MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE
ARABIAN ACRES METROPOLITAN
DISTRICT
Held:
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Attendance |
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Arabian Acres
Metropolitan District was called and held in accordance with the statutes of
the State of Dennis S. Yoder Gene L. Billings Radford K. Walker David J. Biondo Sandy D. Zuniga Also present: Ken Rupp, private District Consultant, Dave Barwick, Operator for the District, Terry Malcom, Administrator for the District, and Jenny James, the District’s recorder of minutes. |
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Call to Order |
Director Yoder noted that a
quorum was present and called the regular meeting of the Board of Directors
of the Arabian Acres Metropolitan District to order at |
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Disclosure Matters |
Director Yoder asked the Board
to confirm that no changes have occurred to any of the Directors’ interests
that warrant amending the written disclosures on file with the Secretary of
State’s Office with regard to any potential conflicts of interest. Pursuant to |
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Public Comment |
No public comment was received. |
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Approval of Minutes |
The minutes of the regular
meeting of the Board of Directors held |
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Financial Matters |
Mr. Malcom reviewed the
monthly financial statements and expenses with the Board. Discussion ensued regarding several accounts that were
delinquent and the procedure for past due accounts. There are four accounts totaling $3700 on
the past due list. Bills are sent out on the 2nd of every other
month and residents are given 10 days to pay.
Right after the billing notices are sent out another notice is sent
for accounts that are delinquent.
Accounts 61+ days overdue need to be posted. A question was asked as to why the tenants
were being billed and not the owner of rental properties. It was decided that owners would receive
copies of the bill including monthly service fees and past due amounts. Director Billings will help Mr. Malcom with
the ownership list of residents. The Income Budget Statement changes made by Mr. Malcom
compares year to date – actual, to what the District experienced in the
previous year. The Income Budget Statement and Monthly Recap will be
totaled each month, but will be more partnered after the billing month.
Trends over time are helpful and there are four months of good
sales history to date. Discussion ensued regarding the $24,000.00 payment that was
made to the Reserve Fund account.
Discussion also ensued regarding the District’s mill levy tax revenue
from
A motion was made to accept the financials as presented. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. |
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Administrator’s Report |
Mr. Malcom reported that, due to this
being a non-billing month,
there was little of note to report, other than as per his written report, as
submitted to the Board. Some discussion ensued regarding the District’s water
attorney, Mr. David Lindholm, and his most recent bill for his work on the
new decree for the District’s augmentation and exchange water rights. It was noted that the Rupp Family
Partnership has advanced approximately $5,000 to date on the project and the
costs have went beyond that. The
District questioned whether it should pay this new bill or whether the Rupp
Family Partnership would cover it. Mr. Rupp stated that he did not have
sufficient prior knowledge of Mr. Lindholm’s latest bill so as to be able to
discuss with the other partners, but recommended that the project is
worthwhile and will mean a recoup of approximately $14,000 per year, once the
decree is in place and the District should go ahead and pay this recent
bill. The Directors questioned this
project’s final cost and/or the projection of its final costs. There was a motion made to pay Mr.
Lindholm’s bill. The motion was
seconded, unanimously carried and approved. Further discussion ensued regarding abbreviations that Quick
Books comes up with regarding various accounts. It was suggested the account for “office
supplies”, check # 1606, be changed to UNCC.
Other accounts need to be looked at and abbreviations changed as
necessary. |
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Operator’s Report |
Mr. Barwick, the District’s water system operator, presented the Operator’s Report. Mr. Barwick was asked the status of his liability insurance policy, as required by the District. It was noted that the policy has still not been issued due to his company being an individual instead of an LLC. It was suggested for Mr. Barwick to create an LLC and was told it should only cost $50 and takes 10 minutes on the computer. He was told to give priority to this and to list Mr. Malcom as a registered agent. Discussion ensued regarding various problems with wells # 3 and # 4. Wells # 3 and # 4 are now shut down. Well # 4 has a pump saver problem while Well # 3 has been taken offline in an attempt to recover production. The Board was advised that Well # 3 has a poor recharge rate due to the ongoing drought. Conditions of all wells will continue to be monitored as production continues to be impacted by the drought. Mr. Barwick will troubleshoot Well # 4 further, but felt that repairs to well # 4 would be minimal in cost.
