1. Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of Bartonville Water Supply Corporation was called to order by President Graves at 7:10. P.M. on Thursday, May 18, 2000 at the corporation office.
Directors in Attendance
Joe Graves, President
Michael Paulson, Vice-President
Kevin Alberts arrived at 7:35 P.M.
Duane Johnson
Scott Kilpatrick
Directors Absent
Carla Anderson
Larry Kaufman, Secretary-Treasurer
Consultants in Attendance
Jennifer Drury, CPA
Wayne Ginn, PE, The Ginn Corporation
Ronnie Phillips, Esquire
Staff in Attendance
Jim Leggieri, General Manager
Betty Robertson, Administrator
Public in Attendance
John Wagner, Republic Property Group
Ocie Vest, PE, Huitt-Zollars
Lori Heer
2. Executive Session:
At 7:11 P.M., President Graves announced that the Board would convene in Executive Session concerning:
All Matters Related to the Lantana Development/DCDD#4 Including An Agreement for the Lease of a Portion of the Copper Hill Pump Station, Pursuant to Government Code, Section 551.071.
The Board took no action and reconvened in Open Session at 7:29 P.M. President Graves moved to Item 6.
6. Discussion and Action on All Matters Related to the Lantana Development/ DCDD#4 Including An Agreement for the Lease of a Portion of the Copper Hill Pump Station.
President Graves stated that the first item for discussion would be the release of BWSC's CCN. He asked Phillips for comments.
Phillips noted that the general tenor of the agreement and the numbers are all right. He stated that the Board had proposed that the down payment be $750,000.00 which is roughly 20% and the same as the agreements with Bridlewood, Highland Shores, and Highland Village et al. He said that there are a couple of provisions on Item l C that he needed to clarify with the District's attorney.He noted that the remainder of the agreement was all right and that subject to the changes, the Board could approve the agreement.
Motion by Kilpatrick and second by Paulson that the agreement be approved subject to changes deemed necessary by Phillips.
Wagner initiated discussion on the misunderstanding about the down payment. He stated that they thought their options were to either lease or to pay $1,000.00 per lot to purchase the CCN. He said that after reviewing the Bridlewood agreement, they thought they were adding something by including the $100,000.00 down payment. Wagner stated the increase from $100,000.00 to $750,000.00 was a big change from what they understood.
Phillips explained that proportionately the amount is almost the same as the agreements with Bridlewood and other entities. He also noted that from a practical standpoint, BWSC understands that Lantana may quickly presale 700 to 900 or possibly all the lots while BWSC is agreeing to defer receipt of its money until the building permits are actually issued over a ten year build out projection.
Phillips noted that the proposal is really a better deal money wise for Lantana based on the present value of money if their build out projection is right. He noted that Bridlewood projected a three year build out, but built out more quickly than they projected.
President Graves noted basically that the Board wanted to approve the agreement in theory and let Phillips and others work out the numbers.
Phillips stated that if the $750,000.00 down payment is a problem for the developers, the Board had considered breaking the down payment into two payments with half of the payment due when TCEQ approves the CCN release and the other half due in six months.
Phillips also requested that an obligation to pay the assessment be a covenant attached to each lot for the protection of all parties.
Kilpatrick stated that he would accept the friendly modifications of allowing the $750,000.00 down payment to be made in two payments with the first half to be paid when TCEQ approves the CCN release and the other half to be paid in six months and the addition of a covenant to tie the per lot assessment to each to each lot. Paulson made the second to the friendly amendment.Motion approved unanimously.
Graves stated that the next item for consideration would be the lease agreement for the Copper Hill Pump Station. Phillips noted that the amount, the lease and theory seem to be fine, but that he, Leggieri, and Ginn need to review it. He said the Board could approve the agreement subject to staff modification.
Motion by Paulson and second by Kilpatrick to approve the temporary water and lease agreement for the Copper Hill Pump Station subject to staff review and language modification. Motion approved unanimously.
Graves wished the developers good luck. Wagner thanked the Board for working with them and stated that he thought this was the beginning of a good relationship.
Wagner, Vest, and Phillips left the meeting.
7. Discussion and Action on Lori Heer's Request for Exemption From BWSC's Policy Regarding Discontinuance, Cancellation, and Reactivation of Member- ships.
