YOSEMITE SPRING PARK UTILITY COMPANY
30250-B Yosemite Springs Parkway
Coarsegold, CA 93614
Telephone (559) 658-7451 / Fax (559) 658-7866
MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD MEETING, MARCH 16, 2010
CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:30 PM
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Call to Order – Al Clark
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Flag Salute– Diane Cruce
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Invocation– Tom Swire
IV.Roll Call & Establishment of Quorum
Al Clark, President Elaine Loard, Vice President (absent)
Mark Zoeller, Treasurer Bob McDonough, Secretary
Diane Cruce, Assistant Treasurer Tom Swire, Director
Phil Farren, Director
V.Approval of Minutes – 2/19/10
MOTION: A motion was made to approve the February 19, 2010 minutes. M/S/C (McDonough, Swire) Ayes: 6, Nays: 0. Motion carried.
VI.Public Comment
None at this time.
VII.Financial Report – Mark Zoeller
Treasurer Zoeller stated that the cash balance at the end of February was about the same as the prior month, just a little bit below. The cash flow for January and February has bounced around. He mentioned that the cash flow for the year is below than it was last year at this time. Actual vs. Budget graph showed that chemical costs are below budget. The gross profit is below due to water usage down. Labor costs are higher than budgeted. Operating cost is below budgeted cost.
VIII. YSPUC Update Report
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Manager's Report – Ken Harrington
Manager Harrington asked that his report be entered into the minutes and entertained questions at this time. Director Swire asked questions regarding the “math” on his report. Mgr. Harrington stated he would go back to double check the figures to see if they are correct. He explained the increase is showing the difference between the year to date numbers for 2010 for service lines, which is 3, compared to 2 for 2009. We have one more this year than we had at this time last year. President Clark asked when the anticipated change out of the charcoal, etc, for the filters at the MTBE Plant? Mgr. Harrington stated the levels have been very, very low and they don’t expect to have to do the change out any time soon. Audience member, Pat Burns, Lot 1194, asked why the water company is using the well attached to the MTBE plant, since the cost is so high to run? Mgr. Harrington explained it’s due to availability of production. During the summer months, shutting down production of this well won’t be an option. It’s more beneficial for us to keep the MTBE plant running and to continually remove the contaminate instead of letting it sit in the ground. This may allow the contaminate to migrate out and could potentially impact another well. Asst. Treasurer Cruce asked if there are certain testing dates that the well has to be tested? Mgr. Harrington answered that besides the bacteriological testing they do weekly; they have to test the treatment plant every other week. He explained that if the well is off-line, they don’t have to test them.
MOTION. A motion was made to enter Manager Harrington’s report into the minutes. M/S/C (Zoeller, McDonough), Ayes: 6 Nays: 0. Motion carried.
X. Old Business
None at this time.
XI. New Business
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Emergency Water System Plan Update – Michael Neveu
GM Neveu had given the board handouts of 2 sections of the YSPUC Emergency Chlorination Plan, section 12.0 and section 13.0. He explained that this was part of a 4-volume set that was originally ordered by CDPH in 1996. This was required for the ground water system. He asked Mgr. Harrington to contact them to get clear directions in case we’d like to make changes to it. This will need to be assimilated into the YLOA Disaster Preparedness Plan. He told the board that this would be a good time to get their input. If changes are minor we won’t have to inform CDPH. Mgr. Harrington will get the process information from them. This will eventually be a part of the Emergency Evacuation Plan for the Central Valley. It will be sent to other agencies for a timely update. President Clark asked if CDPH had any additional requirements? Both the GM and Mgr. said there were no new additions. Mgr. Harrington added that we can make changes and forward them to CDPH. There are no specific steps that they require from us. He’s waiting for them to return his call. Asst. Cruce added that she would like to see the ‘One Call Now’ incorporated in the plan. She asked if there are any mutual aid agreements within the surrounding communities? Mgr. Harrington said that back when they originally made this plan, he had contacted Hillview Water, which was not interested in becoming a part of the plan. The GM explained the ‘Rapid Rabbit’ dialing system that needs to be incorporated into the procedures. This would be the immediate response and ‘One Call Now’ would be used as a community response. We now have multiple ways to contact people. Asst. Treasurer Cruce added that she would like to see this plan on our website. The GM agreed that this would be a great place to put it. The GM gave more information regarding the Rapid Rabbit self-dialing notification system to answer questions from Secretary McDonough. Audience member and YSPUC crewmember, Doug Hyak explained how the other institutions he worked for trained their employees. He asked GM Neveu if this was part of the plan? The GM explained the “dry run” they experienced 3 months ago and how well it went. He asked Mr. Hyak to meet with him to discuss his ideas and suggestions. They plan to have another “dry run” before the fire season. To answer questions from President Clark, GM Neveu stated the emergency ‘dry run’ plan was done on the weekend because there was an actual fire in Raymond that was coming in our direction. It ended up not reaching us at that time. He explained that depending upon what the emergency is, which system would be used at that time. He stated the different tiers of response. Director Swire stated that it’s extremely important to notify 100% of the membership if there were a biological problem in the water. GM Neveu noted that our notification system, ‘One Call Now’, is capable to do so, and ‘Rapid Rabbit’ would be a secondary tool.
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Water Meeting Update – Al Clark
President Clark stated that most of the board met last week to go over the update the participation of the Regional Water Management Group (RWMG). As they went through the details of the meeting they decided to: #1 Volunteer to be the lead agents for the group and #2 Get on as Technical Advisory Committee. GM Neveu, Mgr. Harrington and V. President Loard could support lead agency requirements and Mgr. Harrington would support the technical aspect of the group. They attended a meeting yesterday. They went through 6-pages, which took a couple of hours. He explained that this would take some time to develop. President Clark answered questions of the other board members with Asst. Treasurer Cruce helping. They are estimating that it could take 3-4 months to complete. President Clark added that he is glad to have GM Neveu and Mgr. Harrington helping.
XII.Director's Comments
Asst. Treasurer Cruce stated that she has some information regarding the LGA Grant Program ($250K). She read the qualifications for the grant. She asked Mgr. Harrington if we had a water management plan and if we could start one? She added she would like to be the first to volunteer to help him. Doug Hyak also volunteered. Secretary McDonough asked what a ground water management plan was? Asst. Treas. Cruce explained that we would have to know our sources, have mapping, have past records and then plan on what and where to go with this information, etc. Treasurer Zoeller stated that he might have a potential conflict of interest due to the work contract for consulting with Premiere Valley Bank, which is the parent company of Yosemite Bank. We do a lot of our banking with Yosemite Bank. He wanted to announce this potential conflict of interest. He also mentioned that he previously announced that he receives pension income from Wells Fargo Bank and some money with United Security Bank. President Clark added that the board agreed to spend money to a company to go after grant monies for YSPUC. He stated this company has integrity. After doing research, the company found that we don’t qualify for this money because we’re a private company. We are working to come up with alternative ways to qualify for other monies.
XIII. Board to Adjourn to Executive Session
XIII.Adjournment of Meeting
The YSPUC Board adjourned at 6:23pm.
