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
January 27, 2003
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, January 27, 2003 starting at 10:00
a.m. Chairman Frank Engels called the meeting to order with
Commissioners Ken Buysse, Jerry Lonneman, Charlie Simonson, Rod Spronk, Leonard Swenson, Bill Ufkin, Henry Van Dyke, and Joe Weber present. Commissioner
Roger Gilliland was absent. Also
present were Nobles County Commissioner, Diane Thier; LPRW Attorney, Dan
McDonald; DGR Engineer, Mr. Darin Schriever; Field Superintendents, Don Drietz and
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/Swenson to approve the minutes of the December 30, 2002
Regular Board meeting.
Treasurer's Report: M/S/P
Swenson/Lonneman to approve the Treasurer's Report as presented.
Bills:
M/S/P Weber/Simonson to approve the following bills for payment:
· DeWild Grant Reckert and
Associates Company: Minneota Tower #29 = $230.00; NE Phase #26 = $14,548.00;
Lynd Area #25 = $5,823.32; General Services #22 = $1,849.82
· McDonald, Gudmestad
& Schramel: NE Phase = $20.00; General Legal Services = $2,528.84
· Underground Developers,
Inc. and Goldleaf Escrow, LLC.: Lynd Schedule 1B Pipeline – Pay Estimate #4 = $13,896.13
· Engineering America,
Inc.: Lynd Standpipe and Booster – Pay Estimate #6 = $12,085.06
· Eatherly Constructors, Inc.: NE Phase
Schedule 1B Mainline-Pay Estimate #3 = $542,190.13
· Caldwell Tanks, Inc.: NE Phase Minneota
Tower-Pay Estimate #4 = $27,360.00
· KHC Construction, Inc.: NE Phase Minneota
Booster-Pay Estimate #1 = $13,594.50
· Liesch Associates, Inc.: Well #8 Invoice
#6 = $4,742.98; Adrian pump test = $2,296.00
· Energy Alternatives: Burr and Verdi
Standby Generators = $36,068.48
· Burlington Northern & Santa Fe
Railway Co.: NE Phase crossing permits
and insurance = $7,500.00
· Lewis & Clark Joint Powers
Board: 2003 budget share = $7,740.00
· US Bank:
Refunding Bond of 2001 = $422,620.00
Attorney’s Report:
LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald reported that the general assessment hearing
was held, and the assessments were approved and forwarded to the counties for
collection. McDonald reviewed the Board
appointment process. A potential
Pipestone County vacancy was discussed and Chairman Engels has appointed a
search committee pending final resolution of the vacancy. M/S/P Lonneman/Buysse to accept the verbal
resignation of Roger Gilliland pending his verification of his intent, and the
Board commends Roger Gilliland for 25 years of leadership and service to LPRW
and rural water development. McDonald
recommended and the Board agreed that the entire Board be recertified for
appointment when the next new appointment is made and that all 4 year terms
begin on January 1st and end on December 31st. M/S/P Ufkin/Lonneman to send letters to
potential appointees from Pipestone County subject to verification of Roger’s
resignation. Bill Ufkin recommended that a Board service policy
be prepared and McDonald explained the limitations of such a policy. Don Evers indicated that a policy was
adopted in the past and he will search for a copy.
City of Adrian: Commissioner
Thier asked about progress on water purchases from Adrian, and she wondered
about the impact on service within the City.
The Board noted that LPRW is paying to increase the City’s capacity, and
an agreement between the City and LPRW should be completed soon.
Engineer’s Report: Darin Schriever reported on the following items:
• Lynd Project:
Winter Brothers Underground has completed all work but they need to
complete final paperwork. Engineering
America Inc. is done with the Lynd Standpipe and Booster project except for
disinfection of the tank that will be done in the spring. The Booster Station is being used to supply
water to the City of Lynd, but the SCADA controls have not been installed
yet. Underground Developers Inc. has
completed work on the Schedule 1B Pipeline work, but final cleanup will be done
in the spring. M/S/P Spronk/Buysse to
issued a substantial completion notice to Underground Developers, Inc. setting
the substantial completion date at January 9, 2003. U.S. Filter plans to have the Lynd SCADA completed by the end of
February.
