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

September 30, 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, September 30, 2002 starting at 6:00 p.m.  Chairman Frank Engels called the meeting to order with Commissioners Roger Gilliland, Charlie Simonson, Rod Spronk, Leonard Swenson, Bill Ufkin, Henry Van Dyke, and Joe Weber present. Commissioners Ken Buysse and Jerry Lonneman were absent.  Also present were LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald; DGR Engineers, John Madden and Darin Schriever; Field Superintendent, Don Drietz; Water Operator, Tom Muller; Director of Operations, Don Evers; and Director of Finance and Administration, Dennis Healy.

 

Agenda:  The Agenda was approved as presented.

 

Minutes:  M/S/P Ufkin/Van Dyke to approve the minutes of the August 26, 2002 Regular Board meeting.

 

Treasurer's Report:  M/S/P Swenson/Simonson to approve the Treasurer's Report as presented.

 

Bills:  M/S/P Swenson/Van Dyke (Engels abstained) to approve the following bills for payment:

·   DeWild Grant Reckert and Associates Company: Minneota Tower #25 = $6,838.46; NE Phase #22 = $14,739.57; Lynd Area #21 = $4,400.14; General Services #18 = $301.50

·   McDonald, Gudmestad & Schramel: NE Phase = $385.00; General Legal Services = $853.07

·   B. A. Liesch Associates, Inc.: Burr Test Well Project = $1,637.55; Burr Exploration = $154.00

·   Engineering America, Inc.: Lynd Standpipe & Booster-Pay Estimate #2 = $86,879.50 and Pay Estimate #3 = $24,044.50

·   Caldwell Tanks, Inc.: Minneota Tower-Pay Estimate #1 = $213,341.50

·   Energy Alternatives: Verdi and Burr Generators = $5,749.54

·   Lyon County Highway Department: NE Phase Project Permits = $1,080.00

·   Moseng Land Surveying, Inc.: Green Valley Booster topo survey = $320.00

·   Carstensen Contracting: Schedule 1A User Additions-Pay Estimate #1 = $233,336.45

·   Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith &  Frederick: Legal Services-NE Phase Interim Bonds = $5,086.32

 

Attorney’s Report:  LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald reported on the following items:

·   The Hasslen Construction vs. Northern Alternative Energy, et al lawsuit has been settled with no impact on LPRW.

·   An easement across the South 290 feet of the North 585 feet of the East 480 feet of the Northeast Quarter of Section 10, Township 106 North, Range 46 West of the 5th P.M., Pipestone County, Minnesota, was erroneously granted to LPRW in 1995, and we need to terminate it.  M/S/P Van Dyke/Swenson to authorize termination of the easement across the above described property.

·   Amended lease documents from Wells Fargo Bank for the Verdi and Burr standby generator projects were presented for review because the interest rate had been lowered from 5.12% to 4.95%.  M/S/P Ufkin/Simonson to approve the following Resolution:

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING LEASE-PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR STANDBY ELECTRIC FACILITIES AT THE VERDI PUMP STATION AND BURR WATER TREATMENT PLANT

 

                                The Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water Board of Commissioners hereby approves the “GOVERNMENTAL LEASE-PURCHASE MASTER AGREEMENT” between Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water System and Wells Fargo Brokerage Services, LLC in the amount of $200,000.00 to acquire standby electric generation facilities at the Verdi Pump Station and the Burr Water Treatment Plant.  Said lease shall require 20 semi-annual payments of $12,799.15 each, and at the end of the lease Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water System may at its option purchase the facilities for $1.00.  The officers of Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water are hereby authorized to execute such lease documents as are necessary to close the transaction.  This Resolution replaces and supersedes the Resolution of the same name adopted at the August 26, 2002 Board meeting.

 

                                The following commissioners voting in favor and the following commissioners voting against:

FOR:  Roger Gilliland, Charlie Simonson, Rodney Spronk, Leonard Swenson, Bill Ufkin, Henry Van Dyke, Joe Weber, and Francis Engels.

AGAINST:  none

 

•   McDonald reported that he plans to start working on the non-Northeast Phase Project assessments in October.

·   The “AMENDED AND RESTATED COMMITMENT AGREEMENT” between Lewis and Clark Rural Water System and LPRW was discussed at the LCRWS meeting and they would like it approved for their October meeting.  No action was taken on the recommendation of Don Evers and Dan McDonald.

 

Engineer’s Report:  John Madden and Darin Schriever reported on the following items:

 

•  Lynd Project:  The standpipe and booster project is progressing on schedule.  Bids were opened at 5:00 p.m. on September 30th on the Schedule 1B-Development Pipeline project.  Bids were received from Underground Developers ($203,709.92); Carstensen Contracting ($221,293.00); MidStates Utilities ($254,023.00); and Duininck Brothers ($329,716.00).  Madden noted that the estimated cost was $240,000, and recommended awarding the bid to the low bidder, Underground Developers.  M/S/P Weber/Swenson to award the Schedule 1B-Development Pipeline project to Underground Developers for $203,709.92.

