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, August 19, 2009, in the headquarters building in Durango, Colorado. President Alley led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Alley called the meeting to order at 9:02 A.M. with the following directors present:
Harry Goff Davin Montoya Terry Alley
Pam Patton Bobby Lieb Jeffrey Berman
Joe Wheeling Herb Brodsky J. Robert Formwalt
Jerry McCaw Harry Cole Tom Compton
Also present were:
Greg Munro, Chief Executive Officer
Barry Spear, attorney
Steve Gregg, Manager of Operations
Ron Meier, Manager of Engineering
Dennis Svanes, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Schwantes, Manager of Corporate Services
Indiana Reed, marketing and communications consultant
Linda Wilsey, Executive Secretary
GUESTS (from sign in sheet)
No guests attended the meeting.
AGENDA
Addressing the agenda, President Alley stated Ed Zink will be arriving at some point to give the 4CORE report. Also, the youth tour and energy camp participants will address the Board prior to lunch and then join the directors for lunch.
Motion: Director Brodsky moved to approve the agenda with the ability to move the items around; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
CONSENT BOARD ITEMS
The consent board items were presented and reviewed.
Motion: Director McCaw moved to approve the July 15, 2009 Board minutes as presented, accepting new members, and capital credit payments to estates; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
ITEMS REQUIRING BOARD ACTIONS
Director reimbursements were presented.
Committee of the Whole 8/17/09
Davin Montoya $219.25 Harry Goff $200.00
Harry Cole $242.12 Jerry McCaw $217.55
Joe Wheeling $212.87 Tom Compton $220.48
Herbert Brodsky $200.00 Terry Alley $270.20
Pam Patton $216.50 Bobby Lieb $200.00
Robert Formwalt $270.20
Administration Committee
Tom Compton Terry Alley Davin Montoya Pam Patton
Budget Finance & Audit Committee
Joe Wheeling Bobby Lieb Bob Formwalt Harry Goff Jerry McCaw
Board Meeting 8/19/09
Davin Montoya $219.25 Harry Goff $200.00
Jeffrey Berman $200.00 Robert Formwalt $270.20
Jerry McCaw $217.55 Joe Wheeling $212.87
Herbert Brodsky $200.00 Terry Alley $270.20
Pam Patton $216.50 Bobby Lieb $200.00
Harry Cole $242.12 Tom Compton $220.48
Meetings
Herbert Brodsky/Energy Forum $246.75
Motion: Director Compton moved to approve the director reimbursements as presented; motion seconded and carried without dissent.
DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES
President Alley polled the Board for attendees to the NRECA Region VII meeting. Directors Patton and Compton stated they will be attending. Director Goff indicated he is interested in attending the NRECA Region VIII meeting in Albuquerque.
Motion: Director Compton moved to approve Director Goff attending the NRECA Region VIII meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico in November; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
Motion: Director Compton moved to appoint Director Patton as the delegate and himself as the alternate for the NRECA Region VII meeting; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
Motion: Director Brodsky moved to appoint Director Patton as the delegate and Director Compton as the alternate for the Federated and CFC meetings being held in conjunction with the Region VII meeting. The motion was seconded and carried without dissent.
The Board was polled for attending the CREA Semi-annual and Western United meetings.
Motion: Director Patton moved to appoint Director Wheeling as the delegate and Director Formwalt as the alternate for the CREA Semi-annual and Western United meetings; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
ATTORNEY REPORT
Attorney Spear briefly reviewed his written report and took questions.
CEO REPORT
CEO Munro gave highlights on his written report and answered questions. In the board packet, he included the budget schedule given to staff, the monthly board reports referred to for the board meetings, and the educational donation requests that will be addressed next month. Indiana Reed needs new photos of the Board; she would like to do that at the September meeting.
Director Berman asked if teleconferencing would be possible so an absentee director could join the Board meeting. Jerome Doane and Attorney Spear will research this option, however CEO Munro indicated the current bylaws may not accept this as legal attendance. This will be put on a future agenda for more discussion.
Directors Montoya and Cole reported on the county fairs. One beef was purchased at the Archuleta Fair and add-ons were given to the kids. $2295.00 was spent at the La Plata County Fair. Attendance was good at the barbecue luncheon.
CEO Munro, Dennis Svanes and Mark Schwantes met with the city on their proposed $3M solar project. They will look at federal grants, etc. to help the city make it work.
4CORE REPORT
Executive Director Aileen Tracy and Ed Zink gave the 4CORE report. There has not been a Board meeting since July but they remain busy.
4CORE was awarded the weatherization assistance contract from the Governor’s Energy Office. The contract was received yesterday; it needs to be reviewed and must be signed by next Monday. Work will begin September 1st. Having this contract will require more office space, doubling personnel and a new vehicle. 170 units will be weatherized with federal funding.
The Town of Ignacio requested a spot on the 4CORE Board and is now represented.
Aileen received a call from a woman from the Associated Press. After reviewing activities in Durango, the woman plans to come into town for 2 days, to talk with the city, county, local people and 4CORE. This visit will get national attention and Aileen stressed the importance of all entities working together for a positive report.
Ed reported they are finalizing board membership. They changed the bylaws to reflect that any organization that donates over $30,000 is ensured representation on the Board. Currently there are from 7-13 board members.
