MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE
ARABIAN ACRES METROPOLITAN
DISTRICT
Held:
|
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 and Chris Strole, the Operators for the District, Terry Malcom, the Administrator for the District, Jenny James, the District’s recorder of minutes and Rick Zuniga, District constituent. |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
Public Comment |
No public comment was received. |
|
|
Approval of Minutes |
The minutes of the regular
meeting of the Board of Directors held |
|
|
Financial Matters |
Terry Malcom reviewed the monthly financial statements and expenses with the Board. Mr. Malcom pointed out that the totals on the ‘Income/Budget Statement’ and the ‘Billing Period Recap’ make more sense as a billing unit, with January and February usages and sales for the past two months. Total receipts as of today are $12,300. In the next couple of weeks, receipts will be down to about $8,000 and before next billing period down to $4,000 or $5,000, as there is a carryover every month in receivables of approximately this amount due to a couple of large outstanding accounts being foreclosed on, etc. Mr. Malcom is continuing to work on these account balances. Further discussion ensued regarding the Income/Budget Statement. It was noted that due to AquaTest having the historical data for 2005 and with the current inability of opening this data, some portions of the statement are not able to track properly. The operating expense will track immediately. Director Yoder expressed concern regarding the value of the month-to-month comparisons and felt that it is more beneficial to look at year-to-date, actual and then look at last year, actual to get a better picture as to how the District stands financially. Director Zuniga questioned the ‘adjustments’ of $228.21, as per the ‘January/February Recap’ page. Mr. Malcom explained that adjustments have been made to various customers’ accounts in the way of excusing some questionable late charges that had already been billed. Mr. Malcolm noted a 50% increase for power and inquired if we were seeing higher rates or if there was a pump going non-stop? It was also noted that everyone should now have access to both, Park State Bank checking and Colorado Trust accounts on line. The statements are set up as ‘view only’ so no transactions can be made online. Director Biondo was the only one that didn’t receive the e-mail of this notice. Discussion ensued regarding Director Billing’s large water bill. Director Billings can track his water usage for the last 10 years and has averaged 9,000 gallons a month. Director Billings was billed for 21,000 gallons per month for two people this recent billing cycle. Director Billings has had Mr. Barwick check his meter and readings on two occasions. Mr. Malcolm recommended Director Billings’ bill be adjusted. A motion was made to adjust Director Billings’ bill to reflect average historical usage. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved, with Director Billings abstaining from voting. The Board then discussed the issue of the billing card format. Due to the bi-monthly billing cycle, the billing format listed the previous unbilled ‘monthly minimum’ fee as ‘past due.’ The ‘monthly minimum’ wording also confused some customers. The bills showed two ‘monthly minimum’ charges and proved misleading as well. Mr. Malcolm received a lot of calls from people that wanted their bill adjusted. A lot of people thought their ‘monthly minimum’ included water and had no idea water usage was in addition to the ‘monthly minimum fee.’ It was discussed to change the wording to ‘service fee’ and have two $40 entries, not one $80 entry on the bi-monthly billing card. A motion was made to modify the District’s Rules and Regulations language from ‘Minimum Service Charge Per Month to ‘Service Fee Per Month.’ The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. Discussion then ensued
regarding the Reserve Fund and the subsequent withdrawals that the District
has made from this fund to pay its Bond debt in the past. Mr. Rupp recommended repaying funds into
the Reserve Fund account anytime the District has an excess of funds in its
checking account so as to send a positive message to the bank and the
bondholders. Mr. Rupp also stated that
some funds should be kept in the District’s checking account for any known or
unknown capital improvements that may occur.
It was noted that there is $38,872.66 in the District’s checking
account now and will have approximately a $48,000 balance after other checks
are deposited. It was also noted that
$16,000 was just noticed by Teller County to the District for the District’s
mill levy revenue on property taxes received by the County to date within the
District and should be sent directly to Park State Bank by Teller
County. The next Bond payment of
$45,000 is due in June. It was suggested
to table this issue until next month in order to pay the exact amounts after
the Board has a better idea of what is coming in and the exact amounts due to
the Reserve Fund. It was also pointed
out that there would be another pay cycle before the Bond payment is due in
June. It was noted that enough money
is in the District’s checking account now to pay back the Reserve Fund
account at Zions Bank of approximately $24,000.00. Mr. Malcolm wanted to know if the Zions
account was accessible on line in order to get the exact amount of the
payment. It was noted that the
District’s account at Zions is not on line.
A motion was made to issue a check in the amount of $24,000.00 to the
Reserve Fund account at The Board then considered the accounting proposal submitted by Dawn A. Schilling, LLC. Various questions were raised regarding Ms. Schillings proposed services, such as auditing issues, services to be performed, budget issues, baseline services and costs, bond restructuring, etc. Director Yoder will work with Joan Fritsche of Seter and Vander Wall, P.C., the District’s attorney, in an attempt to more clearly refine Ms. Schilling’s services and subsequent costs. It was noted that a flat rate bid would be desirable once all services provided by Ms. Schilling are more clearly defined. Further discussion will be planned at the April Board meeting.
The Board also discussed the importance of reducing all unnecessary costs for the District, with legal costs included. It was discussed that the District should not be utilizing the District’s attorney for anything other than specialized issues that require specific legal expertise.
