PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF THE
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Prepared by Lew Richardson from analog and digital recordings.
My best to you and yours, Lew
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Vice President Bill Kinsella: Good afternoon welcome to the September 10th … 19th …. September 19th 2011 business meeting of the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District. WE have director Ross, Director Skoien, Director Richardson and me present, that makes a quorum. We have Charise Reeves the Secretary and Dan Tynan our Interim General Manager and we have the CSD attorney Ray Carlson present.
Director Keefe resigned from the board, her resignation was accepted and we wish her well. It would be inappropriate at this time for me or anybody else on the board to comment on her resignation. I encourage the CSD rais-ratepayers to express their concerns about business items not on the agenda. Personal attacks on any director or district employee is discouraged. If a speaker does attack any director or employee they will be warned to cease, if the speaker insists on continuing the attack I will recess the meeting 15 minutes, upon reconvening the meeting the speaker will still have the opportunity to speak, but if they continue the attack on the, if they continue their attack I will adjourn the meeting for 48 hours and reconvene the meeting at a time and place consistent with the Brown Act. I would prefer that we not have to go that way.
Director Emery Ross: No Pledge of Allegiance today?
Vice President Kinsella: I’m going to do that right now. Ruth will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
Ruth: Yes
[Audience, staff, and Board recite] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.Vice President Kinsella: Thank you. The floor is open for Public Comment. [None] I have some information that I just recently received that Wes Snyder had a stroke and is in the hospital. I cannot tell you what hospital because I don’t know.
Director Ross: Merced
Vice President Kinsella: Where?
Director Ross: Merced
Vice President Kinsella: OK, there’s a man more in tune with what’s going on
Director Ross: Last Thursday
Vice President Kinsella: Say again?
Director Ross: Last Thursday.
VP Kinsella: OK, do we have any people from the audience that would like to make a comment?
Coralane Porter: I just want to, I’m Coralane Porter, and I just want to make a comment when Wes’s name comes up on the agenda, that I was just going to speak for him, since he couldn’t be here, just a small little thing about..
VP Kinsella: You would like to speak for him?
Coralane Porter: Yea, because he can’t be here
VP Kinsella: No problem, no problem
Coralane Porter: So I mean that’s further in the in the meeting
VP Kinsella: Yea sure,
Coralane Porter: of course
VP Kinsella: IF we have no comment from the floor, from the floor we’ll continue on with the meeting. There is no Vice President’s Report because I didn’t make one. Interim General Manager’s Report, Dan?
Interim General Manager Dan Tynan: OK, as you see, what I wrote was ah, we’ve been unable to do pipe bursting this month, we had to just do the repair bands we were trying to replace the entire lines. Dave and Justine ah, were getting behind on leaks because it’s that time of the year, so they went back to putting repair bands on them until the Fall when we can start replacing the lines. Ahum, we weren’t about to flush any hydrants this month, this last month due to the high consumption of water use, so we’re back on that this month painting and flushing the hydrants. Our water loss this month was pretty substantial because our transducers that give a signal to our SCADA system they failed, it failed. So our SCADA system was saying it (inaudible) 17 feet when the tank was at 32 feet and over flowing and we had no way of knowing this. SO we had to change two of the transducers at Sturtevent and Lazo so now they’re up and running again we can read our SCADA and trust it and we’re good to go. I met with ah, Olin there our chemical chlorine bleach they came out and gave us some really good suggestions of how we could be safer for the employees and what steps we can take and I followed the steps that he had suggested and as I was doing that I noticed a (inaudible) a bottle that we flush our eyes with and it had expired in 1998. So we replaced that bottle, so, and ah that’s pretty much it.
VP Kinsella: Any questions from the floor? Any questions at all?
Director Lew Richardson: I have one
VP Kinsella: Lew
Director Richardson: Hey ah Dan I noticed on page 1 of the report there’s no usage outside filed MID Place of Use.
IGM Tynan: I apologize, I missed that, I’m sorry.
Director Richardson: No, no It’s alright I was just curious because ahm looking at the other sheet it looks like there was like one thousand five hundred and fifty-seven point seven ah units used.
IGM Tynan: Yes that’s true
Director Richardson: And also there were ah there’s no meters with no consumption this month shown which probably really matter because in the last nine months we’ve averaged 1408 anyway and we’re 1409 now, but I was just curious why those weren’t there.
IGM Tynan: Yea I’m sorry, I forgot to put those on my report.
Director Mark Skoien: Ahh, when you mentioned this, talking about the eye wash station?
IGM Tynan: Yes
Director Skoien: Did, brought up a, member when we were looking at the septic, when you called me over when what’s his name brought the camera?
IGM Tynan: Yeah
Director Skoien: And we were searching down that water that was coming in there?
IGM Tynan: Exactly
Director Skoien: And we went to the eye wash station and it was plumbed with raw water
IGM Tynan: Raw water, yes
Director Skoien: Did you ever change that?
