BAXTER MARION RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION #1
June 1st 2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
I. President Paul Otten called the meeting to order on June 1st 2017 at 6:00 PM at the Oakland Community Center in Oakland Arkansas followed by the pledge of allegiance.
II. Roll call: Paul Otten, Roger Haesele, Mike Scrima, Steve Caroselli, Randy VanAssche were present, absent were Rod Brackett and Secretary Marilyn Strawhun.
III. Minutes: Motion was made by Roger Haesele, Seconded by Steve Caroselli, to accept the minutes of the May 4th 2017 meeting. Motion passed.
Special meeting minutes of May 17th 2017. Motion was made by Steve Caroselli , seconded by Randy VanAssche to accept the minutes. Motion passed.
IV. Customer Concerns:
A. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the Cobbler’s request to turn their water back on. It appears that they gave the water operator a check for $100.00 to turn the water back on. There were several questions raised.
1. The by-laws are clear that to turn the water on for a past due customer they must pay the total out standing water bill or attend the next Board meeting to arrange a payment schedule.
2. Payment arrangements are not being documented.
3. The water operator is not adding any disconnect fees or re-connection fees to the customer’s outstanding balance. This is against the association by-laws and should be stopped immediately.
4. It appears that the Cobbler’s have been past due for several months and their water has not been shut off.
5. Based on the current outstanding balance and the re-connection fee of $50.00 they owe approximately 296.00.
6. Roger Haesele proposed that if the total bill was not paid by the 10th of June their water would be shut-off. The Board agreed that if the Cobler’s did not show up by the end of the meeting the total bill must be paid by the 10th of June or their water would be turned off.
B. Curry Account.
There was a discussion regarding the last payment received from Curry, the check bounced. Mike Scrima will talk to the Marion County Sheriff regarding if a bounced check is a criminal action.
C. Water Service:
Patrick report that Bob Martin was at the office wanting to connect lot’s 1 & 10 on his property. He had a customer, Kevin Wilson, with a $250.00 deposit and wanted water at lot 1. There was a discussion on the Renter/Tenant Water User Agreement form being used by the Martin’s. It was agreed that the only approved form is the current Water User Agreement form dated 05/14/2014. It was stated this agreement was approved at the May Special Board Meeting. It was also agreed that in addition to a renter signing the Water User Agreement, the Martin’s must also signed it before water can be re-connected. Patrick is to convey these instructions to both parties.
Kevin Wilson arrived late at the meeting and requested water to be connected at lot 1. He stated he did not have any water and was in need of having water at that location. He had a completed Water User Agreement, but it was not signed by the Martin’s.
After a brief discussion President Paul Otten made a motion, seconded by Randy Van Assche to go into executive session. The motion was approved. The Board returned shortly and continued the meeting.
President Paul Otten stated that due to the fact that the Wilson’s did not have water the Board agreed not to penalize the Wilson’s due to the lack of cooperation by the Martin’s. The board instructed Patrick turn on the water with the condition that the Martin’s would sign the Water User Agreement by the end of the month. If the Martin’s refused to sign the Water User Agreement the water would be turned off until we received a signed agreement from the Martin’s.
V. Treasurer’s Report: Motion was made by Russell Ericksen to accept the
Treasurer’s report as read, 2nd by Roger Haesele. Motion passed.
VI. Monthly Report
A. Water Quality: No report.
There was a discussion regarding a 3rd notice from the Arkansas Department of Health for Lead & Copper samples. Some board members asked for an explanation on why the 1st & 2nd notices were not reported at our meetings? Patrick stated that on it requires a sampling on approximately 20 sites and it has to be completed in a short period of time.
B. Usage: Still having water loss. No percentage was reported but several locations with leaks were discussed.
C. Past due Customers: Treasurer Steve Caroselli reported that several of the payments received for the May payments were dated after the 10th of the month. Steve questioned if the customer were being assessed a 10% late fee on the next bill. Patrick reported they were being charge.
