Board Meeting Minutes – December 19, 2019

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY BOARD MEETING OF L. A. WATER COOPERATIVE HELD DECEMBER 19, 2019 AT THE GASTON FIRE HALL.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Wicks, Ken Aberle, Tom Gunn, Linda Fountain, Lisa Dutz, Amber Morgan, and Mike Steffl.

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Malcolm Moreno

STAFF PRESENT: Kris Conway

STAFF ABSENT: Laurie Lago

MEMBERS PRESENT: Cam Lutz

This meeting of the L. A. Water Cooperative Board of Directors was called to order at 6:00 PM by Don Wicks, Chairman.

Secretary’s Report: The minutes of the November 2019 meeting was presented in writing.

Motion by Mike Steffl to accept the minutes. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed.

Treasurer’s Report: P&L statement was presented in writing. Jones & Roth will be generating the 990 for this year and next year the Cooperative will switch to using Pedro’s services. The finances are looking very good based on a comparison of 2019 budget to actuals. The 2020 budget will be entered into QuickBooks so the comparison to actuals can be done frequently.

Motion by Linda Fountain to accept the minutes. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted and passed.

Business Manager’s Report: The business manager’s report was presented in writing.

Motion by Tom Gunn to accept the Business Manager’s report. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed.

Our attorney is to be contacted to find out if there is a statute of limitations on outstanding debits. What, if any, other criteria may be involved in determining the viability of aging debits.

Field Manager’s Report: The Field Manager’s Report was presented by Kris Conway.

Motion by Amber Morgan to accept the Field Manager’s Report as presented. Seconded by Linda Fountain. Voted. Passed.

Dixon Mill Pump re-plumbing: The pump was previously installed improperly and required re-plumbing.

A pressure switch was installed on Dixon Mill Road.

Leak Detection was done on Quail Run based on readings from the master meter. Two joints had separated. The repairs took the water loss down from 100,000 gallons to 30,000 gallons.

Service was installed on View Ridge.

Installed and air relief valve on the new lower section of the Laurelwood line.

Cleaned up all but one of the job sites from the Parmele project.

Addressed an electrical issue at Lambert.

Continued to meet with Washington County regard the bridge project on Gaston Road. The plans are approximately 70% complete.

Worked with Amber Morgan, Don Wicks, and Laurie Lago on the 2020 budget.

Reviewed Tim Tice’s analysis.

Don Wicks asked how Bright Side Electric is working out. This is the company that replaced Jerry Nethken. Kris Conway said they were working out well and keeping in touch with Jerry as needed. They have been very responsive. Bright Side is pulling data and have access to everything. They have set up data logs to show trending. They are supposed to present their first reporting by Jane 15, 2020.

OLD BUSINESS

1. OAWU rate Study:
Linda Fountain was asked to redo the original rate study spreadsheet. The new sheet to include the lowest and highest months, removing members who receive “special deals”, and members who left in the middle of a month. This sheet will exclude the electric surcharge but include both Options 1 and 2. Once the spreadsheet is available Don Wicks, Amber Morgan, Linda Fountain and Laurie Lago will do the first review.

2. Potential buyer of Bald Peak Road property asking to have easement removed. Laurie Lago and Kris Conway to send a joint letter explaining that the easement cannot be removed as additional capacity is needed for the area.

3. Jet Pay: RVS has provided a CD with updates for the Jet Pay processing. The CD can also be used to install RVS on the new PC.

4. QuickBooks: Still need to make a decision on with to use a server or purchase multi-user licensing.

 

NEW BUSINESS.

1. Leak Credits: Linda Fountain provided four potential leak credits in writing.
Motion by Tom Gunn to approve the four leak credits. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed.

2. 2020 Budget: Amber Morgan provided copies of the proposed 2020 budget.
Motion by Tom Gunn to approve the 2020 budget as presented. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted and passed.

3. Hillsboro Fee Schedule Adjustments:  For purposes of potential buy back of a Water Certificate, the original purchase price (excluding the Hillsboro SDC) should be printed on the face of the Water Certificate when purchased. Need to review the By-Laws. Confirm there is no buy back option for Water Certificates transferred to new owner. Review the Kenneth Fowler buy back to determine what amount is on the face of his water certificate. On April 1, 2020 the Cooperative’s Water Service form must be updated with the new SDC amount. New Fee Schedules for 2020: Base price of water certificate remains the same as 2019 ($13,812) and the Hillsboro SDC will remain at $8,657, until April 1, 2020 when it will decrease to the new rate of $6,939. Motion by Tom Gunn to approve the changes for the 2020 Fee Schedule. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed

OTHER BUSINESS

NONE

MOTION by Tom Gunn to adjourn at 7:35 p.m. Seconded by Mark Franzen. Voted. Passed.