1 2U15. Steam: •Steen sales projected increase more consistent with acrtul experience. Chilled\Cato: •Chilled water sales ue cxtwcad nl increase sfghily in FY 20I5.I Mr. Lark respectfully requested that the Committee forward the proposed Resolution to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to forward the proposed resolution for the FY 2015 Operating and Capital Budget to the Board for consideration. Quarterly Financial Update General Manager Lark provided a quarterly financial update that included information relative to Fiscal Year to date of March 31, 2014 for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water services. Otxlgetad Not fncome +.,. I<1 Uct+.'i r.,trarr �.trl ti A rr,t aJIwI.N Jnn C)llv.+ unc ,�,rHG) nnln�tJr rn.vpes rn lr,et ncpne .ictusl Net Income Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 22 of 25 Net Income Projection-FY2014 (0u0s) Net Income-Original Budget-Annual $ 2,665 FYTD Favorable Income Variance (575,187 actual rnwus54,555budget) 10.632 Temporary O&M Expense Timing Differences $ (5,811) Temporary Non-Operating Income Timing Differences $ (4,115) Effect of Deferral of Rate Increases $ (2,420) Effect of PILOT Increase from 5%to 6.1% $ (913) Projected Net Income $ 38 Excused Absence None Other None Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner Mullen, seconded by Commissioner Louney, the meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted Margaret Bossenbery, Chair Finance Committee MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS RESOLUTION#2014-05-01 Easement Exchange With A BWB LLC RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the General Manager to release its Existing Ease ment(Attachment A) granted by Blue Ribbon Builders, Inc. recording on August 5, 1959 (Liber 772, Page 065) in exchange for a new easement (Attachment B) granted by the current fee property owner, BWB LLC. -------------------- Staff Comments:The Lansing Board of Water& Light (BWL) has an easement ([Liber 772, Page 065 [BWL# 330103 3002]) for its utility operations located at/near Lake Lansing Road, hereinafter referred to as "Existing Easement". The fee owner and successor grantor is BWB, LLC, hereinafter referred to as "Grantor". Currently, the BWL does not utilize the Existing Easement and would like install facilities to another location on Grantor's property. Additionally, the Grantor would like to free up utilization of its property within the Existing Easement area. The BWL and the Grantor would like to resolve their needs by exchanging easement interest. Therefore, it is requested that the Board of Commissioners authorize the release of its Existing Easement in exchange for a new easement that meets its operational needs. -------------------- Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 23 of 25 Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution for an easement exchange with BWB, LLC. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-02 Rules and Regulations for Electric,Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services RESOLVED,THAT THE AMENDMENTS TO THE Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Services be approved as presented, to be effective July 1, 2014. Staff Comments: Staff recommends these amendments to the Rules and Regulations for Electric, Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services. If the Committee of the Whole agrees to these amendments at their meeting on May 13, 2014, they will be presented to the full board for adoption at its regular Board Meeting on May 27, 2014. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner McCloud to approve the resolution for the FY 15 Rules and Regulations for Electric,Water, Steam and Chilled Water Utility Services, to be effective on July 1, 2014. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-03 Amending Appointments to the Michigan Public Power Agency WHEREAS, George Stojic is the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) Commissioner on behalf of the Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), along with David Bolan and Lori Pung, who serve as First and Second Alternate Commissioners, respectively; and WHEREAS, the First Alternate, Mr. Bolan has been promoted to the position of Director of Electric Transmission and Distribution; and WHEREAS, it is appropriate and in the best interest of the BWL to name a replacement for the First Alternate MPPA Commissioner position. NOW, BE IT RESOLVED, that George Stojic will remain as the MPPA Commissioner on behalf of the BWL, along with Lori Pung as the Second Alternate Commissioner. FURTHER RESOLVED, that Robert Lalonde is named as the BWL's First Alternate MPPA Commissioner. Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution naming Robert Lalonde as the the BWL's First Alternate MPPA Commissioner. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-04 Notification of Regulatory Activities Resolution RESOLVED, that the Lansing Board of Water & Light Commissioners ("Board") direct Executive Management to notify the Board of all regulatory violations, fines, citations and/or settlements ("regulatory activities") in a monthly update. ................ Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 24 of 25 Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the resolution directing Executive Management to provide the Board of Commissioners with a monthly update on regulatory activities. Action: Motion Carried RESOLUTION#2014-05-05 Fiscal Year 2015 Operating and Capital Budget RESOLVED, that the annual Operating Budget covering Fiscal Year 2015 is hereby approved as presented; and RESOLVED, that the Fiscal Year 2015 Capital Budget is hereby approved as presented; and RESOLVED, that the forecast for capital expenditures for the Fiscal Years 2015-2020 is hereby accepted as presented; and RESOLVED FURTHER, that the Corporate Secretary be directed to make the appropriate filings with the Lansing City Clerk's office and the Mayor's office in accordance with the Lansing City Charter regarding the above actions. -------------------- Staff Comments: Staff recommends an operating and maintenance budget of$288.4 million and a capital budget of$65.4 million for Fiscal Year 2015. The capital budget is to provide for on-going services to our utility customers and to sustain our plant facilities for future operations. Capital expenditures for Fiscal year 2015-2020 are estimated to be $463 million. Staff recommends that the Finance Committee approve these budgets and resolution for presentation and adoption by the Board at its May 27, 2014 Board meeting. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the resolution for the Annual Operating Budget for FY 2015; Capital Budget for FY 15; Acceptance of the Capital Expenditures Forecast for FY 2015-2020. Action: Motion Carried UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business RESOLUTIONS There was no Resolution MANAGER'S REMARKS General Manager Lark provided the following remarks: • The Chili Cook-Off is this Friday, May 30, 2014 from 4-9 p.m. at Louis Adado Park. This year's theme is honoring our Military. The proceeds from the Chili Cook-Off are donated to the Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing Promise/Hope Scholarship and Sparrow Foundation. Regular Board Mtg. May 27,2014 Page 25 of 25 • The American Public Power Association (APPA) has named the Board of Water & Light the Innovator of the Year for the Reo Headquarters complexes (Headquarters & Depot), also these complexes have been awarded a LEAD Certification at the Gold Level. • There was a nice reception at the Depot for the 6th 15t STEP Graduating Class. • The Board of Water & Light along with IBEW 352 participated in a Safety Awareness event at the Capital and was the only Municipal present. COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS Chair Sandra Zerkle stated that training for Commissioners' would take place closer to the fall and everyone would be informed as more detailed information becomes available. She also stated that she gets very excited about the 1st Step Program every year and that it is a remarkable program and the Board can be very proud. Commissioner Cynthia Ward stated that she wanted to follow up to General Manager Lark's comments with respect to the Safety Awareness event that took place at the Capital. She did have the pleasure of walking downtown and did see a Board of Water & Light truck at the event. It was a very nice truck and was happy to see that the Board of Water & Light participated in such an important event. Commissioner Ward also offered personal thanks to the Community Review Team for their work in producing in her mind a thorough and instructive report. She stated that she has had an opportunity to review the report in its entirety; and in many ways, she feels that we were given a gift and is looking forward to Management's response to the CRT report. EXCUSED ABSENCE Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Mullen, Seconded by Commissioner Price to excuse Commissioners Thomas from tonight's meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no Public Comments ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery the meeting adjourned at 5:52 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Preliminary Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:June 6,2014 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE June 2, 2014 The Executive Committee of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 11:45 a.m. on Monday, June 2, 2014. Executive Committee Chair Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order. The following committee members were present: Commissioners Sandra Zerkle, Dennis Louney, Tony Mullen and Cynthia Ward. Also present were Board Member Tracy Thomas. Absent: None. Public Comments None. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner Mullen to approve the minutes of the April 16, 2013 Executive Committee meeting. Action: Carried unanimously. Dialogue re: Community Review Team (CRT) Suggestion/Recommendation CRT Executive Summary Item V. I The BWL Board has the authority to appoint a standing committee that would be a liaison with local communities that hold franchises for services from the BWL. We strongly believe that the Board Chair should appoint a standing committee to be a Liaison Committee to Local Units of Government who hold franchises or agreements for services from the BWL. Commissioner Ward stated this agenda subject was mentioned at the last Committee of the Whole meeting, in which Commissioner Price requested or asked that, we as a Board begin taking steps to include other communities that we provide service to. Commissioner Mullen questioned the Board's authority to appoint a standing committee. Chair Zerkle stated her uncertainty of the Board being able to appoint a liaison as suggested in the CRT Report. She stated that she has had a conversation with the Mayor about personally inviting officials from surrounding communities that we service, to come and express their thoughts at our meetings. She stated that she has thought about the possibility of setting up quarterly forums with officials from the surrounding communities to open the communication lines. Commissioner Ward read the following section from the CRT Report into the record "The BWL Board has the authority to appoint a standing committee that would be a liaison with local communities that hold franchises for services from the BWL. We strongly believe that the Exec.Committee Mtg. June 2,2014 Page 2 of 5 Board Chair should appoint a Standing Committee to be a liaison to local units of government who hold franchises or agreements for services from the BWL." She stated that she believes this means communities are asking us to establish a Standing Committee or Adhoc Committee to serve as a liaison to those communities that we provide service to. We would have a committee that will serve as a liaison, which I interpret to mean; two or three commissioners would comprise as a committee and receive issues that communities would want or need to address. Chair Zerkle stated that she does not think of the Board of Water and Light as situated in Lansing. The Board of Water & Light is owned, directed and operated by the City of Lansing, and is not sure that it would look good for us to say that we are going to be out there helping other communities above what happens in Lansing. I do not have a problem with us trying to communicate with those outside communities, but we have a Governmental Relations person that does a great job with communicating and keeping the other communities informed. They know who to call, when to call him, and he responds. It is not that I do not want to take care of them and I am not ignoring them, I don't want to make it look like we are treating them as special customers as opposed to the ones that are in Lansing. Commissioner Mullen suggested a Customer Support Committee that would include municipalities as well as city residents, City Council and whoever else. It would just be more of a formal operation to allow people to come and express their concerns or their admiration. General Manager Lark stated that when he first came to the Board of Water & Light from the Public Service Commission (PSC) one of the things that he did was have two or three consumer forums. The problem was that we could never get customers to go to them. Since the December outage, I think you will be able to get people to go forums. Typically, at the PSC forum, we would invite board members and the administration/staff. So this is a suggestion and we would be happy to support you on whatever the hot issues are and would be willing to bring along the proper support staff. General Manager Lark stated that he thinks what the recommendation from the CRT is saying is that we need to form a special committee with some designated commissioners and maybe they can help create more of an outreach program that works with management so that those communities have a resource until the Mayor or City Council decide what direction they want to go in. Chair Zerkle stated that an Adhoc Committee would be established, if that is what the Commissioners want. Commissioner Mullen stated if it is not written down, it doesn't happen, so maybe we could have some sort of an Adhoc Committee to come up with something that we could present to the Committee of the Whole, and that Adhoc Committee would be charged with coming up with the details specifically about the suggested Customer Care Committee. Commissioner Louney stated that we are heading into an interesting time as a Board. At the next Committee of the Whole meeting, we are going to hear a report from management in regards to the CRT report. We are also going to be reviewing the MPSC report and look at these recommendations. The CRT says the Board needs to assert greater control over short- term agenda, annual objectives, current and emerging issues, and strategic direction of the Exec.Committee Mtg. June 2,2014 Page 3 of 5 Board of Water and Light. We have leadership elections coming up. We have talked about a retreat to do strategic