IGM Tynan: No we’re going to have to change that
Director Skoien: It’s never been changed?
IGM Tynan: It hasn’t bee changed yet, it’s a huge project, but we’re going to have to change that, we
Director Skoien: That’s what I was asking about because I remember trying to do that right away and that’s
IGM TYNAN: The guys know not to use that right now, we have the eye wash bottle, but we do have to get that replaced, they know it’s raw (inaudible)
Director Skoien: Remember we closed everything off and it was raw water (inaudible) eye wash
IGM Tynan: Why it was plumbed like that there’s no reason
Director Skoien: That needs to be fixed
IGM Tynan: Yeah, we’ll get that fixed
VP Kinsella: Any other questions?
IGM Tynan: I just
VP Kinsella: Yeah?
IGM Tynan: had a comment, ah let me see what page it is on, it’s just a little correction I need to make, on page 14 it says treatment chemicals, however staff does not, is not sure why chemical usage did not increase due to increase in the water treated, we do know why that happens, it’s called water lake turnover. When the lake turns over, it changes our Jar Test, we have to do a Jar Test and it demands more chemicals because there’s more organics in the water. So I just wanted to make a correction on that.
Director Ross: Dan, are you sure it’s 14 cuz that’s the Treasurer’s Report (inaudible)
IGM Tynan: Yes (background voice)
Board Secretary Charise Reeves: Disclosure on the chemical account
IGM Tynan: Yeah, we do know why (multiple voices) it does that, the lake turns over
Director Skoien: Yeah, I had a note about that too, but doesn’t that make you use more?
IGM Tynan: More chemicals yes because you have more organics in the water
Director Skoien: But you wrote up you didn’t understand why
Secretary Reeves: No, I wrote, I wrote that up because Dan was (multiple voices) when I was doing this he wasn’t in to ask and the packets were going out, so I wasn’t sure why July had more chemical use compared to August when we pumped a lot more water in August than July. Got it backwards.
IGM Tynan: In July the lake turns over, August and July, which ate up more chemicals.
Director Skoien: Yeah but it says usage did not increase
IGM Tynan: For August right?
Secretary Reeves: Chemical usage I would have, I would have expected from a financial perspective that if we pumped more water in August that our chemicals would have been higher in August.
Director Skoien: Right, that’s why I had the question mark here
Secretary Reeves: And he’s saying that because they needed to use more chemicals in July because the lake turned over, that (multiple voices )
Director Skoien: ..the amount in August was normal
IGM Tynan: Yeah, yeah that’s why it went down because in July when it turns over, when a lake turns over from hot water to cold water it has more organics and it eats up more of the poly, polymer.
Director Ross: You sure, what what number is this like O&1 1 5 what what number are we talking…?
Director Skoien: 521, the last three numbers, like the seventh one down or something, one, two, three, VP Kinsella: water treatment chemicals
Director Ross: I see
Director Skoien: Eighth one down
Director Ross: I got it, thank you
Secretary Reeves: It’s my job from a financial perspective to identify any things that look odd financially.
VP Kinsella: Any other questions? OK. Intake presentation, are you going to do that Dan?
IGM Tynan: I haven’t in the past but I can.
VP Kinsella: Say again?
IGM Tynan: I , I can yeah. Oh I’m sorry, Randy should be here, I told him we would be here about quarter after, let me run and get Randy real quick. We got through this a little faster than what I expected.
VP Kinsella: Like going through a mine field (Tynan avoiding audience chairs while walking outside)
VP Kinsella: OK this is Randy Gilgo he’s going to give the presentation on intake treatment, right?
Randy Gilgo: The question being why intake, the float pump is not set up?
IGM Tynan: Why we can’t work on it at this time
Randy Gilgo: Because its underwater (laughter)
VP Kinsella: This is proper, previous planning right?
Randy Gilgo: (Drawing diagram on the dry erase board) (inaudible) look like this, up here is our intake, our pumping station, pipes going to the lake like so, the float pump get down to here, 12 inch pipe to our filled in waters and no matter what level the lake is we just continue to add 20 foot sections of piping on the end of this pipe and continue to suck water
But right now the water level is up here and everything we need to work on is down here.
VP Kinsella: Can I ask you to tell people where we’re getting the water from?
Randy Gilgo: Where we’re getting it from?
VP Kinsella: Yeah
Randy Gilgo: Lake McClure
VP Kinsella: You’re going to describe the intake presentation, where’s the water coming from and where does it go?
Randy Gilgo: It’s coming from Lake McClure to the raw water storage tank back here
IGM Tynan: You wanted to know where it’s pulling from?
