KEN-CARYL RANCH WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICT
MINUTES
May 21, 2010:
THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS was held on May 21, 2010 at 6:30 a.m. in the Conference Room of the Ken-Caryl Ranch Water & Sanitation District, 10698 W. Centennial Road, Jefferson County, Littleton, Colorado 80127 (mailing address), pursuant to notice given to each Director and posting of notice as required by law. The Directors in attendance were Steven D. Gustafson, Philip G. Varley, Jan E. Rousselot, Sandy L. Rinow, Amy S. Turney, Buddy J. “Bud” Becker, and Mike Spalding. Also present were District Manager Timothy R. Anderson, Assistant Secretary Lindsey C. Gibbons, and Attorney Jim Borgel.
Chairman Gustafson brought the meeting to order at 6:30 a.m.
- Present Board Disclosure of Potential Conflicts. No new or potential conflicts, or changes in previously reported conflicts were reported.
- Minutes-April 16, 2010 Regular Meeting. Following review, Director Rousselot moved to approve the Minutes. Upon a second by Vice-Chairman Varley, the motion was unanimously passed.
- Review Results of the May 4, 2010 Election. Mr. Anderson reviewed the results of the May 4, 2010 Election. Next, Chairman Gustafson congratulated the newly elected Board members and stated that it was a pleasure working with the Board and Staff the past eight years.
- Administer Oaths to New Directors. Chairman Gustafson administered the Oath of Office to Amy S. Turney, Mike Spalding, and Bud Becker. Next, Chairman Gustafson called for Board nominations. Mike Spalding nominated Philip Varley for Chairman of the Board. Then, Amy S. Turney nominated Jan E. Rousselot for Vice-Chairman. Philip Varley nominated Mike Spalding for Treasurer and Jan E. Rousselot nominated Amy S. Turney for Secretary. Each nomination was duly seconded and the nominated slate of officers was unanimously approved.
- New Board Potential Conflicts of Interest. Director Turney stated that she would have an ongoing conflict of interest in voting on monetary matters between Denver Water and the District.
- Accounts Payable/Paid. Mr. Anderson reviewed the Accounts Payable list for April 2010. Mr. Anderson stated that check 4102 was paid to O’Reilly Automotive (formerly Checker Auto Parts); check 4121 was paid to AV-Tech Electronics for emergency lighting on a field vehicle; check 4135 was paid to CD-Ron Enterprises for website updates; check 4147 was paid to C & M Iron for a sewer lift station gate.
Director Spalding asked about the $3,300.00 legal expense and Mr. Borgel responded that the District pays Holland & Hart a retainer fee on a monthly basis. Mr. Borgel explained that Holland & Hart typically does not charge the District for any additional costs incurred unless an unusually large amount of work had been performed. The Board asked Mr. Borgel to provide a copy of the Holland & Hart retainer agreement and a breakdown of the monthly duties he performs for the District.
Director Becker asked if there would be any additional charges for the 2009 audit and Mr. Anderson responded that he expected one more, small invoice from Haynie & Company and noted that a representative from the firm would be at the June meeting to go over the 2009 audit. Mr. Anderson stated that the District had a different firm perform the 2008 audit and it was not a thorough audit, so Haynie & Company was invited back to perform the 2009 audit. Director Becker asked about check 4101 paid to CEBT and Mr. Anderson responded that CEBT was the District’s health and dental pooled benefits provider. Mr. Anderson noted that he would provide the Board with a full overview of District benefits, vacation and sick time, and compensation at the July meeting.
Director Becker asked if the District’s engineering firm was paid by contract and Mr. Anderson stated that they were, and the District has used Black & Veatch for almost thirty years. Director Turney asked if Mr. Anderson could send out an RPF to other engineering firms prior to the 2011 capital projects. Mr. Anderson explained the sequence of events that occur with each capital project between the District and Black & Veatch.
Director Becker asked about check 4136 paid to the Jefferson County Treasurer and Mr. Anderson responded that the District purchases fuel from the Jefferson County south shop at a discounted rate and the Treasurer’s department bills the District for the fuel purchased. Mr. Anderson stated that each field vehicle has a fuel key and the fuel key has a cut-off point based upon the amount of fuel each vehicle can hold in their fuel tanks. Mr. Anderson stated that the fuel key system at Jefferson County provided a good system to prevent the misuse of fuel credit cards.