planning. There is a lot coming at us and we need to put a strategic plan together as to what we want to address, and I would be willing to work with Commissioner Mullen on an Adhoc Committee to do this, but I want to make sure the pieces fit together. Chair Zerkle stated within the next month we could have a couple of Adhoc Committee meetings to help formulate a plan to present to the Committee of the Whole, so that we can move forward with this matter. Commissioner Thomas stated tonight's discussion has been great and everyone around the table agrees that we need to do something, but it sounds like there's going to be more information coming and before anything is finalized we should have all necessary information so that we are not going in different directions and creating more committees than necessary. Chair Zerkle stated that she would put out an email asking Commissioners if they would be willing to work as a temporary Adhoc Committee to formulate an actual plan to present to the Commissioners, whether it is liaisons or forums. Everyone who volunteered will be notified and then we can set up a date and time for the meeting, and will obviously coordinate it with Mr. Lark so that we can have one or two of his staff there. Dialogue re: Crisis Communication Plan Commissioner Ward stated that this agenda item stems from the Special Meeting of January 7cn where we asked for the Board of Commissioners to have some type of plan or strategy for crisis communications that was deferred to be made a part of the overall Board of Water and Light entity, crisis communication plan. She said that we have since received that plan, and does not think that the issue that she wanted to address is a part of that plan. She commented that over the past few months she has learned that we do not agree as a commission, or Board members, as to what our responsibilities are as it relates to communications. There are Board members who believe that only the Chair can speak to the media and we have the rules of procedures that state clearly that any Commissioner can speak to the media. The rules of procedures say that the Chair should speak on policies and agrees that all policy statements shall be made on behalf of the Board by the Chair. I think that we need to discuss this as a Board because; there are times that we as Commissioners should speak to the media. I have opinions, and when I'm asked what my opinion is, I make it clear that this is my opinion; I'm not speaking on behalf of the Board. Commissioner Mullen stated that his opinion is the Chairperson or the Vice-Chair speaks for the Board of Commissioners to make sure that we speak with one voice and that we do not give out confusing information. That does not mean that you, or I, do not have our opinions, but we present our opinions in the committee. Chair Zerkle stated that we need to speak with one voice. She stated having been the Chair, she generally will speak with Mr. Serkaian to make sure that she has any and all correct facts when talking to the media when doing TV interviews or newspaper interviews, and that is one of the reasons that I think that the Board should have one voice coming from this commission. Exec.Committee Mtg. June 2,2014 Page 4 of 5 Commissioner Louney stated if we designate the Chair as that person or the Vice-Chair as that person to speak on behalf of the Board, I think that's good, but I think we haven't done in the past because there hasn't been a need. With this recent crisis, we need to get a better handle on how the Board deals with public relations, and I say the Board of Commissioners, when I mean the Board because we are being approached on things. I think some good training and a game plan going forward would be helpful because we went into this blind. That is something as a Board we need to look at, and I know you talked about that matter for the retreat, and that can provide us with some guidance on this matter. We should have something in place that we want to bring to the entire Board or discuss with Board members as a policy or something. Moving forward from today, we need a clear understanding as a Board on dealing with the media. Commissioner Ward stated that she is not really asking specifically for a policy, but an understanding of what we as individual commissioners are permitted to speak to members of the media. She stated nothing in our rules of procedure prohibits an individual member of the Board of Commissioners to speak to the media. I agree that all policy statements shall be made by the Chair, on behalf of the Board. The concern is there have been instances where the Board Chair spoke to the media and the message that came across as if she is speaking for the Board, which she is able to, but she is not able to determine the position of the Board individually and that is her concern. General Manager Lark said he has reviewed various Board structures in our related industry and in the Lansing area and there are ways to handle some concerns. I think maybe our Board might need a little direction in that area, and maybe a governance type class might get us all there where we can come up with something that works for everybody. Commissioner Mullen stated that he is in agreement with Mr. Lark. Whatever we choose to do, whichever direction we need to go, we need to all follow it. Chair Zerkle asked if everyone was willing as a committee to address issue after some training. She stated in the past there has been an unwritten policy or understanding regarding the media. This was something that was originally talked about several years ago and we didn't want to make it a policy, and it was the idea that we spoke from one voice. She stated that we can have further discussion at either Committee of the Whole sometime after the training on this so we have an understanding and it doesn't have to become a policy, but we'll have a clear and better understanding of how to handle things. After a lengthy discussion regarding what Committee meeting in which a continuation of this subject matter should take place. It was suggested, that the Executive Committee would deal with governance matters. It was also suggested, that the Public Service Commissioner report would be dealt with in the Committee of the Whole. Other None Excused Absence Exec.Committee Mtg. June 2,2014 Page 5 of 5 None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Ward, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen, the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Zerkle, Chair Executive Committee Approved By the Board of Commissioners on May27,2014 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT March 25, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Chairperson Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner Anthony McCloud .,4 co / 7 The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. C,, C-) Commissioner Ward led the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Ward to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes of January 28, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS a. Electronic Mail from Regina Stout, Re: Ice Storm Outage-Received and Placed on File b. Electronic Mail from Thaddeus Vance, Re: Parking Issues on South St.-Referred to Management and Received and Placed on File c. Letter from James Robertson, Re: Hannah Community Center Presentation-Received and Placed on File d. Letter from Bradley Vauter, Re: Stating Concerns with the Board of Commissioners- Received and Placed on File Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 2 of 22 e. Electronic Mail from Meegan Holland of MLive Group Re: Appeal to FOIA Denial Referred to Management and Received and Placed on File f. Electronic Mail from Ryan Sebolt RE: City Charter Violation- Received and Placed on File g. Electronic Mail from the Sierra club RE: A meeting request- Received and Placed on File COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE February 18, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, David Price (Arrived at 5:45 p.m.), Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. (Committee of the Whole Chair Dennis M. Louney stated for the record that Commissioner Price had a meeting with the Legislature and would be arriving late) Absent: None Public Comments Ryan Sebolt of Lansing spoke about concerns that he has with BWL's Management and the timing of the release of the Outage Report. He reminded the Board members that they are on the BWL's Board of Commissioners to serve the public. Mr. Sebolt spoke about violating the City Charter by not having an Emergency Communications Plan. Marianne Prince of Lansing spoke about storms of the past (1968 & 1973) and said that it is tough to live without power however this storm proved that we can survive and is grateful that the storm proved that. Lansing City Councilmember Carol Wood stated that she has questions about the report and requested that as the Commissioners review the presented report that actual numbers be presented or indicated instead of percentages. Councilmember Wood also requested that geographical information be provided when reviewing the report. She spoke about concerns regarding Wright Tree Services. COW Chair Dennis M. Louney wished fellow Commissioners Ward and Zerkle a happy Birthday for tomorrow, February 19tn COW Chair Dennis M. Louney informed the Commissioners that they have a copy of a calendar titled "Do 1 thing" that has incorporated helpful information in preparing for emergencies and/or disasters. He also suggested that if Commissioners had questions Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 3 of 22 regarding the draft outage report that they be presented or forwarded to General Manager Lark. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Thomas, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of January 14, 2014. Action: Motion Carried Ice Storm Outage Report General Manager Lark invited the Commissioners to forward any questions regarding the outage report to him. General Manager Lark thanked everyone who assisted with putting this report together. He also thanked line workers and support staff for all of their work during the outage; he also thanked the customers for their patience during the restoration process. General Manager Lark presented and reviewed the December 2013 Ice Outage Storm Report, including 54 actions the BWL has taken, is taking or will take to make the BWL a much stronger utility. General Manager Lark began by stating that this was no small ice storm. The BWL had 37 circuits down and some of those circuits had to be repaired two and three times each and they were the city's major circuits, with the greatest number of customers on them. Many times after completing repairs on one circuit it would break down within an hour, or a day or two, and require additional repairs only to break down again. Roughly, there were 40,000 customers or 40% of customers without power. Never has any utility in Michigan lost 40% of its customers. The BWL's system was brought back to full integrity by day ten, however some people whose masts needed repairing may have taken longer than ten days because they had to have work done by a private contractor before the BWL could hook power up. General Manager Lark reviewed changes that are now in effect to help speed up the restoration process such as shortening the tree trimming cycle. General Manager Lark stated that communication during the storm outage was a problem and the Outage Management System (OMS) did not properly work. The conductor cut part of the OMS system and the 877 interface with OMS were not working. Mr. Lark said they were aware of OMS problems but were waiting on documentation from the vendor to allow for a fix to take place. The failing of the interface crippled our ability to effectively communicate with ourselves and our customers. Commissioner Ward inquired about the customer's experience due to not having the documentation process complete. Commissioner Ward stated that the report indicated that there was customer confusion and felt that was insulting because customers were only sharing their experiences. In response to Commissioner Ward's comments, General Manager Lark said there was no intent to suggest that the customers were confused for any reason except that we were not able to give them accurate information. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 4 of 22 General Manager Lark said presently there are alarms on both the OMS and the 877 sides of the interface and the interface is fixed. We have worked with the vendor to make sure conductor cut modeling is fixed as well as the interface. General Manager Lark stated that the other item of the communications failure was the lack of a crisis communications plan and we now have a temporary crisis communications plan in place that will be replaced by a very in-depth crisis communication plan in the near future. Other things that are being done include working with neighborhood groups and elected officials to make sure they are informed, providing mast repair company phone numbers on the BWL website and in addition, proposing a plan that would allow the BWL to pay for mast repairs and charge the customers a prorated amount over a year to allow the BWL to be paid back. In all, there are 54 different ideas contained in the Outage Report for enhancing the BWL to both quickly restore customers and communicate better within and outside the company. General Manager Lark concluded by acknowledging the fact that the BWL provides some of life's most essential services including electricity, water, and steam heat to our customers. The BWL has provided these essential life services to our customers reliably for over 125 years. In fact, the recent unprecedented cold weather that has covered much of Michigan resulted in major water line freeze ups throughout the state. Unlike many other cities, the BWL has handled every frozen water service reported quickly and has ensured no customer remained out of water over night. The outage report is going to be given to the Community Review Team (CRT) as well as the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), and we are very anxious to see the responses to our review from the CRT and the MPSC. This has been a traumatic experience for our customers, community and the BWL itself. There is no doubt that we have learned important lessons and we have undertaken very important steps and comprehensive efforts so that we can improve our performance and continue to provide safe, reliable and affordable power to our customers in decades to come. General Manager Lark introduced Sue Devon,Assistant General Manager for the Board of Water and Light. Sue Devon, Assistant General Manager, stated as discussed at a previous meeting there were two major problems that resulted in the conflicting information being given to our call center staff and ultimately to our customers. First, our new Outage Management System (OMS) did not perform to designed standards and second our outage management system failed to properly transfer outage information from our 877 call system into the outage management program. The result of the conflicting information and our inability to provide accurate restoration times, created deep frustration and anger among our customers. The findings of our internal review confirmed that most of the outage communication problems our customers encountered during the ice storm did in fact stem from those two problems. A related issue was identified in our review, and that was that our 877 system's voicemail limit that restricted the number of voicemail calls that we could have recorded caused another problems for us. The BWL's current outage management system went live in February 2013. Since then, we have successfully managed several storms and outages with that system, although those storms were much less severe than the December Ice Storm. