LINCOLN
PIPESTONE RURAL WATER SYSTEM
East Highway 14, P.O.
Box 188, Lake Benton, MN 56149
(507)368-4248 fax (507)368-4573 email: lprw@itctel.com
MEETING
MINUTES
April 29, 2002
The regular
scheduled meeting of the Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water (LPRW) System Board of
Commissioners was held at the LPRW office in Lake Benton on Monday, April 29,
2002 starting at 6:00 p.m. Chairman Frank Engels called the meeting to order with
Commissioners Ken Buysse, Roger Gilliland, Jerry Lonneman, Charlie Simonson, Rod Spronk, Leonard Swenson, Bill Ufkin, Henry Van Dyke, and Joe Weber
present. Also present were LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald; DGR Engineer, John Madden; Field Superintendent, Don
Drietz; Director of Operations, Don Evers; Director of Finance and
Administration, Dennis Healy; and Water System Operators Ron Carr and Tom
Muller.
Agenda: The Agenda was approved with the addition of
“System Resolution for Northeast Phase Interim Financing” under the Northeast
Phase Expansion Project subject area.
M/S/P
Buysse/Simonson to go into executive session to discuss personnel issues. Upon roll call vote all Commissioners voted
in favor of the motion.
M/S/P
Ufkin/Buysse to adjourn from executive session and reopen the regular Board
meeting. Upon roll call vote all Commissioners voted in favor of the motion.
Minutes: M/S/P Swenson/Van Dyke to approve the
minutes of the March 25, 2002 Regular Board meeting. M/S/P Weber/Swenson to approve the minutes of the April 3rd
Personnel and April 9th Water Resources & Equipment Committee
meetings.
Treasurer's
Report: M/S/P Van Dyke/Simonson to approve the
Treasurer's Report as presented.
Bills: M/S/P Buysse/Swenson to approve the
following bills for payment:
· DeWild
Grant Reckert and Associates Company: Southwest Minnesota Supply Project #5 =
$5,230.14 and #6 = $1,381.54; Minneota Tower #20 = $5,083.36; NE Phase #17 =$412.50;
Lynd Area #16 = $7,534.20; General Services #13 = $2,013.45
· McDonald,
Gudmestad & Schramel: NE Phase = $830.00; General Legal Services = $894.13
· Lewis
& Clark Rural Water System: 2nd Quarter Membership &
Development = $5,925.33
· US
Bank: 1997 Refunding Bond = $39,040.00;
1992 Revenue Bond Interest = $1,155.00
Attorney’s
Report: LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald reported on the
following items:
• The Lynd agreements are being executed by the
MS&G developer and the City. An
easement through the MS&G property has also been drawn for the developer to
sign.
• The Northeast Phase court order and Yellow
Medicine County agreements are being prepared.
Engineer’s
Report: John Madden reported on the following items:
• Lynd Project: The bid documents are ready to sign, but the
MS&G developer has not signed his agreement yet.
Audit
Report: Matt Taubert, CPA from Meulebroeck, Taubert
& Co. presented the 2001 audit report with the following comments:
• The audit is presented as a “clean audit
report” with no findings or unresolved issues.
• The records maintained by LPRW are in “full
compliance” with state and federal regulations.
• LPRW is in “sound” financial condition with
adequate reserves to meet current debt service and capital needs.
M/S/P
Weber/Swenson to accept the audit report as presented.
Engineer’s
Report: continued:
• Minneota Tower
Project: USDA-RD has
authorized LPRW to award the bid to the low bidder, Caldwell Tanks, Inc. at a
base bid of $1,061,000.00.
• Northeast Phase
Expansion Project: Plans are being
prepared for the Existing North Phase project to proceed.
Burr/Northeast
Expansion Issues: Healy reported on
the following Burr/NE Expansion issues:
• There are currently 215 signups in the
Northeast Phase, and more are expected.
• A resolution to issue interim financing for
the Northeast Phase and to authorize the Chairman and Secretary to act on
behalf of LPRW in executing the necessary documents was reviewed and
discussed. M/S/P Weber/Buysse to adopt “RESOLUTION
OF THE WATER COMMISSION OF LINCOLN PIPESTONE RURAL WATER SYSTEM APPROVING AND
AUTHORIZING AN ADVANCE AGREEMENT WITH MINNESOTA RURAL WATER FINANCE AUTHORITY
AND AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN A JOINT POWERS AUTHORITY” and all members
voted in favor of the Resolution.
• Board members recommended that the person
farming the Minneota Tower site be notified so he does not plant crops on that
acre this year. Board members also
noted that they have been told that several people intend to sign up for water
when they “see pipe going in the ground” but we need to continue to encourage
people to sign up now.
• John Madden suggested that the Board authorize
the staff to set a bid opening date for the internal expansion because the next
Board meeting needs to be rescheduled.
