MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY BOARD MEETING OF L. A. WATER COOPERATIVE HELD July 27, 2023, AT THE GASTON FIRE HALL.
Board Members Present: Don Wicks, Dave McAdams, Linda Fountain, Lisa Dutz (in 6:16), Ted Leach, Tom Gunn (out 6:16), Joel Mulkey, and Terry Wymore.
Board Members Absent: Amber Morgan
Staff Present: Jason Bayne and Matt Thompson
Guest Present: None
This meeting of the L. A. Water Cooperative was called to order at 6:00 PM by Don Wicks, President.
Regular Business
Secretary’s Report: The minutes of the June 2023 meeting were presented in writing.
Motion to approve with corrections by Dave McAdams. Seconded by Tom Gunn. Voted and passed.
Treasurer’s Report: No Treasurer’s report available due to lack of staffing.
Business Manager’s Report presented in writing.
Motion to approve by Joel Mulkey. Seconded by Tom Gunn. Voted and passed.
Hiring committee met with multiple candidates for the Office Manager position and made an offer. New hire to start August 14.
Replaced old postage machine because it had died and needed to be placed in 2024.
Completed 990 information request for Jones and Roth.
Follow up email regarding the Chalice Receivership was sent to Lucas Welliver but no response as yet.
Operation Manager’s Reports: presented in writing.
Motion to approve by Tom Gunn. Seconded by Dave McAdams. Voted and passed.
- Rock Quarry. August 31 will be the start of new 6-inch line installation. Staging of materials already complete. Jason to send email to Kern covering project dates.
- Langley Line. Started the Langley line project and have 500 feet of new line buried.
- Muddy Gulch. Found a variable frequency drive in the shop. Installed new drive and now have both pumps operating at Muddy Gulch station.
- Dixon Mill Booster pump. It is running well.
- Lambert, Jordan, Gammon. Should have an estimate by August 31 for interior coatings on these three reservoirs. Estimate from new company – Integrated Underwater Services.
- Repaired a leak on Hartley Rd. It looks like it has been leaking for quite some time. Installed 3 new service lines on Roy Jean Lane and repaired water service on Dixon Mill that looked like it has been leaking for a while
- Service line installation on Laurelwood Drive.
- Garrett has been mowing around all the reservoirs and spraying blackberries, doing locates, and doing data pulls for customers.
- A lot of customers were complaining about their bill which is normal this time of year. Everyone is turning on their irrigation system and finding leaks.
- System GPS. Any extra time we have goes into updating GPS of the distribution systems.
- Laurelwood estates new development. They have verbal agreement for a new pump station easement. They still have more things they need to accomplish before they can get permits which Denny is communicating and answering their questions.
Old Business
- Mainline Re-alignment in Rock Quarry. See Operation Manager’s report.
- Langley line has a leak. See Operation Manager’s report.
- Increasing late fees and all other fees. Delayed until the new Office Manager is in place. Remove revision date from water certificate fee as it is incorrect.
- Time limit on water meter installation for new water certificate – 60 days.
Approval needed for draft of new Approval for Water Use Certificate Letter.
Motion to approve new Approval for Water Use Certificate by Linda Fountain. Seconded by Terry Wymore. Voted and passed.
- Letter to bank regarding home in foreclosure.
Need to know which bank needs to be notified. - Letter to member with multiple homes on their property.
Temporarily on hold.
New Business
- Umpqua Bank Account not earning interest.
Leave for now. More information needed. - Leak credits.
Motion to approve all four credits presented
Motion to approve by Ted Leach. Seconded by Dave McAdams. Voted and passed.
Need to review the limit on leak credit amount Operations can approves without board approval. - Review of fees. (Current late fee is 10% per Annum.)
- Water User Certificate approvals.
Denied due to oversold condition on the valley floor. Jason to see if there is an easement as the line runs between properties.
Research previous conversation regarding allowing a tank on property with 3 days’ supply in lieu of certificate approval. Past customer did a well instead due to cost. - Linda Fountain to call B/C Regence regarding Cooperative paid dental to existing benefits. Send out email to board and vote by email.
MOTION to adjourn by Linda Fountain. Seconded by Dave McAdams. Voted and passed.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:12 P.M.
Executive Session
