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

November 29, 2004

 

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, November 29, 2004 starting at 10:00 a.m. Chairman Rod Spronk called the meeting to order with Commissioners Mike Brunner, Ken Buysse, Earl DeWilde, Frank Engels, Charlie Simonson, Leonard Swenson, Joe Weber, Jerry Lonneman, Henry Van Dyke, and Bill Ufkin present. Also present were Eric Johnson, City of Minneota Police Chief; Bob Eatherly, Eatherly Constructors, Inc.; Board Attorney, Ron Schramel; DGR Engineers John Madden and Darin Schriever; Water Resource Technician, Maggie Karschnia; Field Superintendents Don Drietz and Tom Muller; Director of Finance and Administration, Dennis Healy; and Director of Operations, Don Evers.

 

New employee Maggie Karschnia was introduced and welcomed to LPRW.

 

Agenda:  M/S/P Swenson/Van Dyke to approve the Agenda as presented.

 

Minutes:  M/S/P Engels/Brunner to approve the minutes of the October 25, 2004 Regular Board meeting.

 

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

 

Bills:  M/S/P Ufkin/Brunner to approve the following bills for payment:

·   DeWild Grant Reckert and Associates Company: NE Phase #48 = $8,386.50; Adrian Well No 7 = $1,224.00; Lismore Service Connection #4 = $788.00; General Services #41 = $225.25

·   McDonald, Gudmestad & Schramel: General Legal Services = $1,224.00

·   Pat Sterzinger: (NE Phase) Schedule 1C-Pipeline Extensions, PPE #4 = $35,802.37

·   Robert L. Carr, Co.: (NE Phase) Burr Well enclosures, PPE #2  = $38,522.50

·   Liesch Associates, Inc.: (Adrian) Adrian well # 7, PPE #2 = $2,023.86

·   US Bank: 1998 GO Refunding Bond payment in full = $476,792.50; 1998 GO Refunding Bond Series B payment = $289,387.50; 2003 GO Refunding Bond (Lincoln Co) payment = $106,961.88; 2003 GO Refunding Bond (Nobles Co) payment = $136,463.75

·   USDA – Rural Development: Loan 91-20 Bond payment = $131,012.50; Rural Development: Loan 91-22 Bond interest only payment = $223,744.93

 

 

Request to Place Radio Equipment on the Minneota Tower:  Minneota Police Chief, Eric Johnson, met with the Board to request permission to place a “repeater and antenna” on the Minneota water tower.  Johnson noted that emergency agencies in northwestern Lyon County do not have good communications because the closest tower is to far away.  Johnson noted that he patrols the tower site, and he would probably be the first responder in case of an emergency.  Johnson also said he would coordinate access to the tower for maintenance of the radio equipment during regular LPRW working hours.  M/S/P DeWilde/Ufkin to authorized Minneota to install the radio equipment at no rental fee provided that any costs of LPRW are paid and provided that the parties enter into an acceptable rental agreement.

 

 

Request to Place Radio Equipment on the Benton Site radio tower:  Don Evers reported that he has received a request from the Lake Benton School to put an antenna on the Benton Site radio tower.  M/S/P Lonneman/Swenson to allow the Lake Benton School to put an antenna on the Benton Site radio tower under the same conditions as the Minneota request.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attorney’s Report: Board Attorney, Ron Schramel presented various closeout options on the Schedule 1B Mainline contract with Eatherly Constructors given the reports from LPRW staff and DGR.  LPRW staff and Bob Eatherly reported on the status of punch list items.  M/S/P Weber/Brunner to authorize LPRW crews to begin immediately to finish those punch list items missed by the Eatherly crew because of the time of year and the fact that the landowners concerned have been waiting a year or more for this work to be done.  LPRW staff estimated that the cost of these items will be $5,000 to $10,000.  M/S/P Ufkin/Brunner to reject the project closeout offer from Eatherly Constructors, Inc. dated November 12, 2004.  The offer called for a final payment of $58,965.12.  M/S/P Lonneman/Simonson to offer to closeout the project under the following condition:  1) the final contract amount will be adjusted by change order to $5,033,135.43, the amount of the previous payments; 2) LPRW will accept a check for $4,068.80 for full and final settlement of the claims presented in the November 22, 2004 letter from LPRW to Eatherly Constructors, Inc. and LPRW will make the required payments to affected property owners; and 3) LPRW will satisfy all remaining punch list items identified prior to November 29, 2004 without cost to Eatherly Constructors, Inc. but Eatherly Constructors, Inc. will remain responsible for contract warranty requirements.  The Board established a December 20, 2004 deadline for acceptance of the offer.