• Minneota Tower & Booster Project: Caldwell
Tanks will not be doing additional work on the tower until spring, but KHC is
working on the Booster Station portion of the project.
• North Internal Users Project:
The Internal Users Expansion is proceeding on schedule, and the
substantial completion documents will be issued for the 61 connections
completed. The contract will be kept
open until spring for final cleanup and any additional users added over the
winter.
• Northeast Phase Mainline and User Additions
Projects:
• The
Green Valley booster station is being designed.
• The
Carstensen Contracting project will be completed in the spring.
• Eatherly
Constructors, Inc. has installed over 62 miles of mainline pipe and they
continue to make good progress. M/S/P
Weber/Swenson to approve Change Order No. 2 that deducts $2,730.00 because
fewer joint restraints are needed for small valves. Schriever reported that based on current signups and identified
pipeline we are significantly below budget, and we should inform the contractor
of pending contract reductions to minimize unnecessary costs. M/S/P Ufkin/Simonson to decrease contract
quantities on this contract by the equivalent of 100 users. We can add the hookups back in at a later
date if they materialize.
• Production and Distribution Improvement
Issues:
• The
Adrian project appears to have good potential and should proceed. M/S/P Buysse/Lonneman to authorize the
Executive Committee to proceed with the project as soon as possible so it will
be of use before the spring peak usage occurs.
• Requests
for service in the south part of the system were discussed, but increased
delivery to the Chandler Tower is needed to expand service in the area. Schriever presented several options for
increased delivery including: a second
line to the Edgerton Station, use of the existing well near Edgerton, purchase
of water from the City of Edgerton, and increased delivery from Edgerton to Chandler. The options are being explored, and the
Leota Booster Station is being improved to increase flow.
• Schriever
also noted that increasing production from the Verdi well field would reduce
costs because it requires less treatment.
Burr Exploration:
LTP Enterprises completed work on Burr Well #8 so test pumping can be
scheduled.
Regional Water Supply: Several
options are being considered but there is no new activity to report.
Wellhead Projection
Plans: The Verdi and Holland/North Holland plans are
ready for public review and comment. M/S/P Spronk/Lonneman to approve the Verdi
Wellhead Protection Plan and set a hearing on the plan for 10:00 a.m. on
Friday, April 4, 2003 at the LPRW Office in Lake Benton. M/S/P Weber/Buysse to
approve the Holland/North Holland Wellhead Protection Plan and set a hearing on
the plan for 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2003 at the LPRW Office in Lake
Benton.
Director of Operations
Report:
· Don Evers reported that Lewis and Clark
Rural Water is advertising to fill the Executive Director position. The FONZI is about complete. Iowa Rural Water #1 may be withdrawing from
LCRWS but another Iowa system will take their allocation.
· Work is proceeding on the Verdi generator
to correct control problems, but the Burr generator is working good.
· We are planning to replace 3 vehicles
this year, and the staff has asked if the Board will sell the old vehicles at
$1,000 below trade-in value as in the past.
The Board decided to wait until they can review quotes to decide.
Director of Finance and
Administration Report:
· Healy reminded the Board that we need
their registration information for the MRWA Conference.
· Healy reported on new health insurance
options available through the purchasing coop.
The Board would like more information at the next meeting.
· Security evaluation, planning and
implementation issues were discussed.
Committee Reports: The following committee reports were
given:
Executive Committee: No report.
Budget & Finance Committee: No report.
Personnel Committee: No report.
Search Committee: No report.
Water Resources and Equipment Committee: No report.
Minnesota Rural Water Association, Board
Representative: Leonard Swenson updated the Board on the
MRWA office project and operations.
Chairman Frank Engels proposed that all committee and other
appointments remain the same in 2003:
M/S/P Weber/Lonneman to approve the
Chairman’s appointment recommendation.
Other Business: Ken
Buysse asked about a lengthy water outage near the Minneota Tower, and staff
explained that unexpected material requirements resulted on the 8-9 hour repair
requirement.
Adjournment:
M/S/P Spronk/Simonson to adjourn the meeting at 3:30 p.m. The next Regular Board meeting will be
Monday, February 24, 2003 at 10:00 a.m.
______________________________________________
Rod
Spronk, Secretary