Title
Recommendation of Renomination of Ben Olbrich, Deputy Utility Manager - Power Supply, as the Los Alamos County Member of the New Mexico Municipal Energy Acquisition Authority (NMMEAA) Board of Directors
Recommended Motion
I move that the Board of Public Utilities recommend the nomination of Mr. Ben Olbrich, Deputy Utility Manager - Power Supply, as the Los Alamos County "Participating Municipality" member director of the New Mexico Municipal Energy Acquisition Authority Board, and forward to Council with a recommendation for renomination of Mr. Olbrich as the County's NMMEAA member director.
Utilities Manager's Recommendation
The Utilities Manager recommends that the Board approve the motion as presented.
Body
The Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) that formed the New Mexico Municipal Energy Acquisition Authority (NMMEAA), as amended, provides for a Board of Directors appointed as follows. The Cities of Gallup and Las Cruces are “Parties” to the JPA, and each appoints two directors. Los Alamos County and the City of Farmington are “Participating Utilities”. Los Alamos County will nominate one person to serve on the NMMEAA Board of Directors, and the City of Farmington will nominate two persons. Nominees of the “Participating Utilities” require acceptance of the members representing the “Parties”.
Utilities Manager John Arrowsmith represented Los Alamos County to NMMEAA since inception and was officially nominated to the Board by Council on October 28th, 2008 after the JPA was revised to guarantee Los Alamos a seat on a seven-member board, as described above. Mr. Arrowsmith was reappointed in October 2013. Upon Mr. Arrowsmith’s retirement in July 2014; Deputy Utilities Manager of Finance and Administration Robert Westervelt was nominated by Council as Los Alamos’ member on the NMMEAA Board and was reappointed in 2018. In advance of Mr. Westervelt's retirement, in December 2020, Ben Olbrich was nominated by Council to serve as Los Alamos’ member on the NMMEAA Board. Mr. Olbrich began serving in this position upon acceptance of his appointment by the “Parties” at the following regular meeting of the NMMEAA Board of Directors. Approval of Mr. Olbrich's reappointment will allow him to continue applying his knowledge and experience to serve as a NMMEAA director.
The JPA language is as follows:
"The Energy Acquisition Authority shall be governed by a seven-member board of directors (the "Board"). Each director shall have current experience in the operation of municipal utilities, the acquisition of energy supplies, and/or municipal finance in general, and shall be appointed as follows:
A. The governing body of each Party shall appoint two directors.
B. The fifth director shall be nominated by the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico (“Los Alamos”), as the owner of a municipal utility utilizing long term energy supplies, and shall be voted upon by the four Party-appointed directors.
C. The sixth and seventh directors shall be nominated by the City of Farmington, New Mexico (“Farmington”), as the owner of a municipal utility utilizing long term energy supplies, and shall be voted upon by the four Party appointed directors.
D. The governing body of each Party shall appoint replacement directors to fill vacancies in the Board positions appointed by that Party. Vacancies in the fifth, sixth, and seventh director positions shall be nominated in the manner described in subsections (B) and (C) of this section 3, and shall be voted upon by the four Party -appointed directors. All replacement directors shall have the qualifications set described in the introductory paragraph of this Section 3.
E. No director shall be a currently serving elected public official of the governing body of either Party to this agreement or of the governing body of a municipal participant.
F. Each director shall have a term of office of 4 years, unless removed by appropriate action of the local government appointing or nominating that director. Directors may be reappointed or renominated for additional terms as provided in this Section 3.
G. The Board of Directors shall request nominations for the fifth, sixth, and seventh director positions, as provided in subsections (B) and (C) of this section 3, at least every four years or more frequently in the event of a vacancy. The Board of Directors shall provide written notice to Los Alamos or Farmington that it will accept the nomination of a replacement director or directors for a thirty (30) day period and that, if no nomination is received, the Board of Directors will appoint a replacement director or directors for the next term or remainder of the existing term.
Note, in practice nominees have historically been presented for approval by the Board before expiration of a previous term or vacancy, and thus action under section G above has not been necessary.
Alternatives
The Board could choose not to approve appointment of Mr. Olbrich.
Attachments
None