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
August 29, 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, August 29, 2005 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Chairman Rod Spronk called the meeting to order with Commissioners Mike Brunner,
Bill Ufkin, Earl DeWilde, Charlie Simonson, Leonard Swenson, Henry Van Dyke,
Jerry Lonneman, Frank Engels and Joe Weber present. Commissioner Ken Buysse was absent. Also present were Kyle Krier and Frank Citterman representing the
Pipestone SWCD; Randy Kraus representing the Lincoln SWCD; Board Attorney, Ron
Schramel; Water Resource Technician, Jason Overby; Field Superintendents, Don
Drietz and Tom Muller; and CEO, Dennis Healy.
Agenda:
M/S/P Lonneman/Van Dyke to approve the Agenda as presented.
Minutes:
M/S/P Ufkin/Engles to approve the minutes of the July 25, 2005 regular
Board meeting.
Treasurer's Report:
M/S/P Brunner/Simonson to approve the Treasurer’s report as presented.
Bills:
M/S/P Ufkin/Lonneman to approve the following bills for payment:
· DeWild Grant Reckert and
Associates Company: Boyd Service Connection, ppe #2 = $6,000.00; General
Services #49 = $3,105.50
· McDonald, Gudmestad
& Schramel: General Legal Services = $1,096.80; ECI litigation = $1,683.00
· Liesch Associates Inc.: NE water
exploration = $271.50
CREP II: Kyle Krier and Frank Citterman
representing the Pipestone SWCD, and Randy Kraus representing the Lincoln SWCD
gave a presentation on the CREP II as a potential wellhead protection
tool. The Board discussed potential
ways that LPRW can promote the program, and directed the LPRW staff to work
with the SWCD staff to develop a proposal with costs. M/S/P Lonneman/Swenson to focus on the most vulnerable areas, and
present a proposal to the Board.
Attorney’s Report:
Ron Schramel reported to the Board on the following issues:
• Schramel
reviewed the progress of the ECI v. LPRW case, and he presented an explanation
of the issues of the case.
Engineer’s Report: Healy distributed the engineer’s report,
and discussed the following items.
• NE Expansion and GIS/GPS: The Burr WTP projects are completed
except for some work on Schedule E that will be completed when water use goes
down.
• 2005 System Improvements and Expansion: DGR will work with LPRW staff to move the
project along.
• Adrian: On hold.
• Chandler
and Ivanhoe Boosters: Both
boosters are on-line, but some refinement of the electronics needs to be
finished.
• Edgerton
Interconnection: On
hold.
• Rock
County Rural Water:
On hold.
• Boyd
Connection:
The City of Boyd Service Connection was bid on August 24th,
and bids were received from Carstensen Contracting ($92,855.00) and Loosbrock
Construction ($110,853.59). The
engineer provided a letter recommending that the Board award the bid to the low
bidder, Carstensen Contracting, Inc.
M/S/P Lonneman/Simonson to award the Boyd Service Connection bid to
Carstensen Contracting, Inc. at the bid price of $92,855.00.
Regional Water Development: Healy updated the Board on a number of
regional issues including how the lack of available water has impacted LPRW’s
ability to support economic development in the region.
Field Superintendents’ Report: Don
Drietz and Tom Muller reported on the following items:
·
Drietz and
Muller reported that the new booster stations are in operation and generally
performing very well.
CEO’s Report:
·
Healy
reported that the NE Phase Project account has about enough funds to pay any
outstanding bills.
·
The Lewis
& Clark project is progressing, and the LCRW Board approved a revised
membership agreement with the City of Sioux Falls. That agreement will be used as a template for revised agreements
with the other members. Healy also
noted that over 1.5 mgd of system capacity is currently available if any system
wants more water. The Board directed
Healy to contact the other Minnesota members to see if they are interested in
jointly purchasing additional capacity.
·
Healy
reported that 65 applications were received for the new water operator
position. M/S/P Lonneman/DeWilde to
authorize the staff and the Personnel Committee to review the applications and
make a recommendation to the full Board.
·
Healy
recommended that the Board fill the Water Maintenance Technician position
internally. M/S/P Ufkin/Swenson to
promote Ron Carr to fill the Water Maintenance Technician position effective
September 5, 2005, and that the salary be set at year 26-step 6 on the
Technician pay schedule.
·
The annual
report on health insurance coverage was reviewed. Premiums are scheduled to increase by 9% in 2006 at a cost of
$9,828.
·
A meeting
of the Minnesota Lewis & Clark Rural Water group is scheduled for September
8th in Luverne, and Healy will forward more information when it is
available.
·
Interviews
for the Water System Operator were scheduled for September 12th. Healy will handle scheduling.
Committee Reports: The following committee reports were
given:
Executive Committee: No report.
Water Resources and Equipment Committee: The Committee will meet at 6:00 on September 12th
to review the 2006 Capital Improvement Budget.
Personnel Committee: The Committee will meet
at 6:00 on September 12th to review the 2006 Personnel Budget.
Budget & Finance Committee: The Committee will meet at 6:00 on September 12th to review the 2006 Capital Improvement Budget.
Minnesota Rural Water Association, Board
Representative: Leonard
Swenson reported on MRWA activities.
Minnesota Governmental Agency Finance
Group: Bill Ufkin reported that the first bonds
have been issued.
Adjournment:
M/S/P Engels/Brunner to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m. The next Regular Board meeting will be
Monday, September 26, 2005 at 6:30 p.m.
____________________________________________
Joe
Weber, Secretary