Director Spalding asked about check 4126 paid to Qwest and Mr. Anderson responded that each pumping station and lift station has a phone line that allows communication between it and the District office. Mr. Anderson stated that CBeyond is the company the District uses for its phone and data lines. Director Spalding asked Staff to review all phone lines in place. Then, Vice-Chairman Rousselot asked how many cell phones the District had and Mr. Anderson stated that there were five cell phones: one for himself, one for Joe Gallegos, one for Ed Keyes, and two phones for summer seasonal employees in the field. Mr. Anderson stated that the District has a laptop computer with a WiFi connection that goes home with the person on-call that evening. Mr. Anderson stated that the laptop allows the on-call employee to view water tank levels and shutdown valves from home, in case of an emergency.
Mr. Anderson stated that there had been vandalism at Tank #3 in the Valley. Mr. Anderson stated that IREA’s electric meter was damaged and the District’s SCADA antenna was broken. Mr. Anderson stated that he contacted IREA to report the damage to the meter.
Mr. Anderson stated that the charge on the corporate card to Best Buy was for a Quickbooks payroll upgrade. Mr. Anderson explained that the purchased software did not allow two users, so Mr. Anderson purchased an additional upgrade version from Intuit (Quickbooks) directly. Mr. Anderson explained that Vivienne Cutrell primarily processed payroll and Lindsey Gibbons was her back-up.
He then noted that the April 2010-60 Day and Over Receivables were higher than April 2009 because of the large, past-due balance for 15 Golden Eagle Lane. Mr. Anderson noted that even though the water was shut-off at this property, it still accrues a $102.24 bi-monthly water and sewer service charge on the account.
Vice-Chairman Rousselot moved to approve the Accounts Payable (Paid) list as presented. Upon a second by Director Becker, the motion was unanimously passed. - Financial Statements. Mr. Anderson noted that the operating account balance was approximately $600,000 and that at least $350,000 of the balance needed to be invested this month. Mr. Borgel reviewed the Colorado PDPA investment requirements and how they affect the District’s ability to invest with certain depositories. Mr. Borgel stated that he would provide the Board with a Memo of allowable investments.
Mr. Anderson reviewed the current assets, noting that $6 million had been restricted for capital expenditures. Director Becker asked about construction in progress and Mr. Anderson explained how it was accounted for. Then, Mr. Anderson reviewed the profit and loss statement noting that the District was billed monthly by Denver Water but the District charges its customers bi-monthly. Mr. Anderson stated that the City of Littleton invoices the District twice a year for sewer treatment, once in June and once usually in November. Director Becker asked how the City of Littleton charges the District and Mr. Anderson explained that the City of Littleton charges a flat rate sewer treatment charge for each residential customer and commercial accounts are billed based upon their previous year’s winter water usage.
Mr. Anderson stated that interest income was accounted for on a quarterly basis and there was a credit on the IREA power bill because of an incorrect multiplier in the computer system that has since been fixed. The Board discussed the ColoTrust First Quarter Report. Then, Chairman Varley stated that he would invite a guest speaker to come to a future Board meeting to discuss municipal bonds. Director Spalding stated that he could possibly invite a guest speaker to discuss investments too.
The Board directed Staff to invest as much as possible from the operating account in a 6- month T-Bill at Wells Fargo. Next, Mr. Anderson reviewed the miscellaneous charges listed on the back page of the Financials.
Director Becker moved to accept the April Financial Statements. Upon a second by Vice-Chairman Rousselot, the motion was unanimously passed. - District Manager’s Report. Mr. Anderson reviewed the Monthly Manager’s report for April 2010 with the Board. Mr. Anderson stated that he and Lindsey Gibbons met with a customer that is renting out a house in the North Ranch to discuss a billing issue that they had with their landlord.
Mr. Anderson stated that there were only 20 water shut-offs in April, which was lower than what they had in previous months. Next, Mr. Anderson stated that the Deer Creek Golf course uses ditch water for irrigation, but they utilize District water to provide service to their clubhouse, and two other buildings. Mr. Anderson noted that they pay the same rates for water service as other commercial properties.
Director Becker verified that the monthly Board Minutes were reviewed by the District Attorney every month. Director Turney suggested that Staff promote the Automatic Payment program to the District’s customers. Mr. Anderson stated that Staff asks customers frequently to join the program and all new accounts receive a form to enroll in the program with their New Account Welcome letter. The Board suggested writing about the automatic payment program in the Life at Ken-Caryl newspaper and to try to write an article about District matters monthly for the newspaper if possible.
