October 2007

LA PLATA ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
Durango, Colorado

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. was held Wednesday, October 17, 2007, in the headquarters building in Durango, Colorado. Director Goff led the board in the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Patton called the meeting to order at 9:05 A.M. with the following directors present:

Also present were:
Greg Munro, Chief Executive Officer
Barry Spear, Attorney
Dan Hammond, Chief Financial Officer
Steve Gregg, Manager of Operations
Ron Meier, Manager of Engineering
Mark Schwantes, Director of Corporate Services
Linda Wilsey, Executive Secretary

GUESTS (from sign in sheet)
Tim Wheeler

AGENDA
Prior to addressing the agenda, President Patton presented and congratulated Director Formwalt with his Credentialed Cooperative Director Certificate and Board Leadership Certificate. Regarding the agenda, President Patton asked for small shifts in the order. A guest, Tim Wheeler, was present to address the board on the 4CORE Business Plan, following approval of the agenda. After action is taken on the consent board items, staff will complete the Systems' Operation & Planning Committee 2008 Capital Projects Budget presentation. It was noted that Director Cole will be arriving later to the meeting.

GUEST
Tim Wheeler, a local business owner and participant of the 4CORE Steering Committee, gave a brief report on the 4CORE Steering Committee's Business Plan. He emphasized it is a draft. He reviewed the other businesses involved in drafting the plan and noted that other participants are watching for LPEA's reaction before taking any action.

CONSENT BOARD ITEMS
The consent board items were presented and reviewed.

ITEMS REQUIRING BOARD ACTIONS
Director reimbursements were presented and reviewed.

Committee of the Whole 10/15/07

Board Strategic Planning Session 10/15/07

Board Strategic Planning Session 10/16/07

Administration Committee
Tom Compton     Terry Alley      Jeff Berman     Herbert Brodsky     Robert Formwalt

Budget Finance & Audit Committee
John Gardella     Terry Alley     Jerry McCaw      Herbert Brodsky      Harry Goff

Systems' Operations & Planning Committee
Harry Goff      Harry Cole      Davin Montoya       Pam Patton

Board Meeting 10/17/07

QUARTERLY WRITE-OFFS
A question was taken and answered on the quarterly write-offs.

CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGET PRESENTATION
Dan Harms presented the remaining projects in the 2008 Capital Projects Budget that were not presented at the committee meeting due to time constraints. Resolution 2007-12 gives
preliminary approval of this budget.

4CORE BUSINESS PLAN
CEO Munro stated he and Mark Schwantes have been involved with this project since the
beginning. After examining the draft business plan, they believe it does not identify the different
organizations and entities that may duplicate what 4CORE is proposing to do and the funding assumptions in the plan may not occur. Voicing the opinion that other organizations and entities might be doing much of 4CORES's activities, CEO Munro believes 4CORE might best act as a lead organization that could bring all of these together. Discussion ensued on the pros and cons of the direction of the organization and this business plan. The general consensus of the Board, following discussion, was to notify 4CORE that the current draft business plan is not complete and needs more work in firming up what other organizations and entities already are doing, firming up estimated funding, and identifying ways to get the business and industrial sectors involved.

CEO REPORT
CEO Munro reviewed past meetings and future ones he and staff will be attending. Questions were taken and answered on his written report.
CFO Hammond gave the September 2007 financial report. Staff is predicting an improvement on the year end projection in the last quarter of 2007.
President Patton noted the director reimbursement report through the third quarter of 2007.
Staff reports including the safety and outage reports, capital items report, consultant & contractor report, and construction & maintenance work plans were noted.

LA PLATA ELECTRIC ROUND UP FOUNDATION
Director Brodksy indicated neither he nor Director Alley were able to attend the Round Up Foundation meeting due to the LPEA Board Strategic Planning Session. Four requests were considered but the results are not known at this time. He shared his optimism of possible increased participation due to the LPEA Engineering Clerk's suggestion of having the Round Up Foundation contribution be added as a checked box to the Application for Service form when people are signing up for a new line extension.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
The Committee of the Whole met on Monday, October 15th. President Patton had sent out the new committee assignments for the coming year. Director Berman is chair of the Administration Committee, Director Gardella is chair of the Budget Finance & Audit Committee, Director Montoya is chair of Systems' Operations & Planning and Director Zink is chair of External Organizations & Issues.

