Call to Order – Chairman White called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Board members present were J. B. White, Harvey Norris, Eddie Roberts, Jr., Burt Jones, & Eddie Ford; staff members present were Marcie Seleb, general manager, and Alyssa Hopson, clerk to the board.
Approval of Minutes from July 12, 2016 Meeting – Mr. Roberts made a motion to dispense with the reading of and to approve the minutes from the July 12, 2016 meeting. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved unanimously.
FY 2016 Audit Proposal- Ms. Seleb reported that she had check with Haisten and Johnston, and that the firm had raised the price of the Authority’s FY 2016 audit by 15% from FY 2015 due to the rising cost of software. A motion was made by Mr. Jones to retain Haisten and Johnston at a total price of $6500. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously.
Confirmation of Telephone Vote Retaining Allen-Smith for Ready Pac EIP Grant – On July 11, 2016, Ms. Seleb met with Ready Pac, Inc.’s leadership to discuss a potential Employment Incentive Program (EIP) Grant for a ground storage tank. It appears that this project is an excellent candidate for the grant. Board members voted by telephone to retain Allen-Smith Consulting to prepare the grant application for $8,000 on July 14, 2016. A motion was made by Mr. Norris to confirm this vote to retain Allen-Smith. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved unanimously. A copy of the agreement to assist is included and made a part of these minutes.
Dollar General Infrastructure Ownership Agreement – Ms. Seleb presented an intergovernmental agreement for public ownership of water and sewer infrastructure between Butts County and the Authority for Dollar General. Motion by Mr. Norris to enter into the agreement with Chairmen White and Mr. Roberts to sign. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and passed unanimously. A copy of the intergovernmental agreement is included and made a part of these minutes.
Manager’s Report
Construction
West Butts Tank – The Authority has received a letter from Caldwell Tank, Inc. requesting the Authority accept $40,000 in liquidated damages rather than $101,000 as per the terms of the contract. A copy of the letter is included and made a part of these minutes.
LAS Harkness Pond Liner – The liner is filling up with ground water at the pond discharge point. An engineer with Rindt-McDuff Associates is set to come and advise on a solution to the problem.
Nathan Thaxton Road – Work has resumed on this project with blasting done in July. The Authority crew has roughly 750 linear feet left to lay to tie into Hwy. 36 and complete the road.
Operations
Joint Government Meeting – Ms. Seleb, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Norris attended the joint governmental meeting hosted by the Authority on July 28, 2016 at the Butts County Administration Building. Potential future Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax Projects were discussed by each entity present.
Paving Policy – Ms. Seleb suggested that the board establish a policy for pavement installed over water or sewer infrastructure previously installed in a private easement. After discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Roberts to adopt the following policy:
“When a private property owner or customer desires to install pavement over water or sewer infrastructure located in a previously unpaved easement, the Authority may approve such paving with any measures deemed necessary by the Authority taken to protect said infrastructure installed at the cost of the private property owner or customer, and with the understanding that if the Authority needs to remove any portion of said pavement to make a future repair, the Authority will not replace the pavement.”
This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously.
Water and Sewer Statistics – Water and sewer pumping and billing numbers for the month of July 2016 were reviewed. The average daily finished water pumped in July to the Authority, Jackson and Jenkinsburg from Burford and Stewart plants was 2.5 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 2.9 million gallons per day. The rolling twelve-month average loss was 12.6% with the current month average loss of 5.8%. The total amount of finished water pumped in July by each plant was: Burford – 71 million gallons and Stewart – 6 million gallons.
Water billing for July 2016 was $256,664, up 1% from the previous month, and down 10% from July 2015. Sewer billing for July 2016 was $56,440 up 7% from the previous month, and up 3% from July 2015.
Total water accounts numbered 5,475, with 4,983 active water customers. Three water taps were purchased on the existing system, zero construction taps, and zero new subdivision meters were sold during the month of July.
Financial Report – Ms. Seleb went over the financial summary for Water & Sewer Operations, and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for July 2016. Water operations income for July was $272,511 with expenses of $149,459. Water capital recovery fee revenue for the fiscal year thus far was $3,060, with interest expenses of $248 and debt service costs of $6,415 for the Sandy Creek loan.
Sewer Operations income for July was $57,321 with expenses of $16,878. Sewer Capital Recovery Fee revenue for the fiscal year thus far was $2,407 with no expenses. To date, $1,455,272 has been collected in 2013-19 SPLOST, with $468,146 expended.
Total cash on hand at the end of July 2016 was $8,829,168. This is $397,254 over the June 30, 2016 balance. Copies of the July 2016 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 were given copies of check registers for July to review.
Adjourn – A motion was made by Mr. Norris to adjourn the meeting at 6:13 p.m. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously.