Votes at a glance: SFPUC approves contract increases, URS amendment, financing and revised power rates

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission took multiple formal actions at its May 21 meeting, approving minutes and several staff-recommended contracts, financing arrangements and a municipal power-rate resolution after an amendment.

Key outcomes

- Approval of minutes (Item 3): Commissioners moved, seconded and approved the minutes of 05/13/2014 by voice vote.

- Consent calendar (Items 9A—3D): Items 9A through 9D were approved together by voice vote after Commissioner Moran removed item 9E for separate consideration.

- Item 10 (Contract WW483rr with KJ Woods Construction): Commission approved an increase in the construction contract contingency for contract WW483rr with KJ Woods Construction of $12,726,300, an increase in contract duration contingency of 60 consecutive calendar days, a reallocation of remaining allocated balances, authorization of a $23,000,000 increase in project costs, and authorization for the general manager to seek Board of Supervisors appropriation for the project. The item was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

- Item 11 (Agreement CS-716, URS Corporation, Amendment No. 4): The commission authorized Amendment No. 4 to Agreement CS-716 with URS Corporation, increasing the agreement up to $4,500,000 and extending the schedule by up to 2 years, 9 months, subject to Board of Supervisors approval under charter section 9.118. Commissioners questioned subcontractor lists and staff confirmed the subconsultant list was included in the item. Motion carried by voice vote.

- Item 12 (Commercial paper credit facilities): The commission approved replacing expiring bank agreements for the Water Enterprise commercial paper program with new facilities providing $500,000,000 in available credit and an annual cost not to exceed $4,500,000 for terms up to four years. The commission first approved an amendment to add an omitted certification clause and then approved the resolution as amended.

- Item 13 (Hetch Hetchy Power municipal rates): Commissioners briefly suspended the public hearing to allow drafting time, then after closed session returned and adopted an amendment inserting language that the proposed rates are among the PUC—s actions sufficient to fund the budget adopted on 05/13/2014. The amended resolution was adopted by voice vote.

- Closed session settlement (Item 16): After closed session the commission announced it had approved a settlement in Leanne Crocker v. City and County of San Francisco and voted not to disclose closed-session discussions.

The meeting minutes and staff reports tied most votes to standard motions that were seconded and passed by voice vote; the transcript records "the ayes have it" for each carried motion but does not list a roll-call tally for the public record.