Mr. Anderson reported that there were no water main breaks in April and stated that six manholes had been repaired. Mr. Anderson noted that an air line leak had been repaired at Chatfield Greens Lift Station #1 in the Trailmark subdivision.
Mr. Anderson stated that seasonal employees were starting on June 4th and the employees would be performing blow-offs, operating valves, and painting fire hydrants throughout the District. Mr. Anderson stated that seasonal employees were compensated for days worked and he hired five people this summer.
Mr. Anderson stated that he had not heard a response from Denver Water regarding the magnetic meters. Mr. Anderson noted that Staff had not cashed the check for approximately $19,000 that was sent from Denver Water.
Mr. Anderson reviewed a customer’s request for a shut-off fee reimbursement. After discussion, the Board directed Mr. Anderson to tell the customer that the $50 shut-off fee would not be waived. - Public Comment. There was no one present to comment.
- Capital Projects. Mr. Anderson stated that he met with Nelson Pipeline regarding the 2009 sanitary sewer replacement project and Nelson Pipeline requested a change order to cover expenses that were not part of its initial bid for the project. Mr. Anderson stated that he has requested documentation for these additional expenses, but he had not yet gotten a response.
Mr. Anderson stated that the Massey Draw Channel Restoration project was completed, and he placed an advertisement in the Columbine Courier for the final pay request today. Mr. Anderson stated that the project was approximately $14,000 over budget because it was necessary to add an airvac manhole to the original project. Director Spalding asked why the project was necessary and Mr. Anderson stated the project was needed to remedy severe erosion issues around a District water line.
Mr. Anderson stated that the World Headquarters Sewer Lift Station project was still in design because of delays with Jefferson County and with the Chatfield Water Authority. Mr. Anderson explained that the Chatfield Water Authority would like the District to install secondary containment to the project, which would cost the District at least an additional $10,000. Then, Mr. Anderson stated the Flow Control Valves and Vaults project was in the designing stage but was moving forward. - Open Items. Mr. Anderson stated that the Denver Water conservation committee discussed Denver Water’s leak detection program. Mr. Anderson stated that he would like to hire a leak detection company to locate the remaining brass saddles in the Plains area. Mr. Anderson noted by determining where the older saddles were located, it could help prevent expensive water main breaks in the future.
Mr. Anderson stated that the District’s water loss percentage was well under the American Water Works Association recommendations. Mr. Anderson stated that Denver Water was giving HOA’s toilet rebates to multi-family communities of 100 or more people living in the complex.
Mr. Anderson stated that representatives from the various water districts that contract with Denver held a monthly meeting to discuss common issues. At the last meeting the group discussed the sediment in Denver Water’s Strongia Springs reservoir left from wildfires. Then, Mr. Anderson discussed the City of Littleton monthly meeting. Mr. Anderson stated that the sewer treatment plant manager discussed contamination found in the sewage from a business, but the City of Littleton could not pinpoint exactly which business was responsible for the contamination at this point in time. - Other Matters. Director Turney verified with Mr. Anderson that the District employees total benefits package would be discussed at the July meeting, and she suggested discussing the health benefits first.
Chairman Varley asked if the Board would be interested in changing the meeting times to a different day and time. Chairman Varley suggested Monday evenings at 7 p.m. The Board asked Mr. Anderson what day and time Staff would prefer and Mr. Anderson stated that Staff would prefer Wednesday or Thursday mornings. After further discussion, Director Becker moved that the Board of Directors meet for monthly meetings the third Wednesday of every month at 7 a.m. in the conference room at 10698 W. Centennial Road, Littleton, CO 80127. Upon a second by Vice-Chairman Rousselot, the motion was unanimously passed.
Next, Chairman Varley asked Staff to update the Spring/Summer 2010 newsletter to reflect the new Board meeting time and asked if his contact information could be printed on the newsletter. Then, the Board asked if Mr. Anderson could provide tours of the District and Mr. Anderson responded that he would send out an email to the Board with potential tour dates, including one weekend date.
Mr. Anderson discussed the White Deer Valley subdivision, how the lots were laid out, and how it affected the District’s looped water system. Mr. Anderson passed out pamphlets for products that could help field Staff maintain the water system in the subdivision.
With there being no further business to discuss, Director Spalding moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:13 a.m. Upon a second by Director Becker, the motion was unanimously passed.