Sunny Meadows

Minutes 2015-07-01
  

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by

Cyndie Winchell

Director Elections:Sunny Meadows Missoula County Water and Sewer District

Meeting Minutes

July 1st, 2015 06:00 PM at Lutheran Church

Roll Call:  Paula Niccum, Mike Huber, Mike Lilley and Cyndie Winchell

Welcome to new homeowners: Ray and Barb Powell 1995 Ola, Kari Swanson  4750 Lerch Lane and Adam Pummill  4250 Edgewood

Approval of Minutes :  Mike Lilley moved to approve, Mike Huber second. All in favor. 

 

Financial Information:  Mike Lilley presented both April and May financials. Mike Huber moved to approve the April financials, Paula Niccum second. All in favor. Motion passes.  Mike Huber moved to approve the May financials , Cyndie Winchell second. All in favor. Motion passes.  Mike Lilley explained to the new homeowners in attendance that Missoula County manages all of our money so we don’t get our financials until later.  When discussing the AR report it was noted that the Darrah residence is in the shut-off situation and no one else is beyond the 30 days. The Freer’s are being stubborn about their finance charges but state laws pertaining to utilities state those fees are to be paid and can lead to a shut-off.

Public Input:  The Powell’s asked about putting their own well in and if there were restrictions for doing so. Mike Lilley took the lead explaining why we did have restrictions pertaining to keeping our aquifer safe and the results of a few homeowners who did try to drill their own wells. Our wells are community owned.  The Powell’s also asked for an explanation of our rate structure.  Mike Lilley, the author of the rate structure and Board member responsible for getting the District a state loan and a grant to upgrade our system,  explained the reasoning behind our structure and the necessity to guarantee funds for payment of our Bond agreement. There was discussion of billing and that the average household uses approximately 78 gallons per person per day for domestic use, the remainder represents irrigation etc. June was an unusually hot month and our bills were high across the board.

Adam Pummill  has no formal proposal at this time but is requesting the Board consider allowing his company to purchase water taken from the hydrants to fill their water trucks, approximately 3,000 gallons per visit perhaps 2 trucks per day occasionally in the summer and some in the winter. They would follow Mountain Water specifications for safety, back flow etc. and use a specialized valve to prevent hammering the line. They were thinking $40.00 per truckload.  Mike Lilley asked how we would track use and he said Mountain Water uses the honor system. Adam said the closest hydrant was in the Greenough area and that there are only 6 in the valley for hydrant use and none in East Missoula.  Mike Lilley asked which hydrant they would likely use and the easiest would be on Ola in front of the Powell home. Cyndie Winchell asked for a formal proposal.  Paula Niccum asked if there were any restrictions for private use with our system? Mike Lilley said only for bottling and or selling the water. Mike Lilley also stated it would be difficult to sell water to our fellow water users for the hookup fee of $60.00 for 20,000 gallons and to sell 30,000 gallons for $40.00 to Adams company. He also asked about liability for breakage. Adam said he would check the insurance policy and submit that information with the formal proposal.

Old Business:  

