HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.26.2025.telecommunications_minutes Docusign Envelope ID:2A30263C-7848-4AB8-8226-698A6E01 BBBF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS UTILITY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
City Council Chambers
February 26, 2025
3:00 p.m.
1. Members present: Mr. Van Fleet, Mr. Kurtenbach, Mr. Batemon, Mr. Young. Ms.
Wienands was absent.
2. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon that the agenda as presented, be
approved. Voice vote-Ayes: Four. Motion carried.
3. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Young that the minutes of January 30, 2025,
regular session, as presented, be approved. Voice vote-Ayes: Four. Motion carried.
4. Moved by Young seconded by Kurtenbach to approve the Resolution of Bills for
January 2025. Roll Call vote-Ayes: Four. Motion carried. Resolution 2025-004.
5. Moved by Young seconded by Kurtenbach to approve a resolution approving hiring
Markiea Thurmond to the position of NOC Technician, effective March 3, 2025, at
an hourly rate of$26.00 per hour. Roll Call vote-Ayes: Four. Motion carried.
Resolution 2025-005.
Eric Lage, General Manager, commented on the position, sharing that Markiea
expressed earlier on that she would be interested in a NOC position for which she
has knowledge and experience.
Mr. Kurtenbach questioned if there are other positions that will be opening up soon.
Eric Lage commented there would be a Network Admin, additional NOC
Technicians, and with the board's approval, permission to appoint someone to
backfill Markias' CSR I position. He further shared that they would like to hire a
Receptionist/Office Manager when they move into the new building.
The board discussed the upcoming positions and expressed their support.
6. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon to receive and file a conclusion of
employment of Erin Langenberg effective February 7, 2025, including a payout of
$589.24. Voice vote-Ayes: Four. Motion carried.
Mr. Van Fleet commented on Erin's departure and emphasized the significance of
the position and shared that he and Eric have shared ideas on finding the right
replacement.
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7. Moved by Young seconded by Kurtenbach approving purchase of office furniture
from Welter Storage an amount not to exceed $70,000. Voice vote-Ayes: Four.
Motion carried.
Eric Lage provided a breakdown of furniture items and costs including discounts.
Mr. Kurtenbach commented that some of the furniture appears it may cover the
windows.
Erica Christiansen clarified that the rendering in the packet are not actual size and
location of the windows.
Mr. Van Fleet questioned if zero percent financing was offered.
Eric Lage explained that they did not ask, and shared that this is a capital expense
that will be paid by the City and reimbursed by bond funds.
8. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Young approving purchase of signage from
Nagel Signs in the amount of $17,791.27, for 402 E. 4t" Street. Voice vote-Ayes:
Four. Motion carried.
Eric Lage provided information where each sign would be placed and the timeline
for installation is 4-6 weeks.
9. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Young approving payment to the City of
Waterloo for additional Right-of-Way Permits, in the amount of$22,160. Voice vote-
Ayes: Four. Motion carried.
Eric Lage provided an overview of the item, and a discussion followed on how
payments for permitting and drops were structured.
Kelley Felchle, Board Secretary, offered to pull the agreements and forward to the
board for review.
10. Moved by Young seconded by Batemon approving Addendum No. 3 to the EN
Communications Contract with EN Engineering, LLC of Warrenville, Illinois, in the
amount of$459,592.00 plus $4,000.00 per month for inspectors' travel expenses, in
conjunction with the EN Communications Contract - City of Waterloo Iowa - Project
Management, Construction Management, Construction Inspection and Engineering
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Support Services 2025, and authorizing the General Manager of
Telecommunications to execute said document. Voice vote-Ayes: Four. Motion
carried.
Eric Lage, General Manager, explained that this addendum is for the additional
construction inspectors and project coordinators for the additional crews. This will
cover costs for the accelerated construction and will ultimately drop off at the end of
the project resulting in an adjustment at the end of the project. Eric provided an
overview of the work that would be done by the inspectors and project coordinators.
Mr. Van Fleet commented that EnTrust should be in attendance when the board is
voting on a $459,592.00 award. He further commented that if there is any
discomfort about the details, we could table the item until next month and have
them available to answer any remaining questions.
Mr. Kurtenbach shared that after this discussion, he feels better about moving
forward. He questioned why this isn't a resolution considering how much money is
involved.
Kelley Felchle, Board Secretary, stated that there is not a dollar amount threshold
with a resolution versus a motion and we've been approving most of the contracts
with motions.
Mr. Van Fleet stated that he would be in touch with Courtney on this, to express
that any time the board is going to be approving anything over $50,000.00,
someone from EnTrust or any other vendor needs to be available to answer
questions, otherwise we would table everything from here on out.
Mr. Kurtenbach commented that he thinks anything over $50,000.00 should be
approved by resolution.
Kelley Felchle explained that a resolution doesn't carry any additional weight than a
motion, other than Andy potentially being able to veto something after the board
approves it. She shared that in addition to making sure EnTrust is present when
something like this is on the agenda, also having a memo explaining the purpose of
it to accompany the packet materials coming from EnTrust.
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Mr. Young commented that when speaking with Courtney on the threshold amount,
he should be asked to attend the council meeting on March 3, or provide a memo
detailing the purpose for the addendum.
Mr. Young left the meeting at 4:26 p.m.
11. Moved by Van Fleet seconded by Kurtenbach approving updates to the Employee
Handbook changes. Voice vote-Ayes: Three. Motion carried.
Eric Lage shared that employees would have access to the handbook through the
HR software and would be required to a-sign that they've received the handbook.
12. Update from general manager and consultants.
Eri Lage, General Manager, commented on the process of ordering furniture and
moving to the new space, and shared construction progress and updates.
Kelley Felchle, Board Secretary, shared that the results from the employee
satisfaction survey have been delayed due to an internet outage at PDCM. It is
anticipated that late next week some of the results should be back.
13. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon to adjourn to a closed session at 4:31
p.m. pursuant to Iowa Code Section 388.9(1) to discuss marketing and pricing
strategies or proprietary information if its competitive position would be harmed by
public disclosure not required of potential or actual competitors, and if no public
purpose would be served by such disclosure. Roll Call vote-Ayes: Three. Motion
carried.
Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon to adjourn from a closed session at 5:11
p.m. Roll Call vote-Ayes: Three. Motion carried.
14. Adjourn.
With no further business before the board, it was moved by Kurtenbach seconded by
Van Fleet that the meeting be adjourned at 5:11 p.m. Voice vote-Ayes: Three. Motion
carried.
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Kelley Felchle
Board Secretary