 

•  Minneota Tower & Booster Project:  The Minneota Tower & Booster Schedule 4-Booster bid letting was held September 25, 2002 at 1:30 p.m. at the LPRW office in Lake Benton. Bids were received from KHC Construction ($288,000.00) and D. W. Proehl Construction ($311,730.00); and Madden recommended that the low bid from KHC Construction be accepted. M/S/P Van Dyke/Simonson to award the Minneota Tower & Booster Schedule 4-Booster bid to KHC Construction, Inc. of Marshall, Minnesota for $288,000.00 subject to approval of the USDA – Rural Utilities Service.

 

•  Northeast Phase Expansion Project: The NE Phase & Internal Expansion-Schedule 1B-Mainline bid letting was held September 25, 2002 at 1:30 p.m. at the LPRW office in Lake Benton.  Bids were received from Eatherly Constructors ($5,850,838.29); Carstensen Contracting ($5,918,695.71); Spalj Construction ($6,240,081.95); BRB Contractors ($6,596,086.53); and C. R. Fredrick ($10,261,682.20); and Madden recommended that the low bid from Eatherly Constructors be accepted.  M/S/P Swenson/Simonson to award the NE Phase & Internal Expansion-Schedule 1B-Mainline bid to Eatherly Constructors, Inc. of Garden City, Kansas for $5,850,838.29 subject to approval by the USDA – Rural Utilities Service.

 

•  North Internal Users Project:  The Internal Users Expansion is proceeding on schedule.  Contract Change Order No. 1 from Carstensen Contracting, Inc. for the Schedule 1A-User Additions Project was reviewed.  M/S/P Weber/Ufkin to approve Contract Change Order No. 1 from Carstensen Contracting, Inc. for the Schedule 1A-User Additions Project increasing the contract amount by $1,472.90 subject to approval by the USDA – Rural Utilities Service.

 

Miscellaneous Northeast Phase Expansion:  Signups are progressing with 236 currently and additional signups being received.  A meeting with Hanley Falls to discuss a possible hookup is scheduled for Friday, October 4th.  The Board set a hookup fee of $330,000 to supply half of the City’s needs or $430,000 to supply all of their needs provided the timing and other issues can be worked out.  Healy and Evers were authorized to negotiate a workable hookup plan with the City.

 

Burr Exploration: The Burr Well 8 bid letting was held September 25, 2002 at 11:00 p.m. at the LPRW office in Lake Benton.  Bids were received from Traut Wells ($45,081.00); LTP Enterprises ($36,705.00); Steffl Drilling ($40,210.00); Thein Well Drilling ($42,166.00); and Ervin Well Co. ($37,377.00); and Liesch Associates recommended that the low bid from LTP Enterprises be accepted.  M/S/P Simonson/Swenson to award the Burr Well 8 bid to LTP Enterprises, Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota for $36,705.00 subject to approval by the USDA – Rural Utilities Service.

 

Wellhead Protection:  Healy reported that the Holland and North Holland Wellhead Protection Plans can be combined into a single plan because the protection areas overlap.  Evers noted that he has received a report of illegal dumping near the Holland wellhead and he will follow up on the report.

 

Regional Water Supply:  The meeting with the City of Adrian Utility Commission on September 17th was very productive, but they want us to test their aquifer and provide a backup well.  M/S/P Spronk/Van Dyke to authorize Liesch Associates to proceed with the Adrian Phase 1: Aquifer Capacity Analysis as described in their April 10, 2002 letter to DGR with an estimated cost of $8,310.00.  Evers reported that the City of Edgerton is interested in providing water to LPRW when their new treatment plant is completed.

 

Stony Point Development:  The developers of the proposed Stony Point Development on Lake Benton have asked if LPRW would be interested in billing for sewer service and perhaps maintaining a central sewer system on a contract basis for the developer.  The Board authorized Healy and Evers to enter into discussions with the developer.

 

Director of Operations Report:  Don Evers reported on the following items:

·   Evers provided an update on Lewis & Clark progress, and reported that the groundbreaking has been rescheduled until Spring.  Well bids were rejected and they will be re-bid next year.

·   The main line from the Edgerton site to the Leota booster will be “pigged” in late October to improve flows.

·   The Verdi and Burr standby generators are scheduled to be installed, and another generator at the Verdi wells is being considered.

·   The Minneota Tower project is going well, and the Ghent booster should be here October 14th.

·   Tom Muller described a situation where 2 houses were originally hooked up to one water service but the property has been split.  He noted that there are other situations like that in the system and he asked if the Board’s policy still required separate hookups for each property description.  The Board stated that the policy has not changed, and the Board directed the staff to enforce the policy and provide a copy of the policy to the property owners.

·   The Board authorized the staff to set up payment plans when necessary to collect large bills when unusual circumstances warrant.

·   Don Drietz asked if crop damage payments would be increased for high value crops such as sugar beets.  The Board did not make any changes in the standard rates at this time.

 

Director of Finance and Administration Report:

·   Healy reported that health insurance rates will be increasing by 7.5% or less next year.

 

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 report that the MRWA Board authorized construction of a new office building, and the new small systems  Circuit Rider is very busy.

 

Adjournment:  M/S/P Weber/Simonson to adjourn the meeting at 10:30 p.m.  The next Regular Board meeting will be Monday, October 28, 2002 at 6:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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                                  Rod Spronk, Secretary