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 5 of 22 Commissioner Louney questioned why we discontinued the use of the previous system and asked if he could see the RFP for the new system as well as some the stress test to see why problems were not detected. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the OMS and questions regarding why it was in service although it was not fully functional. Ms. Devon said the system was put in place in February. The conductor cut function was functional, but later did not work during the outage. A fix was requested and successfully tested in October but was not fully operational at the time of the storm. Ms. Devon discussed the problem encountered with our third-party vendor 877 automated outage phone system. This system is used to allow automated customer outage reporting which are transferred into the OMS system. The OMS call transfer interface tripped and call were not transferred. Customers continued to use that 877 number and we were not aware that it was not transferring into the OMS system. It was January 5th when we became aware of the problem. The interface between the 877 and the OMS has been fixed and alarms will soon be added. To address the call center and 877 issues there are quite a few changes being made. We are hiring three additional call center staff and these jobs have been posted and we are in the process of filling those positions. In addition, we have expanded the number of employees and secondary storm rolls to assist in the customer service area. We have implemented a system whereby we will forward all calls to the 877 system during an outage, so any calls that come into our 6006 number will go automatically over to the 877 number. Then our call center staff will be able to concentrate on responding to the redirected line down calls from 877, and they will be able to promptly answer all the voicemail that's in the 877 mailbox. We have also increased the voicemail box size to 8000 messages which is the maximum amount we are able to obtain from our 877 vendor. In addition, the 877 outage number will be aggressively advertised on our social media network, in our press releases and on our website. We entered into a contract with AT&T for text messaging ability; and we are also working with AT&T to increase the number of lines available to our call center that will more than double the number of lines we currently have. General Manager Lark introduced Dave Bolan, Director of Transmission and Distribution (T&D) for the Board of Water and Light. Dave Bolan spoke about best practices and how we stacked up to best practices in our restoration process. The BWL storm restoration planning and process closely resembled the best practices as described by Distribution System Testing Application Research (D-star) in which a study is done by examining the practices, procedures and experiences of utilities during the major storm occurrences with the goal of understanding and conveying what went right and what went wrong during the storm restoration process. Mr. Bolan stated under best practices: The first steps of the restoration process is to restore critical customers, for example, hospitals, dispatch centers, police and fire, and public safety with down power lines. The BWL restored the power to the McLaren hospital on the first day after the ice storm on December 22nd The next step of the process is restoration of major primary circuits. The problem with OMS did not significantly affect the restoration process due to the BWL being able to track outages Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 6 of 22 restoration of the major circuits that had major breaker actions through the alarms and the Energy Management System (SCADA). Manuel Intervention and tracking by use of Excel Spreadsheets aided in the process of restoration of lateral circuits, service lines and reconnection request. Most circuits were restored within five days along with a significant number of customers. Best practices recommends that all areas involved in the storm restoration have lessons learned exercises to gather information on what went wrong and determine the changes that need to made to improve performance of the next storm restoration. The outcome of lessons learned exercises are included in the outage report. General Manager Lark introduced Steve Serkaian, Director of Communications for the Board of Water and Light. Mr. Serkaian stated that a more proactive stance is being taken with the communications strategy both in advance of severe weather hitting and during an outage crisis. Advisories are being sent to an expanded list of local government officials and neighborhood associations. The BWL now has an interim crisis communications plan that provides a foundation upon which to develop a full and permanent crisis plan which is expected at the end of March and we have also hired a social media specialist. Mr. Serkaian stated our vision moving forward is to step up our communications and let our customers know, first of all, that we care about them. We care about the job that we do and our core mission of providing a safe, reliable and affordable electricity, water and steam services to them. Commissioner Louney stated that a lot of information has been provided and suggested an update for some time in the future. In response, General Manager Lark stated that he would present regular progress reports. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to accept the Ice Storm Outage Report and to Receive and Placed it on File . Action: Motion Carried Other None Excused Absence None Adjourn On Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Price, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 7 of 22 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE March 11, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2014. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, David Price, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None Public Comments None Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossebery to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of February 18, 2014. Action: Motion Carried General Manager Lark respectfully requested to address a couple of items before starting with the listed agenda items. The first item is General Manager Lark informed the Board of Commissioners that the Board of Water & Light received an award for the REO Complex from the Associated General Contractors of America and this is the second major award that this REO facility has earned. The next item Mr. Lark addressed is that the Board of Water& Light has won the Reliable Public Power Provider Award at the Diamond level. General Manager Lark thanked everyone at the company for working hard to win this award. General Manager Lark also spoke about appearing before the CRT Review Team and stated that the Board of Water & Light did an exemplary job, in particular Lynn McKinsty. He also spoke about the amount of information that was requested from the CRT Team and thanked Susan Devon, Assistant General Manager for coordinating it all, as it was a herculean effort. Update on Haco General Manager Lark stated that the Board approved the renovations of the Haco Office complex as part of the FY14 Capital Budget. The facility has been mostly unoccupied since the REO Headquarters building was completed. This has provided the Board of Water& Light with an opportunity to move multiple operations out of the Penn/Hazel complex that is located in the floodplain. The building needs major renovations to bring it up to code and Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 8 of 22 improve operational efficiencies. The facility will be updated to similar conditions as the REO Headquarters. Assistant General Manager Susan Devon provided an update on as named ahe Haco cilitys the owners he stated that last September after issuing an RFP, Kramer Management Representative for the renovations of the Haco facility.an RFP together on turn, Kramer rthe architecteand helped the Board of Water & Light's Management pu we ended up with a local firm called Mayott. Work on the project began facilities November en anus y. project design and relocations of the remaining operations p Demolition of the interior is scheduled to begin in April. ed two-story uldllding at Haco be very costly t II be razed, as it is functionally obsolete,the space is not needed renovate. into Ms. Devon reviewed the operations that will be moving om the II main Penn the Hae. zel facof those the renovated Haco building as well at the operations that remain metering, safety and operations include electric system integrity,the water lab, p purchasing. operations remaining there include the print shop, IT,the CARS group, meter readers,the call center. The customer service center will be in the very front oft e renovated facility building. Wise Road Update rovided an update on the Wise Road Dick Peffley, Executive Director of Special Projects, p of two of Water Facility. Mr. Peffley reminded everyone that the a isou h side of Plant Lansing e and hashe Board's water treatment facilities. It is located on thhi treatment capacity of 10 million gallons of water a day and rte cmore commonly known South Lansing and las Township. On July 26, 2011, a delivery of sodium hypochlo the re commony liquid bleach, was inadvertently offloaded into fluoro n li that formed acid tank, o ormed acorros corrosive gals, known as fluoride. As a result of the two chemicals ml g equipment inside the plant was destroyed. We hired local arch thelreplacelment and engineerin equ pmentg. firm to come in and assess the damage and start redesigning Mr. Peffley announced that all the equipment has been replaced which wild b will r eo operational through by the end of this month. The cost to do this was $23 million, our insurance policy. Record Retention Policy rprise Risk Manage the Record Retention an Mike Collins, Manager of Ente rd of Commissioners adopted n 2008 Disposal Schedule in which the Boa Lansing Board of Water and Light Procedures for Implementing Records Retention and Disposal Schedules On September 23, 2008 the Board of Commissioners amended the Records Retention Policy and adopted a new Records Retention and Disposal Schedule ("Retention Schedule" or "Schedule"), which also was approved by the State Administrative Board of Michigan on November 5, 2008. These Record Retention and Disposal Schedules together specifically exempted by the previously approved by the Board of Commissioner unless Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 9 of 22 Board. These Schedules mandate minimum retention periods for records and authorize but do not require, the disposal of those records after the minimum retention period has expired. Mr. Collins reviewed rules and procedures for retention of emails as they relate to corporate records, and transitory conversations. FOIA Procedures Legal Counsel Brandie Ekren reviewed the FOIA Procedures. Ms. Ekren stated that she has been the FOIA Coordinator since 2009 and with the assistance of her paralegal, she prepares all request within the appropriate timeline. Providing that the FOIA information request is narrow enough the documents are gathered and then reviewed and if there are no applicable exemptions, the request is responded to either by granting the FOIA requested and submitting requested information or a communication is prepared with an explanation of denial. Ms. Ekren stated that she has been reviewing the FOIA policy and has come up with some recommended changes and will be presenting those suggestions to the Board of Commissioners in the future. Ms. Ekren highlighted the importance of the Board of Water & Light being on the same page as the City of Lansing when it comes to FOIA. Update on Outage Report General Manager Lark provided an update on the storm outage report recommendations. General Manager Lark spoke particularly about the outage map that has been put in place. General Manager Lark introduced Greg Hess, who reviewed and demonstrated how the newly implemented outage map works. General Manager Lark reviewed the response report. (See attached list below) Other COW Chair Dennis Louney stated that we have made huge strides and it is impressive compared to where we were with the communications plan. With confirmation from Communications Director Steve Serkaian, General Manager Lark stated that the final Crisis Communications Plan should be in place by the end of the end of March. Board Chair Zerkle commended Lynn McKinstry and Dave Bolan who answered all of the questions that the CRT asked them. COW Chair Dennis Louney stated that he would like to see dates added to the storm outage response updates. Mr. Louney also asked that questions that the Commissioners asked be forwarded to the CRT team. General Manager Lark in response stated said he would be happy to forward the transcription from the last. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 10 of 22 Excused Absence None Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole ACTIONS FOLLOW-UP 1. The BWL will include its distribution BWL has a draft distribution plan. After the plan has been updated plan in its annual table top tests and revised an annual table top review and drill will be performed for designed to stress its emergency various outage levels. response and will use the results to continually improve its emergency plans 2. The BWL will consider implementing This will be considered for the updates as part of the revisions to the a set of triggers into its distribution distribution plan. plan. 3. The BWL will consolidate its Once distribution plan has been updated and revised, discussions will Transmission and its Distribution begin on how to integrate into the Transmission Emergency emergency response plans into one Operations Plan. document. 4. The BWL will investigate the benefit This will likely start with other Municipal Utilities. Conference call of collaborating with other Michigan took place on 3-6-2014 to start discussion on how to track using the utilities to track and estimate the MMEA. Continuing to explore further options with the APPA, impact of inclement weather. Invester Owned Utilities,and Co-ops. S. Based on the BWL's experience with BWL has developed a list of positions that should be designated as the impact of the ice storm,the BWL either a Spotter or Assessor role. It will be determined by upper will make use of additional management if this should be a mandetory part of this position. secondary role employees and these roles will be discussed in subsequent sections. