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
April 25, 2005
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 25, 2005 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Chairman Rod Spronk called the meeting to order with Commissioners Ken Buysse,
Bill Ufkin, Earl De Wilde, Charlie Simonson, Leonard Swenson, Henry Van Dyke,
Jerry Lonneman, Mike Brunner, Frank Engels and Joe Weber present. Also present were Board Attorney, Ron
Schramel; Field Superintendent Tom Muller; and Connie Bressler.
Agenda:
M/S/P Engels/Lonneman to approve the Agenda as presented.
Minutes:
M/S/P Ufkin/Buysse to approve the minutes of the March 28, 2005 regular
Board meeting.
Treasurer's Report:
M/S/P Lonneman/Swenson to approve the Treasurer’s report as presented.
Bills:
M/S/P Swenson/Brunner to approve the following bills, subject to Dennis
Healy approval, for payment:
· DeWild Grant Reckert and
Associates Company: Lismore Service Connection #8 = $500.00; General Services #45 = $3,510.50
· McDonald, Gudmestad
& Schramel: General Legal Services = $1,184.80
· Liesch Associates Inc.: Yellow Medicine
Co. Observation wells = $3,644.77;
Research and General assistance = $1,094.90
· US Bank: Crossover Refunding Bonds of 1997 (interest only) = $ 23,137.50
Special Guests
·
Lowell Matthys
of Klein Addition called and stated he would not be attending the Board Meeting
regarding his assessment issue. He had
asked if this could be paid off in full and he was instructed this could be
done at any time in the courthouse.
·
Richard
Kroger of Wood Lake called and said he would not be attending the meeting. He stated he would be paying the water bill,
however he wished to have it on record that he may attend a meeting at a future
date to appeal.
Attorney’s Report:
Ron Schramel reported to the Board on the status of the Eatherly
suit/countersuit filed and updated the board on the arbitration meeting being
held. After discussion, the board was
in favor of settling the case if DGR would contribute a fair portion. M/S/P Lonneman/De Wilde to have LPRW not
exceed payment of $20,000 towards the settlement, while asking DGR to also
contribute $10,000 or 1/3 of the total settlement.
Regional Water
Development:
• Adrian:
Without changing the Adrian permit, and subject to DNR approval, it was
agreed to proceed with consideration of putting in a backup well.
• Rock County Rural Water:
M/S/P Engels/Lonneman to go ahead with Rock County Interconnection using
Option #2. A contract with Rock County
and Magnolia needs to be drawn up and signed before the engineering would
proceed. They wish to have in the
contract that when Lewis & Clark becomes available, the contract will
terminate.
• Edgerton Interconnection:
Rod Spronk, Tom Muller and the Edgerton City staff will meet to discuss
the possibility of an interconnection hookup.
Engineer’s Report: In the absence of the engineer, Tom
Muller went over the report that had been submitted.
• NE Expansion and GIS/GPS: Continuation with GIS interface
development and training.
• Burr WTP Improvements:
The Burr Water Treatment Well #8, 9 and 10 should be up and running this
week.
• 2005 System Improvements and Expansion: A revised table for the Dawson Area and
Clarkfield-Granite Falls area was presented. The construction cost per
connection for the Dawson Area is projected at $22,757. The Clarkfield-Granite Falls construction
cost per connection is $17,002.
• Chandler and Ivanhoe Boosters: The project is proceeding as planned.
• Edgerton Well:
Iron and manganese levels are too high to use cartridge type filters.
Traditional sand filters are the only reasonable removal method.
Field Superintendents’ Report: Tom
Muller reported on the following items:
·
410 G will
possibly be purchased this summer off the State Contract.
·
2 new
pickups will be purchased from Anton Chevrolet in Marshall, MN.
·
Concrete
projects for Verdi Shop and Ivanhoe Tower site were discussed. M/S/P Engels/Brunner to accept the low bid
for the Ivanhoe Tower site from Lovry of Tyler, MN. M/S/P Simonson/Brunner to reject all bids for the Verdi
shop. Tom Muller will draw up basic
specs and distribute these to the 3 bidders for new bid review and selection.
·
Updates on
CRP spraying costs were presented.
M/S/P Weber/Lonneman to proceed with spraying the CRP land with SW
Chemical & Fertilizer of Pipestone.
This will be done prior to May 15. The burn permit is also in place and
this will take place prior to May 15.
·
A potential
new customer hookup north of Canby was discussed. Ron Schramel recommended denying service due to safety issues
with employees involved. M/S/P
DeWilde/Weber to have Ron write a letter to the gentleman stating our denying
him water service.
·
New hookup
rates were discussed. M/S/P
Lonneman/Engels to put on a system wide moratorium on new hookups until a
special board meeting is held to discuss the possibility of changing hookup
fees. The moratorium will not affect
any written or verbal commitments that have been made by LPRW staff prior to
April 25. There will be no new hookups
down south until we have a signed contract with Rock County and Magnolia for
additional water.
CEO’s Report:
·
M/S/P
Engels/Buysse to appoint Dennis Healy as delegate and Jerry Lonneman as
alternate to represent LPRW at the Lewis & Clark 2005 Annual Membership
meeting to be held May 26th.
·
Rod Spronk
reported on the NRWA Rally in Washington, D.C. on April 16-20.
Committee Reports: The following committee reports were
given:
Executive Committee: No report.
Water Resources and Equipment Committee: No report.
Personnel Committee:
Candidates for the Water Resource Tech position will be interviewed next
week. Pat from DGR will be asked to be
in attendance for the elimination process.
Budget & Finance Committee: No Report
Minnesota Rural Water Association, Board
Representative: Leonard
Swenson reported on the monetary profit and also changes that may occur with
the MRWA Conference regarding vendor/spacing issues etc.
Other:
·
Possible
water shortage during spraying season was discussed. It was decided an article should be put into the newsletter
regarding this issue. Farmers will be encouraged to look for alternative water
resources and/or storage to be in place before the shortage issue occurs.
·
The
discontinuation of rental deposits that was adopted in December 2004 was also
discussed. The board felt an article
regarding this policy should also be included in the summer newsletter.
Adjournment:
M/S/P Burner/Ufkin to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 p.m. The next Regular Board meeting will be
Monday, May 23, 2005 at 6:30 p.m.
____________________________________________
Joe
Weber, Secretary