(A) The findings set forth in Ordinance 1815 are hereby made a part of this section as fully as if set out at length herein.
(B) The Mayor and City Council hereby establish a Board of Public Works for the city for the following public works of the city: electricity, natural gas, sewers and water, hereinafter called Utility and/or Utilities, said Board of Public Works to be known and designated as the Wahoo Board of Public Works.
(C) The purpose of the Board of Public Works is to provide governance for the aforenoted Utilities as provided herein.
(D) The structure and governance of the Board of Public Works shall be as follows:
(1) The Board of Public Works shall consist of five voting members members and one ex-officio nonvoting member who shall be the City Administrator. The voting members of the Board shall be comprised of the following:
(a) Four members of the Board shall be citizens and bonafide residents of the city who shall be called at large members and provided further that one at large member may be a member of the City Council;
(b) One member of the Board shall be member of the City Council and shall be called City Council Member;
(2) The Mayor shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Council, or a majority thereof, the five members of the Board of Public Works. Said member or members may be removed by the Mayor and a majority of the City Council at anytime;
(3) (a) Each at large member of the Board of Public Works shall serve until his/her successor is appointed and qualified, provided, that the at large members of the Board of Public Works shall be appointed in such a manner that the terms shall be for one, two, three, or four years, in the manner designated by the Mayor, as the case may be, commencing the first meeting in January of 2019 of said Board, after which the term of each at large member shall be four years;
(b) The City Council Member of the Board of Public Works shall serve until the end of the City Council's term on the City Council.
(4) Vacancies in the at large and/or City Council membership of the Board of Public Works shall be filled for the unexpired term by the Mayor, subject to the approval of the Council, or a majority thereof;
(5) Each member of the Board of Public Works shall, before entering upon the discharge of his or her duties, take an oath to discharge faithfully the duties of his or her office. Further, each of the members of said Board before entering upon the duties of their office shall be required to give bond to the city with corporate security. Such bond shall be in the sum of $5,000 and shall be conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of the members of the Board of Public Works and the security on such bond shall be approved by the Mayor and Council and shall be filed with the City Treasurer, provided, the premium on said bond shall be paid out of the funds of the Board of Public Works;
(6) No member of the Board of Public Works shall receive any salary or compensation for his or her services as a member of such Board, but the actual and necessary expenses incurred by said member in the performance of his or her duties shall be allowed and paid as a part of the cost and operation of the Utilities of the city;
(7) The Board of Public Works is hereby empowered to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary for its government and the transaction of business and to provide for amendments thereto. Further, the Board shall establish regular times for its meetings and keep a record of their proceedings and publish within the Wahoo Newspaper the minutes of each meeting of the Board of Public Works within 30 days after said meeting;
(8) The members of the Board of Public Works shall organize as soon as practical after their appointment, by electing a chair, vice chair, and a secretary at the first meeting of June of each year, who shall serve until the first meeting in January next following their appointment, and thereafter, said Board of Public Works shall elect a chair, vice chair, and a secretary at the first meeting of January of each year. In the absence of regular officers, temporary officers to serve in their places may be chosen by the members present at any meeting. Further, the members may select such other officers, clerks, deputies, laborers and other help and assistants as may be necessary by such Board to be necessary or expedient.
(E) The Mayor and City Council shall retain all statutory powers regarding the governance of the Utilities of the city not heretofore or hereinafter transferred and/or assigned to the Board of Public Works.
(F) The Board of Public Works is hereby empowered as follows:
(1) The members of the Board of Public Works shall on or before their November meeting of each even year, recommended to the Mayor a person for the office of Utilities General Manager. The Mayor, upon receiving the name of the person for Utilities General Manager from the Board of Public Works, shall interview the person and determine that the person possess the qualifications to serve in such capacity. In determining the qualifications of the person, the Mayor shall employ uniform standards as adopted by the Board of Public Works and confirmed by the City Council, as set forth in writing, and provided to the Mayor. After completing the above, the Mayor will make a recommendation to the City Council as to the person to be the Utilities General Manager for the city. The Utilities General Manager, upon being confirmed by the Council, shall hold office until his or her successor shall be appointed and qualified;
(2) To provide that the current Utilities General Manager of the city shall, after the effective date of this section, be employed thereafter by the city at such reasonable compensation as established by the City Council based upon the recommendation of the Board of Public Works, at the time of such employment and shall thereafter be under the jurisdiction of said Board and the City Administrator.