VP Kinsella: Well there are some people here who may not know
IGM Tynan: Yeah, Randy can show that one real quick
Randy Gilgo: If you were actually sitting on a boat looking at our intake system, you’ve got two pipes, well casings that come down like so, and they’re flanged at the bottom, and there’s a pump down in here, and a pump down in here, and again this being the shore line our building up here, these, this would be say pump 1, and pump 2, these also have connecting tubes all the way down to the bottom. Pump 2, if you guys ever see the intake setup, has risers on them with baskets and valves, this is exactly what we can’t fix right now because we’re running off of this bottom basket that’s open, the rest of these are closed and not functional. The bottom one is, and that’s what we’re pulling off of now until the lake gets back below the lowest point and we can get back to these connections and re-hook up these valves (inaudible) right now water level being probably right about here, everything for about 120 feet or so is still under water. So as far as intake repair and everything getting done for the CIP part of this, until nature takes its course and that lake gets empty again and we’re in a drought, we’re at a stand still. Unless we go under water.
IGM Tynan: Could you also explain how the electrical cord for the float pump, we can’t get to it, it’s under water also.
Randy Gilgo: Now this being the intake set up, next to this we have a big giant flexible pipe that has its own pump over here and it’s connected here and right now its just dead, sitting there. The electrical for this pump, to hook the whole pump up, snakes like this down this hill and is sitting down here, again under water. It’s sitting down here somewhere probably a 150 feet under water and we can’t get to that until the lake levels are low enough also to launch our float pump and to hook this electrical up to it because, let’s say these are the shore lines of our lake and our intake setup is here, if we were trying to drag that electrical cord and the tubing for our float pump at a level where its at now it would stretch clear across the lake over here. We’d have to shut down the lake, because we’d be right down the middle of the lake we’d have a big pipe going across. Basically until the water gets low enough again or we’re in another drought situation, there’s nothing we can do unless we go under water.
IGM Tynan: Thanks Randy.
VP Kinsella: Questions? Anybody have any questions? Wes.
Wes Barton: Randy?
Randy Gilgo: Yeah
Wes Barton: Ah a couple couple of questions. The ah on the barges you have pumps, OK, Motor pumps, one I think is 150 one’s a
Randy Gilgo: One is a 75, that one (inaudible, multiple voices)
Wes Barton: 75 and 150 is it?
Randy Gilgo: Right
Wes Barton: Yeah, OK. Now do those even run, do we know if those run?
Randy Gilgo: Yeah
Wes Barton: The 75 we know will run.
Randy Gilgo: They both run but the 75 we do not use.
West Barton: OK so, that, so
Randy Gilgo: the 75 doesn’t (multiple voices cross talk) have near enough power (inaudible, multiple voices, cross talk)
Wes Barton: So the myth of it never being tested is baloney both of them run.
Randy Gilgo: Correct
Wes Barton: OK, ah, second question, on that flex pipe. We cut that all apart a year or two ago and put it back into pieces
Randy Gilgo: No, we cut one end of it off and ordered more pieces
Wes Barton: OK, so, it isn’t just one big long pipe now
Randy Gilgo: No its still one big long pipe, what we did, what we did, was the pipe that was existing out there again, staked down the hill like so, and as the water levels went down we just stretched that pipe out and straightened it, well, the way it hooks out here where our floating pumps are, there’s an attachment called Valtalic Clamp, well in order for us to get more length on this in case the lake level did get come to a river say, and we’ve lost capacity because we couldn’t reach any farther, what we did, is we cut this end off, clamped it, and we purchased extra sections of 20 foot sections, so now if the lake level gets even farther down and let’s say, where our pump station is sitting at now it was literally just a mud pit in the deepest part, you know we can continue to have 20 foot sections bolted together instead of just snaking the pipe down now we can actually add sections to it and get 20 feet, 40 feet, 60 feet or pipe if we need to to get farther down into- hopefully it doesn’t get that
Wes Barton: I misunderstood I thought we actually cut the big too so that we could better handle it
Randy Gilgo: All we did was cut the end of it off and I’m just to, just to
Wes Barton : Are those pieces still there, because before water went up you could see them, (multiple voices) Ah, one last question, ah, as the lead plant operator are you responsible for the intake?
Randy Gilgo: I guess that would be up to the boss, I don’t know (multiple voices)
Wes Barton: (multiple voices-cross talk) definitions (inaudible) duties are
IGM Tynan: I wouldn’t think so, Randy is in charge of the plant and that’s something I’d be responsible for, with Randy’s help because he’s ops, I’ve never even (inaudible)
Randy Gilgo: I’m assuming it wouldn’t be directly my responsibly but me being (inaudible, cross talk, multiple voices)
Wes Barton: I’m not questioning, I’m not questioning your capacity, (inaudible – from audience)
Randy Gilgo: Well probably, like I said, I don’t think it’s exactly my responsibility but because I was here the longest and know more about all this than Dave does.
Wes Barton: Not arguing with you…(laughing) (inaudible) to go home, thanks.
VP Kinsella: Any other questions?