Ed made a request for Attorney Spear to look at the contract just received. Greg and staff will look at the contract and if necessary will contact Barry for a specific opinion. Greg will also talk with the Governor’s Energy Office to see about extending the time to sign the contract.
In discussing 4CORE’s activities and politics, Director Wheeling requested a future discussion by the LPEA Board on political actions. He cited the upcoming board decision making class may be the best time for this type of discussion.
CEO REPORT, cont.
Prior to the financial report, CEO Munro reported that July’s load factor was at 82% due to several large loads being off during portions of the month. CFO Svanes highlighted the July finances and answered questions on the financial report.
The member opportunity report was noted in the board packet.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
President Alley reviewed the committee’s activities. The first item was a rate structure update given by CFO Svanes and Dan Harms who had attended a conference regarding rate structure. Staff recommended that LPEA continue with a rate based structure. Director Berman, who was unable to attend the committee meeting on Monday, asked questions and discussion ensued.
Motion: Director Brodsky moved to adopt staff’s recommendation on the electric rate design including continuing with rates based on cost of service, continuing to increase the base charge and do a cost of service study in 2010 for 2011 rates; motion seconded and passed with one dissention by Director Berman.
Other committee items addressed included a communication plan update by Indiana Reed, green power and energy efficiency programs update by Mark Schwantes, and a review of the customer satisfaction survey results via the phone with Gina Ricci of NRECA. The directors also shared ideas on helping low income and high usage members.
WASHINGTON YOUTH TOUR AND LEADERSHIP CAMP PARTICIPANTS
Jeannie Bennett reported that the two participants who planned to come speak to the Board are not available. She asked that this be postponed until September. The Board agreed.
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Director Montoya reported the committee reviewed Board Policy 202. They accepted all the changes that staff recommended and made one further change.
Motion: The Administration Committee recommended and Director Montoya moved to approve revised Board Policy 202, Equity Management; the motion passed without dissent.
BUDGET FINANCE & AUDIT COMMITTEE
Director Wheeling stated the committee recommended the staff’s assumption on the 2010 operating forecast. He reviewed those assumptions.
Motion: The Budget Finance & Audit Committee recommended and Director Wheeling moved to accept staff’s assumption for the 2010 annual operating forecast with no rate increase in 2010; motion passed with no dissent.
CEO Munro informed the Board that applications were received for a replacement for Larry Day, who recently retired. The decision has been made to put any hiring on hold until we have a better idea of what 2010 financial projections look like.
LA PLATA ELECTRIC ROUND UP FOUNDATION
President Alley gave the report. He stated Cindy Straight corrected the Round Up Foundation report. Pending accounts that were going to be rounding up (and were included in past numbers) were not included in the corrected total so it appeared there was a decline of 744 members rounding up. The dollar amount of donations didn’t change.
The foundation considered 4 grants for a total of $8,685. Two were denied and 2 were granted for a total of $3,685. Two educational applications, totaling $4,316.41 were considered and both were partially funded for a total of $2,025.
FASTTRACK REPORT
Director Patton reported that FastTrack is continuing to look for two new hires. The company is engaged in an analysis of the original network; their equipment has aged and FastTrack 2.0 would be a rebuild of the equipment. No new fiber would be acquired. The process may require leasing more fiber from T-S for a period of time. Finances show an increase in monthly recurring revenue.
WESODI REPORT
Director McCaw reported that the company made a profit in July. They are down 15 employees from this time last year. BWR revenues are 39% lower than last year. Current projects were reviewed. Bidding is being done on many projects.
TRI-STATE REPORT
Director Goff highlighted items from the Engineering and Operations Committee. The full board spent half of the meeting reviewing the preliminary 2010 budgets and forecasts. He noted there is no rate increase anticipated at this point. Tri-State is applying for two $5M federal grants for CO2 sequestration.
There will be a Tri-State strategic planning session at Craig on September 14th and 15th. Director Goff would like to attend the strategic planning session.
As a request from Director Patton, Director Goff reviewed points regarding specifics on the Holcomb Plant “non-coal” issues. He also indicated that Ken Anderson had given the latest timeline for a possible plant at Holcomb, Kansas.
CREA REPORT
Director Compton gave his report to the directors at the Committee of the Whole.
WESTERN UNITED REPORT
Director Formwalt reported Western United did not have a meeting this month but financial information was sent out. Sales continue to lag. Delinquent receivables have jumped over double from recent months.
FUTURE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETINGS AND AGENDA ITEMS
CEO Munro indicated items for September; they included the capital items budget, educational donations, and a report from Attorney Spear on teleconferencing. CEO Munro believes the items could be handled on board day so there will be no Committee of the Whole in September.
EXTERNAL MEETINGS
Director Compton informed the directors that the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission is meeting in Southwest Colorado on September 24th & 25th for anyone interested in attending. Basin Electric’s Annual meeting is November 3-5th.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Director Patton requested an executive session for a member issue.
Motion: Director Compton moved to go into executive session to discuss a member issue; motion seconded and passed without dissent.
The Board went into the session at 2.05 P.M.
The regular board meeting reconvened and with no further business, President Alley adjourned the meeting at 2:35 P.M.
Recorded by: Linda Wilsey
Original signed by Pam Patton, Secretary
Original approved by Terry Alley, President
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