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 11 of 22 6. Most utilities have not found placing BWL can provide costing information for any customer that is overhead lines underground to be interested in paying to have an underground line installed for their cost effective. Instead reviewing service. maintenance practices and construction standards seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWUs distribution system. However, for those customers who want and are willing to pay for undergrounding existing services, the BWL will provide the service. 7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 A five year cycle has been incorporated into our tree trimming year trimming cycle and is in the program.The BWL will try to resolve why a three year was included in process of modifying its tree the DSTAR best practices. trimming standards and procedures to remove all branches located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm. 8. The BWL will begin to use multiple The BWL is working to develop an agreement with Asplund for tree tree trimming contractors and trimming services. In addition, plans are to evaluate NG Gilbert assign work to contractors based on (Indiana) for this service. Once past performance is established the past performance. The contractor BWL will utilize that in their decision for future work. with the best record of performance will get a larger portion of the work. Recently, the BWL temporarily increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen. 9. The BWL will publish the contact This information has been published on the LBWL website and is information for its supervisor included on the door notices utilized by the inspecting tree trimming responsible for trimming scheduling crews. so customers can contact the Manager directly with questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship. 10. The BWL is in the process of Spotter and assessor training is being revised to enhance the process carefully reviewing spotter duty and procedures. This revision will provide more training for during the ice storm and reporting,spotting,and general overall assessments. determining how many additional trained spotters would be needed to efficiently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 12 of 22 11. The BWL will also utilize retired line We are working with Personnel World to set up a contract for retired workers to perform damage qualified individuals. We will also send out a letter to them once the assessments and serve as spotters. contract is set, a get a list of availible retired workers for the next storm to serve as guides. 12. The BWL will consider contracting We are now in discussions with a firm called OSMOSE who provides with electric service firms for storm assessment services. This company is used by several other damage assessment services to local utilities such as Consumers Energy and we have met with supplement its own staff. OSMOSE to discuss their services. We will pursue using this service upon a thorough review and management approval. 13. The BWL is developing common As mentioned,the Assesors and Spotters program is being revised and reporting forms and methods to be the reporting tools and forms will be adressed in this enhanced used by all spotters and damage revision. These changes will also be part of the annual training as assessors and will stress the well. importance of adhering to these during the annual training sessions. 14. The BWL will evaluate the use of *Note: Operations (Pat and Wayne?) are taking the lead on this and damage predictive tools to will involve IT as needed. determine if these tools could help in assessing possible damage earlier in a storm's approach. 15. The BWL will remind customers that Red and white tape reminder will be published in the next available lines marked with red and white Connections in April and placed inside the Outage Center on the BWL tape are power lines and the tape website to be launched by the end of March. indicates that the BWL is aware that the line is down. The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections newsletter. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 13 of 22 16. The BWL has expanded the number The agreements we have in place are as follows: Michigan Municipal of utilities and non-utility electric Electric Association (35 Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New service contractors with which it has Agreements• American Public Power Association• Asplundh• Kent mutual aid agreements or service Power• Hydaker-Wheatlake• FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration contracts. The list is shown below. of a State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• Midwest Powerline, Existing Agreements• Michigan C.C. Power Pending Agreement are as follows: DTE Energy, Municipal Electric Association (35 Extreme Linework, Newkirk, NG Gilbert,J Ranck Municipal Utilities)• Consumers Energy New Agreements• American Public Power Association• Asplundh• Kent Power• Hydaker- Wheatlake• FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State of Emergency) Pending Agreements• DTE Energy (Under Negotiations)These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency, the FEMA agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere in the United States. 17. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 One lineworkers and two apprentices are in the process of being additional line workers and an hired. additional dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage Applications have been received for another dispatcher. crews during the restoration process. 18. With the addition of 3 line workers, With the additional Lineworkers , contractor crews, plus added an additional dispatcher, more spotters and spotter support from OSMOSE our restoration capability trained spotters, and the new will be greatly expanded. mutual aid agreements the BWL has tripled the number of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely and effciently during a major outage event. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 14 of 22 19. The BWL does update its critical and Once completed, the restoration plan will be distributed to EOC as public safety lists periodically to confidential documents. ensure that it is up to date and complete. The BWL will share its overall restoration plans with local public officials so that they can be kept up to date on the BWL's restoration plans. If another catastrophic storm does occur, local officials will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries regarding the restoration progress. 20. The BWL will review it's storm BWL's Purchasing&Warehousing Department continually reviews the inventory based on the recent ice storm items that we keep in inventory, as well as, the specific storm. quantities kept on-hand for storm restoration work and makes adjustments as necessary. We were able to procure and provide all the required materials during the recent ice storm without causing delay of restoration work. We are in constant communications with our primary line material suppliers to ensure that they have materials on hand as backup to our own warehouse's inventory. 21. The BWL will investigate connecting This is being looked into. There are several licensing and technical its line truck laptops to its OMS facets to this solution that need to be checked and BWL is looking into system as a tool to assist crews with them as part of a total solution. storm responses. 22. The BWL has resolved the matters Patches to allow conductor cut functionality have been installed and related to the OMS functionality. testing is underway. The conductor cuts are now operational and the OMS performs to design standards. 23. To avoid this situation with other The BWL recently conducted a stress test on several of its storm outage tools that may be employed response systems, including the outage call in number and new in the future, the BWL will conduct outage map. This will be expanded to occur on an annual basis or to annual stress tests of all its test large system changes, whichever is more often. These future restoration tools including, but not tests will include a table top exercise involving all departments in limited to the OMS, outage call in storm response. number, Customer Service Center, and Communications plans. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 15 of 22 24. The BWL is moving forward with a The BWL has two Request For Proposals out aimed at smartgrid—one project to implement smart grid and for a city-wide wireless network and the other for a specific Volt/Var smart meter technology, which will project. Additionally, BWL is in the midst of rolling out a allow it to identify individual communications ring to its primary substations meant to support customer outages. It will also communications for smartgrid initiatives. develop a policy that will allow customers to "opt out" of smart meter use. C. customer communications: 25. The BWL is hiring additional call center staff. 26. The BWL has implemented a process This process is in place right now and has been used more than once to assure call forward to the 877 during recent outage events. The process is currently manual, number occurs during large outages. however, the BWL continues to review and improve its call center This will allow CSR and supporting technology and has plans in place so that this will happen staff to concentrate on line down, automatically once technology upgrades are in place. voice mail and other communications mediums. 27. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the This process is in place. 877 system to direct non-matched callers to voicemail during major outage events. 28. The BWL has reconfgured the Call This is in place. Center to send messages in the voice mailbox to CSR's automatically. 29. The BWL is aggressively advertised Completed. (Please let us know if we can assist with "other customer the 877 number for outages communications, such as developing flyers to hand out at the including all available customer service window.) communications mediums, like magnets, social media, BWL Website, and other customer communications. 30. During a major outage,the BWL Call The process described here is in place. As part of its severe weather Center staff will focus their efforts preparation process, BWL actively solicits a list of volunteers to assist on responding to email, texts, these customer service functions. Facebook, Twitter, Nixle and voicemails left on the outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary storm roles to assist with these customer service functions. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 16 of 22 31. The BWL will ensure that the A recommendation making mandatory participation in storm duty for distribution plan weather designated positions will be included as part of our storm restoration forecasting and storm preparation plan,see Action Items 1-3 and 5 subject to management approval. function include employees who are directly or indirectly, through secondary roles, responsible for customer service. This, along with other changes, will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly. 32. The BWL is working with the 877 The BWL has worked with the 877 vendor and has a proposed solution vendor to provide additional for this. BWL has also been, from a higher level, reviewing its entire methods for customers to be IVR call flow. These changes will both be submitted together so that identifed or matched when calling in the changes to the internal BWL phone system and our 877 vendor are to report an outage. This will thoroughly tested and happen in a coordinated effort. include using the last digits of an account number or social security number. 33. The interface between the 877 Alarms for both sides are being tested for release into production but number and the OMS has been fixed a date has not been set as of yet. and alarms will be added on each system to alert staff of any problems in the future. 34. The BWL has added text outage This is not in place as of yet,though BWL has released a PO and filled reporting to the 877 system to offer out the paperwork for the cellular carriers. It is a multi-step process customers another method for and BWL is aggressively pursuing. reporting outages. 35. The BWL is working on a method to BWL has worked out a tentative agreement with our 877 vendor to provide quicker updating of update them from our records four times as often (twice weekly) as customer data from BWL system to well as being allowed to send daily updates during a storm or similarly 877 system. This is intended to large outage.This agreement should be ratified when the IVR changes provide better matches of are submitted and put into effect. customers to service addresses. 36. The BWL is working to improve its Callback functionality from our OMS(the ability to have an automated ability to automatically call back attendant call back customers who called in an outage to let them customers and provide them with know we show their power is back on) is in final testing and should be updated outage information. activated soon. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 17 of 22 37. The BWL will continue its The BWL has entered into a contract with AT&T for these enhancements to its phone system. communication lines and is aggressively pursuing their The enhancements will use newer implementation. Additionally BWL has contracted with two other technology to increase Internet vendors to assist in configuring and implementing the call center and bandwidth, increase available network technology to make full use of the increased capacity from phone lines, and make the system the phone system. fully redundant across the BWL private city-wide network. This upgrade will allow the system to dynamically increase the number of available lines to the call center during a large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is designed for large volumes. 38. The BWL has increased the TFCC The BWL now has a contract with a third party company to help take voice mailbox size to 8,000 additional calls. BWL is in the process of working out the call flow messages and is in the process of process and technological implementation with this vendor. In contracting with another vendor to addition,the Communications Department is directing after hour and assist in responding to voice mailbox weekend media calls to this third party company in order the be more messages during a large outage. responsive to reporter needs with the Communications staff member who is assigned to"on call"duty. 39. The BWL is investigating a separate The BWL has created this site and is currently hosting its new outage site created just for outage map on it. The BWL is also in development on an outage framework information (including outage for a stand-alone outage center that will incorporate the outage map maps). This will help ensure that product. the BWL's outage website will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the BWL's main website. 