SYSTEMS' OPERATION & PLANNING COMMITTEE
An executive session was held to review a draft agreement with a large industrial customer. The 2008 Capital Construction Budget was presented by staff, but due to time constraints, final presentation was moved to the regular Board meeting.

BUDGET FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
Director Gardella stated the committee was presented with the 2006 Key Ratio Trend Analysis (KRTA) by Kathy Buhl Witter with CFC.

ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
The Administration Committee planned to review Board Policy 102 but this was moved to the November meeting.

FASTTRACK REPORT
Director Brodsky reported the financials were sent to the board via email. The company is doing well; he noted a new emphasis on voice sales is showing up after the purchase of the network switch. The draft capital items budget was shown to the board with action on the final budget to be taken next month. Director Brodsky stated that the current directors on the FastTrack Board have agreed to serve for another year and would like this to be a recommendation from the LPEA Board. Director Gardella did clarify that he is willing to step down as a FastTrack director if another person prefers to be on that board.
The FastTrack annual meeting is scheduled for November 20, 2007 at 8:00 A.M. in the LPEA multi-purpose room. President Patton encouraged all the LPEA directors to attend the annual meeting.

ELECTION OF DELEGATE/ALTERNATE TO FASTTRACK ANNUAL MEETING

SELECTION OF DIRECTORS FOR FASTTRACK BOARD

TIME CHANGE FOR NOVEMBER BOARD MEETING
With the FastTrack Annual meeting being held prior to the LPEA Board in November, the start time for the LPEA Board needed to be changed.

WESODI REPORT
Director McCaw indicated the meeting scheduled for yesterday was postponed due to the Board Strategic Planning Session. The WESODI Board will meet next Tuesday, October 23rd at 9:00 A.M.

TRI-STATE REPORT
Director Goff highlighted sections from his written report. The EO&I Committee recommended a number of software upgrades and additions needed in the areas of HR, environmental and GIS.
He briefly reviewed presentations given to the Board.

CREA REPORT
Questions were taken on the written reports submitted by President Patton on the CREA Semi-Annual meetings and courses held in October.
Director Compton reported the last CREA Board meeting centered on net metering. They may submit legislation to enhance the existing Colorado Net Metering Statue. Director Compton will be giving checks from CARE to the legislators including Senator Isgar and Representative Roberts as campaign contributions.

WESTERN UNITED REPORT
Director Formwalt reported that Western United will meet next week. Sales have declined slightly with the winter season approaching.

ATTORNEY REPORT
Attorney Spear updated his written report. With regard to the proposed settlement agreement in the United States v. 60.52 Acres case, changes by Goff Surveying were made and have been sent to the United States.

STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION
Each director was asked to assess this year's strategic planning session. President Patton handed out a draft of the written goals that came out of the session. The directors reviewed these goals and requested staff to address the measurements and tasks for each goal.

FUTURE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETINGS AND AGENDA ITEMS
The Committee of the Whole will meet on Monday, November 19, 2007. Agenda items for the November Board meeting include review/approval of the following: Board Policies 102 and 411, the 2 year Construction Work Plan, the 2008 Operating Financial Forecast, proposed 2008 rate tariffs, the Service Extension Policy, and a new revised Green Power Program. The Board will approve the revised 2008 Corporate Goals with staff's input into tasks and measurements, and set a date for the next strategic planning session.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:25 P.M.

Recorded by Linda Wilsey
Original Signed by Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary
Original Signed and Approved by Pam Patton, President

R E S O L U T I O N 2007-12

WHEREAS, the Systems' Operations & Planning Committee of the Board of Directors have reviewed the Capital Projects Budget for 2008 and;

WHEREAS, the Systems' Operations & Planning Committee recommends the preliminary approval of this budget by the full Board of Directors,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. that the 2008 Capital Projects Budget of $32,618,160 be, and hereby is, preliminarily approved.

I, Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary of La Plata Electric Association, Inc., do hereby certify that the above is true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc., at a regular meeting held in Durango, Colorado, on October 17, 2007, at which meeting a quorum of directors was present and voting.

Original Signed by Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary

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