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Home My WebLink AboutBoard of Commissioners - Minutes - 12/02/2003• • • MINUTES OF THE OTTER TAIL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Government Services Center, 500 Fir Ave W . Tuesday, December 2, 2003 9:30 a.m. Call to Order The Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners convened Tuesday, December 2, 2003,. at 9:32 a.m. at the ·otter Tail County Government Services Center with Commissioners Malcolm Lee, Chair; Syd Nelson, Vice-Chair; Dennis Mosher, Roger Froemming, and Bob Block present. Approval of Agenda Motion by Froemming, second by Block, and unanimously carried to approve the County Board agenda of December 2, 2003, with the following additions: 11 :40 a.m. -Personnel Committee Meeting 1:30 p.m. -Perham Resource Recovery Facility Discussion Closed Session Changed tq 2:00 p.m. Approval of Minutes Motion by Mosher, second by Nelson, and unanimously carried to approve the County Board minutes of November 25, 2003, as presented . Approval to Pay Bills Motion by Nelson, second by Froemming, and unanimously carried to approve payment of County Board bills per Attachment A of the official minutes. Approval of Final Payment Motion by Block, second by Nelson, and unanimously carried to authorize final payment to Ulteig Engineers, in the amount of $3,119.10, for services relative to the fiberoptics installed to the GSC Building. Facility Master Plan Discussion Physical Plant Manager, Rick Sytsma, and David Shultz of Shultz Torgerson Architects, presented several long term facility master plan options for the Courthouse Complex. Short term and long term solutions were discussed. Recess & Reconvene At 11 :02 a.m., Chairman Lee declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners recessed for a short break. The meeting was reconvened at 11:10 a.m. [ Request for Forgiveness of Penalty Motion by Nelson, second by Mosher, and unanimously carried to deny a request for forgiveness of tax penalty, in the amount of $24.96, from Neil Lerfald for parcel #37-000-15- 0080-001 because the late payment was not a result of a County error.· OTCo. Board of Commissioners' Minutes December 2, 2003 Page 2 I \ Tobacco Licenses Motion by Mosher, second _by Block, and unanimously_ carrie~ to approve the following applications for license: Collins Landing 31334 Stage ½oach Dr Dent, MN 56528 Tobacco . ' ' .. ' . ,.. · · · · Corner Store ... ' " ........ TobaCcci -i : T ,-,,. 28027 County Highway 145 ..• Battle Lake, MN 56515 . Lakeland General Store, Inc. 22438 Old 59 Road · • · Pelican Rapids, MN 56572 ·, ,Tobacco ~, ' 'I •' ~ . Paym~nt,Approval~,:: I ' Motion by Nelson, second. by Froemmi_ng, and_-unanimqusly carriElQ, to approve the following payments: · c · ' ., Craig Mitchel Ditch No. 4 Beaver Removal Ness Backhoe Ditch No. 21. Beaver Dam Removal J .• ., -; • J ' Final Plat $70.00 $180.00 .· 0 Motion by Mosher, second by Block, and unanimously carried to 'approve the Final Plat of Robert P. and Phyllis L. Ellingson known as "E)lingson's Addition" located in Section 3 of Q Clitherall Township, West.Battle Lake (56-239). · • ., '• I • • •• ' ' • • • ' \' • • . ~ - Request for Extension to Fiie Final Plat Motion by Nelson, second by Mosher, and unanimously carried to authorize an extension, until June 1, ,2004, to file the Final plat of "McConachie Addition" located in Section 27 of . Hobart Towns~ip, Long Lake (56-388). . . . . ' ,. . ' ' .. " ' . . . Human Services/County Board Schedule Clarification Motion by Nelson, second by F.roemming, and unanimously .carried to clarify the following Human Services and County Board meeting schedule for December: .. · ... '. December 16 -·9:30 a.m. -Human Services followedby County Board Meeting . December 23 -9:30 a.m. -County .Board Meeting . . ' , I. December 30 -9:30 a.m. -Human Services followed.by County Board Meeting with a short agenda ending by Noon