Director Skoien: What, ah, when the water goes down to where you can hook up the pumps and if there’s, how much time do you have, say the pumps didn’t work and you needed to work on them, so, how much time do you have or I guess it would be feet of water, I mean, can you get there to see if they all work before they’re needed is what I’m getting at?
Randy Gilgo: Yeah, the float pump is launched at, I believe, a lake level of 730, 720 somewhere around there and it’s not used until around 690-700 feet so
Director Skoien: OK, and this elec
Randy Gilgo: …30 to 40 feet of leeway and (cross talk)
Director Skoien: so you have some time to work on it if it, you hooked it up and it didn’t work?
Randy Gilgo: Right
Director Skoien: So that electrical part of it is basically all you need to see if it works, you don’t need to hook up all the pipe?
Randy Gilgo: We could just hook up electrical and it will blow right out of the side
Director Skoien: Right, so, how feasible it is, is it to raise that electrical cord so you can when you had time and you wanted to float barge you could do it sooner, that’s , I know it’s probably not that simple, but.
Randy Gilgo: Well the two biggest things is number one, its, its under who knows how many feet of water?
Director Skoien: Right
Randy Gilgo: On top of that who knows how many feet of silt, debris, and rock and everything else that’s underneath, so what we do is when the lake level gets low enough we go out there, find what ever we can of it and start pulling it out of the ground, digging it up and figure out where, you know, it could be 100 yards that way, it could be right underneath our feet,
Director Skoien: Well that’s what I’m getting at, can, when you finally can get to it, could that be raised so, at another year we could get to it sooner
Randy Gilgo: Hard part about it being is like, it’s the weight of the wire, its probably a good hundred pounds for a five foot section, you’re talking something that’s 300 feet long, so it’s really kind of, we just depend on, well we can find the end
Director Skoien: right
Randy Gilgo: You know what I mean, its trying to move
Director Skoien: So it’s not that easy to change where the end is and then anchor it up higher so you could do something sooner ahead of time?
Randy Gilgo: Had we planned for this, and we would have known OK the waters rising, you know, we abandoned all of our projects down there, had we known OK, just to button up the last little stuff we did there, when we got there we were in two feet of working area, by the end of that day we were working under water that’s how quick the lake came up that day.
Director Skoien: So right now you got about 40 feet of elevation when you can hook it up and before you need it?
Randy Gilgo: Yeah, its launched at a certain lake elevation and it’s not used until
Director Skoien: I’d like to see that higher, but if it’s a hazel
VP Kinsella: Say again?
Director Skoien: I said I’d like to see that higher so you can tell if the thing works, more ahead of time, you know, but I don’t know how easy that is to do.
Wes Barton: Mark just brought up (inaudible from audience) ah did, I’m trying to remember back now, didn’t Binkley’s , ah, is this one of the things that Binkley was questioning on ahh, the timing of ah, purchasing any, some of the motors and pumps, because what they were saying is that whether its finicky and so consequently, it took a fair amount of time to be able to replace motors if they needed them
IGM Tynan: Three months (multiple voices)
VP Kinsella: Yeah she did but then the level rose in the water and she said it’s not a priority right now.
Wes Barton: Ah OK, I thought the last letter they sent they were still suggesting that we get it and have it on hand (multiple voices, cross talk) better to get it and spend the money and use it for something (inaudible, cross talk)
IGM Tynan: Well actually that came from also Brenda she answered that, she spoke with Elizabeth and Elizabeth pretty much agreed because we could buy that pump we could be without drought for five
years, mean while we have a pump that the warranty (cross talk)
Wes Barton: You’re all in agreement now?
IGM Tynan: Yeah, we’re all in agreement.
VP Kinsella: Any other questions for Randy or Dan? I guess not, thanks Dan, Randy.
IGM Tynan: Thanks Randy
VP Kinsella: TREASURER’S REPORT we’re talking, it’s starting on page 10
Secretary Reeves: Starting on page 10, ahm, to big things that I’ll just point out is that, one, we had our the auditors did come to the office for about three days and they were in the process of getting that report completed, and once it is we will put them on the agenda to come and present to the board.
VP Kinsella: OK
Secretary Reeves: Ah we ended, ended the month with just under $300,000 total, uhm, July and August are always our months when we go through a lot of cash because we pay out three of our five largest ah bills for the year. So this month we paid out the MID payment and the Muni Loan payment and those alone are $28,000 and $59,000. The good thing was that we did not have to take any money out of the LAIF account, we had enough money in the working capital account to pay all of the bills this month which is the first time that has happened in a very long time so we’re making progress and least with our cash flow. AHm, those were the two main points I wanted to point out, are there any questions regarding anything in the Treasurer’s Report?
VP Kinsella: Ok, go ahead
(Public): Charise, how often are you billed from MID?
Secretary Reeves: We are billed twice a year
(Public): So you just now got the, that is the amount of money for…?
Secretary Reeves: That was for January through June
(Public): OK, 59 or the other one?