Random bacteria sample testing
is required throughout the District by the State of Discussion ensued regarding
monitoring violations as posted on the EPA website per the State of
Further discussion ensued regarding the recent water tap and water damage at 243 Donzi Trail, where the excavator broke the District’s main while attempting to tap the main. More than 20,000 gallons of water was lost and ended up inside the house. Mr. Barwick inspected the damage and it was considerable. The excavator is bonded. Mr. Rupp summed up the incident in his written report. Mr. Barwick plans to retest Well # 5 for particulates. It may be possible to put Well # 5 back online. The results of the new test will be furnished when completed. Mr. Barwick and Mr. Rupp continue to investigate all the meter issues in the Trout Haven Resort area. Account # 46 was lost somewhere during the District’s formation, several resort accounts have not been billed the monthly service fee, and several water outlets need verified that they are metered. These issues are ongoing and will be updated at a future Board meeting. |
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Attorney’s Report |
None Given |
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Consultant’s Report |
Mr. Rupp confirmed no additional movement on the Camp Iana/CSU Easement or the Trout Haven Resort Vacated Roadway Property Easement. Mr. Lindholm, the District’s
water attorney, has been in contact with Mr. Rupp. Mr. Lindholm sent Mr. Felt, Highland Lakes
Water District’s water attorney, the Augmentation and Exchange Decree paper
work again in an attempt to reopen and obtain Mr. Felt’s response and
subsequent promised stipulations for the decree. Mr. Lindholm suggested filing a temporary
water supply plan as a method of getting around Mr. Felts unresponsive
actions in this matter that have continued for over a year to date. Mr. Rupp suggested an alternative strategy
to attempt to have Mr. Felt reply and finalize |
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Other Business |
Discussion ensued regarding amending the wording of the District’s Rules and Regulations. There has been a problem with excavators digging and breaking the District’s mains. The following changes were recommended for the District’s Rules and Regulations language: Section 1.7, l. – Change to “District Administrator/Personnel;” Section 2.3. – Remove “Engineer” from line 5; Section 2.4, second paragraph. – Add wording, “Any leak, break, or repair made to any Service Line by Owner, which could potentially adversely affect the District’s Water System or supply, shall conduct such repair under the oversight of authorized District personnel; Section 4.7.1. – Add to end of first paragraph, right before the last sentence of the paragraph, “Under no circumstances shall the Owner initiate any excavation of District water mains without oversight by District personnel. The Owner shall, prior to excavation of the water main, locate water main shutoff valves on either side of the tap location and excavate access to water main valves and install valve keys in each valve for emergency shutoff, as needed. District personnel shall oversee the valve excavation and installation of the valve keys at each location. On the date of the tap, Owner shall have sufficient personnel standing by for the purpose of shutting down the main in the event of an emergency, throughout the excavation of the main, the tap procedure, and the backfill process. All excavations will be in compliance with all applicable Rules and Regulations;” Appendix D, Item 6. – After first sentence add, “District personnel shall be present at all excavations and no excavation work shall be permitted without District personnel present. A motion was made to amend the wording of the Rules and Regulations as per above. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. The regulations will be amended and posted on the web site. Director Billings would like the approval of the Board to publish the Arabian Acres Newsletter. A question was asked as to whether the newsletter should be sent to all residents. The cost would double if sent to everyone. A motion was made to approve, publish and send the newsletter to everyone and to evaluate it over time. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. Meter testing has been minimized because of identification badges for Mr. Barwick and Mr. Strole. Mr. Rupp stated the badges were ready and all that was needed were the Operator’s pictures. Shirts will also be bought and embroidered. The Board discussed the issue to have the Attorney draw up a demand letter to AquaTest and suggested all Board members sign the demand letter. A list of items will be put together including all original raw files, all electronic files and any other information that belongs to the District and not transferred by AquaTest upon AquaTest’s termination, will be given to Director Yoder to take to Joan Fritsche for inclusion in the demand letter. A motion to have Seter and Vander Wall, P.C., the District’s legal counsel, draft a demand letter to AquaTest for files that have not been given to the District was made. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. Discussion ensued regarding buying a water machine. The machine would cost approximately $2200. The type that stands up or the type that could be attached to the side of the water Control Building B. Or a self-contained unit with a filter on it. The District could dispense water and sell it. Waiting on the Augmentation and Exchange Water Decree. More information will be collected for next month’s meeting. Suggestion was brought up to give Mr. Al Jordan a plaque for his work with the District. Further discussion will be planned at the May Board meeting. |
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Adjournment |
There being no further business
to come before the Board, and upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously
carried, the meeting was adjourned at Next Meeting: |
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_________________________________________ Secretary for the Meeting |
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