NewYork Mills Phone System ,. Motion by Froemming, second by Nelson, and ·unanimously carried to approve·a new voice mail system in the New York Mills offices at an approximate cost of $3,000. · n. Recess & Reconvene · At 11 :36 a.m., Chairman Lee declared the meeting of the Otter Tail' County :Board of Commissioners recessed ·for a committee meeting and lunch break. The ·meeting . was reconvened at 1 :02 p.m. Q . ·-', • • • OTCo. Board of Commissioners' Minutes December 2, 2003 -1 '",',. • Page 3 Tax Court Settlement Motion by Lee, second by Mosher, and unanimously carried to approve Tax Court Judgment, C0-02-2094, for Jennie-O-Foods, Inc. and authorize the Chairman's signature to execute the document. Request to Fill Position Motion by Mosher, second by Lee, and carried with Nelson and Froemming opposed, to authorize the Assistant Highway Engineer to offer an Engineering Tech Ill position at a Step-4 because of qualifications. Perham Resource Recovery Facility Solid Waste Director, Mike Hanan, presented a bill from the City of Perham for the Perham Resource -Recovery Facility that represents the County's portion of the deficit for the facility for 2003. Motion by Froemming, second by Nelson, and carried with Mosher and Lee opposed, to authorize payment to the City of Perham, in the amount of $123,200.00 for the 2003 Resource Recovery Facility deficit. STEAM SALES AGREEMENT BONGARDS Otter Tail County Resolution No. 2003 -71 Commissioner Froemming offered the following and moved its adoption: WHEREAS, Otter Tail County entered into a. Waste Delivery Agreement' with the City of Perh?lm dated March 23, 2001; and WHEREAS, The City of Perham entered into a Facility Operating Agreement with Barlow Projects, Inc. dated March 23, 2001; and WHEREAS, The "Annuai:F=acility Budget" as presented in Appendix B-of the March 23, 2001, Waste Delivery Agreements was premised on a $49 tipping fee and electric energy sales to Otter Tail·Power; and WHEREAS, The participating. counties began the delivery of waste, as per-the Waste Delivery'Agreements, in late December 2001; and WHEREAS, On April 8, 2002, the City of Perham entered into a Steam Sales Agreement with Tuffy's. At the April 24, 2002, Coordinating Committee Meeting, the Steam Sales Agreement was presented as a tentative agreement and was presented as having a financial benefit to the project of approximately $42,000 per year. This revenue was proposed to be divided according to the "Energy Revenue Bonus" as per section 5.06 of.the contract; and WHEREAS, On June 5, 2002, the Perham Resource Recovery Facility experienced a turbine over-spin causing considerable damage to the turbine and rendering the turbine inoperable for nearly seven months; and WHEREAS, Between July and October of 2002, .considerable discussion took place regarding the cause of the over-spin, the effect of the over-spin on facility operations and budget, and how the facility could most prudently get back to operations which included electric energy sales; and • 't.' ' ' QTCo. Board of Commissioners' Minutes December 2, 2003 Page 4 WHEREAS, In October· 2002, ·it became necessary to discuss-an ,additional bond ,issue to 0 fund turbine repair, additio_nal costs of construction, costoverruns, and refractory repair; and . ' WHEREAS, In addition to an increase in bonded debt, it was also necessary to increase the tipping fee from $49.00 per ton to $56.00 per ton; and - ' ,_: rr .. "·'i .