CONDENSED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY BOARD MEETING OF L. A. WATER COOPERATIVE HELD MAY 17, 2018, AT THE GASTON FIRE HALL.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Wicks, Ken Aberle, Linda Fountain, Mark Franzen, Mike Steffl, David McAdams, Lisa Dutz. BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Megan Corvus and Thomas Gunn.
STAFF PRESENT: Kris Conway and Patricia Carr
MEMBERS PRESENT: Cam Dutz, John Henslee, and Malcolm Moreno.
This meeting of the L. A. Water Cooperative Board of Directors was called to order at 7:00 PM by Don Wicks, Chairman.
Secretary’s Report: The minutes of the monthly board meeting held on April 19, 2018 were presented in writing. MOTION by David McAdams to approve the minutes of April 19, 2018 as presented. Seconded by Mike Steffl. Voted. Passed.
Treasurer’s Report: The Balance Sheets, Statements of Operations, Performance to Budget and Capital Expense Reports were presented in writing. David McAdams requested that a cash flow statement be included in the monthly packets. Don Wicks wants completed projects marked as such so they can easily be identified from ones still in progress. Motion by Mark Franzen to approve the Financial Reports. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.
Business Manager’s Report: The Business Manager’s Report and April System Status reports were presented in writing. Discussion. Motion by Linda Fountain to accept the Business Manager’s Report as presented. Seconded by Mark Franzen. Voted. Passed.
Field Manager’s Report: The Field Manager’s Report, was presented in writing. Kris Conway gave a verbal review of the items on the report. MOTION by Linda Fountain to accept the Field Manager’s Report as presented. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.
OLD BUSINESS
Shop roofing update: Roof completed.
Inactive Certificate Billings: Discussed increase in Inactive Certificate rates for 2018. MOTION by David McAdams to increase all fees by the 2017 CPI, 4.4%, for the 2018 billing cycle. Seconded by Lisa Dutz. Voted. Passed.
MOTION by Ken Aberle to raise the water rates by 6.5%. (This increase is to cover the 4.4% CPI, the 5.7% PGE increase and the 1.4% increase in cost of wholesale water from the City of Hillsboro) Seconded by David McAdams. Voted. Passed.
AMEMDMENT by Ken to make the water rate increase effective the next billing cycle (May – June). Seconded by David McAdams. Voted. Passed.
Master Plan update:
Don Wicks asked Kris Conway to have the engineer, Denny Muchmore, firm up the full cost of the Master Plan and firm up the timeline for completion of the Master Plan. Kris Conway was asked to send the State criteria for the Master Plan to all the board members and find out the average time it takes for State approval after a completed Master Plan is submitted to them.
Business Manager’s job description: Patricia Carr presented a one-page job description. Discussed. Don Wicks suggested adding education and skills to the back of the page. Don Wicks will work with Patricia Carr on format changes.
Office Assistant Position: Established that the position is intended to be part time. Discussed whether the position was intended to be permanent or temporary. It will be considered temporary for the time being. MOTION by Mark Franzen to authorize Patricia Carr to contact temp agencies to hire our candidate through the temp agency for the number of hours Patricia Carr deems necessary. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.
Banking: Mark Franzen stated he had given information to Patricia Carr about T-bills.
Annual Meeting action points: Linda Fountain pointed out that there were several questions and items requested by members that are outstanding. Linda Fountain will resend the list to all board members.
Certificate Buy Back Policy: David McAdams stated he had researched the Certificate Buy Back Policy and found a 7-17-1997 motion on the books “to establish a Buy Back” Policy which states: When the L. A. Water Cooperative Board of Directors agrees to buy back a certificate, L. A. Water Cooperative will pay the original purchase price of that certificate. In a case where the certificate was given for services rendered, i.e. an easement, the price will be considered to be whatever the going rate for which certificates were being sold at the time the easement was given.” All certificates bought back from that date to present have followed this policy. MOTION by David McAdams to buy back Bruce Colwell’s water use certificate at the original purchase price of $1,350.00. Seconded by Lisa Dutz. Voted. Passed.
NEW BUSINESS
Monthly Financial Reporting: Discussed getting the financial reports sent to all board members prior to the board meeting. Discussed options.
Commercial/Residential users on system: Patricia Carr submitted a report on the commercial users in the system and their water usage. David McAdams read the limitations on commercial accounts presented in the Articles of Incorporation. Patricia Carr will check on the 501c12 restrictions for commercial usage and report to the board. Board will address updating the Articles of Incorporation if the 501c12 restrictions differ from those outlined in the Articles.
Date and time for future board meetings: Board decided to check on the availability of the Fire Hall to move the meeting to 6:00 p.m. and to move the meeting to the 4th Thursday of each month. Patricia Carr will check on the Fire Hall availability and make the appropriate notifications. MOTION by David McAdams to change the meeting times to 6:00 p.m. and move the meeting to the fourth Thursday of the month if the fire hall is available. Seconded by Lisa Dutz. Voted. Passed.
Insurance: Tom Belusko has agreed to attend the June board meeting to outline our coverage and respond to any questions the board may have regarding that coverage.
OTHER BUSINESS – None
MOTION by Lisa Dutz to adjourn at 8:55 p.m. Seconded by Mark Franzen. Voted. Passed.