  • The Bond payment was delivered to the County July 2, 2015
  • The Darrah residence  was turned off a second time after the initial shut-off. We are using every legal means to resolve this issue. We have purchased a cap lock to prevent Mr. Darrah access to the valve. Should he disturb or destroy the mechanism he will face destruction of property charges. Their current debt of $757.00 has been turned over to the County of Missoula to assess a tax lien on the property. The Sheriff dept is also going to file theft of service charges as Mr. Darrah used his own valve key to turn the water back on.  There was a lot of discussion which included what the next steps might be. Possibly permanently closing the service at the main. The Darrahs will continue to be billed the monthly hookup fee of $60.00 each month to cover their commitment to our repayment of our loan even though they have been shut off.  Mike Lilley said the Darrahs will pay severely, we may have to sue them. We are following this and addressing it appropriately. Mike Huber mentioned they were told by our bookkeeper that even paying $10.00 would keep them from being shut off and they wouldn’t even do that. The paperwork to place a tax lien on the property has to be and will be filed by July 15 for the tax assessment for September 1st. We do not have a current mailing address for Katherine Darrah Job, the property owner and don’t know if the County does.
  • The Quick books dilemma with Donna our bookkeeper . Discussion of what happened when she purchased a copy of Quick books on line without our permission for $250.00 and then we discovered it could not be used with our other copy Mike Lilley has to check the books and help Donna should she need it. Donna then purchased another copy of Quick books from Dell for $300.00 that could also be downloaded to Mike’s computer so he could once again have access to what is going on. We are in a quandary as she was told she could purchase a copy for $190.00 from Costco. Donna admitted fault with the first purchase without our permission and is willing to eat the cost of both programs. That would be an expense of $550.00. There was a lot of discussion as all of these purchases were basically unnecessary had she waited to contact a board member. We cannot submit an online receipt to the County for re-imbursment. We discussed the many ways we could handle this and Paula Niccum finally said we should just pay for the Dell program. Paula moved we cover the cost of the Dell program,  Mike Lilley second. All in favor. Motion passed.
  • Sewer Lot: Cyndie found out we already had an account with Sign Pro and received an estimate to have 2 No Trespassing/Dumping or Vehicles on this lot signs made with poles to be placed on the sewer lot. We had some problems with people dumping debris and vehicles on the lot and the County said we needed to post it or fence it. The estimate is for $292.12. Mike Lilley moved to approve the purchase,  Paula Niccum second. All in favor. Motion passed. Adam Pummill said he would help Cyndie and her husband Gary put up the signs. Adam also said we can get the pin placement for the lot from the County surveyor office.  Adams asked about improving the sewer lot with a park or basketball court. Paula Niccum mentioned we would then be liable for whatever took place on the property. Adam said he would like to see us look for a grant to improve part of the property this way. We will discuss this at a later date. Adam also stated he would be willing to mow our sewer lot as a donation or as a tax credit, water credit? We like that idea and will discuss it further.
  • Director Elections:  1 Vacant position which is up for election,  2 positions coming open 4 year terms. Kari Swanson said she would accept the appointment to the end of the year. Mike Lilley moved to approve her appointment and Mike Huber second. All in favor. Motion passes. She asked for a few particulars. Mike Lilley explained we are paid $30.00 per month for meetings attended. All other activities are volunteer.  Barb Powell said she would be interested in filing for a position on the board. She was given the necessary paperwork to fill out and turn into the County. the election closes August 10th.
  • Budget:  This year even as June is not final, owner revenue exceeded projections as did expenses. Mike Lilley presented the new budget for review. he said we would have to look at raising rates within a year or two. We haven’t raised the rates since 2007. We need to take a hard look at the possibility. If we look to raise the rates more than 3% we will have to follow the long public process with notice etc.  Mike Huber asked how much money was in the bank? $58,500.00 plus $11,500.00 for the Bond reserve. We have approximately 11 years left to pay on the Bond as we did a buy down this year to save almost $14,000.00 by refinancing at a lower rate.  Mike Lilley presented the resolution for the 2015 Budget, Mike Huber moved to adopt the resolution, Paula Niccum second. All in Favor. Motion passes.
  • Singer meter installation:  Cyndie can’t find a plumber to take the job. Adams said the meter installation doesn’t require a licensed plumber to install it. The homeowners wanted a licensed plumber to do the work and Cyndie thought it was the Districts policy to pay to have it replaced for liability reasons. Adam pointed out that the District paid for the meter and the back flow device way back when we went to the meters but that the homeowner was responsible for the installation. Cyndie will talk with them tomorrow. They have started receiving the $60.00 hook up bill and have had no problem paying their share. We have no idea where their shut off is. Adam thinks he can find it for us as he was the superintendent on our water improvement project.

 

New Business:

  • New Director:  Kari Swanson accepts the appointment for the position Tom Walter vacated.

Adjournment:  Paula Niccum moved we adjourn the meeting at 752 PM

  • …
  • District Website: http://www.sunnymeadowswater.com/
  • Respectfully submitted by Cyndie Winchell