~., j'. ~ I •• ' i ., 'I -·., ' I WHEREAS, Beginning in 2003, the Perham· Resource Recovery Facility .began operations under a "Modified Facility Budget", presented by the City of Perham and Barlow Projects, which included an increase in bonded debt, an increase in tipping fees and modifications in operating revenue and expenditures; and I, , , , f • • , •• · WHERE:AS, by the end of the first quarter of 2003, it was obvious that facility throughput was lower than the. contract required and facility revenues from tipping fees and energy sales were both considerably below those identified in th~ '.'Modifieq Facility Budget; and : , . '-_ WHEREAS, The participating .counties made a decision to hire HOR Engineering to do a detailed evaluation of _the project including facility acceptance, financial stability, energy contracts, operations, performance, ·and budgeting; and • WHEREAS, The initial results from Jhe .. -HOR. evaluation have identified some disturbing trends. The original facility budget underestimated facility operating costs, under funded · capital equipment replacement costs and over estimated facility revenue from electric energy sales. The study identifies a facility tipping fee that should ,have been substantially higher Q from the beginning; and ' . 'i•" , · , 1 ', 1 '. . l. , . WHEREAS, The HOR report indicates that the facility 111eets acceptance as. per the contract but it does question the facility's ability to meet guaranteed annual processing tonnage as per the contract; and -"' · · -• ' 1 --, -: ~ ~ •. • WHEREAS, The participating counties are now being asked to approve !I contract to sell steam to Bongards which includes an overall change in facility philosophy from a waste processing facility that combusts waste and-ge_nerates electricity _to a steam generation facility that combusts waste and natural gas to p'rq_duce steam;'and.: · WHEREAS, Otter Tail County acknowledges that based on, the operating ·history'of the Perham Resource Recovery Facility and based on the facilities ability to generate electric energy that the Perham Resource Recovery Facility cannot _operate at an economically competitive rate. without ~hanging from -primarily selling_ electric energy. to primarily selling steam energy; ., , , . ),:. ., , . .·., ,.. . , ,··,, ... BE, IT NOW, THEREFORE, RESOLVED, That Otter Tail County affirms the·sale of. steam .energy as a primary energy revenue source using the existing waste boiler and-the existing auxiliary boiler and selling processed steam in the form of electric energy_only.during peak demand times. BE IT FU~THER RESOLVED,,.Tha't the current prop~sal for-steam ~;l'E)~,is one.o(only a 0 number of proposals over the. past two;years that ,have :been.inte_nded to· resolve the budgeting problems associated with the facilities operations. -· • • • OTCo. Board of Commissioners' Minutes December 2, 2003 Page 5 BE IT ALSO FURTHER RESOLVED, That Otter Tail County has expressed concerns regarding the existing facility management team including the contractual relationships between the participating counties, the City of Perham, and. Barlow Projects Inc. and Otter Tail County wishes to renegotiate and redefine these contractual relationships. BE IT ALSO FURTHER RESOLVED, That Otter Tail County is concerned about the current proposed steam contract that has, as terms of the agreement, a proposal to supply more steam from the waste heat recovery boiler or at the waste heat recovery boiler rate than the waste hear recovery boiler is capable of generating. BE IT ALSO FURTHER RESOLVED, That the current proposed steam sales agreement offers no guaranteed long term contractual obligation to continue the purchase of steam as well as not penalties for not purchasing the annual guaranteed volume of steam. \ . .,_, • I BE IT ALSO FURTHER RESOLVED; That the existing Tuffy's Steam Sales Agreement and the proposed Bongard's Steam Sales Agreement offer-a, greater potential revenue source. than the Electric Energy Sales Agreement with Otter Tail Power but neither steam sales agreement offers the long term stability of electric energy sales that the City of Perham and, Barlow Projects used. to promote the long term viability of the resourc!:) recovery facility-· retrofit. · BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That this project has gone far off track from where it began. In an effort to begin to move in a more positive