40. Although the external email to The BWL has set up the back-end infrastructure for this and is Customer Service functioned awaiting the new communications lines from AT&T to bring this on normally during the storm, the BWL operationally. is investigating establishing a redundant external email system. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 18 of 22 41. The BWL has developed a temporary The new BWL outage map has passed functional acceptance testing as web-based outage map for its well as stress testing. It is expected to be launched soon. In addition, website. The BWL is also working an "Outage Center" — which will provide customers with one site with a local vendor for a permanent containing information on emergency preparedness, FAQs and outage outage map linked directly to the and restoration update information, will be launched soon on the BWL's OMS system. Phase I of the front page of the BWL website. project covering functionality has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is expected to be completed soon. 42. In Phase II of the project, the BWL plans to continue enhancements to all of its Information Systems that interact with customers. The next phase of the outage map product for BWL will include further interaction with our customers, allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them specifically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated. 43. In addition to using twitter and Facebook, the BWL is investigating the use of Nixle to communicate outage and other information to its customers. d. management of Storm response: 44. The BWL will work with customers and local officials to determine how to make local officials aware of seniors, customers with medical alerts, and other vulnerable populations during extended outages. 45. The BWL will be more proactive This item will be included in the new Outage Center on the BWL informing customers of where their website to be launched by the end of March. responsibility for service ends, the service mast,and the BWL's begins. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 19 of 22 46. The BWL will maintain a list of This item will be included in the new Outage Center on the BWL qualified electricians who can repair website to be launched by the end of March. service masts and the BWL will help customers finance the cost of mast repair by allowing customers to pay it off on their bill over a one year period without interest. A list of qualified electricians will appear on the BWL's website. 47. During events like the ice storm,the BWL will work with local organizations to maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for Lansing area residents. 48. As an integral part of the Lansing community, the BWL will work with other organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future. The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empower neighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and listen to their concerns and questions. E. External communications: 49. Since ice storm outage restoration, Completed. the BWL's service territory has experienced a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage events ranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events, the BWL has posted, on all communications channels, at least two days prior to the forecasted weather, warning customers about the impending storm and directing them to call the BWL "877" outage number if they lost power. The BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips, and City of Lansing updates. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 20 of 22 50. During the outages, the BWL has Completed. acknowledged the time the outage began, the number of outages, the cause of the outage, the geographic area of the outage that can be found on the outage map, the projected time of restoration, and full restoration all clear. 51. Communication improvements have Completed. been noted on Facebook and Twitter with positive comments by our customers. 52. The BWL has retained the This item will be completed by the end of March. communications firm of Martin Waymire to help develop a crisis communications plan based on an examination of best practices across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during emergencies if needed. In the meantime, the BWL has a working interim crisis communications plan. 53. The BWL has also hired a social Completed. media specialist, a newly created position. The social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate with our customers over all social media channels. 54. The BWL will provide information to Completed. All press release are now sent to an expanded local state and local officials on a regular elected officials'list. basis. During an event like the ice storm, it will assign a liaison to state and local officials to answer questions that they may have from their constituents. Board of Water& Light& City of Lansing Joint Committee of the Whole Meeting with the Lansing City Council March 13, 2014 The Board of Water & Light Board of Commissioners hosted a Joint Committee of the Whole meeting with the Lansing City Council on March 13, 2014. The purpose of the Joint Committee of the Whole meeting was to present information and have dialogue on the following topics: • The Power Outage Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 21 of 22 • The Catastrophic Storm Outage Credit • Tree Trimming • Commissioners interaction with their area of representation • Crisis Management Training for Neighborhood Watch coordinators and Councilmembers In addition, there was dialogue regarding: • City Council's procedure for crisis communication and • Coordination of a Medical priority list Committee Report Presented by Board Chair Sandra. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS There were no Manager's recommendations UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business RESOLUTIONS There was no Resolution MANAGER'S REMARKS General Manager Lark provided information re: • An Invitation from the Board of Water& Light's Inclusion & Equity Department to attend the Cesar Chavez Hispanic/Latino Fiesta on March 31, 2014 at the Depot from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. • A press release regarding the Board of Water& Light winning the RP3 (Diamond Level) Award this is bestowed by the American Public Power Association. This is award is recognition for providing consumers with the highest degree of reliable and safe electric service. There are four key areas of criteria for this award and the Board of Water & Light scored 100%. • The Recycle Rama is taking place from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on March 29th at the Ingham County Health Department's parking lot. This is an opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted items. In addition, Board of Water & Light residential electric customers can turn in older working dehumidifiers or room air conditioners and receive a $25 rebate under the utility's Hometown Energy Savers program. Regular Board Mtg. March 25,2014 Page 22 of 22 • The Board of Water & Light's press release regarding the newly implemented tree- trimming schedule. COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS There were no Commissioners' Remarks EXCUSED ABSENCE Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to excuse Commissioners McCloud and Thomas from tonight's meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS There was no Public Comments ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Ward, seconded by Commissioner Price the meeting adjourned at 5:42 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Preliminary Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:March 8,2014 Final Approved Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:May 30,2014 APPROVED BYTHE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ON MARCH 25,2014 i MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT JANUARY 28, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. Chairperson Sandra Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McC`o•ud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner The Corporate Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Ward led the Pledge of Allegiance. , r— .. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes of November 19, 2013. Action: Carried Unanimously Motion by Commissioner McCloud, seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the Special Board Meeting minutes of January 7, 2014. Action: Carried Unanimously PUBLIC COMMENTS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT. ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. There was no Public Comment ------------------ COMMUNICATIONS a. Numerous Communications regarding Ice Storm/Power Outage Received and Placed on File b. Letter from E. Lansing City Council encouraging in support of an Independent Review Power Outage response action. Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 2 of 14 Received and Placed on File c. Regina Stout regarding of the regarding Ice Storm/Power Outage. Received and Placed on File d. M. Theresa G. Pido regarding Ice Storm/Power Outage Received and Placed on File COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE January 14, 2014 The Committee of the Whole of the Lansing Board of Water and Light met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. Committee of the Whole Chair Dennis M. Louney called the meeting to order and asked the Corporate Secretary to call the roll. Present: Commissioners Dennis M. Louney, Margaret Bossenbery, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, Tracy Thomas, David Price, Cynthia Ward (Arrivedat6:3op.m.) and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: Commissioner Tracy Thomas Public Comments There was no Public Comment Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Bossenbery to approve the Committee of the Whole meeting minutes of October 8, 2013. Action: Motion Carried Board Chair Sandra Zerkle stated that at the next Executive Committee meeting there would be some discussion regarding Board representation on the Commission that the Mayor has put together to review the handling of the recent ice storm and outages. Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Dennis Louney stated that there has been some discussion regarding estimated bills and high prices. General Manager Lark has suggested waiving The BWL's policy on late fees until the February bills have been issued to balance things out. Waiving the late fees is a great move and proactive measure by the General Manager and the staff. General Manager Lark stated that because estimated bills are based on past years, usage, and many people did not have power for a number of days, we have allowed those people to call into our customer service center and work out payment arrangements. Therefore, in addition to not having a late fee, we have made provisions where a percentage of their bill can be paid without a late fee assessment. Information regarding waiving the late fee for estimated bill payments can be found on our web site. Rate Case Public Hearing Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 3 of 14 General Manager Lark stated with respect to the Rate Case Public Hearing scheduled for January 23rd, it has been cancelled due to all of the activity surrounding the recent power outage, and the follow-up work. Preparation for this public hearing could not take place and a cancellation notice will be posted in this week's edition of the City Pulse. The process for the Public Hearing will start again at a later date. Catastrophic Storm Credit General Manager Lark provided information on the Catastrophic Storm Credit. He stated that customers who were without power for 120 hours or more would be entitled to a $25.00 credit. Mr. Lark respectfully requested that the Committee forward the proposed resolution approving a $25.00 credit be forwarded to the full Board for consideration. This resolution also provides for an extra $5.00 for each day over the 120 hours. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to forward the proposed resolution for the Storm Credit to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried (6/ovote) Report on Outage Performance Review COW Chair Louney asked General Manager Lark to address questions that were previously presented by Commissioners' Ward and Price before he presents testimony from his Administration. General Manager Lark stated that he believes most of questions will be addressed in the ensuring hour if they have not already been addressed. General Manager Lark began his presentation by respectfully asking the Board to forward the resolution that provides a top to bottom review be undertaken by the staff of the BWL as well as providing community forums in East Lansing, Delta Township, and Lansing to listen to the communities concerns, to the full Board for consideration. