Call to Order – Chairman White called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Board members present were J. B. White, Eddie Roberts, Jr., Eddie Ford; staff members present were Marcie Seleb, general manager, and Alyssa Hopson, clerk to the board.
Election of Board Officers – A motion was made by Mr. Ford to retain J.B. White as Chairman. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved by affirmative votes of Eddie Ford, Eddie Roberts, and J.B. White.
Burt Jones and Harvey Norris joined the meeting.
Because the full board was now present, Mr. Ford motion to rescind his previous motion to retain Mr. White as Chairman. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved unanimously.
Mr. Ford then made a motion to retain J.B. White as Chairman. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved unanimously.
A motion was made by Mr. Roberts to retain Mr. Norris as Vice – Chairman. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
A motion was made by Mr. Ford to retain Mr. Roberts as Secretary – Treasurer. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously.
Approval of Minutes from June 12, 2018 Meeting – Mr. Roberts made a motion to dispense with the reading of, and to approve, the minutes from the June 12, 2018 meeting. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved unanimously.
Approve Cost Split – Jones Petroleum Sewer at I-75/Hwy 16 – At its June 12 meeting the Authority had agreed in principal to share half the cost of converting the force main on Glade Road to gravity sewer to accommodate development of Jones Petroleum’s site for a convenience store, truck maintenance shop, and car sales facility. A motion was made by Mr. Ford to pay $64,600 toward the project. This was seconded by Mr. Norris and approved with affirmative votes from Mr. Ford, Norris and Eddie Roberts. Mr. Jones and Mr. White abstained because they both have a material interest in property in the area.
Approve Sewer Layout Option for Extension to Liberty II – Ms. Seleb reminded Board members that in June they had reviewed two options for extending sewer on Highway 16 West for the Liberty Commerce Center II, but tabled any action. Options were: (1.) a deep cut option at an estimated cost of $613,187, which would allow for Liberty to discharge its wastewater by gravity flow or (2.) a shallow cut option at an estimated cost of $298,243 which would require use of a pumping station on the Liberty property. Mr. Norris made a motion to go with the shallow cut option. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously. Mr. Jones and Mr. White both abstained due to owning property in the immediate area.
FY 2019 Budget – Ms. Seleb presented a draft of the fiscal year 2019 budget, which included a rate increase. The total budget projects $4,358,800 in revenue with $2,763,400 in operational costs and $2,762,000 in capital spending. A motion was made by Mr. Norris to raise the regular water rate per 1000 gallons from $5.00 to $5.50. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously. No other rate changes were made.
Mr. Ford made a motion to adopt the budget as presented. This was seconded by Mr. Roberts and approved unanimously. A copy of the detailed budget is attached and made a part of these minutes.
Pilot/Flying J Sewer Extension Request – Ms. Seleb presented a request from Pilot/Flying J for sewer extension on Bucksnort Road. Pilot/Flying J has already made payment to cover the cost of engineering. A motion was made by Mr. Jones to proceed with design to extend sewer at Pilot/Flying J’s cost. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously. Mr. White abstained due to owning property in the immediate area. A copy of the letter of request is included and made part of these minutes.
Water Service Delivery Area Map for Service Delivery Plan – Ms. Seleb presented a water service delivery area map of Butts County that had been prepared to satisfy State requirements for the county’s service delivery plan update. A motion was by Mr. Roberts to adopt the service area map. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously. A copy of the map is included and made part of these minutes.
Recommendation for Authority Funds Investment – Ms. Seleb presented available rates for money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CD’s). All Hamilton Bank CD’s were recently “bumped up” to 2.1% and to a shortened term of twelve months. Ms. Seleb recommended also moving a total 0f $1,500,000 from local banks into Georgia Fund 1 and redeeming two of the five CD’s in United Bank’s investment account to obtain higher interest rates. Mr. Roberts made a motion to approve a resolution to open an account in Georgia Fund 1 at the Georgia Office of the State Treasurer and to invest $1,500,000 into Georgia Fund 1. This was seconded by Mr. Jones and approved unanimously. A copy of the rates is included and made part of these minutes.
Manager’s Report
LAS Field Expansion – Ms. Seleb reported the Bucksnort Land Application System field expansion is underway and going well.
Crew – Ms. Seleb reported the Authority’s crew is cleaning lagoons at the water treatment plans, maintaining right of ways, harvesting hay and clearing lanes at the LAS.
Upcoming Projects – Projects set to begin the next few weeks include the Barnes Road water main installation, Glade Road sewer force main relocation, and extension water on Hwy. 16 W to the Liberty II site and the Jones Petroleum site.
Update on Consolidation Charter Committee – Mr. Norris reported the committee was disbanded by the Board of Commissioners.
Land for Sale – Ms. Seleb reported John Harkness would like to sell the Authority some twenty-three landlocked acres contiguous with the LAS site. After discussion, the Board agreed on a price to offer Mr. Harkness.
Operations Statistics – Ms. Seleb reviewed water production, water loss and customer statistics for June. The average daily finished water pumped to the Authority, Jackson and Jenkinsburg from Burford and Stewart plants was 2.3 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 2.7 million gallons per day. The rolling twelve-month average loss was 11.1% with the current monthly average loss at 6.2%. The total amount of finished water pumped in June by each plant was: Burford – 63 million gallons and Stewart – 5 million gallons.
For the Fiscal Year 2018, which ended June 30th, total gallons sold dropped by 9%. Gallons sold to the Georgia Diagnostic Prison dropped by 56%.
Water billing for June was $245,215, up 12% from the previous month and down 1% the same month for the previous year. For Fiscal Year 2018 as a whole, water billing was down by 6%. Sewer billing for June was $55,180, up 3% from the previous month and up 5% from the previous year. For Fiscal Year 2018 as a whole, sewer billing was down by 2.5%.
Total water accounts numbered 5,586 at the end of June with 5,122 active water customers. Three new water taps were purchased on the existing system.
There were 180 total sewer accounts at the end of June, with 178 of those being active customers.
Financial Report – Ms. Seleb reviewed the financial summary for Water & Sewer Operations, Capital Recovery Fees, and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for June 2018. Water operations income for June was $269,785 with $239,973 in expenses. Water capital recovery fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2018 was $41,732 with an outflow of $79,968 for payment of the Sandy Creek Loan.
Sewer Operations income for June was $59,880 with expenses of $30,786. Sewer Capital Recovery Fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2018 was $141,165 with $55,000 in expenses. To date, $2,331,329 has been collected in 2013-19 SPLOST and interest, with $ 1,153,672 expended.
Total cash on hand at the end of June was $10,685,528. This is $642,479 over the June 30, 2017 balances. Copies of the June 2018 financial summaries, the consolidated fund balance sheet and the consolidated fund income statement are attached and made a part of these minutes. Also attached, is a copy of the monthly check register.
Adjourn – A motion was made by Mr. Jones to adjourn the meeting at 6:29 p.m. This was seconded by Mr. Ford and approved unanimously.