Leggieri gave a recap of previous discussions and the staff review. He noted that there have been two requests for reactivation of service since the new policy was adopted and neither party had any objections to the new policy.
The Board explained to Heer that it is not fair to the existing members for her to discontinue service, stop paying the service availability charge, and then request service for $50.00 while the other members have been paying their charges each month. It was also noted that the reactivation of all memberships will be under the new policy. Motion by Kilpatrick and second by Paulson to deny Heer's request.
Motion approved unanimously.
3. Public Forum
No one was present.
Consent Agenda
Motion by Alberts and second by Paulson to accept the Consent Agenda. Motion approved unanimously. The two items approved were:
4. Approve the Minutes of the February 8, March 23, March 28, and April 10 Board Meetings.
5. Accept the January, February, March, and April 2000 Disbursements and Financial Reports.
8. Discussion and Action on Catherine Vexler's Letter Dated May 4, 2000 Regarding Free Water as Door Prizes at the Annual Meeting.
Motion by Kilpatrick and second by Johnson to deny Vexler's request to eliminate giving water credits as door prizes to attract members to attend the meeting. Motion approved unanimously.
Leggieri reported that he responded to Vexler's letter and thanked her for her letter and told her it would be submitted to the Board.
9. Discussion and Action on All matters associated with Copper Woods Off Site Water main construction/Camp Briarwood/Murray Construction.
Discussion was held on Briarwood's request for the landscape plan for the replacement of trees removed by Murray Construction during the installation of BWSC's water line. The Board took no action on this item as negotiations are still in progress.
10. Discussion and Action on the Resolution to Adopt the Proposed Drought Contingency Plan.
Leggieri reported that BWSC had a water conservation plan; however, TCEQ now requires every water utility to design a drought contingency plan. He noted that the plan submitted to the UTRWD and TWDB met the requirement, but the plan needed to be more specific so changes were made. He stated that he used the information that Paulson secured from AWWA and also attended a seminar in Denton that was jointly sponsored by TCEQ and TRWA. He remarked that BWSC's plan is the only plan that he has seen that actually tells customers some things that they can do to conserve water; he said that most of the plans tell what the utilities will do. He also reported copies of the plan which explain BWSC's unique sign notification for the stages in effect were mailed to all member/customers. He stated plans must be completed by September 1, 2000.
Motion by Paulson and second by Alberts to approve the resolution to adopt the Drought Contingency Plan. Motion approved unanimously. Kilpatrick stated an excellent job had been done on the plan.
11. Discussion and Action on the Enforcement of a Warning and the Penalty for Violations of the Emergency Water Demand Management Plan/Drought Contingency Plan in any Stage.
Kilpatrick stated that according to the TCEQ there has been a drought for three years. He stated that essentially Leggieri is the water sheriff or cop. He requested that as Leggieri and the field personnel are doing their other duties, they notice violators of the water plan and keep a log. Kilpatrick suggested that on the first violation, the field personnel should give the member/customers a copy of the plan and make sure the member/customer understands the plan. He said on the second violation, the field personnel should use enforcement by locking the meter and having the member/customer pay the $75.00 fee. He said it is a matter of education and enforcement. He noted that the only problem he foresees is the member/ customers who have automated sprinkler systems. He suggested that in the next newsletter, an article should address the need to set automated sprinklers according to the stage of the plan in effect. Kilpatrick stated his goal is to minimize the need to purchase extra water for less than two weeks during peak demand. He stated that he is concerned about the people who are using 78,000 to 90,000 gallons a month.
Paulson inquired if there has been a system in the past where member/customers were checked for violations. Leggieri responded that he had stopped and talked with people in the past on weekends when stage three was in effect. He said they were apologetic and said they were not aware of the situation. He noted that some of the high usage is a result of the member/customers just not being aware of much water they are actually using, especially when they are new and have moved into a new home that has just had new landscaping installed.
Leggieri reported that he had checked with other water supply corporations and some of them have something similar to BWSC because they say that is about the only thing that is effective; some say they do not have anything because they do not have the time to police it.