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Zerkle to forward the proposed resolution for Community Forums to the full Board for consideration. Action: Motion Carried (6/0vote) General Manager Lark introduced Dave Bolan, Director of Transmission and Distribution (T&D) for the Board of Water and Light. Mr. Bolan, provided information along with a PowerPoint Presentation on: • Impact of Preventive Maintenance • Electric System Distribution Facilities • BWL Electric System Restoration Plan o Crew Configurations o Restoration Process and Timeline • Post Storm Analysis General Manager Lark introduced Sue Devon, Assistant General Manager for the Board of Water and Light. Ms. Devon reviewed her responsibilities as the Assistant General Manager. She stated that she is directly engaged in the restoration efforts. She is also responsible for information technology and customer service operations. Ms. Devon said that she is also responsible for Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 4 of 14 the implementation of the Outage Management System (OMS) and therefore is responsible for the problems encountered with that system during the outage. She spoke about the communication problems that made it extremely difficult to communicate accurate and timely to customers on the status of their individual outage situations. She spoke about the new Outage Management System (OMS) that went live in February of 2013. Since the implementation of the OMS storms and outages have successfully been managed with the system, but this storm was much more severe. The OMS did not perform to designed standards during the December Ice Storm and, combined with the failure of data from the BWL's 877 number resulted in conflicting information to staff and therefore our customers. That fix is now completed and the modeling feature is now working. Ms. Devon stated that customers were also unhappy because an outage map was not provided for them to refer to for periodic updates during the storm restoration process. She stated that we have never had the capability to produce a map in the past, but have planned for that feature to be available for our new OMS system. Regarding the customer complaints about the call center, the call center was overwhelmed by the storm. The volume of calls into our call center was greater than we have ever encountered here at the BWL. On a normal day, the BWL usually handles between 1,000 and 8,000 calls, but for this ice storm there were over 200,000 calls routed through our phone system in one day alone and likewise our email traffic was overwhelming. To assist with the large number of customer complaints there were four different walk-in centers opened to assist customers during the outage. General Manager Lark introduced Steve Serkaian, Director of Communications for the Board of Water and Light. Mr. Serkaian stated that he was responsible for all internal and external communications on behalf of the Board. He stated that he sent numerous updates to the Commissioners,the media and the public through social media. Those updates totaled nearly 40 over a 10 to 11 day period. Beginning at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, December 22nd, and the last going out on New Year's Day, at 10 a.m. when we were able to declare that our entire service count has been restored. Mr. Serkaian stated there was also communication through the public media by having daily news conferences in the field and updates attempted to be responsive to media questions and customer concerns. Mr. Serkaian stated that the BWL did learn from this outage and is currently undergoing a top to bottom review, but we are not waiting to implement changes. Mr. Serkaian stated that he takes full responsibility and apologizes to the Board and to the public for not having a permanent crisis communications plan at hand. He said we now have a temporary one and we are working with a communications firm to create a permanent one. He said the BWL will examine the best practices across the utility industry and make sure we have a strong crisis communications plan protocol in place in the very near future to give guidance in the event that any crisis hits. Mr. Serkaian stated that the BWL placed a letter of apology as a full page Ad in this past Sunday's Lansing State Journal. It is written in Mr. Larks' voice under his signature, it reiterates our deep sorrow for the hardships that we caused during the outage to our customers and it also indicates the kinds of things that we are doing now that as a result of Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 5 of 14 the outage has been implemented. This Advertisement will also be published in tomorrow's City Pulse, it has been prominently displayed on the BWL's website front page, and it is linked to Facebook and Twitter. Commissioner Ward questioned when the social media efforts began. In response, Mr. Serkaian stated Twitter was in the very early morning Sunday the 22"d Commissioner Ward questioned Mr. Serkaian's process of how he receives information and how it is communicated and verified. In response, Mr. Serkaian stated he started receiving information by phone early Sunday morning and communicated by emails and text. He received information from whoever was on call at the BWL's BESOC facility. COW Chair Louney stated that he recognizes that there were problems in getting accurate information, but we fell down on this. Chair Louney stated that this was unprecedented with the storm and we found our weaknesses and our cracks, but we did a poor job of communicating. He said that communication wise, he does not have any answers as to what we could have done to fix it, but believes that moving forward it will be fixed and is confident that we have the right team to do that. Commissioner Ward requested a copy of the Interim Communication Plan. Chair Zerkle read the following as a Report from the January 7tn Other None Excused Absence Motion by Commissioner Zerkle, Seconded by Commissioner Mullen to excuse Commissioners Thomas from tonight's meeting. Action: Motion Carried Adiourn On Motion by Commissioner McCloud, Seconded by Commissioner Price, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dennis M. Louney, Chair Committee of the Whole Chair Zerkle presented a Board Meeting Report for the Special Board Meeting held on January 7, 2014. Humeto"People,Hometown Power, LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2014 Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 6 of 14 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday,January 7, 2014. Meeting Purpose: Storm Outage Chairperson Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None The Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Mullen led the Pledge of Allegiance. General Manager Lark made the following opening remarks. "First of all, as I have previously expressed, I deeply regret the difficulties our customers endured during this recent outage. Moreover, 1 offer this Board and our customers my sincere regret for traveling to New York during the outage. I believe this storm should be viewed like any other or anything else in life, in some sort of context. The BWL service territory was hit by an ice storm. One hundred percent of its territory was hit by an ice storm. The other utility we are often compared with extends to the Mackinaw Bridge and to the west to Lake Michigan, to the east to Lake Huron. They suffered a large outage as well, but all of our system was impacted. In fact, 40 percent of our lines were affected and went down. Anecdotally,from Public Service Commission staff, no utility in Michigan have has ever lost that percentage of its facilities. It took us 138 years to build; it took Mother Nature eight hours to destroy forty percent of it. This is something beyond Michigan's experience. I have looked about Michigan and the United States for comparisons, and when I did 1 found that Michigan's performance, the BWL's performance, was neither good or bad. It was typical. I also want to do something that hasn't been done yet that I think is important. I want to profusely thank all of our BWL employees, the best in Lansing, and the best I've ever worked with, for their dedication to restoration efforts under what has to be and was the most difficult of all circumstances. But, you know, after looking at this from a variety of points of view, it's clear to me that improvements are necessary because disasters, unfortunately, come with hard lessons; and we have learned from this. The actions we've taken are numerous. Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 7 of 14 First of all, the BWL has entered into retainer agreements with contractors that will immediately triple the number of line crews available in an emergency. The BWL will immediately begin the process of hiring additional support staff so that those line crews can be properly guided, and by that, I mean dispatchers and the like. In addition, we will hire additional line workers. We have tripled the number of tree trimming crews presently working. I didn't say "we will triple,"I'm telling you that today, on the ground, triple the tree trimmers are working. Also within the next week, the BWL will have an online outage map that customers can view. There were problems with what we call OMS, which is the Outage Management System. Those problems have been identified, and they've been addressed. Beginning now, immediately, as I sit here, and, actually, even last night, when the big storm was upon us, or even the night before, all customer outage and downed line calls should be made to (877) 295-5001. 1 say that because we did not feature that number prominently enough. That number was in our customer connections every month. That number is on our web site. The number is available, but so is our call center number. So we took many, many more calls to the call center, which is only comprised of 15 to 20 employees. All of these things I've just told you will be discussed in greater detail following the public comment. But, in addition to that, we will explore alternative third-party answering services during catastrophic claims. We have created a temporary crisis communications plan. In addition, we have retained a crisis communications firm to finalize and implement a permanent crisis communications plan. Also, that firm will provide additional communications assistance during a crisis. The BWL today posted a newly-created position of Social Media Manager to develop and manage strategies to improve communications across all spectrums of social media. Also, the BWL will give customers who suffered outages of over 120 hours a$25 credit per the Michigan Public Service Commission Rules. In addition, customers who were out greater than 120 hours,for each 24-hour period beyond that time, they will receive an additional$5. The details for this will be announced soon and will be on our web site. The BWL is in the process of and will continue a top-to-bottom review of its outage response. That review will include input from three community forums, next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, for BWL customers at locations and times to be announced, and, most importantly, a report on this review will be completed and announced in mid February. That virtually concludes my remarks. You will hear much more from those of us assembled at this table, but, before I turn it over to the Chair to take comments, 1 have to one more time just say thank you to all of the BWL employees because, while this community has heard very much about line crew and what a great job they've done,for every person who's a member of the line crew, there are several people behind them. For every line crew that has worked 18 hours, there's someone else that worked 18 hours; and I am again going to thank all those employees. They're certainly not all seated behind me, but I think some are. Again, I've had a couple of jobs in a couple of different places. If I count them up, it probably comes to four or five. I have never worked with better employees or employees more dedicated to restoring Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 8 of 14 every single customer at the BWL again under very, very difficult situations. So 1 say to them thank you. This concludes my remarks, Madam Chair, and Members of the Commission." Chari Zerkle announced that there was an overflow room set up in the Lobby of the REO Headquarters. Chair Zerkle also expressed her apologies for discomfort and problems that many customers have experienced during the ice storm and power outage. She stated that she believes that every BWL employee's sole purpose was to get the power back up no matter what it took. PUBLIC COMMENT CHAIR ZEKLE ANNOUNCED THAT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT AND ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. The following individuals spoke in support of the Actions of one of the following: Board of Water and Light, Employees, the Administration: Tim Barron, Radio/Media Host Calvin Jones, BWL Employee Ron Byrnes, Business Manager Jeff Schwartz, BWL Employee of IBEW Local 352 Mike Flores, BWL Employee Tom Dickinson, BWL Employee Jane Schueller, BWL Employee David Douglas, BWL Employee Thomas Gray, BWL Employee Sue Warren, BWL Employee Rob Hodge, BWL Employee Debi Allen, BWL Employee Sean Looman, BWL Employee Mark Matus, BWL Employee Ray Moore, BWL Employee Nick Burwell, BWL Employee Jennifer Hamel, BWL Employee Stephanie Laney, BWL Customer Charles Green Jr., Customer Jim Paparella, BWL Customer Mark Williams, BWL Employee Peter Kramer, Former BWL Commissioner Daryl Hibbert, BWL Employee Dallas Burdick, BWL Employee Bob Perialas, BWL Employee Gregg Hess, BWL Employee Scott Hemelink, BWL Employee Mike Collins, BWL Employee Gennie Eva, BWL Employee R. R. Peffley, BWL Employee Brian Sebolt, BWL Employee Alando Chappell, BWL Employee Brandie Ekren, BWL Employee Cheryl Bush, BWL Customer Melvin Jones, Pastor of Union Church Jim Weeks, Executive Director of MMEA Tarcy Tolbert, BWL Employee Justin Terry, Lansing Resident Smiljana Lazic, BWL Employee The following individuals spoke in complaint of the Actions of one of the following: Board of Water and Light, Employees or the Administration: Chuck Slammer, Lansing Resident Claude Beavers, Lansing Resident Mike Kieliszewski, BWL Customer Cole Bouck, Lansing Resident Alice Dreger, BWL Customer Ryan Sebolot, BWL Customer Wayne Whiting, Lansing Resident Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 9 of 14 Councilmember Carol Wood spoke about the BWL Board members communicating with their constituency, the importance of the Board putting together an independent investigation and the resignation of General Manager Lark. Julie Powers, BWL Customer thanked all of the BWL Staff for their hard work to get the power back on. She spoke about the ageing infrastructure and the overgrowth of trees. Semone James-Howes spoke about the need for accountability and the need to review the communications process and the emergency management plan. Ken Flether, Delta Township Manager, spoke about the lack of representation on the BWL's Board of Commissioners and the loss of trust among customers and the need for restoring trust, confidence and establishing structure so that surround communities can be heard. Councilmember Jody Washington spoke about General Manager Lark's decision to take a vacation during this time and ask the Board discipline him for this incident only. She spoke about the many complaints that she heard regarding communication. Jason Wilkes, spoke about sitting through hours of public comment regarding this matter and it was clear that mistakes were made and that there was a failure in communication. He spoke about the inclusion of surrounding entities in regard to the review that is taking place. Jennifer Olson, questioned the criteria for claiming a State of Emergency. She also spoke about the lack of communication during this time. Vice Chair Louney read the following communication in to the record from Former Executive Director of Operations Doug Wood: "The attacks that I have seen serve no useful purpose unless an organization is poorly run. That is certainly not the case with the Board of Water and Light. The Board of commissioners provides sound policy and guidance and are fully engaged with the Board of Water and Light operations and its customers. General ManagerJ. Peter Lark stays connected and engaged with the Board of Commissioners, his staff, and customers whether he is at work, at home, or on the road. The Board of Water and Light has been lifted to a higher level because of Mr. Lark's vision and leadership and certainly has myfull endorsement as the best person to lead the Board of Water and Light into the future. I'm very proud of this achievement of Mr. Lark and the Board of Water and Light and grateful to have been associated such a great organization. Thank you for listening. Douglas K. Wood Commissioners' Remarks/ Administration's Comments Review of Action after