Meeting Minutes of August 17, 2004

Chairman Daniel Cook called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. A roll call was taken and present were: Chairman Daniel Cook, Vice Chairman Joseph Burrow, Secretary/Treasurer Karen Dunn, Trustees Debbie Wheetley, Mike Starling, and Greg Dunn, and Water Supply Operator Ron Lada.

Visitors in attendance were Mr. Sean Henry, PE, Asaturian Eaton and Associates PC, and Mr. Brandon Anderson, grandson of Chairman Cook.

First addressed on the agenda was the review of the minutes from the July 2004 meeting. A motion was made by Vice Chairman Burrow to accept the minutes. Seconded by Mrs. Wheetley and with 4 yes and 0 no votes, the minutes were approved.

There were no visitor or customer requests presented.

Financials for June 2004 were reviewed by Members of the Board with no related discussed.

Next order of business was related to the tower paint and repair project and presentation of bid results from this morning’s bid opening. Five contractors submitted bids which is good for a tower paint project. Mr. Henry presented a report summarizing bid results which were favorable for the District. The highest base bid come in at $68,250 and the lowest at $39,909 with the others ranging in between. The lowest bidder, Arndt Enterprises, came in with discrepancies as they did not provide unit pricing. Because unit pricing was not submitted, it is recommended that the bid from Arndt Enterprises be disqualified due to inconsistencies. It is also noted that Arndt Enterprises does not meet the specifications in having at least five years experience in this industry. In short, they have an incomplete bid, bid prices are missing from the bid form and they have less than five years experience.

Custom Coating Industrial Inc, is next in line of low bidders, which actually happens to be the lowest bidder when awarding on base plus alternate bids of any combination. It must be decided how to award the project such as, on base, base plus alternate, or other combinations thereof. For the total project, the CCI price, if awarded with both alternates, is $47,798. The next highest bid is $54,359 for base plus alternates is from Arndt Enterprises whom did not meet our qualifications. When inquiring about CCI, Mr. Henry noted he received good recommendations from reliable sources. Mr. Henry also noted that CCI was the only company to personally hand deliver their bid proposal to the Engineer’s office.

Mr. Henry continued by offering his recommendation that the Board award on base plus alternates. If, into the project, it is found that the work does not need to be done, it can be deleted from the contract. Mr. Henry recommends that after the contract has been awarded, the Board get a price from the low bidder to strip the tower down completely. The original bid calls for an acrylic paint to be applied to the tower with a life expectancy of approximately eight years because of the condition of the tank. That paint will fade considerably within the first year, both in color and glass. The original bid does not call for urethane paint, though it is stronger with a longer life expectancy, because it may pop the old paint off due to shrinkage. To strip the paint entirely we could expect a cost of $7-9 per square which would be total cost to remove paint and apply a new 3-coat system. This tank, at approximately 5,500 square feet, would amount to around $47,000. Anticipate base and alternates as quoted, plus complete stripping and applying urethane paint instead of acrylic, will cost in the vicinity of $82,000 which is line with the original proposed budget. Stripping the tank and painting with urethane paint will extend the paint life of the tower an additional 15-20 years.

After considerable discussion, Mr. Dunn made a motion to accept the bids as presented noting that Arndt Enterprises is disqualified due to inconsistencies and they do not meet the requirement for number of years. SEconded by Mr. Starling and with 4 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.

A second motion was made by Mrs. Wheetley to give Daniel Cook, Chairman, the authority to award the contract to the apparent low bidder, Custom Coating Industrial Inc, contingent upon verifying their qualifications and based on their base plus alternates bid of $47,790. Seconded by Mr. Starling and with 4 yes and 0 no votes, the motion carried.

Next discussed was the question of property ownership for Parcels “A” and “B” just east and west of the District property/tower location at 121 Wiley Lane which were deeded to the Water District by the Executor of the Harvey Hartline estate in June of 2000. Concern related to this transfer of deed was presented in a previous letter from Hartline’s attorney and again after to recent bankruptcy of the Heartland Animal Clinic (aka Jennine Williams). The letters and survey were reviewed and discussed; and copies will be forwarded to Sean Henry for further investigation.

An issue of new business was presented by Ron Lada based on his conversation with Lynn Bush of Dean Bush Construction Company. The District has over many years struggled with the need to subcontract various contractors for meter installations, emergency repairs, and routine maintenance for excavation services. At time, some of these excavation companies have solicited exclusive contracts from the District for their dedicated services. Discussion continued related to the District’s needs and requirements, as well as employees expressing frustrations related to acquiring excavating services in emergency situations. Also a concern was the possibility if using excavators who might propose a conflict of interest based on District ordinances. After considerable discussion, Chairman Cook and the Board agreed to table the discussion until the next meeting of the Board.

There was no South Highway Water District related business to discuss at this time.

The Secretary/Treasurer Report was presented by Karen Dunn along with the Accounts Payable Report detailing bills for payment in August. At the July 13, 2004 meeting, it was motioned, seconded and approved, that the bills be paid under the signature of the Vice Chairman Burrow during the week of August 10, as the meeting was postponed to August 17th to coordinate with the bid opening and Chairman Cook’s return. Those checks, as itemized on the Accounts Payable Report, have been prepared, signed and disbursed in compliance with last month’s motion and instruction. It was then motion by Mr. Dunn to accept the Secretary/Treasurer Report and to pay the bills as presented. Seconded by Mrs. Wheetley and with 4 yes and 0 no votes, the motion was approved.

The Water Supply Operator Report was presented by Ron Lada with no major discrepancies or problems.

There were no additional comments presented for discussion.

There being no further business, a motion was made for adjournment. A voice count was taken and with 4 yes and 0 no votes, the meeting adjourned.