Louviers Mutual Service Company Meeting Summary

FINAL – Approved electronically via Board quorum.

Meeting Date: Monday, July 21, 2004

Time: 6:00-9:00 PM

Location: Village Club – Blue Room

Next Special Membership Meeting: Monday, August 23, 2004, Time: 6:00-8:00 PM, Location: Village Club – Blue Room.

The purpose of the meeting is to review the status of water and waste projects, to discuss priorities, to discuss current finances and funding and to vote on a funding reallocation proposal. This is an important step for LMSC please plan on attending and providing your input.

On Monday, August 16, 2004 at 6pm in the Village Club – Blue Room, Du Pont will be in attendance to discuss the clean up effort that has been underway. Please attend if you can. Bring your questions! If you have questions and cannot be there in person, please submit them to Diana Miller at 303.791.5556 or miller.d.l@worldnet.att.net and she will ask them for you.

Attendees from LMS Board: Diana Miller, Mike Hammer, Michael Smith, Pete Holub, Kent Sarff, Dave Tisdale, Chris Dearborn

Other Attendees: Steve Williams, Gordon Fox, Angie Fox, Larry Mattison

Meeting Summary:

Pete opened the meeting by thanking volunteers for all of the HARD work that they did over the weekend to clean up the old well house. Volunteers included Tim Graf, Neta Graf, Phil Booker, John Booker, David Cekovsky, Jocelyn Mertens, Rob Nordberg, Tom Nordberg, Mathew Nordberg, Jan Edinger, Larry Mattison, Fran Snyder, Chris Buchanan, Dan Addington, Don Addington, Adam Burger, Cameron Holub, Spencer Holub, Nancy Holub, Michael Smith, Dave Tisdale, Mike Hammer and Diana Miller. And an additional thanks to Mike Hammer, Tim Graf and Phil Booker for donating materials for shelves, walls and extensions. And also to Pete Holub, Phil Booker, Nancy Holub and Diana Miller for donating the items for the BBQ.

Pete requested that board members start acknowledging that e-mails are being received. He encouraged the usage of the LMSC e-mail distribution list as opposed to sending e-mails to specific board members only.

Pete reviewed the meeting rules.

Steve Williams attended the board meeting to provide information about water volume issues he is having at his residence. He stated that he has measured his volume and gets three gallons of water per minute. He indicated that he has contacted the LMSC board periodically over the last ten years, and that board members would look at the situation, but nothing ever happened. He acknowledged that this is the first LMSC meeting that he has attended. Steve believes that the problem is volume not pressure. He indicated his line is off of a 4” main located 7871 Hillcrest Drive, approximately 75’ in length. According to experts he has consulted the only solution is a new line from the water main. Steve does not have any documents from his experts. Steve indicated that he has researched putting a well in at his home with an approximate cost of $13k. Steve has received some estimates on installing 1 ¼” copper from the main to his home. He provided LMSC with a ball park estimate. When Steve did his gallons per minute test it was at an outside spigot. The pipes inside of his home have not been replaced. Chris Dearborn indicated that the results of a gallons per minute test at his home were 5 gallons per minute. The first step to help resolve the issue is to do some pressure and volume tests. LMSC agreed to do volume and pressure tests at his home and for comparison purposes at Chris Dearborn’s home as well. It was recommended that the tests be done at both off and peak usage times. LMSC will do the tests at Steve’s furthest spigot and also at his meter. Depending on the results LMSC may need to run a test at the beginning of the line running to his home. Diana will coordinate the tests.

Pete went over the bylaw verbiage regarding water restriction violations, the board agreed that the current bylaws cover LMSC’s stated policy related to water restrictions and charges associated with violations. Pete restated that water restrictions in Louviers are required to reduce wear and tear on the pump and other motorized equipment. Essentially, the water restrictions reduce LMSC operating and maintenance costs. The board agreed that tiered billing should be reviewed for next year. Pete briefly touched on a letter LMSC received from Laura Wuerthele about charges she has incurred for water restriction violations. The board (except Diana Miller who did not comment) agreed that water restriction violations were clearly communicated via the original documents sent to all Louviers residents, and by the documentation posted at the post office bulletin board, and by Pete Holub who spoke with her about her initial violation. The board (except Diana Miller who did not comment) agreed that the charge assessed to her should stand. Going forward the LMSC board will send a written document to a violator for all infractions as well as send the written document via mail with a return receipt requested.

