Call to Order – Chairman White called the meeting to order at 5:55 p.m. Board members present were J.B. White, Burt Jones & Harvey Norris. Staff members present were Alyssa D. Hopson, Deputy General Manager, Amanda Maddox, clerk to the board & Darnell Walker, Chief Operator Technician.
Approval of Minutes from March 17, 2020 Meeting – Mr. White
made a motion to dispense with the reading of, and to approve, the minutes from
the March 17, 2020 meeting. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
Proposal for new SCADA System- Mr. Walker presented four proposals for SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) System upgrade. The current software is obsolete, no longer compatible with the HMI (Human Machine Interface) and the system poses security threats.
Southern Flow offered a complete system upgrade to meet the operational needs of the Authority. The Board advised Mr. Walker to negotiate with Southern Flow on lowering their bid price, to also include a three year warranty. Southern Flow has a current total bid price of $289,512. A motion was made by Mr. Jones to accept Southern Flow as the SCADA System Integrator given that Mr. Walker confirms a discounted bid price of $250,000. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved unanimously.
Review of Renewal Options for Staff Healthcare-Ms. Hopson presented renewal options for health insurance from Altera Payroll and Insurance. Ms. Hopson recommended going with the lowest cost option, United Healthcare at a savings cost of 9%. Mr. Norris made a motion to accept this option. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
ACCG Irma Renewal Pricing- Ms. Hopson reported that the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) property insurance total annual premium for July 2020-June 2021 is $50,589. This is a 9% increase over FY 2020. Mr. Norris made a motion to accept the renewal quote. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously. Mr. Jones recommended the Authority get quotes for FY 2022.
Billing and Accounting Software Proposal-Ms. Hopson presented four billing and accounting software proposals. The current provider, Inhance, offers billing only at a price of $35,280. Edmunds-Logics is geared towards utility management. Mr. Norris made a motion to accept Edmunds-Logics proposal at $82,366. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
Manager’s Report
New hires: Mr. Jones made a motion to affirm the hiring of Amanda Maddox as Accounting Assistant, Jacob Garcia as Distribution Operator, and Angel Bowen as Pipeline Operator. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved unanimously.
Construction –
Ms. Hopson reported that weather permitting, the Hwy. 16 W Sewer extension has two and a half weeks until completion.
Ms. Hopson reported a grade change on the Bucksnort Road Sewer project. Construction is three weeks away from completion.
Ms. Hopson reported that the crew is set to start the Yellow Creek project in the upcoming weeks.
Operations Statistics –
Ms. Hopson went over the water production, water loss and customer statistics thru May 31, 2020. The average daily finished water pumped to the Authority, Jackson and Jenkinsburg from Burford and Stewart plant was 2.1 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 2.7 million gallons per day. The rolling twelve-month average loss was 8.4% with the current monthly average loss at 4.4%. The total amount of finished water pumped in May by each plant was: Burford – 64 million gallons and Stewart – 5 million gallons.
Water billing for May was $250,046, up 9% from the previous month and up 5% the same month for the previous year. Sewer billing for May was $46,542, down 3% from the previous month and down 10% the same month for the previous year.
Total water accounts numbered 5,735 at the end May with 5,311 of those being active customers. There were 4 new connections.
There were 192 total sewer accounts at the end of May, with 189 of those being active customers.
Financial Report –
Ms. Hopson reviewed the financial summary for Water & Sewer Operations, Capital Recovery Fees thru May 2020 and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) through June 15, 2020.
Water Operations income for May was $253,504 with $153,494 in expenses. Water capital recovery fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2020 thus far was $44,197 with $14,000 in expenses.
Sewer Operations income for May was $47,570 with expenses of $36,239. Sewer Capital Recovery Fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2020 thus far was $14,703 with $108,275 in expenses.
For the 2019-24 SPLOST, $654,818 has been collected, with $563,311 expended. A SPLOST payment of $62,147 was received on May 15, 2020 for March taxes. Overages in the 2019-24 SPLOST are being covered by temporary transfers from the Water Operations fund.
Total cash on hand at the end of February was $11,525,518. This is $958,289 over the March 2020 balance. Copies of the May 2020 financial summaries, the consolidated fund balance sheet and the consolidated fund income statement are attached and made a part of these minutes.
Adjourn – A motion was made by Mr. White to adjourn the meeting at 6:44 p.m. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.