direction Otter Tail County is· proposing; 1) to exercise the counties' right to terminate the City of Perham's Operating Agreement with Barlow Projects or to at least renegotiate to ensure that Barlow Projects assumes the risk associated with facility throughput, energy production, and operations within budgetary constraints, and 2) Renegotiate the agreements between the City of Perham and· the participating counties to more closely resemble a Joint Powers Agreement equalizing risk and· benefits, and 3) To approve the Bongard's Steam Sales Agreement using the existing waste boiler or a combinatiori'of the existing waste boiler and the existing auxiliary boiler. Commissioner Block seconded the motion, and upon being put to vote, was carried with a vote of 3 to 2 with Mosher and Lee opposed. Adopted at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, this 2nd day of December, 2003. Dated:_+l =Q.'--_/,_,lo,..__.-_O_~ __ ;~~OF COMMISSIONERS Malcolm K. Lee, County Board Chair Attest: JC(,u,y_ / I/ L1irry Krltin,~ Emergency Appointment Motion by Froemming, second by Lee, and unanimously carried to authorize a temporary, emergency appointment for a vacant Financial Officer position. · • OTCo. Board of Commissioners' Minutes December 2, 2003 Page 6 Sick Leave/Severance Policy · Motion by Block,. second by. Mosher, and unanimously carried to authorize a 25% payout of Q accumulated sick leave for Otter Tail County. employees who are on layoff status and have worked for Otter Tail County less than 10 years. •1, . " ·. ·,• Closed Session. '. ,. : Adjournment At 2:24 p.m.,' Chairman Lee. declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County .Board<of Commissioners closed to the public for p_urposes of-discussing labor .negotiation strategies relative to the County's three Sheriff Department Collective Bargaining Units. At 2:40 p.m., · upon conclusion of the closed session,• Chair Lee declared the meeting of the. Otter Tail . County Board of Commissioners adjourned until Tuesday, December 16, 2003 .. . . . Attest:' '~ ~-~ · ··Larry Kr n, ~ · CB/kd l . : ' 'I '1,. ' . • I ·1 . ' 'l. •·• '. 0 0 .r • -~-:,;;,..,..#-.; -,---··-----~ :,.-. .... -t, Otter Tail County Warrants December 2, 2003 Page 1, Attachment A 12/02/2003 12:26:58 OTTER TAIL COUNTY AUDITOR IFD66 PANELSON RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS SYSTEM COUNTY 56 WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION PAGE 1 • **** • WARRANTS APPROVED ON 12/02/2003 FOR PAYMENT 1.2/02/2003 VENDOR NAME DAVID BERG BOTNER EXCAVATION SERVICES LLC WARREN BURRIS CUTLER MAGNER COMPANY DAKOTA FIRE EXTINGUISHERS INC DOUBLETREE PARK PLACE HOTEL CHUCK EHRENBERG .. ES PRECISION AUTO GLASS FERGUS FALLS SMALL ENGINE & TR CITY FERGUS FALLS · FERNO MIR FERRELLGAS GOPHER STATE ,ONE CALL GRAINGER INC HEDAHLS HEADQUARTERS HEISLER'S COUNTRY OIL HENNING AUTO PARTS INC INNOVATIVE OFFICE SOLUTIONS INSIGHT PUBLIC SECTOR INTERPOLL LABORATORIES INC INTERSTATE INC JOHN DEERE GOVERNMENT & NATION KELLY SERVICES INC EILEEN KIRKWOOD KOALA CORPORATION LAKE REGION ELECTRIC CO OP LAKELAND MENTAL HEALTH CENTER LAKES COUNTRY SERVICE CO OP LARRY OTT INC TRUCK SERVICE GEORGE MEYER MILLER & HOLMES INC MOORE ELECTRIC CO NF FIELD ABSTRACT CO LLC OLSON OIL CO INC OTTER TAIL CO TREASURER OTTER TAIL TELCOM PHILLIPE LAW OFFICE PROSWEEP INC RELIABLE SOUTHTOWN C-STORE STEINS INC STENERSON LUMBER STOLPMAN LAW OFFICE STRINGER BUSINESS SYSTEMS INC UNIVERSITY OF MN-EXTENSION SER WALTERS PHOTOGRAPHY WASTEQUIP RAYFO XEROX CORPORATION FINAL TOTAL ...... . AMOUNT 138.98 4,941.07 291. 00 6,592.45 2,437.75 284.37 110.96 249.70 8.18 76,784.02 1,045.43 75.61 57 .35 465.72 92.96 21.30 60.21 228.89 426.00 1,225.00 14,908.62· 23,890.63 294.58 26.98 1,589.41. 3,941.57 890.00 9,137.70 450.00 28.00 1,550.86 368.00 1,725.00 219.80 20.00 850.77 197.28 225.00 48. 70 64.78 1,403.46 118.41. 134.50 76.34 84.00 49.75 28,500.00 24.93 $186,356.02 **** 0 ( 0 0