M/S/P Ufkin/Lonneman to authorize the advertisement of bids for the
Existing North Internal Expansion Project, and that Directors Healy and Evers
be authorized to set the bid opening date as soon as practical subject to
USDA-RD authorization.
• The DNR amendment to the Burr permits to allow
468 new connections as part of the Northeast Phase Expansion has been approved
and received.
• M/S/P Weber/Van Dyke to authorize LPRW staff
to proceed with plans and specifications to install and test a 12” well at the
Obs 12-01 site southeast of the Burr WTP.
• M/S/P Buysse/Swenson to adopt the Burr Water Source 2002 Operations and
Contingency Plan, and to submit it to the appropriate agencies.
Marshall
Municipal Utilities: MMU has approved
the “Water Purchase Agreement” with minor changes in wording to parts A.2.d and
A.3. M/S/P Swenson/Simonson to approve
the “Water Purchase Agreement” between LPRW and MMU.
Wellhead
Projection: The wellhead
protection plans for the Verdi, Holland and North Holland well fields are being
prepared for adoption this summer.
Regional
Water Supply: Adrian is getting
hydrologic information to see if they can supply water on a regular basis. The
Southwest Minnesota Regional Water Supply Project is looking less beneficial to
LPRW as other options become available.
M/S/P Van Dyke/Lonneman to notify the other Southwest Minnesota Regional
Water Supply Project members that LPRW will not continue financial support
after current commitments have been met although we remain supportive of the
project and other opportunities to cooperate with the participants. Rod talked to the Mayor of the City of
Edgerton and they are very interested in discussing interconnecting our systems. An engineering proposal to study the
possibility of purchasing water from Osceola Rural Water to serve southern
Nobles County was reviewed. M/S/P
Spronk/Van Dyke to approve the proposal for engineering services from DeWild
Grant Rechert and Associates to study the feasibility of purchasing water from
Osceola Rural Water to serve southern Nobles County at a cost to LPRW not to
exceed $3,250. Healy reported that he
is working with 3 property owners to acquire options in eastern Yellow Medicine
County, and they have been very cooperative to work with. Healy contacted the
City Manager of the City of Granite Falls and he would be willing to discuss
cooperative activities.
Director
of Operations Report: Don Evers reported
on the following items:
· Lewis &
Clark long-term funding is being researched, and 2003 financing is not yet
passed by congress.
· Open houses
are being planned at the Holland and Burr WTPs for Water Week. Area schools will be touring the plants May 7,
8 & 9.
· We plan to
burn part of the CRP at Holland on April 30th. The CRP signup at Holland is being
reevaluated.
· The new
switches have been installed at the Holland WTP and they seem to be working.
· LPRW received
a check for $10,000 from fines in a Pipestone County criminal case. We will be using the money to purchase
monitoring equipment for the wellhead program.
· Cost estimates
$7,326.99 per building have been received for shingling and siding at the 6
original buildings. M/S/P
Swenson/Simonson to authorize work to be done at the Lincoln, Pipestone, Benton
and Verdi buildings because the roofs are leaking at those locations.
· Evers and
Drietz recommended that a second operator be assigned to the south service area
to help with the work load, and that the Board consider establishing a second
Field Superintendent or similar position because of the expanding area of the
system. M/S/P Buysse/Swenson to
authorize the reassignment of personnel, and direct the Personnel Committee to
evaluate staffing needs as part or the 2003 Budget process.
· Drietz
reported that the Ghent-Lynd line has been pressure tested.
Director
of Finance and Administration Report:
· Healy presented
information on the “Rural Minnesota’s Water Resources” conference June 10-11 in
Alexandria. The Board authorized
Dennis, Don and Board members to attend.
· Healy presented
the schedule for the annual County Board update meetings.
Committee
Reports: The following
committee reports were given:
Executive
Committee:
No report.
Budget &
Finance Committee: No report.
Personnel
Committee:
No report.
Water Resources
and Equipment Committee: No report.
Minnesota
Rural Water Association, Board Representative: Leonard Swenson reported that the MRWA program
dealing with antenna leases has been put on hold pending further study. The Trautman scholarship program is being
expanded. MRWA is planning to build a
new office building.
M/S/P
Weber/Lonneman to reschedule the May 27th (Memorial Day) meeting to
6:00 p.m. Monday, June 3rd.
M/S/P
Ufkin/Van Dyke to go into executive session to discuss personnel issues. Upon roll call vote all Commissioners voted
in favor of the motion.
Engels
and Spronk were directed to discuss various personnel issues with Evers and
Healy after the Board meeting.
M/S/P
Weber/Swenson to adjourn from executive session and reopen the regular Board
meeting. Upon roll call vote all Commissioners voted in favor of the motion.
Adjournment: M/S/P Weber/Swenson to adjourn the meeting
at 11:30 p.m. The next Regular Board
meeting will be Monday, June 3, 2002 at 6:00 p.m.
______________________________________________
Rod
Spronk, Secretary