Secretary Reeves: No the 28
(Public): OK, and that’s how much an acre foot?
Secretary Reeves: That is, it just went up, well, that was $133.85 I believe for January through June, it just adjusted, ah, with the index, and I want to say it went to $137.34 give or take, it wasn’t quite as big of a jump, we had ten dollar increases in the past and now we’re based on that ind, on the index.
(Public): And when will those increases end this year?
Secretary Reeves: I don’t believe there is a termination date on that, but I haven’t really studied that contract.
(Public): Alright, thank you.
VP Kinsella: Lew, you had a question?
Director Lew Richardson: Just real quick, a couple of meetings ago we discussed this auditor coming and any potential ramifications of not having all our minutes approved..
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Director Richardson: Did we find out if that affects us one way or another?
Secretary Reeves: It does, ahm, she said financially and operationally everything looked good, she had no adjustments for me to make, uhm, there were no errors that they pointed out. The two things that are kind of on the radar that I expect to come back to us is the fact that the policies have not been completed, or that she’d seen any major progress towards those which is something they pointed out both last two years, and the unapproved minutes, uhm, definitely will have an impact and could potentially make a very negative audit because she has to disclose that.
Director Richardson: And that goes to what the State Auditor?
Secretary Reeves: That goes to the State Auditor to our loan holder’s uhm, as soon as it’s complete.
VP Kinsella: Would that audit have any impact on our credit worthiness?
Secretary Reeves: It could, definitely, plus we go forward you have to provide them with copies of the audits uhm I know in the past when I had questioned things, you know because I had been concerned if we had something major happen and we had to go for a loan, I’ve been told that because the board had been willing to do the increase and make the hard decisions that that would definitely be taken into consideration – that we were trying to move in the right direction. Uhm, but obviously if you have a bad audit it could definitely have some impact.
VP Kinsella: OK. Any other questions from the floor?
(Public): I noticed a couple of ah checks made out to Sally Punte?
Secretary Reeves: She did our notary services for the delinquent ah billings that went to the tax rolls.
(Public): Payment for service
Secretary Reeves: Yes payment for services and you’ll also see this next month another one because she notarized both signatures on the McDonough/Clark contracts.
(Public): OK, no problem.
(Public): Will she be the notary forever?
Secretary Reeves: No, I mean
(Public): Are any of you in the office a notary?
Secretary Reeves: Right now it’s not cost effective for us to go, either Syndie or myself to do, we actually, it’s cheaper for us to just have, pay somebody notarize a signature.
VP Kinsella: Do you know what the cost is to get a notary?
Secretary Reeves: It’s several hundred dollars, you know, we could go through the the schooling, you need the course that you need, supplies, and all of that, I don’t know exactly, I didn’t look into it fully but when I talked with Sally just in general about those costs it just, for something we only do for once a year.
VP Kinsella: Go ahead
(Public): When will the audit report be available for the public?
Secretary Reeves: I don’t know yet, they have not given me a date, I’m guessing it’ll be, it will hopefully be next month, I’m hoping.
(Public): (Inaudible) It might be out before December?
Secretary Reeves: Pardon me?
(Public): It might be out before December?
Secretary Reeves: Oh yeah, it will definitely be out before December.
(Public): Thank you
Wes Barton: I think you made a comment, I think was just an over sight, that ah, post employment insurance and the GSB..
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Wes Barton: 45
Secretary Reeves: That has noth
Wes Barton: that will be an adjustment
Secretary Reeves: That will be I, yeah, there have been no adjustments as of to date but there is the GASB45 postretirement benefit entry needs to be made. I’ve been waiting for James Morda and Company did an actual valuation for us because last year we just used a tool that the auditors had provided and for $1,000 we were able to have a full evaluation done and to make it more accurate and it, the liability that we logged last year, what we, compared to last year we’ll be much lower for that. We just got it back so that will be in your packet next month, I’ll put it on there, I have to make that entry and provide that to the auditor as well and then, so yes
Wes Barton: you talking about you’re ah investment LAIF fund, about not having to take any money out of it ah, in July-August you had some $56,000 for meter sales, (inaudible), transfers, I don’t know the exact amount for the meters, but by policy, is that supposed to be restricted?
Secretary Reeves: We have not received those funds. That is the waste water, because it’s so large the waste water billing, that they corrected last month, and I had to double check (inaudible)
Wes Barton: $45,000 (inaudible)
Secretary Reeves: Yes, yes, so that has not physically been received, its been
Wes Barton: We have set, we being CSD, has set a new policy that we now recognize two types of meter costs.