Larry Mattison joined the meeting briefly to discuss Eagle Waste Service vs. Waste Management. In his research of Eagle Waste Service he found that if 100 families in Louviers would switch to Eagle from Waste Management we could all benefit from a reduction in our quarterly bills. Our bills would be reduced to the thirty six dollar range. Additionally, we would receive recycling pick up as well as some containers. Please look for a letter from Larry to be hand delivered to your home or go to the www.louvierscolorado.com website for additional information. Mike Hammer also suggested that trash trucks not use the alleys for trash pickup because of potential damage to water or sewer lines.

Marlene Thomas joined the meeting briefly to request support from the LMSC board to help the county decide where to locate five open space gates. Diana and Mike Hammer along with Sharon Leask met with the county to provide Louviers input.

The recent water tank vandalism was discussed. A proposal had been made to allow the vandals to paint the tanks where they had been damaged. Diana felt that it was important for the vandals to understand the additional burden that has been placed on board members because of the vandalism. Michael Smith agreed to facilitate the water tank repair as well as a meeting between the vandals and the LMSC board.

Michael Smith has been in the process of evaluating LMSC insurance options. We currently have a Traveler’s insurance policy. Michael contacted both Great West and Traveler’s to determine the costs of increasing LMSC coverage to include more than just basic liability. Basically, if accidental or intentional damage was done to our well, pump, water tanks, waste meters etc. what it would cost to cover. He is also researching costs to cover independent contractors and volunteers. Michael Smith will contact the Elizabeth, Thunderbird and Sedalia districts to find out who they are insured through. Mike Hammer will contact the Indian Creek district to find out who they are insured through. Based on the information from the other water districts Michael Smith will do more research.

Michael Smith provided a summary of LMSC current finances. Basically, LMSC has spent $20k more dollars this year than they have brought in.

The board agreed that we need to identify and document some drop dead dates to insure that our financing for the waste water treatment project is completed this year. Michael will contact Linda Sundine from Rural Development to get final date information. The board will devote the working session next week to the waste water treatment project and funding.

The board briefly discussed three bids to jet clean and TV inspect our sewer lines. The outcome of the August Special Member meeting will determine if we move forward with this work.

Diana let the board know that the second tank is online and fully operational. The LMSC water storage capacity is now double.

Diana let the board know that LMSC had reached an agreement with Colorado Pump to get a flow meter, air vacuum, Cla-Val, and Pressure Release Valve installed. Colorado Pump is finalizing when all parts will be available. We will then schedule a date. We believe that the work can be accomplished in one day. More information will be provided as soon as available. The installation of the air vacuum will address the issue of air in the lines.

Diana provided her thoughts on how LMSC could do better related to hydrant installation. Her thoughts included having an additional resource review the engineering drawings prior to excavation, checking the American Water Works Hydrant Standards prior to installation, getting engineering input prior to installation, and doing a plan walk through prior to installation to reduce system down time and address all potential safety hazards.

Diana let the board know that the first 30 days of lagoon seepage results have been submitted to TST (project engineers). TST was very pleased with the results. The results produced were even better the initial winter test results. The final testing date will be August 18.

Pete briefly touched on the tap fee dispute initiated by Tom Barenberg. He indicated that LMSC had received a letter disputing tap fees and discussed the actions taken by LMSC.

Pete has taken the action to complete a letter to Rocky Flats that would allow them to donate items to LMSC.

Based on customer input Mike Hammer indicated that we need to get a vendor out to do some sewer line cleaning. This has been completed.

Chris volunteered to put together a presentation of the achievements this board has reached for the August Special Membership meeting. 

Diana asked the board for some guidance on bids that are submitted to LMSC but not accepted. The consensus was that we did not need to notify a bidder if they were not accepted and we did not need to provide a bidder with the reasoning behind their bid not being accepted. Basically, LMSC considers bids submitted privileged information.