 

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

 

•  Schedule 1B Mainline: Closeout discussions are under way.

 

•  GIS/GPS:  DGR is about 95% done with the staking sheets.

 

•  Schedule 1C Pipeline:  The contractor is nearly completed but grass seeding will be done in the spring.

 

•  Burr WTP Improvements:  Work on the treatment plant projects is progressing.

 

•  Lismore:  Mid States completed the work 24 days late and the liquidated damages amount is up to $200/day.  M/S Buysse/DeWilde to set the liquidated damages amount at $3,000.  The motion failed with 4 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 2 abstentions. M/S/P Van Dyke/Brunner to set the liquidated damages amount at $4,800.  The motion passed with all members voting in favor.

 

•   Burr GSR: The GSR project will be postponed until another project due to lack of funding.

 

•  2005 Project Application: The 2005-2008 System-wide Expansion and Improvement Project is being processed by USDA-Rural Development.

 

•   Adrian:  We are waiting for Minnesota Department of Health approval.

 

 

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

•   Water sample results from 2 sites in eastern Yellow Medicine County one good quality and one poor quality.

•   CRP issues with the Lincoln County and Pipestone County FSA offices were discussed.

•   Evers presented a proposal from Maguire Iron to repair the Hendricks and Ivanhoe water towers at a cost of $11,000.  M/S/P Ufkin/Lonneman to accept the proposal from Maguire Iron.

·   The Lewis & Clark project report was presented.

·   A future site for water storage in the Adrian area was discussed.

·   Evers reported that the generators are being used for peaking purposes.

·   Don Drietz reported on the status of new hookups.

 

 

Director of Finance and Administration Report:

·   The Northeast Phase Project financial status was reviewed.

·   Employee meetings with the Personnel Committee and available Board members have been scheduled for Wednesday, December 1st.

·   A meeting with Mark Wettlaufer from MRWA to review progress on the Wellhead Projection program is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30th.

 

Committee Reports: The following committee reports were given:

Executive Committee: No report.

Water Resources and Equipment Committee: The Committee will meet on December 9th.

Personnel Committee: M/S/P Simonson/Swenson to approve the minutes of the 11/22/04 Personnel Committee meeting. The following Personnel Committee recommendations were reviewed and acted upon:  M/S/P Buysse/Van Dyke to approve changes to Sections 101.11.5 and 102.05.7 of the Personnel Policy to change “on-call” benefits from $50 per week to 4 hours of paid time off. M/S/P Lonneman/Engels to approve changes to Section 101.13.1 of the Personnel Policy to add a new “extended service” employee classification.  M/S/P Ufkin/Brunner to change employee eligibility for health, life and disability insurance from a minimum of 30 hours per week to 20 hours per week for those positions otherwise eligible for those benefits, and authorize Dennis Healy to execute the documents necessary to make the change.  M/S/P DeWilde/Brunner to offer Don Evers either a part-time or full-time (Evers’ option) position as an Extended Service Water Technician per the attached job description at Step 9, Year 27 of the Field Superintendent pay scale ($22.79) effective December 27, 2004.  The position would include full benefits provided that he works enough hours to maintain eligibility, and a vehicle will be available from the office as needed.  M/S/P Weber/Ufkin to approve the creation of the Chief Executive Officer position with the attached job description. M/S/P Swenson/Buysse to appoint Dennis Healy as the Chief Executive Officer effective December 27, 2004 at an annual salary of $66,950.00 plus a car allowance of $200 per pay period in addition to regular mileage rates.  M/S/P Ufkin/Lonneman to approve the “Future Organizational Chart” dated 11/23/04 and attached.  M/S/P Lonneman/Engels to creation the position of “Water System Maintenance Technician” to be filled in the last quarter of 2005.  A complete job description will be prepared at a later date.

Budget & Finance Committee: The Committee will meet on December 9th.

Minnesota Rural Water Association, Board Representative: Leonard Swenson updated the Board on MRWA activities including the new vehicle purchase program.

 

 

Other:  Election of officers for 2005 will be held at the December 27th Board meeting.  Quotes for a new ATV have exceeded the $4000 in the CIP budget.  The Board authorized the purchase but at a smaller size than described in the quotes.

 

 

Adjournment:  M/S/P Lonneman/DeWilde to adjourn the meeting at 4:15 p.m.  The next Regular Board meeting will be Monday, December 27, 2004 at 10:00 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                     ______________________________________________

                                                                                          Joseph Weber, Secretary