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Wes Barton: The Capital Expenditure, the the new meters, I think is what the policy originally referred to, and not the, the ah, re-metered, have we clarified that policy? Is all the meter money to go into the restricted or unrestricted…
Secretary Reeves: We, we now have two separate accounts OK? One is the reconnection fee account, one is the capital facilities fee account, now in the past we have been using the money from the capital facilities as part of the budget because of the loan on the tank, because that tank loan increased our capacity by 2/3s, so that allowed us to, so
Wes Barton: I’d say that’s stretching it, but that’s neither here nor there (inaudible) but that’s not my question, is the money (multiple voices) restricted fund is still the same money are we putting the money, if we do a new meter that money should go into a restricted fund.
Secretary Reeves: Up until, like I said, that that’s what I’m saying, I’m not budgeted for the new meters at this point, is going towards the loan payment, that’s where we specified that, when we hit that amount where we finally get that paid, yes, every bit of money should be going directly into the LAIF
Wes Barton: And then the re-setup meters (inaudible) also a restricted fund or not?
Secretary Reeves: As of this point it has not been, and that’s something that probably needs to be addressed (multiple voices, cross talk)
Secretary Reeves: Yes we have not addressed that issue
Wes Barton: That should go along with the increase in that price.
VP Kinsella: Charise, did you want to ask Raymond about the ah water treatment bill?
Secretary Reeves: When we get to that item
VP Kinsella: OK
Secretary Reeves: We can do it at that point
VP Kinsella: OK, any other questions from the floor? Ruth?
Ruth: I have a couple of questions on ahum the Treasurer’s Report, uhm,
VP Kinsella: What page?
Ruth: Uhm, 14, on ah, the gas, oil ah for the vehicle. Ahum, I’ve noticed that ah, our vehicles are being used for a lot of personal use, so uhm, I just wondered if we could get that back down in any way, because uhm, they’re being used to shop at the grocery store and ah, for different things, that ah, that’s one thing, the other question is, ahm, when you did a Prop 218 ah you told us you were going to cut expenses you laid off the part time girl, ah, so that ah, and you started closing the office on Wednesday and every day at two o’clock so that you could get your work done with no interruptions. I notice that almost every time I come over here or I call, the part time girl is here, so I’d like to know what’s happened there?
IGM Tynan: She works about two days a week and usually it’s at the beginning of the month, towards the end of the month and beginning of the month, she helps out Syndie which is a lot of times overloaded because it’s the end of the month with billing and she does a great job, but usually the first part of the month and the end of the month she does pitch in about two days a week, with Syndie.
Secretary Reeves: In addition Ruth we did include in the budget a little bit of her time in particular for vacations and sick time but also the board had made in their motion, was to use her as needed. We did include in our budget a limited number of hours for her, for the year, that uhm still kept our expenses for overall personnel lower.
IGM Tynan: And also she only works, usually about four hours
Secretary Reeves: She works, if she works it’s like 9:30 to 2:30, or 10:30 to 2:30, so it’s just a short walk in there in order to process payments, deal with the phone, and while Syndie was working on availability, ah, she had to use her more so because for Syndie, that is a huge crunch time and things were changing on a daily basis, so you would have seen her in the office more in the last two months then she had been in there before. As for the gas, ah, we use to include something in the packet regarding mileage and stuff and at some point we had stopped that, I don’t know if the board wants to go back to that or
VP Kinsella: There’s only one place to buy gas around here except diesel, and ah, Dan was going to look into a couple of gas tanks
IGM Tynan: Yeah, we’ve pretty much put that on hold, the fire department, and ah the gentleman had left that I was working with, and until they have a new replacement in, I really can’t work with anybody until they fill that spot. But they totally stopped work on the fire department and there’s nobody up there right now in Mariposa that I can work with until they fill that spot.
Secretary Reeves: Does the board want me to start putting something in here regarding fuel consumption, it was considerably higher ah this month than it has been in the past
VP Kinsella: I’d like to see us go to a different gas station, $4 a gallon that’s pretty…
Secretary Reeves: I don’t know if it’s usage or if its cost because, last, our costs were pretty high as far as per gallon too.
VP Kinsella: But of course that’s me.
Secretary Reeves: That’s up to the board.
VP Kinsella: What’s the pleasure of the board, the question was asked, do you want ah mileage per vehicle? Revert back to that?
Secretary Reeves: Because our policy says you’re supposed to have the on call person driving with the vehicle.
VP Kinsella: Hang on a second. Emery? Your thoughts?
Director Ross: Well, it was in there, why isn’t in there any more, we made a decision to take it out, right? It was in, and now it’s not there we probably decided to take it out.
VP Kinsella: We did agree
Director Ross: We agreed to take it out?
VP Kinsella: Yeah, not to put that in, of course if you want it back in, we’ll (inaudible)
Director Ross: It’s just work for them
VP Kinsella: I think
Director Ross: Whatever they want to do
Director Skoien: It’s just more work
VP Kinsella: Lew?
Director Richardson: It’s just more work.
Director Skoien: Just ah,
VP Kinsella: So leave it the way it is?
(Unknown): Just ah try and regulate the personal use the best you can.
IGM Tynan: I know some guys on the way home will stop by the market, after..