Recovery Memo (See Attached Memo) To: Sandra Zerkle,Chair BWL Board of Commissioners General Manager J.Peter Lark Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 10 of 14 Cc: Corporate Secretary M. Denise Griffin From: Commissioner David Price Commissioner and Commissioner Cynthia Ward Date: January 2, 2014 RE: Action after Recovery As you are aware, pursuant to BWL's Rules of Procedure,we requested a SpecialMeeting of the Board of Commissioners. That meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Public notice of that meeting, in accordance with our rules,will follow. Our primary interest in requesting the SpecialMeeting was to provide a timely and focused opportunity for the Board of Commissioners to begin to address our customers'concerns relative to the BWL's restoration efforts following the ice storm. We heard from many customers during the Mayor's Press Conference on Saturday, December 28,2013,and during the Lansing City Council's SpecialMeeting on Monday, December 30,2013. Those forums afforded the Board opportunities to listen to the questions and concerns of our customers. While we would have preferred for there not to be a need for such forums,we appreciated every single person who came out to ask questions, express criticisms,share concerns,and applaud the efforts of the line men and women. We understand that we will continue to hear from customers in the weeks and months to come. However/we believe we must take action now. That is why we have requested this SpecialMeeting. We request the full Board of Commissioners to consider the following as outcomes from the Special Meeting: 1) As the governing board for the BWL, we will acknowledge the hard work of the line workers and all BWL employees, who remained focused, in the face of many distractions,on the task of restoring power to our customers. We also acknowledge the families of the BWL employees who worked around the clock and sacrificed spending their holidays with their loved ones. Further, we also thank the City of Lansing employees and mutual aid workers who assisted during this time. 2) We will request that General Manager Lark establish two independent review teams: one for the outage response itself and one for the communications response. We will further ask that Mr. Lark consider a process that will allow for the review teams'work to be completed by March 31, 2014. 3) Many Commissioners were individually contacted during the restoration period by concerned customers;several of us have our own questions. We will ask Board Chair Zerkle to designate a point person on the Board of Commissioners to serve as the repository of all the questions and concerns received by individual Commissioners so that all questions and concerns can be included and compiled in a single document to be reviewed by the Commissioners, General Manager Lark,and the review teams. 4) General Manager Lark has publicly stated that the BWL will consider a possible credit to offer customers. We will request that General Manager Lark identify and present to the Board of Commissioners the parameters for such credit. 5) It was acknowledged that the BWLdoes not have a crisis communication plan. We will ask that an interim crisis communication plan is developed for the BWL subject to revision once the communications response review team completes its work. 6) The Board of Commissioners does not have an emergency or crisis communication plan. Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 11 of 14 We will request that Board Chair Zerkle appoint an ad hoc committee to develop a Commissioners' emergency/ crisis communication plan. There are other matters that certainly require attention, but we believe this is an appropriate starting point for this initial meeting. We expect other Commissioners will have other matters or concerns that will be included for discussion during the Special Meeting. Thank you. Commissioner Ward acknowledge that the statement submitted by her and Commissioner Price was a suggestion for items to be addressed as a starting point and that this request was for the full Board to consider and that it is up to the full Board if they want to accept or consider the suggestions going forward. Commissioner Ward acknowledge that some of the concerns that were raised were addressed in Mr. Lark's opening statement and that she would defer until after the experts have spoken. Vice Chair Louney stated that he would like to see some things outline but will not present them today. He said that he wait until the report came out in February. George Stojic, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Development provided an overview of electrical liability. Dave Bolan, Director of Electric Transportation and Distribution provided information the proactive and preventative maintenance that the BWL did to possibly prevent a much larger outage. Mr. Bolan provided information on tree trimming and the standards that go along with that. He said this storm devastated the area and the plan is to get out there and get the trees cleaned up. General Manager Lark stated that the number of tree trimming crews have been tripled as of yesterday. Mr. Bolan, reviewed the flow of the Electric Utility Power System Diagram. He reviewed the breaker system process and what has to happen when there is an outage and the number of customers that are affected with each level of circuit that goes down. Pat Hanes, Manager of Transmission reviewed what took place the night the storm hit as well as their actions as far as getting help from outside agencies. Mr. Hanes stated that the BWL never ran out of supplies as suggested by some. After a lengthy discussion, General Manager Lark asked if the Board would be to continue this discussion at the Committee of the Whole meeting. In response, Commissioner Price stated that there has been a lot of information presented this evening and is impressed with the level of detail and understanding of the whole situation. He said that he would like to have additional discussion at next week's Committee of the Whole. After some discussion on the preferred conclusion of the Special Board meeting, it was determined that there would be a continuation of tonight's discussion at the next week's COW meeting. Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 12 of 14 Public Comments Members of the public are welcome to speak to the Board on any Board of Water and Light subject. Julie Mulcallughe, Lansing Resident stated concerns with all of the problems that came from the ice storm and said that people are looking for accountability and transparency. EXCUSED ABSENCE None ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Official Minutes(Electronic)filed with Lansing City Clerk:January 30,2014 MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS General Manager Lark respectfully asked that the following Resolutions be considered for approval. RESOLUTION #2014-01-01 ELECTRIC CATASTROPHIC STORM OUTAGE CREDIT WHEREAS, the ice storm that occurred on December 22 was unprecedented in modern Michigan history and affected 100%of the BWL service territory; and WHEREAS, the ice storm created the largest, most wide spread damage to facilities the BWL has ever encountered; and WHEREAS, the Michigan Public Service Commission defines a catastrophic outages, in part, as an event that results in an official state of emergency or an event resulting in an interruption for 10% or more of a utility's customers; and WHEREAS, nearly 40,000 or 40% of BWL customers lost power for extended periods of days; and WHEREAS, the extended outage and communications difficulties experienced by customers led to financial loss and frustration; RESOLVED, that the Board adopt an Electric Catastrophic Storm Outage Credit for electric customers that experienced an outage from the December 22 storm. FURTHER RESOLVE, that the Electric Catastrophic Storm Outage Credit will be $25.00 for any customer who experienced an electric outage for more than 120 hours and an additional credit in the amount of$5.00 per day thereafter until service was restored. Motion by Commissioner Price, Seconded by Commissioner Ward to approve the Resolution for the Storm Outage Credit. There was some discussion regarding the time line for filing the Storm Credit. General Manager lark stated that there is no time line on filing for the credit;and to date there have been 1800 credit have been issued. There was also some discussion regarding rebates and the tracking of rebates if not used immediately. General Manager Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 13 of 14 Lark stated that he would do a follow up press release to accompany the other ways that they have communicated to the public to make sure that people are aware of the credit availability. Action: Carried unanimously RESOLUTION#2014-01-02 ELECTRIC STORM REVIEW—COMMUNITY FORUMS WHEREAS, the ice storm that occurred on December 22 was unprecedented in modern Michigan history and affected 100%of the BWL service territory; and WHEREAS, the ice storm created the largest, most wide spread damage to facilities the BWL has ever encountered; and WHEREAS, the Michigan Public Service Commission defines a catastrophic outages, in part, as an event that results in an official state of emergency or an event resulting in an interruption for 10% or more of a utility's customers; and WHEREAS, nearly 40,000 or 40% of BWL customers lost power for extended periods of days; and WHEREAS, the extended outage, and, in particular, communications difficulties experienced by customers led to frustration and questions regarding the performance of the BWL during the restorations efforts; and WHEREAS, as part of a top to bottom review of the BWL's response to the ice storm,the Board desires three community forums be scheduled for customers to attend in East Lansing, Delta Township, and Lansing to take input and listen to customer concerns, RESOLVED that three Community Forums will be held at the following locations, dates, and times: E. Lansing/Meridian Twp. Delta Twp./Lansing Twp. Lansing Wednesday, Jan 15, 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m. Hannah Community Center Delta Township REO Town Depot 819 Abbot Rd. Administration Bldg. 1201 S. Washington Ave. E. Lansing, MI 48823 7710 W. Saginaw Hwy., Room A Lansing, MI 48910 Lansing, MI 48917 General Manager Lark stated that to have the top to bottom review completed and released by mid-February. Motion by Commissioner Bossenbery, Seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the Resolution for three Community Forums to take place. Action: Carried unanimously UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no Unfinished Business Regular Board Mtg. January 28,2014 Page 14 of 14 NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business RESOLUTIONS There was no Resolution under this section of the Agenda MANAGER'S REMARKS General Manager Lark spoke about outages that have storm PR Firs that f social media and all media outlets to keep customers informed. He stated the m the BWL is working with was very satisfied with the performance and thought well of how the BWL handled the recent outages. The outage map, the Outage Management System and the 877 system were all utilized effectively during the recent outages. General Manager Lark stated that the BWL has been receiving positive feedback. General Manager Lark announced that the BWL received recognition from the MLK Commission for service to the community. COMMISSIONERS' REMARKS Commissioner Dennis Louney also reminded everyone Commissioner Louney acknowledged and le meeting will take place on February 18 as well. thanked General Manager Lark, his staff and the BWL employees for all of their efforts and hard work during and since the catastrophic ice storm. He stated that as a Board Commissioner we need to examine ways to improve over site and communication and would like a Resolution to be brought forward at the February Committee of the Whole meeting regarding live streaming or video tapping of all of the Board of Commissioner's meetings. He stated that transparency is essential for customers in moving forward and believes this is a step in that direction. EXCUSED ABSENCE Excused Absence PUBLIC COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Ward the meeting adjourned at 5:56 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Preliminary Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:January 30,2014 Final Approved Minutes filed(electronically)with Lansing City Clerk:April 1,2014 Hometown people.Hometown Power. ['} ' `FC LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT C 1��[! BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1D} Jkf�3 p P4 c SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2014 The Board of Commissioners met at the BWL Headquarters-REO Town Depot located at 1201 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Meeting Purpose: Storm Outage Chairperson Zerkle called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Commissioners Margaret Bossenbery, Dennis M. Louney, Anthony McCloud, Tony Mullen, David Price, Tracy Thomas, Cynthia Ward and Sandra Zerkle. Absent: None The Secretary declared a quorum present. Commissioner Mullen led the Pledge of Allegiance. General Manager Lark made the following opening remarks. "First of all, as I have previously expressed, I deeply regret the difficulties our customers endured during this recent outage. Moreover, I offer this Board and our customers my sincere regret for traveling to New York during the outage. I believe this storm should be viewed like any other or anything else in life, in some sort of context. The BWL service territory was hit by an ice storm. One hundred percent of its territory was hit by an ice storm. The other utility we are often compared with extends to the Mackinaw Bridge and to the west to Lake Michigan, to the east to Lake Huron. They suffered a large outage as well, but all of our system was impacted. In fact, 40 percent of our lines were affected and went down. Anecdotally, from Public Service Commission staff, no utility in Michigan has ever lost that percentage of its facilities. It took us 138 years to build, it took Mother Nature eight hours to destroy forty percent of it. This is something beyond Michigan's experience. I have looked about Michigan and the United States for comparisons, and when I did I found that Michigan's performance, the BWL's performance, was neither good nor bad. It was typical. I also want to do something that hasn't been done yet that I think is important. I want to profusely thank all of our BWL employees, the best in Lansing, and the best I've ever worked with, for their dedication to restoration efforts under what has to be and was the most difficult of all circumstances. But, you know, after looking at this from a variety of points of view, it's clear to me that improvements are necessary because disasters, unfortunately, come with hard lessons; and we have learned from this. The actions we've taken are numerous. First of all, the BWL has entered into retainer agreements with contractors that will immediately triple the number of line crews available in an emergency. The BWL will immediately begin the process of hiring additional support staff so that those line crews can be properly guided, and by that, I mean dispatchers and the like. In addition, we will hire additional line workers. We have tripled the number of tree trimming crews presently working. I didn't say "we will triple," I'm telling you that today, on the ground, triple the tree trimmers are working. Also within the next week, the BWL will have an online outage map that customers can view. There were problems with what we call OMS, which is the Outage Management System. Those problems have been identified, and they've been addressed. Beginning now, immediately, as I sit here, and, actually, even last night, when the big storm was upon us, or even the night before, all customer outage and downed line calls should be made to (877) 295-5001. 