Call to Order – Chairman White called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Board members present were J. B. White, Harvey Norris, Burt Jones, Eddie Roberts, Jr., & Eddie Ford; Laura Hale representing the Industrial Development Authority; also present were Marcie Seleb, general manager and Joyce Hosey, clerk to the Board.
Opening Prayer – Mr. Norris opened the meeting with a prayer.
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting – Mr. Roberts made a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the May 14, 2013 meeting and approve the same. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
Resolution to Enter into Refinancing Loan for Sandy Creek Property – A motion was made by Mr. Norris to have Mr. White sign a resolution entering into a loan of $380,725 with United Bank at 1.9% interest for the Sandy Creek property. United Bank was selected to provide the loan at the May 2013 meeting. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved unanimously.
A copy of this signed resolution is attached and made a part of these minutes.
FY 2014 Budget Discussion – Ms. Seleb went over the proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget. For all funds, the Authority is projected to bring in just over $5 million in revenue and to spend just under $6 million in expenses, capital construction, and debt service.
Ms. Seleb stated that the proposed budget is designed to implement the 2014-18 Capital Construction Plan and includes a greater investment in reserved operational funds for a portion of construction. Board members discussed the potential need for a rate increase in water operations, but decided to hold rates at current levels due to the overall financial health of the Authority and the anticipation of commercial and industrial growth in the coming year.
Board members were guided through a review of unit sales and billing history, rate comparisons, and detailed information on non-standard budget requests for equipment and facilities by plant, distribution/collection, and administrative units. A copy of this information is included in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget document.
After discussion and review, a motion was made by Mr. Jones to adopt the annual budget as presented for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Capital Improvements Plan for FY 2014-18. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously.
The detailed FY 2014 Budget, 2014-18 Capital Improvements Plan, and accompanying notes and illustrations is attached and made a part of these minutes.
As part of the budget discussion, Ms. Seleb noted that the Authority needs to increase spending out of Water Capital Recovery fees in order to comply with the requirement to spend fees paid within seven years of collection. She suggested that debt service on the Sandy Creek property loan be paid out of Water Capital Recovery fees for the Fiscal Year 2014 budget, and retroactively, for Fiscal Year 2013. Board members were in agreement, but no separate motion was made.
Manager’s Report
Construction Update
Hwy. 36 Sewer – Davidson Utility & Hydrant has corrected some manhole leaks. Final inspection is still pending.
Hwy. 16 Sewer – The Authority is waiting on payment and performance bonds before the contract can be executed with Davidson Utility & Hydrant. There is some concern that Davidson no longer wants to do the project.
Meter Replacement Project – Ms. Seleb advised the Board that all books are completed. Approximately 150 meters were skipped because they could not be found, had leaks, the customer refused, or there were bad dogs. It is yet to be determined whether these will be finished by the contractor or the Authority’s staff. The final cost of this project should be approximately $800,000. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loan /grant budget for the work was $950,000.
Work at Distribution Shop – Board members were shown photos of work underway at the shop on Brownlee Road. The crew is poring a concrete pad for the existing pole barn at the shop. Racks obtained from federal surplus property have been built in the yard and within the pole barn to store construction materials.
Separating Metal from Registers on Old Meters – There are approximately 4,000 old meters from the replacement project to break down and sell for scrap. Crew members are working on this as time and weather permits.
Operations Report
At $194,686, water billing form May 2013 was down 1% from the previous month and down 10% from May 2013. Sewer billing for May 2013 was $39,259, down 3% from the previous month and up 41% from May 2012.
It is estimated that total billing and metered use of water will be down 3% for the fiscal year overall; this is the first water billing drop by year in the Authority’s history. In spite of this, the water operations fund is anticipated to end with net revenues of over $500,000.
For sewer, total billing is anticipated to be up 24% for the fiscal year overall with metered usage up an anticipated 4%. This is due to a combination of a rate increase that affected sewer customers only and to the Authority’s largest sewer customer returning to its historical usage after dropping off significantly during the previous year.
The total water customer base was 5,308 with active water customers numbering 4,761. There were no taps sold for the month of May. The total sewer customer base remained at 129 with active sewer customers numbering 124.
The average daily finished water pumped in May to the Authority, Jackson and Jenkinsburg from the Burford and Stewart plants was 2.3 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 3.1 million gallons per day. The rolling 12-month average loss was 11.4% with the current monthly average loss at 23.8%. The total amount of finished water pumped in May by plant was: Burford – 65 million gallons; Stewart – 7 million gallons.
The average wastewater influent at the Bucksnort Ranch Land Application System was .226 million gallons with an average daily effluent of .211 million gallons and a maximum 7-day effluent of .329 million gallons.
2013-19 SPLOST Received – Ms. Seleb advised the Board that the Authority received its first payment from the 2013-19 SPLOST on June 3, 2013. The SPLOST amount was $147,233. Ms. Seleb went on to tell the Board about a surprise visit she received from Nancy Washington, Tax Commissioner, on May 24, 2013. Ms. Washington presented her with a check for $4,544 from the new Georgia Motor Ad Valorem Title Tax (TATV) revenue stream for SPLOST. And we will receive a check every month from TATV as long as we are a part of SPLOST. We will receive a check for $3,882 for May and the great thing about these funds is that usage is unrestricted.
Financial Report – Ms. Seleb went over the financial summary for Water & Sewer Operations, Capital Recovery Fees and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for May 2013. For the month, water operations income was $201,928 and expenses were $174,101. Water capital recovery fee revenue for the fiscal year so far was $13,373 with expenses of $12,629. Sewer operations income for May was $39,786, and expenses were $41,101. Sewer capital recovery fee revenue for the fiscal year thus far was $187,474 with expenses of $11,578.
The Authority has used $2,891,391 of 2007-12 SPLOST to pay monthly debt on the Bucksnort Ranch expansion loan. To date, $556,089 remains in 2007-12 SPLOST funds for this purpose.
Total cash on hand through the end of May was $6,018,880. This is $723,356 over the June 30, 2012 balances. Copies of financial summaries, combined fund balance sheets, and combined fund income statements are attached and made a part of these minutes.
Review Bills Paid – Board members reviewed check registers and credit card statements for the month of May 2013. Copies of these documents are attached and made a part of these minutes.
Adjourn – A motion was made by Mr. Jones to adjourn meeting at 6:45 p.m. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved unanimously.