A motion was made to accept the financials as presented. The motion was seconded, unanimously carried and was approved. |
|
|
Administrator’s Report |
Mr. Malcolm informed the Board that he was changing the format of his monthly reporting. New RVS software was recently purchased and loaded and he will be restructuring the whole process under the Mosaic version of RVS. Separate files will be created and documents imported. There are two large past due accounts. The biggest past due account is being paid through tax liens imposed by the District through the County. We have data on both of the accounts. Discussion ensued regarding Peach Tree software and the District files transferred by AquaTest to the District’s new administrator. Several requests have been made to AquaTest to furnish the District with openable files and data, to no avail. The software required to open the files that AquaTest has transferred to the District would cost the District approximately $3500.00. The District has requested the original files from AquaTest, but AquaTest has only submitted copied files that cannot be opened. The original files are necessary for the District to be able to open the files with the District’s current software. The Board discussed having Seter and Vander Wall, P.C., the District’s legal counsel, issue a demand letter to AquaTest to produce any files not transferred by AquaTest or to produce files in a format that are able to be opened. It was suggested that the Board come up with a specific list of items to be included in the demand letter. |
|
|
Operator’s Report |
Dave Barwick, along with Chris Strole the District’s water system operators, presented the Operator’s Report. Two weeks ago, March 4, 2006, a water test came back positive for coliform bacteria. Mr. Barwick and Mr. Strole conducted all required tests, as per State and County regulations relevant to this failed test. As of this date, all tests have passed and the present Operators in Responsible Charge (“ORC”) are continuing to bring the system up to all regulatory requirements. The State requires that the
District and/or its ORC submit a Monitoring Plan each year. The Monitoring Plan submitted by AquaTest
in June of 2005, on the District’s behalf, was not approved or reviewed by
the Board of Directors and was not signed off on by the President of the
Board. AquaTest composed and submitted
the Monitoring Plan with numerous errors and omissions. In the Monitoring Plan the ORC is required
to list several residential sites that water samples are to be taken from for
the purpose of testing the quality of the water in the system. Various locations, preferably in outlying
areas of the system, should be listed as test sites in the Monitoring
Plan. AquaTest listed The violation of the sampling sites by the previous ORC is the primary cause for the recent failed water sample test conducted by the present ORC due to incorrect chlorine dosage quantities derived from testing at the injection site. When the present ORC conducted water sampling from random locations at the extremities of the District’s system, the chlorine content was not sufficient in these areas. Samples taken from the control building or the chlorine injection site will show sufficient levels of chlorine, while the amount of chlorine being injected into the system will not be sufficient enough to reach the extremities of the system. The present ORC has subsequently increased the dosage amounts of chlorine in the system to reach the extremities at the required level. The State is presently looking into the violation of the previous ORC contractor for the District. Mr. Strole will work on correcting the Monitoring Plan with proper addresses at the proper prescribed locations. Mr. Barwick will continue his monitoring of chlorine levels in random locations in the extremities of the system. Mr. Barwick found a pinhole leak in the chlorine injection line in ‘Control Building B,’ which has been repaired. Mr. Barwick presented several maintenance issues and a purchase request to the Board for consideration. He noted that the tank is due for maintenance this summer to avoid damage. ‘Control Building B’ is in need of a new roof. He suggested painting all buildings, and the water storage tank a dark forest green, all under his normal contract amount for labor required. He noted that ‘Control Building A’ needs two sheets of siding replaced. He intends to conduct main flushing procedures along with his monitoring of chlorine residual levels throughout the system. He expressed the need for ID Badges for Mr. Strole and himself. Mr. Barwick also recommended the District purchase a field chlorine residual testing device at the cost of $352.00. Mr. Barwick conducted the District’s first bi-monthly meter reading. Various difficulties were encountered with several meters, readings, and/or accounting of the same. Mr. Rupp will attempt to help sort out the problems and requested a list of the same from either Mr. Malcom or Mr. Barwick. The Board engaged in a
discussion of all of the above issues.
The tank is scheduled for maintenance in June. The details of which need to be worked out
and coordinated. It was suggested by
Mr. Rupp that Mr. Barwick attempt to continue to use the chlorine tester that
Mr. Barwick has been using from |
|
|
Attorney’s Report |
Mr. Rupp confirmed no additional movement on any of the easements or the water decree. He hopes to resume progress soon. Mr. Rupp also stated he received two different versions of the agenda and that there needed to be a better way of getting the minutes out accurately. |
|
|
Consultant’s Report |
None Given |
|
|
Other Business |
The upcoming election is cancelled due to no other parties running for positions. Director Zuniga and Director Walker are hereby elected to positions on the Board of Directors for the Arabian Acres Metropolitan District. Mr. Rupp made the requested changes to the 2006 Budget and gave a brief rundown of the results of the changes to ‘Water Sales’ and ‘Tap Fees’ projected for the year 2006, which resulted in a positive cash flow in the amount of $17,863.00. Mr. Rupp maintained that a Monthly Service Fee increase would not be necessary at this time. Board members expressed concern of the present drought conditions and its effect on the District’s wells and water production. Spring run off from snow pack is nil. Hopefully this spring is rainy to compensate for the lack of snowfall this year. All wells will continue to be monitored. It will have to be determined at a later date as to whether any new well will be needed. The SDA is briefing the legislature that Executive Sessions must be electronically recorded and kept for 90 days. SB 109, if signed, will go into effect on August 9. In 90 days we should know the outcome. If SB 109 is passed, the District will need to buy a tape recorder and Mr. Malcolm will keep it along with the recording of any Executive Session the prescribed amount of time. It was pointed out that Directors Zuniga and Walker have never seen the District’s system and that they should be taken out for a tour sometime in the future. Mr. Rupp said that he would make arrangements for a tour as soon as possible. Director Yoder would like to be included. |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
_________________________________________ Secretary for the Meeting |
|