VP Kinsella: Does the on-call man have the car, ah, truck?
IGM Tynan: Yes he does, yes. And like I said sometimes when they get off from work, four o’clock around that time, they’ll stop by the market and get a few groceries on the way home.
VP Kinsella: Carolyn?
Carolyn: Ahm, well I noticed on here, on the 18th, Dan’s (inaudible) 18th, the 21st, the 25th, then again on the 2nd, he purchases gas.
VP Kinsella: What page are you talking about?
Carolyn: Ah page 30.
VP Kinsella: Page 30.
Carolyn: Is that a service truck we’re talking about?
IGM Tynan: That’s a Ford and I did make deposits, quite often or have to go to Lowes and pick up a few things at Lowes for the shop, ah I do drive a lot more, probably more than the other guys do because I have to go to job sites, each job site they’re at, so, I do drive more than the other guys do.
(Public): Do you drive this car as your, for your personal car?
IGM Tynan: No I do not. No I do not.
VP Kinsella: Just for clarification, when you see here, one here, (inaudible) fuel Dave, that was the operator of the vehicle at the time, it doesn’t mean that Dave uses that vehicle he was operating it at the time, that’s all.
(Public): I (inaudible) counting Dave I was talking about where it says Dan, there’s
VP Kinsella: Naw, I just wanted to point out that, if there’s any confusion, it’s the operator of the vehicle’s name that shows up there when he gets gas
(Public): thank you
IGM Tynan: WE all use these vehicles, you know, whoever fills it up at the time, fills it up at the time, not, it’s not personal use car, I just use that car
(Public): I noticed on page 30 that there’s an employee that’s been reimbursed $80.99 and a hundred dollars
Secretary Reeves: That actually was taken out of the paycheck (background talking) per the credit card policy, however, when auditors were here, ran that by them again and we have been informed, as of yesterday, that is an illegal policy. Now when she brought it up I was told to immediately give them back those funds, all of it except 599 was given back to him. 599 was an actual personal expense that was put on his card.
IGM Tynan: And I have pulled that person’s credit card,
Secretary Reeves: That, that by the, that credit card policy will have to come back to the board because it has been deemed illegal.
IGM Tynan: (Inaudible) I believe I sent you an email
VP Kinsella: Can we make that next month? (multiple voices) Next month? OK. Mark?
Director Skoien: Well that policy never came to the board, that was something Dan..
IGM Tynan: No, it came to the board
Director Skoien: Yeah, it came to the board (inaudible)
Secretary Reeves: The board approved that one
(Multiple voices)
Secretary Reeves: One other thing I will point out because you’re asking about expenses and such, ah, Dan did reimburse the District for the cargo pants.
IGM Tynan: (inaudible)
Secretary Reeves: For a hundred-seventeen, that was in disclosures as well.
IGM Tynan: And it’s not really an admission of guilt I just got (inaudible) talk about something else than pants. (laughs)
Director Skoien: Naw I was just, I, I don’t understand the the approval of minutes being their always a little behind, this you know their a couple of meetings behind, what that has to do with the audit?
Secretary Reeves: Hum?
VP Kinsella: The approval of the minutes,
Secretary Reeves: Oh,
VP Kinsella: what..
Secretary Reeves: Oh,..bec
VP Kinsella: ….impact to the auditor?
Secretary Reeves: According to the auditor the board, approving minutes has to do with your fiduciary responsibility to the District. You can ask her alo….she will give you in more distinct answer when she comes and does the presentation.
VP Kinsella: Like a little more definitive answer than (multiple voices)
Secretary Reeves: Or…
Director Skoien: I don’t see what one has to do with the other, but..
Director Ross: Well it’s a financial audit, (multiple voices, laughter) you have to wonder about that but
Director Skoien: Yeah it’s financial and that, well whatever. Ok and a couple of other questions
Secretary Reeves: OK
Director Skoien: I like to, this on page 13 the accumulated depreciation
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Director Skoien: the amount was higher, you just don’t say what the items were I was just curious.
Secretary Reeves: Ahm, one was for Jar Testing equipment and one was, it was back in ’09, oh the computer server and during the audit as I was giving them the depreciation information I happened to notice that two items had no depreciation. So I went and double checked and realized that when they had been installed as fixed assets there’s one little tiny box that says depreciate, yes or no. And they had not been checked. So ahm, fixed that and it caught up the depreciation for those two items.
Director Skoien: Then I got one other one, on the overtime pay? It says overtime pay for the month was due primarily to extra work needed for availability billing?
Secretary Reeves: You’re talking about the office?
Director Skoien: Isn’t that done every month? Availability billing?
Secretary Reeves: No, the availability billing is what is submitted to the counties in August, that, we
Director Skoien: (cross talk) So it’s not something that’s done every month?
Secretary Reeves: Syndie does that once a year
Director Skoien: (inaudible) extra?