D. Issues:
1. Communications: Still having communication problems, still not updating schedule. President Paul Otten reported that there are still problems with communications. It recommended that if this problem is due to out dated equipment than the equipment should be replaced.
2. Equipment: Discussion centered on replacing the current computer. Treasurer Steve Carosilli volunteered to look into replacing the current computer. Steve requested a needs list for the new computer. Patrick will provide the list.
VII. Old business
A. Status of Osswald account: Mike Scrima reported that we had received a noticed grom the District Circuit court that 120 had elapsed and the Osswald’s had not been served therefore are complaint was dismissed. We would have to re-file another complaint in small claim court and start over. The board decided to research our options to decide our next course of action.
B. Status of Martin account: Mike Scrima reported that him and Roger Haesele met with our attorney to discuss another mediation meeting with the Martin’s. Sam will send a letter to Martin’s attorney.
Roger discussed another problem with the Martin’s. It appears that the Gun Business owned by them and next to their house is hooked up to the water system using the residence line from the house. Roger reported that this is in direct violation of our policies. The business should have been signed up for water service and should have been receiving a water invoice for the Gun Business. Roger made a motion, seconded by Steve Caroselli, to file a law suite against the Martin’s for all damages and fees. Motion Passed. Roger will meet with our attorney to discuss this issue.
Steve Caroselli reported we received an invoice from our attorney for $200.00 for rendered services. It states we are all current in legal fees.
Russell Ericksen made a motion, seconded by Steve Caroselli to pay the invoice. Motion passed.
C. Milholland letter concerns: On going.
D. Water Billing:
Steve Caroselli reported that the Logmein software to allow Twin Bookkeeping onto our computer has not been installed on our computer. Steve reported that Patrick is having problems installing the software on our computer. We may have to get a new computer. Steve also reported he received a bill from our post office for a meter renewal for $215.00. He asked did we want to him pay this bill? Mike Scrima made a motion, seconded by, seconded by Paul Otten to allow Twins Bookkeeping to do the billing and mail the invoices to the customers. Motion passed. Office/work Schedule:
E. Part Time Helper:
Paul reported that he interviewed the applicant and he appears to be qualified to perform the duties that we discussed at our previous meetings. It was discussed that he will be hired as a contracted person with no set hours. The first assignment will be to learn the billing system. Roger Haesele made the motion, seconded by Paul Otten to pay the part time person $10.00 and to hire him. His initial assignment will be to learn the billing process. Motion passed.
F. System Report for Fire Department:
Patrick reported he is working on it.
E. Ongoing Business
1. Customer service policies: On going.
2. Rates and Fees Schedule/seasonal/rentals/bylaws: Mike Scrima reported that the proposed Rate and Schedule Fees are a compilation of all of the fees in our agreements and by-laws. Scrima reported he made some minor corrections he did not change anything that was not approved by the board. One of the items discussed was that adjustments can only be made by the Board at a board meeting.
Scrima asked for an approval of the Rates and Fees Document. Randy Van Asche made a motion to approve the document, seconded by Russell Ericksen. Prior to the vote it was agreed to remove the section regarding the Marion County tax increase and replace it with the current Marion County tax rate of 1.75%. Scrima will make the requested change. Motion passed.
3. System leak location procedure: On going.
4. New customer application/agreement: On going.
VIII. New Business
A. Nominating Committee: Mike Scrima will place an announcement in the Oaklander and Promiseland newsletter asking for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee and three Board positions. Election for Board to take place at the August meeting.
B. Three Board member positions to be filled in August: Three board member positions need to be filled in August. Tabled.
IX. Adjournment: Steve Caroselli made a motion to adjourn, 2nd by Roger
Heasele. Motion passed.
Next meeting 6:00, August 3rd 2017, Oakland Community Center.
Respectfully submitted by
Mike Scrima for Marilyn Strawhun Secretary
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