PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1

146 South Granite Street

Prescott, Arizona 86303

December 20, 2004

Minutes from the Governing Board Special Study and Voting Session of December 20, 2004, at 4:00 p.m. held in the District Office Board Room.

Governing Board Present:         President Dee Navarro

                                                Dr. Joan Fleming

                                                Mr. Gordon Maddux

                                                Mr. Steve Campbell

                                                Dr. Andy Newton (arrived at 4:04 p.m.)

Others:                                     Mr. Kevin Kapp, Superintendent

                                                Dr. Chris Reynolds, Assistant Superintendent

                                                Mrs. Renee Raskin, Director of Business Services

                                                Mrs. Andi Mayer, Assistant to the Governing Board

Members of the Public:               Tom Staley                   Jay Collier

                                                John Bean                    Steve Boyd

                                                Don German                 Hilary Eller

                                                Other representatives from APS (Cynthia and Buzz)

CALL TO ORDER, OPENING CEREMONY AND WELCOME

President Navarro called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. and thanked everyone for attending.  Mr. Steve Campbell led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

President Navarro asked Mr. Kapp if the agenda was in order.  Mr. Kapp replied that it was.

Mr. Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the agenda as presented.  Dr. Joan Fleming seconded the motion. 

Mr. Gordon Maddux voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve Campbell voted aye, and President Navarro voted aye.  The motion carried 4-0.

CONSIDER APPROVING THE ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE ENERGY SERVICES CONSERVATION MEASURES PER REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR OPERATIONAL SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING SERVICES DATED JULY 12, 2004

President Navarro noted that the Board would first listen to members of the public that had signed up to speak.

Mr. Tom Staley addressed the Governing Board and stated that he was speaking as a parent and an individual. He stated that he considered this project very entrepreneurial for the greater savings – spend a buck to make three.  He noted that some things APS has proposed are already on the bond list, that the project would be self-funding and the district would not have any liability.  He noted that after ten years $270,000 would be going into the pockets of the school district.  He also added that he would like to see the Desert Hills Bank have a chance to finance the project.

Mr. Kevin Kapp noted that this district has never played the overspending the energy budget game.  He noted that the legislature may phase out the excess utility approach and that there are many large districts in Phoenix that don’t want to see that happen.  He stated that PUSD has never done excess utilities, so that once the district pays off the loan, we would keep the profit margin.  He reported that 25 years ago the district did have an energy conservation program, which was mostly educational by changing people’s behavior.  He noted that the district had followed all procurement rules and had sent the Request for Qualifications to several different companies.  He noted that the first estimate was about $1 million in costs, but that now it was up to about $2.8 million.

Mr. John Bean addressed the Governing Board and stated that he was an electrical contractor.  He noted that a lot of the work suggested in the report could be done in house without going out for bid.  He stated that he was not sure about the windows and doors, but that district personnel could probably change out the light bulbs.  He noted that the district was considering spending almost $3 million and should look at solar and other things you could do for $3 million.

Dr. Joan Fleming moved that the Governing Board approve the Arizona Public Service Energy Services Conservation Measures per Request for Qualifications for Operational Savings Performance Contracting Services dated July 12, 2004.  Mr. Steve Campbell seconded the motion.

Mr. Steve Boyd from APS reviewed the audit findings with the Governing Board.  (A copy of the energy audit is available for viewing in the Superintendent’s Office.)  He noted that they were able to find enough savings – the most that they could – to make the project feasible.  He reported that the district had approved that the audit be conducted and that his team had looked at utility bills, did an analysis, read meters, etc.  He noted that he had received a lot of responses from teachers on the surveys sent out. 

Mr. Boyd’s assistant, Cynthia, noted that there were over 10,000 lighting fixtures in the district and that they were recommending keeping the existing fixtures and redesigning them to improve efficiency.  She noted that lighting would be the district’s biggest savings and that this project would be completed first.  She noted that there would be a three-year warranty on the lighting and ballasts.  Mr. Boyd added that there would be a standardization of equipment and lighting district-wide.

Cynthia then reviewed the replacement and repair of the HVAC equipment and Mr. Boyd reviewed the savings summary.

Mr. Kapp distributed copies of the proposal from Koch Financial to fund the project.  (A copy of this proposal is available for viewing in the Superintendent’s Office.)  He stated that the idea of doing major energy conservation efforts has been around for 20-25 years and that the district would never be able to do anything of this scope on our own.  He noted that the district is very lean as far as maintenance personnel and that it was very appealing be able to do this size of a project in a nine-month period.  He stated that he has asked many people about the downside of doing this and said he hasn’t found anything yet.  This proposal would not cost the district anything extra and everything would be connected.

 Mr. Kapp asked if the payment is more than the savings, what happens?  Mr. Boyd responded that APS would verify and if it were on their side, they would make up the difference.  He then reviewed the measure of verification plan.

Mr. Jay Collier stated that he was kind of leery about this project because anytime you have multiple companies coming in you have someone touching other people’s things and the companies tend to blame each other.  He stated that he was encouraged that the same people would do this project.  He noted that communication and work with APSES has been wonderful and he felt there would be continuity.  He went on to say that this company is listening and that he felt very comfortable about the whole package and that working with this company would keep the continuity going. 

President Navarro thanked Steve Boyd and his staff for coming up to review the audit with the Board and called for the vote.

Mr. Gordon Maddux voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve Campbell voted aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, and President Navarro voted aye.  The motion carried 5-0.

ADJOURNMENT

Hearing no objection, President Navarro adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m.

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Governing Board Member