Discussion followed on the use of private wells and aerobic septic systems and the need for proof that the people are really using water from BWSC. Paulson stressed the need for proof that the people are really using the water by reviewing the bills. He suggested doing a mail out explaining the stage of the plan in effect to all member/customers whose usage is above the average. Kilpatrick requested Leggieri to include in his monthly report the issues and progress of tracking of the high usage and violations that occur.
Alberts suggested that there maybe some proactive measures that BWSC can promote. He stated that people turn the hose on to water and then get busy and forget to turn off the water. He noted that he purchased a water flow meter device that can be set for a specified number of gallons and to shut off automatically. He noted that maybe BWSC can purchase these devices at a wholesale price and advertise them for sale in the newsletter.
Johnson stated that the only problem with using the bills is the delay in the time the meters are read and the bills are issued. Kilpatrick noted that maybe last year’s August bills should be used.
Alberts mentioned that the Double Oak police had volunteered to help track violations; the Directors agreed that education is the key to resolution of the problem.
12. Discussion and Action on Making an Application for a Loan from Rural Development.
Robertson briefly reviewed the key issues in securing a loan for capital projects from Rural Development of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She noted that Oliver Spiller with Rural Development in McKinney was very helpful by mailing a packet with information for securing a loan.
She stated that the packet would be given to Ginn since Spiller had indicated that the engineer was the key person in the loan process. Robertson reported that Spiller offered to meet with Leggieri, Ginn, and Directors if the Board decided to pursue this option.
Graves noted that the next step seemed to be to have Ginn review the packet and make his recommendation to the Board.
14. Discussion and Action on Changing the Board of Directors’ Meeting Date From the Second Thursday of the Month to Another Time.
Discussion was held on a date favorable to the Directors and Staff. Some of the Directors noted that their travel dates vary. It was also noted that some dates may need to be changed because of holidays.
Motion by Johnson and second by Kilpatrick that the regular monthly meeting date be set for the third Thursday of each month. Motion approved unanimously.
13. Discussion and Action on Acceptance of Joe Graves’ Resignation From the Board.
Graves’ letter of resignation was included in the Director’s packets. Graves noted he is moving from the area. He stated that he and Kilpatrick have been on the Board since 1991. He said that he had enjoyed serving on the Board. Ginn stated Graves had brought the Board through some tough times when it was struggling to improve the system and to get the Superior Water Rating. Johnson stated that he had been an outside observer until he was elected to the Board, but that he thought improvements made to the system were impressive. Graves said that the corporation needs to keep moving ahead and stay solid to prevent loss of control and being taken over by some other entity. He noted that the corporation has been ahead of the times by increasing the rates and impact fees, but that other utilities are catching up. He said that now the Board is diligent in receiving compensation for releases of the CCN.
He asked for a motion regarding this item. The Directors inquired if they had a choice. Motion by Kilpatrick and second by Paulson that the Board regretfully accepted Graves’ resignation. Motion regretfully approved unanimously. The Directors requested Graves to preside for the remainder of the meeting; he agreed.
15. Staff and Consultants Reports.
Ginn stated that he had a couple of comments. He reported that Preload had patched a pin hole in the ground storage tank at the Copper Hill Station. He said after the tank is sterilized, it will be filled and put back in service. He said he is working with Leggieri on the location of a well site and the costs associated with another well and pump station. Ginn explained that the $3000,00 a month lease price was based on the pump station having a value of $300,000.00 with a 1% monthly charge which is the usual cost on rental property. He said the cost may increase as other duties and expenses are added.
Both Kilpatrick and Paulson stated the charges need to recover all of BWSC’s costs but that they should be reasonable.
Robertson expressed the Staff’s appreciation to Graves for his cooperation and prompt response to requests.
16. Review Future Agenda Items, Activities and Announcements, and Set the Date and Time of the June Meeting.
The next regular meeting was set for Tuesday, June 20, 2000 at the corporation office at 7:00 P.M.
The staff was instructed to contact the gentleman from Double Oak who was interested in serving on the Board and contact the Town of Bartonville.
17. Adjournment
Motion by Paulson and second by Kilpatrick that the meeting adjourn. Motion approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:42 P. M.
Recorded by Betty Robertson, Deputy Secretary-Treasurer
Certified by Larry Kaufman, Secretary-Treasurer