Secretary Reeves: Once a year she has to go through, she physically has to touch each and every account for our lots
Director Skoien: OK
Secretary Reeves: and prepare every single thing and then of course as the realtors are changing at the last minute, they contact her and I think she was getting phone calls every day, she’d have to go back and readjust everything up until the end, because they were trying to, I would assume, that they try not to get them on the tax rolls. So we had, she had a lot of changes and I know this is something that every year she usually puts in several full Saturdays in order to make that happen this year it was even more difficult since we did not have the extra person in the office because in the past, you know, we had other staff, full time staff there, to kind of backup and keep her up a little bit.
Director Skoien: OK and one on page 16 (multiple voices) Oh I’m sorry
VP Kinsella: Go ahead (inaudible)
Director Skoien: ah just a couple more, ah the request for action?
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Director Skoien: request authorization to pay legal services bill in July in the amount of $1,220?
Secretary Reeves: Yes
Director Skoien: Due to a directors previously questioning the content.
Secretary Reeves: Yes on page
Director Skoien: This is more because of questioning the content?
Secretary Reeves: No, no, no it’s the same one but back, back on page 15 there were three different incidents where Director Keefe had contacted the attorney and Director Kinsella had questioned that and asked to bring back information. I brought back information last time specifying the amount that was particular to to her’s as well as other director interaction
Director Skoien: So it didn’t change it?
Secretary Reeves: No, and that I was asked to clarify even further. Basically was it personal or was it district related, so as you can see on page 15 it says according to counsel conversations were on procedural aspects of grand juries and he explained those procedural aspects based on his firm’s experience in Kings County involving the city and city manager. And since it had been questioned I withheld payment until the board approved that payment.
Director Skoien: One more
Secretary Reeves: OK
Director Skoien: Partly for Dan, ah, on 28 the bill to Lawson, what work, I didn’t know what they had done?
IGM Tynan: What’s that?
Director Skoien: The work that, the bill to Lawson 1175, eleven hundred and seventy five dollars for the backhoe, was that… it’s on 28
IGM Tynan: Oh Lawson’s Backhoe
Director Skoien: Yeah
IGM Tynan: Ah Charise, was that for the uhm that wasn’t for the dump truck was it?
Secretary Reeves: No. That was for sand and gravel..
IGM Tynan: Oh sand and gravel, OK (multiple voices)
Director Skoien: Not hole work?
IGM Tynan: No, no
VP Kinsella: Are you done?
Director Skoien: Yes
VP Kinsella: Kathy?
Director Skoien: For this
Kathy: I, I, just ah back to the question on part time help in the office. I didn’t quite understand if uhm part time help do, does the district pay vacation pay for part time help and health?
Secretary Reeves: No, they receive no benefits, two of them however, have qualified for PERS, but that was included in the original budget, I’ve always budgeted everybody for PERS, rather than because, before we never had part timers, when we added part timers I just included that as, it was such a minute amount that we just continued that, but no they do not receive sick time they do not receive vacation time, or any health benefits or anything, so.
Kathy: Thank you
VP Kinsella: Any other questions? Emery?
Director Ross: Page 36 ah Mr. Vice President, ah, for the record, Resolution 2011-4 is back in here again, it said that I voted against the budget, when in fact I made the motion, so for the record, ah I voted for it and so did the entire board.
Secretary Reeves: That will be put on the record.
Director Ross: Thank you.
Secretary Reeves: You’re welcome.
VP Kinsella: Any other comments – questions?
Secretary Reeves: OK, so my requests are one, that we do a read and file of the September Treasurer’s report and two, authorization to pay the legal services bill for July.
VP Kinsella: I’ll entertain a motion for that
Director Ross: (inaudible)
VP Kinsella: Second
Secretary Reeves: Two different motions
Director Ross: OK
VP Kinsella: You want to include both motions in the same one?
Director Ross: No, we can’t do that (inaudible-multiple voices)
Secretary Reeves: Have to be separate
VP Kinsella: That’s right (multiple voices) do it right
Director Ross: (inaudible) exactly what she wanted (inaudible)
Secretary Reeves: For the first one I’m requesting (Director Ross cross talk) is
VP Kinsella: Read and file September
Secretary Reeves: Yeah
Director Ross: OK, I’ll make a motion to read and file September
VP Kinsella: Do I have a second?
Director Richardson: I’ll second it
VP Kinsella: Any comments from the floor? Back to the board. Call for the question, all in favor?
ecretary Reeves: Unanimous, carried
Director Ross: Second motion is?
Secretary Reeves: Request authorization to pay the legal services bill for July in the amount of $1,220.50
Director Ross: So moved
VP Kinsella: Second?
Director Skoien: I’ll second it
VP Kinsella: Mark second, questions from the floor? Back to the board, all in favor? Unanimous again.
Secretary Reeves: Unanimous
XXXXXXXXXXX TO BE CONTINUED XXXXXXXXXXX
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