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,

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:35PM

I.              Call to Order – Al Clark 

II.            Flag Salute – Phil Farren

III.           Invocation–  Tom Swire

IV.          Roll Call & Establishment of Quorum

               Al Clark, President                                    Bryan Smith, Vice President

               Phil Farren, Secretary                              Mark Zoeller, Treasurer (absent)                                          Bob McDonough, Director                      Tom Swire, Director

               Dianne Cruce, Director

V.           Approval of Minutes – 10/19/10

MOTION:  A motion was made to approve the October 19, 2010 minutes.  M/S/C (Swire, Smith), Ayes: 5, Nays: 0, Abstain: 1 (Swire). Motion carried.

VI.          Public Comment

None at this time. 

VII.         Financial Report – Mark Zoeller

Due to the absence of Treasurer Zoeller, President Clark read the balance sheet to the audience.  Director Cruce asked what flushing credit’s are worth.  Mgr Harrington explained the calculation of water and the monetary amount of the credit. 

VIII.    YSPUC Update Report

Manager's Report – Ken Harrington

                                    Mgr. Harrington asked that his report get entered into the minutes, and entertained questions at this time.  President Clark asked him to give the board and audience, highlights from his written report.  Water production was decreased slightly from 2009.  He explained this could possibly be due to the amount of rain we’ve received this season.  They have recently pulled Well 1A by the golf course due to loss of production. They also started to find chunks of iron deposits getting jammed into the well meter.  They’re having the motor inspected to see if it’s repairable.  They’ve shut down the MTBE plant for carbon change out.  Carbon’s been ordered and due to arrive tomorrow morning.  At that time, they will inspect the interior components.  They are trying to clear iron deposits from Well 49A.  Testing showed that the water’s improving.  They’ve been letting the well rest for a few weeks and will be restarted tomorrow and retested.  Repair History – leaks and repairs for October were 9, to make YTD 100.  This is a 20% decrease from last year.  There haven’t been any new meters this month; there are still 3 for the year.  The Flow Meter that they purchased has been successful and properly recording at the treatment plant.  The meter at Well 40A is reading incorrectly and is un-repairable.  They’ve ordered a new meter.  They will need to do piping configuration changes at the meter.  They held a training here last Friday with a unit called a Leak Correlator.  The system can listen along the pipeline for leaks.   Mgr. Harrington explained how this piece of equipment works.  They surveyed 11K feet of pipeline and at the same time the crew was able to obtain continuing education.  The section on Revis and Running Deer had shown no leaks now, but did find some minor leaks along Long Hollow.  With this information, he’s putting Long Hollow as a main priority for replacement.  Kit Carson showed no leaks after two tries with the machine.  Mgr. Harrington entertained questions at this time.  He answered a question from President Clark regarding repairing a meter and explained why this is needed.  He spoke to the State to explain about the meter that needs repairing.  To answer Director Cruce’ question, he hasn’t seen any evidence in regards to the iron being attracted out of the ground.  He explained to an audience member, that they will be looking into the area of Quail Ct. for pipeline replacement.  He also explained that they still need to run the MTBE plant.  If they didn’t, they would have to shut down 2 high producing wells.  Not to mention, if they shut down the plant, the contaminates could leach into the other wells.  Secretary Farren asked if the leak detector was free.  Mgr. Harrington explained that we belong to an association named Cal Rural Water Assoc. who owns the equipment.  They purchased it with grant money for the purpose of using it for training purposes.  He added that they had to pay for the training, but was able to negotiate a good deal with them.  He stated that his ultimate goal would be to talk the board into allowing him to purchase a unit just like the one used in the training.

MOTION.  A motion was made to enter Manager Harrington’s report into the minutes.  M/S/C (Swire, McDonough) Ayes: 6, Nays: 0. Motion carried.

X.           Old Business

1.        RWMG Update – President Clark explained the risks of belonging to this group.  He recommended that the Board be released from this group.  He added that they still should attend the meetings, but it wouldn’t be a benefit to belong to the group.  A lengthy discussion took place regarding leaving the group amongst the directors. 

MOTION.  A motion was made to eliminate YSPUC from the RWMG and notifying RWMG that we are going to give up the Lead Agency role and are exiting out of the group.  M/S/C (Clark, McDonough), Ayes: 4 Nays: 2. Motion carried.

2.    Alterations to Employee Handbook – President Clark explained that   they have been trying to get a section of the Employee Handbook reinstated for the past couple of months.  He explained that they have been very thoughtful working on it.  The first time the board met, the verbiage sounded confusing so they tabled this item until tonight’s meeting.  They have been working with the company’s attorney and President of YLOA, Tom Swire.  Vice President Smith stated that he believes that the decision to be made today will be based upon respect for proper legal foundation.  He went on by stating the section of the handbook had been inadvertently omitted, during the publishing of a new handbook.  He then stated his motion.

MOTION.  A motion was made to approve the insertion of Section 6 (k) Nepotism drafted on November 15, 2010be entered into the Employee Handbook.   M/S/C (Smith, Clark),

President Clark read the Nepotism Section to the audience per their request.     President Clark opened the floor for discussion on the motion read. Director Cruce read a lengthy statement that she asked to be attached to the                               minutes.  A point of order was called by General Manager Neveu.  The Directors suspended the meeting at 6:20pm and went into Executive Session with the GM.  They returned to the meeting at 6:53pm.  President Clark gave a quick statement regarding how it has been a pleasure working with the present Directors.  The Board returned to vote on the motion.

Ayes: 4, Nays: 2 (Cruce, Farren). Motion carried.

                   3.    YSPUC Office Alternatives – President Clark stated that this has been itemized

                           on the next YSPUC Budget.

XI.                 New Business

1.        YSPUC Sponsorship to YLP Entrance Enhancement Project – President Clark

stated that Vice President Smith is part of the committee that is trying to do something with the entrance into the park.  They are looking at his project and for clean-up and enhancement down Yosemite Springs Parkway.  He explained that he asked the board to sponsor this plan.  They are still looking into ideas and need to get a dollar amount.  Vice President Smith explained that they are looking at ideas from the Landscape Committee.  Money was put into the YSPUC Budget for this project.  They hope this will install a sense of community.  The next Committee meeting is on November 30^th. 

                  2.     YSPUC Budget – President Clark thanked Ken Harrington and Michael Neveu

                         for their hard work on this budget.  He stated that the Board spent 6-7 hours

                           reviewing it.  He explained that there are no water rate hikes for members.  He

                         complimented the water staff and stated that we have one of the best water

 sources.  The board agreed to give Manager Harrington the money for   a     Correlator.  There may be an opportunity for our staff to make money for the company using this new equipment.  They are looking at creating new offices for YSPUC.  They’ve looked at a lot of alternatives and have put money into the budget for this, which may or may not get used. 

MOTION.  A motion was made to accept the YSPUC Budget for 2011.  M/S/C (Smith, McDonough), Ayes: 6, Nays: 0. Motion carried.

XII.         Director's Comments

None at this time.

XIII.       Board to Adjourn to Executive Session

Not at this time.

XIV.      Adjournment of Meeting

                  The YSPUC Board adjourned at 7:09pm. 

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