Public Water Supply District #4 of Phelps County
Board Meeting Minutes

February 1, 2010

Call to Order
Board members in attendance were John Staples, Bob Laney and Ken Matthews. Jack Lansberry was absent. Also present were Jodie Branson from MRPC and Dusty Densmore and Larry Densmore of Triple D Construction. The President of the Board, John Staples, called the meeting to order at 6:08.

Recognition of Visitors
There were no visitors.

Maintenance and Operations Report
Dusty Densmore reported the maintenance activities for December and presented a bill for hourly services.

Bob Laney made a motion to approve $520 payment to Triple D for services provided in December in addition to maintenance activities. Ken Matthews seconded the motion. The motion carried.

John Staples reported responding to a service call from Rocky Hance. John Staples and Jim Lynch determined that the grinder pump was operational. When they removed a clean out cap, water boiled out of the line from the house to the clean out. The line has probably been crushed between the house and the pump and is the homeowner’s responsibility.

Triple D is looking into the design issue causing the smell on Flag Springs Road. Triple D believes that for $6-8,000 they can run approximately 240 feet of gravity line and eliminate the problem. Triple D will bring a proposal to a later meeting. John Staples and Triple D each spoke to Archer Engineering regarding the building plan details. Triple D will follow up with Archer to obtain the plans.

Triple D wanted to know status of Scott Adams connection at new home. MRPC will send a letter. Triple D wanted to know the renewal date of the contract because they will need to ask for an increase to cover their costs. The renewal date is August 1, 2010. Triple D wanted to know the status of access to Lift Station #3. John Staples reported that he spoke to Mike Hoffstetter about the deed. John Staples will follow up.

Triple D representatives left the meeting.

Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The Board reviewed the agenda. Ken Matthews made a motion to accept the agenda as presented and Bob Laney seconded the motion. The motion carried. The minutes of the January 4, 2010 meeting were reviewed. Ken Matthews made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Bob Laney seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Old Business
Bob Laney reported that he spoke to the District’s attorney regarding the district’s inventory at Mid-State. The attorney wants Mid-State to make an offer. Bob Laney will speak to Jim Zumwalt at Mid-State.

John Staples reported that he spoke to Jason Lynch about serving on the Board. Jason isn’t really interested, but will serve if the Board is unable to get anyone else. John Staples polled the Board for other candidates. The Board nominated Jason Lynch for the open Board position.

New Business
Board discussed the revision to the Bylaws to coordinate with the election timetable as outlined in Missouri statutes. Jodie Branson reported discussing the statutes with the attorney, who advised that the District is under the jurisdiction of the election statute. Bob Laney made the motion to revise the last sentence of Article IV Section Two of the Bylaws to read “beginning the 16 th Tuesday prior to the election.” in replacement of “beginning the week of January 15 th.” Ken Matthews seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Jodie Branson reported that if the District had participated in this municipal election, the cost would have been $361. The District will benefit participating in municipal elections because the cost is spread over many political subdivisions.

Financial Statements
Jodie Branson presented the financials for the period ending December 31, 2009. Monthly sewer fee revenue is $10,408 for 224 connections and expenses are $11,254. Jodie Branson reported the balance of the cash account less the reserves is <$ 5,000>.

The Board acknowledged that 6 accounts make up 73% of the $196,132 receivables balance. All of the 6 have been referred to the attorney for action, including property liens, but the attorney has not reached any settlements. The Board agreed that the attorney needed prodding from the Board to take action. Bob Laney expressed doubt that the District would see any of the money due from those 6 people, but agreed to speak to the attorney. Bob Laney indicated that he would be satisfied if those 6 people, who have never paid, would pay the sewer fees and the District would forgive the late charges. Jodie Branson reminded the Board that there are people who have paid and continue to pay the assessed late charges and we want to treat people fairly. Bob Laney stated that he would like to visit the late charge rate because he does not believe it is legal to charge 10% per month. Bob Laney will visit with the attorney regarding the late charge rate and ask if we can publish a list of non-paying customers.

Jodie Branson demonstrated that we are collecting 90% of current monthly billing. Based on the collections and average expenses, the rates should be increased $ 11.50 per month in order to cover expenses. Bob Laney stated that if we raise rates, collections will go down; and that the proposed increase is based on unusual expenses. Bob Laney believes that data based on the current economy and the holidays is not usual. John Staples stated that there has been prior discussion of what would happen if the District dissolved and it was suggested by someone that the City of St James would absorb the District through annexation.

Jodie Branson stated there are two areas where expenses could be cut - O&M and administration. The Operator stated in this meeting that he needs an increase to cover his expenses. The Board agreed that Triple D is doing a good job and is a necessary expense. The Board wants MRPC to contain their costs but to continue to provide the same services.

The Board determined that there were unusual expenses in 2009 and agreed to transfer $10,000 from the Short Lived Asset Reserve account, which will give two or three months to work on the collections. The Short Lived Asset Reserve balance is $19,136, and will last about 7 months. The Board decided to table the rate increase for 3 months.

The Board asked if USDA has seen the current financials. Jodie Branson reported that the District is in compliance with USDA, but, they haven’t seen current financials.

Jodie Branson reported giving Triple D two address in the District to determine if they are connected to the public sewer, because, they are not being billed for service. Ken Matthew reported that he was aware that one of the addresses, 14832 Private Drive 2331, was connected. The owner told Ken Matthews that he had made unsuccessful attempts to contact the District to set up an account and gave up. Ken Matthew stated that the property was being auctioned at the end of the month. The Board wants to notify the auctioneer that the sewer fees are past due. Ken Matthew brought up the property owned by Martha Bowles. The Board determined that the sewer is available and that a connection fee would be charged if the property was inhabited. Jodie Branson brought up the possibility of other connections who are not being billed. MRPC will provide Bob Laney with an electronic version of the billing list to compare to list of District properties from the county assessors office.

Jodie Branson reported that Flo-Systems received $6,232 in 2009 for repairs that could have been warranty work. Flo-Systems has agreed to research the charges and the resolution will be reported at a future meeting.

Next Meeting
Monday, March 1, 2010.

Adjournment
Bob Laney made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:52. Ken Matthews seconded the motion. The motion carried.

I, John Staples, the duly elected President of Public Water Supply District #4 of Phelps County, do herby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular board meeting of the Board of Directors held at Meramec Regional Planning Commission in St. James, Missouri on February 1, 2010.

_______________________________
President: John Staples