(3) To provide that all contracts made by the Board of Public Works, regarding the Utilities, shall be authorized by a majority of the Board of Public Works by appropriate action, and the record of all actions by said Board shall be spread in full upon the minute record of the Board proceedings;
(4) To cooperate and participate in the pension plan on file in the office of the City Clerk and intended for the benefit of the employees of the city and for the purpose of such pension plan, the Board of Public Works may make contributions under such plan, authorize deductions from salaries of employees, and take such other steps as may be necessary and are consistent with said plan;
(5) To participate in a group insurance plan for the benefit of its employees covering sickness, dental, accident, and life insurance on file in the office of the City Clerk and intended for the benefit of the employees of the city and for the purpose of such group insurance plan, the Board of Public Works may make contributions under such plan, authorize deduction from salaries of employees, and take such other steps as may be necessary and are consistent with said plan;
(6) To provide that the procedures and enforcement of all city ordinances relative to the aforenoted Utilities of the city and Chapters 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54 of Title IV, Public Works of this code, except those ordinances and chapters and portions thereof, relative to utility rate setting, are hereby assigned and transferred to the Board of Public Works;
(7) To provide that the Board of Public Works shall keep separate books of account for each Utility under its control showing current entries of the receipts and expenditures of the Board and duplicate vouchers of all of its expenditures for each of said Utilities, which records shall, at all times, be open to the examination of the Mayor and City Council or a committee thereof. The Board of Public Works shall make a monthly report of their receipts and expenditures for each separate Utility to the Mayor and City Council. The audit and report, at the close of the fiscal year, of the financial transactions and affairs of the said Utilities, operating through the Board of Public Works, shall be entirely separate from the general audit of the city's accounts at the close of its fiscal year and may be carried out by a different accountant than the one making such general audit for the city;
(8) To operate, manage and maintain the city's Utilities and any and all property owned by the city and used in connection with the operation and maintenance of such Utilities, including the erection and construction of additions, extensions, and improvements in and to such systems; in furtherance thereof, the Board of Public Works may utilize its own engineering staff and may hire consulting engineers for the design and installation of extensions and improvements of the Utilities under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works, provided, however, said Board of Public Works shall follow the requirements of Neb. RS 17-568.01 pertaining to advertisements for bids for the enlargement or improvement of any of the Utilities;
(9) To purchase all materials and supplies for the operation and maintenance of such Utilities;
(10) To study and recommend to the Mayor and City Council revisions, changes, and amendments to all rates of the Utilities of the city;
(11) To collect all rates, charges, revenues and profits accruing on account of the ownership and operation of such Utilities;
(12) To provide that the collection of rates for the Utilities or other services furnished and rendered by said Utilities, shall be under the control and supervision of the Board of Public Works. All revenues of said Utilities shall be segregated from all other fun and revenues of the city and shall be paid and deposited into separate funds, as designated by the Board of Public Works, said funds to be administered solely by said Board of Public Works for the purpose of paying operating expenses of said Utilities, the maintenance and repair of each of said Utilities, and for paying the interest on and principal of all revenue bonds or combined revenue bonds of said Utilities, provided, that any surplus funds arising out of the operation of any of the Utilities by the Board of Public Works may, if not invested pursuant to the provisions of any other law upon the subject, be invested by said Board of Public Works as provided by the laws of the State of Nebraska, as amended or superseded. The Board of Public Works shall be bound by the terms of any ordinance, duly passed and adopted by the Mayor and City Council in respect to all utility funds in the issuance of bonds and all other matters;
(13) To keep the accounts of cash received and disbursed on account of the operation and maintenance of such Utilities and all amounts receivable and payable on account thereof;
(14) To pay all salaries, labor, insurance premiums, materials and supplies, and such other expenses incident to the operation and conduct of such Utilities;
(15) To perform such other acts as the Board may deem expedient in the operation, maintenance and conduct of such Utilities and the business and services incident thereto and not in conflict herewith.
(G) The Board of Public Works shall be subject to the following:
(1) The authority of the Mayor and City Council to approve the budget of the Board of Public Works as provided in the Municipal Propriety Function Act;
(2) To spend any amount, as set forth in the budget which has been approved by the Mayor and City Council for the operation and management of the Utilities. It shall further have authority to spend any amount not to exceed $60,0000 for the improvement, construction, or extension of any of the Utilities hereof. In case of emergency, defined as a failure of one or more of said Utilities, a three-fourths vote of the Board of Public Works may authorize the Utilities General Manager to exceed the amounts as specified herein;
(3) To provide that the management, operation and maintenance of the Utilities and of the property used in connection therewith shall, at all times, be in conformity with the provisions of all bond ordinances applicable thereto and the refunding revenue bonds of the city issued pursuant thereto, prior hereto, and in conformity with the provisions of any ordinance pertaining to the refunding of such outstanding bonds, or the issuance of new or additional bonds secured by the revenues of said Utilities. If at any time the provisions of this section shall appear to conflict in any manner with the provisions of such bond ordinances or the bonds issues pursuant thereto or with the provisions of any ordinance pertaining to the refunding of said bonds or issuance of new or additional revenue bonds secured by the revenues of said Utilities, then the provisions of such bond ordinances and of the bonds issues pursuant thereto and the provisions of any ordinance pertaining to the refunding of outstanding bonds or issuance of new or additional bonds secured by the revenues of said Utilities shall prevail over the provisions of this section and the provisions of this section shall yield thereto to the extent necessary to reconcile any such conflicting provisions;
(4) To provide that no member of the Board of Public Works shall ever be financially interested in a contract entered into by the Board on behalf of the Board of Public Works;
(5) To provide that the Board of Public Works shall not be entitled to or have any authority over any money raised by taxation for street lighting purposes. Funds so raised shall be under the control of the Mayor and City Council. The Board of Public Works may, by mutual contract or agreement with the Mayor and City Council furnish electric power, and provide for the installation, operation, and maintenance for street lighting at such rates and/or fees as may be agreed upon.
(H) The Mayor and City Council, by appropriate resolution and/or ordinance, shall assign the following to the Board of Public Works:
(1) The employees designated in Ordinance 1815 are assigned to the Board of Public Works, as of December 1, 2002;
(2) All assets and liabilities pertaining to the Utilities of the city;
(3) All rights-of-way of the city for the aforenoted Utilities, subject to existing franchise/usage fees presently imposed by the city for the usage of said rights-of-way or which may be hereafter imposed by the city;
(4) All existing easements of the city for said aforenoted Utilities;
(5) Space in the Wahoo City Hall, at a rental amount or a shared services agreement to be agreed upon between the Board of Public Works and the Mayor and City Council.
(Ord. 1815, passed 10-24-02; Am. Ord. 2099, passed 8-12-12; Am. Ord. 2291, passed 10-25-18)