Board Meeting Minutes – September 26, 2019

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY BOARD MEETING OF L. A. WATER COOPERATIVE HELD September 26, 2019 AT THE GASTON FIRE HALL.

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

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Malcolm Moreno

STAFF PRESENT: Kris Conway, Patricia Carr

MEMBERS PRESENT: None

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

For all future board meetings, documents that do not contain any member specific information should be included in the Power Point presentation. Documents included in the Power Point presentation should be emailed to Board members approximately 1 week before the board meetings and hard copies will not be printed and distributed at the meetings.

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

Motion by Ken Aberle to accept the minutes. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed.

Treasurer’s Report: The 2019 year to date Profit and Loss Comparison to Prior Year was presented in writing.

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

Depreciation is not included in the report and a depreciation sheet does not exist. Amber to follow up.
Met with CPA to do a review of QuickBooks. He recommended several clean up projects then a complete review. Goal is to have all clean up done by December 31, 2019 and convert to QuickBooks on-line January 1, 2010.

Business Manager’s Report: The Past Due Accounts 61+ Days was presented in writing. System Status reports for May 2019 through August 2019 were also presented in writing.

Motion by Mark Franzen to accept the reports. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted and passed.

Field Manager’s Report: The Field Manager’s Report was presented in writing. Kris Conway reviewed the work done over the last month and the Water Loss Report.

MOTION by Linda Fountain to accept the Field Manager’s Report as presented. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.

Field Manager’s Report: The Field Manager’s Report was presented in writing. Kris Conway reviewed the work done over the last month and the Water Loss Report.

MOTION by Linda Fountain to accept the Field Manager’s Report as presented. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.

Rossman Emergency Alarms: Alarms were due to power issues at Muddy Gulch and Gammon pump station. PGE is starting work to provide more reliable power.

Changes to premises: New front door has a secure mail slot, all 8 cameras up and running. Fabricating bars for the remaining windows will be done in-house.

Jerry Nethken Replacement: New electricians are on board and can check with Jerry Nethken when necessary.

East Gaston Road Bridge beam replacement: The Cooperative’s side of the work went smoothly. Denny Munchmore (engineer) and Kris Conway working with the country on the bridge replacement project scheduled for next year.

Leaks: Broken pipe on Laurel Drive caused by glue not holding. Replaced some pipe and putting in a PRV (15,000 gallons lost). Phillips Road (1,000 gallons lost) due to root wrapped around pipe causing a break. Faulty fitting at Ned Ludlum’s causing loss of 10,000 gallons.

Hydrants: Some of the hydrants on Albertson road have been removed and in the next month additional ones to be removed along with those going down Chehalem Road.

Leak Detection: In the next month, the maps will be sectioned into grids. The approach will be changed to walking a single grid before moving on to the next grid. Grids will be prioritized.

OLD BUSINESS

1. OAWU rate Study: After analyzing the impact of the proposed rate structure options presented to the board, it was agreed that Option 1 best met the needs of the Cooperative.
Kris Conway to send Tim Tice the Board’s decision. Tim Tice will run analysis to compare to the capital projects that resulted from the Master Plan study
Develop a simple presentation of the four new rates that would become effective with the implementation of the rate changes.
2. Laurelwood line extension project: Close to finalizing the plan.
Revised plans sent to Denny Muchmore (engineer) for approval.
Back to Kris Conway for final approval.
3. Easement LaSalle Pump Station: Waiting for a response from Dave Durbetaki.
4. Hydrant replacements: Continuing to move forward.
5. Parmele Road Project:  Kris Conway to develop a plan and costs based on the last plan presented to the board.

NEW BUSINESS

1. 990 Approval: Amber Morgan had reviewed the 2019 990 form prepared by Jones and Roth and said it look fine.

2. Leak Credits: Linda Fountain presented calculations for 4 leak credits based on documentation that had been provided by the members and approved by Kris Conway. Linda Fountain and Amber Morgan had also changed the policy requiring members to attend a board meeting for purposes of obtaining a leak credit. Providing sufficient pictures and receipts of the leak and work done to repair to be considered sufficient.

Motion by Tom Gunn to approve all leak credits. Seconded by Amber Morgan. Voted. Passed.

3. Changes to meeting dates: October 24 meeting date does not need to be changed. November date would have been on Thanksgiving Day and will be moved to November 21. The December meeting will be moved from December 26 to December 19

Motion by Amber Morgan to change November and December meeting dates to the 3rd Thursday. Seconded by Ken Aberle. Voted. Passed.
Linda Fountain to confirm these dates are acceptable with the Gaston Fire Department.

4. Water Service Requests:  Based on his approval, Kris Conway submitted two new water service requests for Board approval.
Brent Overdorf on Albertson Road. Motion by Linda Fountain to approve Mr. Overdorf’s request for water service. Seconded by Tom Gunn. Voted. Passed.
Pacific LifeStyles on Viewridge Road. Motion by Tom Gunn to approve Pacific LifeStyles request for water service. Seconded by Mike Steffl. Voted. Passed.

5. Ananda Development:  Kris Conway discussed the 150 acres to be divided into 30 lots over the next three years and the ability of the current system to supply water. Daiva Glazzard told Kris Conway that Malcom Morena had verbally approved water service which we now cannot deliver. Kris Conway to talk with Daiva Glazzard to let him know the information given to him in the past is not accurate and the community will have to submit 30 water requests forms as any other new user would. Any pump station or reservoir needed will be at the expense of the Ananda community. Kris Conway, Patti Carr, and Linda Fountain to define what is needed.

OTHER BUSINESS

1. Linda Fountain verbally approved obtaining a new check scanner from Heritage Bank. The cost will be $700 but Heritage Bank is splitting the cost with the Cooperative.

2. Amber Morgan purchased a coffee maker and supplies for the office.

3. RVS annual maintenance fee was increased from $800 to $1,004 to provide for an additional 1,000 customer accounts for processing. Past practice had been to delete customer information that had been inactive for more than 2 years.

4. Board approval not needed since the operating budget includes a line item for office equipment.

NONE

MOTION by Tom Gunn to adjourn at 7:03 p.m. Seconded by Mike Steffl. Voted. Passed.

Executive Session