1 say that because we did not feature that number prominently enough. That number was in our customer connections every month. That number is on our web site. The number is available, but so is our call center number. So we took many, many more calls to the call center, which is only comprised of 15 to 20 employees. All of these things I've just told you will be discussed in greater detail following the public comment. But, in addition to that, we will explore alternative third-party answering services during catastrophic claims. We have created a temporary crisis communications plan. In addition, we have retained a crisis communications firm to finalize and implement a permanent crisis communications plan. Also, that firm will provide additional communications assistance during a crisis. The BWL today posted a newly-created position of Social Media Manager to develop and manage strategies to improve communications across all spectrums of social media. Also, the BWL will give customers who suffered outages of over 120 hours a $25 credit per the Michigan Public Service Commission Rules. In addition, customers who were out greater than 120 hours,for each 24-hour period beyond that time, they will receive an additional$5. The details for this will be announced soon and will be on our web site. The BWL is in the process of and will continue a top-to-bottom review of its outage response. That review will include input from three community forums, next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, for BWL customers at locations and times to be announced, and, most importantly, a report on this review will be completed and announced in mid-February. That virtually concludes my remarks. You will hear much more from those of us assembled at this table; but, before I turn it over to the Chair to take comments, I have to one more time just say thank you to all of the BWL employees because, while this community has heard very much about line crew and what a great job they've done,for every person who's a member of the line crew, there are several people behind them. For every line crew that has worked 18 hours, there's someone else that worked 18 hours; and I am again going to thank all those employees. They're 2 certainly not all seated behind me, but I think some are. Again, I've had a couple of jobs in a couple of different places. If I count them up, it probably comes to four or five. I have never worked with better employees or employees more dedicated to restoring every single customer at the BWL again under very, very difficult situations. So I say to them thank you. This concludes my remarks, Madam Chair, and Members of the Commission." Chari Zerkle announced that there was an overflow room set up in the Lobby of the REO Headquarters. Chair Zerkle also expressed her apologies for discomfort and problems that many customers have experienced during the ice storm and power outage. She stated that she believes that every BWL employee's sole purpose was to get the power back up no matter what it took. PUBLIC COMMENT CHAIR ZERKLE ANNOUNCED THAT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY AGENDA SUBJECT AND ANYONE WISHING TO COMMENT ON ANY MATTER NOT ON THE AGENDA MAY DO SO IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. The following individuals spoke in support of the Actions of one of the following: Board of Water and Light, Employees, the Administration: Tim Barron, Radio/Media Host Calvin Jones, BWL Employee Ron Byrnes, Business Manager Jeff Schwartz, BWL Employee of IBEW Local 352 Mike Flores, BWL Employee Tom Dickinson, BWL Employee Jane Schueller, BWL Employee David Douglas, BWL Employee Thomas Gray, BWL Employee Sue Warren, BWL Employee Rob Hodge, BWL Employee Debi Allen, BWL Employee Sean Looman, BWL Employee Mark Matus, BWL Employee Ray Moore, BWL Employee Nick Burwell, BWL Employee Jennifer Hamel, BWL Employee Stephanie Laney, BWL Customer Charles Green Jr., BWL Customer Jim Paparella, BWL Customer Mark Williams, BWL Employee Peter Kramer, Former BWL Commissioner Daryl Hibbert, BWL Employee Dallas Burdick, BWL Employee Bob Perialas, BWL Employee Greg Hess, BWL Employee Scott Hamelink, BWL Employee Mike Collins, BWL Employee Gennie Eva, BWL Employee R. R. Peffley, BWL Employee Brian Sebolt, BWL Employee Alando Chappell, BWL Employee Brandie Ekren, BWL Employee Cheryl Bush, BWL Customer Melvin Jones, Pastor of Union Church Jim Weeks, Executive Director of MMEA Tracy Tolbert, BWL Employee Justin Terry, Lansing Resident Smiljana Lazic, BWL Employee The following individuals spoke in an unsupportive manner of the Actions of one of the following: Board of Water and Light, Employees or the Administration: Chuck Slammer, Lansing Resident Claude Beavers, Lansing Resident Mike Kieliszewski, BWL Customer Cole Bouck, Lansing Resident Alice Dreger, BWL Customer Ryan Sebolt, BWL Customer Wayne Whiting, Lansing Resident 3 Councilmember Carol Wood spoke about the BWL Board members communicating with their constituency, the importance of the Board putting together an independent investigation and the resignation of General Manager Lark. Julie Powers, BWL Customer thanked all of the BWL Staff for their hard work to get the power back on. She spoke about the ageing infrastructure and the overgrowth of trees. Semone James-Howes spoke about the need for accountability and the need to review the communications process and the emergency management plan. Ken Fletcher, Delta Township Manager, spoke about the lack of representation on the BWL's Board of Commissioners and the loss of trust among customers and the need for restoring trust, confidence and establishing structure so that surround communities can be heard. Councilmember Jody Washington spoke about General Manager Lark's decision to take a vacation during this time and asks the Board discipline him for this incident only. She spoke about the many complaints that she heard regarding communication. Jason Wilkes, spoke about sitting through hours of public comment regarding this matter and it was clear that mistakes were made and that there was a failure in communication. He spoke about the inclusion of surrounding entities in regard to the review that is taking place. Jennifer Olson, questioned the criteria for claiming a State of Emergency. She also spoke about the lack of communication during this time. Vice Chair Louney read the following communication in to the record from Former Executive Director of Operations Doug Wood: "The attacks that I have seen serve no useful purpose unless an organization is poorly run. That is certainly not the case with the Board of Water and Light. The Board of Commissioners provides sound policy and guidance and are fully engaged with the Board of Water and Light operations and its customers. General ManagerJ. Peter Lark stays connected and engaged with the Board of Commissioners, his staff, and customers whether he is at work, at home, or on the road. The Board of Water and Light has been lifted to a higher level because of Mr. Lark's vision and leadership and certainly has my full endorsement as the best person to lead the Board of Water and Light into the future. I'm very proud of this achievement of Mr. Lark and the Board of Water and Light and grateful to have been associated with such a great organization. Thank you for listening." Douglas K. Wood Commissioners' Remarks/ Administrations Comments Review of Action after Recovery Memo (See Attached Memo) 4 To: Sandra Zerkle,Chair BWL Board of Commissioners General Manager J.Peter Lark Cc: Corporate Secretary M. Denise Griffin - From: Commissioner David Price Commissioner Cynthia Ward Date: January 2, 2014 RE: Action after Recovery As you are aware, pursuant to BWL's Rules of Procedure,we requested a SpecialMeeting of the Board of Commissioners. That meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Public notice of that meeting, in accordance with our rules,will follow. Our primary interest in requesting the SpecialMeeting was to provide a timely and focused opportunity for the Board of Commissioners to begin to address our customers'concerns relative to the BWL's restoration efforts following the ice storm. We heard from many customers during the Mayor's Press Conference on Saturday, December 28,2013,and during the Lansing City Council's SpecialMeeting on Monday, December 30,2013. Those forums afforded the Board opportunities to listen to the questions and concerns of our customers. While we would have preferred for there not to be a need for such forums,we appreciated every single person who came out to ask questions,express criticisms,share concerns,and applaud the efforts of the line men and women. We understand that we will continue to hear from customers in the weeks and months to come. However/we believe we must take action now. That is why we have requested this SpecialMeeting. We request the full Board of Commissioners to consider the following as outcomes from the Special Meeting: 1) As the governing board for the BWL, we will acknowledge the hard work of the line workers and all BWL em ployees, who remained focused, in the face of many distractions,on the task of restoring power to our customers. We also acknowledge the families of the BWL employees who worked around the clock and sacrificed spending their holidays with their loved ones. Further, we also thank the City of Lansing employees and mutual aid workers who assisted during this time. 2) We will request that General Manager Lark establish two independent review teams: one for the outage response itself and one for the communications response. We will further ask that Mr. Lark consider a process that will allow for the review teams'work to be completed by March 31, 2014. 5 W Hometown People.hometown Power. 3) Many Commissioners were individually contacted during the restoration period by concerned customers;several of us have our own questions. We will ask Board Chair Zerkle to designate a point person on the Board of Commissioners to serve as the repository of all the questions and concerns received by individual Commissioners so that all questions and concerns can be included and compiled in a single document to be reviewed by the Commissioners, General Manager Lark,and the review teams. 4) General Manager Lark has publicly stated that the BWL will consider a possible credit to offer customers. We will request that General Manager Lark identify and present to the Board of Commissioners the parameters for such credit. 5) It was acknowledged that the BWL does not have a crisis communication plan. We wil I ask that an interim crisis communication plan is developed for the BWL subject to revision once the communications response review team completes its work. 6) The Board of Commissioners does not have an emergency or crisis communication plan. We will request that Board Chair Zerkle appoint an ad hoc committee to develop a Commissioners' emergency/ crisis communication plan. There are other matters that certainly require attention, but we believe this is an appropriate starting point for this initial meeting. We expect other Commissioners will have other matters or concerns that will be included for discussion during the Special Meeting, Thankyou. Commissioner Ward acknowledge that the statement submitted by her and Commissioner Price was a suggestion for items to be addressed as a starting point and that this request was for the full Board to consider and that it is up to the full Board if they want to accept or consider the suggestions going forward. Commissioner Ward acknowledge that some of the concerns that were raised were addressed in Mr. Lark's opening statement and that she would defer until after the experts have spoken. Vice Chair Louney stated that he would like to see some things outline but will not present them today. He said that he wait until the report came out in February. George Stojic, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Development provided an overview of electrical liability. Dave Bolan, Director of Electric Transportation and Distribution provided information the proactive and preventative maintenance that the BWL did to possibly prevent a much larger outage. Mr. Bolan provided information on tree trimming and the standards that go along with that. He said this storm devastated the area and the plan is to get out there and get the trees cleaned up. General Manager Lark stated that the number of tree trimming crews have been tripled as of yesterday. Special Board Meeting. January 7,2014 Page 2 of 7 Mr. Bolan, reviewed the flow of the Electric Utility Power System Diagram. He reviewed the breaker system process and what has to happen when there is an outage and the number of customers that are affected with each level of circuit that goes down. Pat Hanes, Manager of Transmission reviewed what took place the night the storm hit as well as their actions as far as getting help from outside agencies. Mr. Hanes stated that the BWL never ran out of supplies as suggested by some. After a lengthy discussion, General Manager Lark asked if the Board would be to continue this discussion at the Committee of the Whole meeting. In response, Commissioner Price stated that there has been a lot of information presented this evening and is impressed with the level of detail and understanding of the whole situation. He said that he would like to have additional discussion at next week's Committee of the Whole. After some discussion on the preferred conclusion of the Special Board meeting, it was determined that there would be a continuation of tonight's discussion at the next week's COW meeting. Public Comments Members of the public are welcome to speak to the Board on any Board of Water and Light subject. Julie Mulcallughe, Lansing Resident stated concerns with all of the problems that came from the ice storm and said that people are looking for accountability and transparency. EXCUSED ABSENCE None. ADJOURNMENT On motion by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Ward, the meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. M. Denise Griffin, Corporate Secretary Approved by the Board of Commissioners:1-28-14 Final Approved Minutes Filed with Lansing City Clerk 1-30-14 2