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City of Juneau · Dodge County · meeting of May 4, 2026 · Minutes
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Utility Commission Meeting
Monday, May 4, 2026
6:00 PM at Utility Office Building
Members Present: Robert Affeld, Doug Lee, Bart Coons, Dan Wegener, Mayor Fude, Nick Gahlman, Alex Smudde
Members Absent: Ross Canniff
Also Present: Laurie Runyan
I. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM and roll call was taken. Request to change the order of
Officials, moving Electric Superintendent before Utility Accountant. Motion by Wegener/Coons to
approve the agenda with changes. Motion carried 4-0.
II. Motion by Coons/Lee to approve the minutes from the previous meetings. Motion carried 4-0.
III. Public Appearances/Comment. None
IV. Monthly Business:
A. Approve Vouchers and Checks. Motion by Coons/Lee to approve payment of WPPI
invoice for $269,390.72 and checks of $239,079.88. Motion carried 4-0.
B. Review Prior Month Income Statement.
C. Council Acts Affecting Utility. Resolution 2-2026 (Appointments to Committees)
D. Consumption Loss Report.
E. Review Totals of Delinquent Customers. 13 disconnects in April; 2 still off.
V. Report of Officials:
A. Electric Superintendent
1. Discuss and possibly approve donations. There was a miscommunication
about the banner arms on the new poles on E Oak St and the Legion’s
banners will not fit on them. Their old banners will fit on the poles along
Hwy 26. Nick proposes donating $1,500 from our WPPI charitable
contributions funds to the Legion for new banners. Motion by Wegener/Lee
to donate $1,500 from WPPI funds to the Legion for new banners, to be
contingent upon the Legion’s acceptance at their May meeting. Motion
carried 3-0, with Affeld abstaining.
2. Projects Update. Whiskers had a scheduled outage to have their panels
inspected; we took advantage of that outage to do some work on the primary
riser pole. Had a meter failure notification for 130 E Oak St- the old tanning
salon. Nick K inspected and meter tested ok, continued to get failure
notifications throughout the day, found the aluminum lashing wire was
cutting into the wire, we cleaned up the connectors; they’re scheduling
tuckpointing to be done, at that time we’ll replace the connectors. We’ll be
installing the banner arms on E Oak St poles tomorrow. We harley-raked by
Nehls Farm driveway, we’re in easement negotiations with them for the
Industrial and North substations tie-in. We did mutual aid for Columbus from
the last storm. Repaired the street light pole by Landmark, it was held on
with 1 bolt. We are deep into the GIS mapping, having to review the
names/descriptions of the items, the mapping labels are different than what
we use. Will be going to WPPI on Thursday for their 5-year plan business
meeting. Today Dylan turned in his resignation, his last day is May 15th; we
reviewed his apprenticeship agreement and he will be responsible for
reimbursing the Utility about $8,000 for his schooling expenses; will be
conducting an exit interview.
B. Utility Accountant.
1. Review and discuss scholarship applications and select winners. We only
had 1 student submit an application. Discussed options for the 2nd $1,000
scholarship. Wegener will look through the applications the Lions Club
received to see if anyone is eligible and will reach out to them. Motion by
Coons/Lee to award a $1,000 scholarship to the applicant we have. Motion
carried 4-0.
2. Discuss and possibly approve changes to Deferred Payment Arrangement
form. Requesting to change our current DPA form to have less tiers of
balances owed and number of payment installments. Fude agreed that this
change will simplify the deferred payment process. Motion by Wegener/Coons
to approve making the requested changes. Motion carried 4-0.
3. Our audit went smoothly this year, waiting on the final journal entries from
Baker Tilly. The PSC is processing our rate study application, and with that
they are requesting corrections to a couple of forms in our annual report,
some of the figures have not balanced since prior to 2018; our auditors will
work on these corrections.
C. Water/Wastewater Superintendent
1. Review, discuss and take possible action on Public Works Committee agenda item
#8. Discussed what took place at their meeting, suggestions made to patch from
center line to curb and not curb to curb; Alex has concerns of patching/repaving
before the cold patch is done sinking, commissioners agree it’s better to wait;
question of who is responsible for repairs/paving costs when there had previously
been a water main break, Wegener suggests DPW and Utility work together when it
comes time to patch/repave. No action taken.
2. Projects Update. Having issues with airjet mixer, only 2 yrs old, pulled in March for
maintenance and found corrosion issues, Landia said it’s galvanic corrosion, they’re
installing anodes to keep from corroding. Other mixer had a bearing failure. Wegener
suggested getting MSA involved, look at equipment spec in the bid. Generator at the
WWTP failed, Fabick replaced controller; Fabick attempted to invoice for repair, they
only included a 2-yr warranty in their bid, was supposed to be a 5-yr warranty per
spec; they are going to honor the 5-yr warranty and are now offering an extended
warranty out to 10 years for $4,450. Alex thinks this could be added to the WWTP
loan contingency funds. Aqualis cleaned lift stations. Sent draft of sewer lateral
ordinance to Boardman & Clark, haven’t gotten reply yet. Aqualis repaired leak in
manhole on W North St. Attended meeting with fire dept, talked about capacity,
explained layout of hydrants and the affect using 2 hydrants close to each other has
on the water system. Staab completed their final punch list items, emptied South
clarifier to do so; this was during heavy rains in April and we were getting flows of
1400 GPM, normally flows are limited to 900 GPM per clarifier. Peggy and Troy
attended a maintenance class for the new automated valves at the WWTP. Been doing
some spring cleaning, taking in scrap metal and auctioning old equipment; auction for
our 2 old trucks ends tomorrow. Wegener asked about hydrant flushing, Alex said
they will be starting directional flushing in about 2 weeks.
VI. President: Report on WPPI board meeting. Financials are very sound. Meeting on 5-yr plan this
Thursday. WPPI is also wanting to extend our Purchase Power contract for another 18 years, which
would then expire in 2073. Reminder that the WPPI Regional Dinner is June 17th at Golden Mast in
Okauchee. Contact Laurie if you’d like to attend.
VII. Mayoral Comments: The Juneau Community Fest is going to be on July 25th at the
Gathering Plaza, the committee is looking for donations. Laurie will forward the email with
details.
VIII. Old Business: none
VI. New Business: none
Motion by Coons/Lee to adjourn meeting at 8:24 pm. Motion carried 4-0.
Minutes recorded by: Laurie Runyan
Source: City of Juneau website. First collected Oct 19, 2026.