LINCOLN PIPESTONE RURAL WATER SYSTEM
East Highway 14, P.O. Box 188, Lake Benton, MN
56149
(507)
368-4248 or (800) 462-0309 fax
(507) 368-4573 email: lprw@itctel.com
MEETING MINUTES
February 24, 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, February 24, 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 LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald; DGR Engineer, John
Madden; Field Superintendent, Don Drietz; 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 January 27, 2003
Regular Board meeting.
Treasurer's Report:
M/S/P Swenson/Lonneman to approve the Treasurer's Report as presented.
Bills:
M/S/P Weber/Buysse to approve the following bills for payment:
· DeWild Grant Reckert and
Associates Company: Minneota Tower #30 = $2,082.08; NE Phase #27 = $9,615.84;
Lynd Area #26 = $1,227.00; General Services #23 = $1,326.00
· McDonald, Gudmestad
& Schramel: General Legal Services = $909.22
· Eatherly Constructors, Inc.: NE Phase
Schedule 1B Mainline-Pay Estimate #4 = $222,960.29
· KHC Construction, Inc.: NE Phase Minneota
Booster-Pay Estimate #2 = $57,048.50
· Liesch Associates, Inc.: Well #8 Invoice
#7 = $1,178.00; Adrian pump test Invoice #3 = $1,100.36
· Energy Alternatives: Burr and Verdi
Standby Generators = $665.00
· Wells Fargo Brokerage Services: Generator Lease Payment #1 = $12,799.15
Attorney’s Report:
LPRW Attorney, Dan McDonald reviewed procedures for filling vacancies on
the Board, and outlined procedures to be followed.
Engineer’s Report:
John Madden 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.
• 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.
• Green Valley Booster Project: Plans are about ready to be sent to agencies
for review.
• North Internal Users Project:
The Internal Users Expansion is being kept open until spring for final
cleanup and for any additional users added over the winter.
• Northeast Phase Mainline and User Additions
Projects:
• Eatherly
Constructors, Inc. is completing some work as weather allows. Quantity and price adjustments are being
reviewed in light of contract reductions.
M/S/P Spronk/Van Dyke to approve Change Order #3 to decrease contract
quantities on this contract by the equivalent of 100 users and deduct
$1,052,345.88 from the contract price.
• GPS Mapping:
GPS mapping of the Northeast Phase project was discussed. M/S/P Ufkin/Swenson to authorized DGR to
work with LPRW staff to complete GPS mapping of all parts of the Northeast
Phase Project. Madden indicated that
the engineering costs for the Northeast Phase may be reduced due to the
reduction in scope, and that the GPS work is consistent with the work included
in the scope of services of the original engineering contract.
• John
Madden reported that he will be stepping down as President of DGR but that he
will remain in an engineering capacity for the foreseeable future.
Production
and Distribution Improvement Issues:
• Burr Exploration:
LTP Enterprises completed work on Burr Well #8 pumping test, and the
preliminary results look promising at 350 gallons per minute. The Board directed staff to close out the
LTP contact, and begin the process to bid additional work at the Burr WTP.
• Frank Engels, Jerry Lonneman, Joe Weber, Don Evers and Dennis Healy
met with the City of Adrian to discuss both short and long range service
options. The Adrian Utilities
Commission assured LPRW that they would meet peak demands in 2003 if possible,
and LPRW agreed to conduct preliminary exploration activities outside the
existing Adrian well field. Both groups
have expressed their desire to continue to cooperate on water issues.
• Don
Evers reported that he had been contacted about purchasing water from Rock
County Rural Water.
• The
Board decided to explore both the Adrian and Rock County water sources.
Health Insurance
Presentation: Steve
Severson representing the Appletree Institute, the Administrator of the BCBS
health plan used by LPRW, met with the Board to present a new health insurance
option called a VEBA Plan that LPRW may want to consider for next years
renewal. Dennis Healy and Ken Buysse
will also be attending a meeting on health insurance and related issues on
February 25th.
Director of Operations
Report:
· Don Drietz reported that the Northeast
Phase contractor has been having problems with a tie-in at Green Valley and several
outages have resulted. We are working
with the contractor to correct the problem.
· Don Evers reported that $7 million in
federal funding has been approved for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water project.
· Both the Verdi and Burr generators are
working. Cost estimates for a generator
in the Verdi well field were reviewed.
Director of Finance and
Administration Report:
· Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative
sent a request for LPRW to appoint a voting delegate for their annual
meeting. M/S/P Lonneman/Weber to
appoint Leonard Swenson as the LPRW voting delegate, and to
appoint Charlie Simonson as the alternate.
· Healy presented information on the March
27th LPRW Wellhead Protection meeting to be presented by the
University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center. Several Board members and staff will be
attending.
· The Board reviewed a request for matching
funds to support a Farm Bill Assistance Grant for the Pipestone County
SWCD. M/S/P Lonneman/Weber to provide
up to $3,500 in matching funds for the project.
· Health reported that grant funds for
security measures may be available through Lincoln County and perhaps other
surrounding counties.
· Healy updated the Board on the agenda at
the MRWA Conference.
Committee Reports: The following committee reports were
given:
Executive Committee: No report.
Budget & Finance Committee: No report.
Personnel Committee: No report. The Personnel Committee will meet at 1:00 p.m. on March 21st.
Search Committee: No report.
Water Resources and Equipment Committee: No report. M/S/P Ufkin/Buysse to authorize the Water Resources &
Equipment Committee to take care of all farm program matters for LPRW property,
and to give Don Evers Power Of Attorney to sign for all farm program matters.
Minnesota Rural Water Association, Board
Representative: Leonard Swenson updated the Board on MRWA
activities.
Other Business:
Possible requests to manage small sewer systems on area lakes were
discussed, and will be considered when more information is known. The Search Committee will meet on March 21st
if information can be received soon enough.
Adjournment:
M/S/P Lonneman/Spronk to adjourn the meeting at 4:30 p.m. The next Regular Board meeting will be
Monday, March 31, 2003 at 10:00 a.m.
______________________________________________
Rod
Spronk, Secretary