Draft 2021 Annual Meeting Minutes

HWUA 2021 Membership – Annual Meeting Minutes

[DRAFT TO BE APPROVED AT NEXT ANNUAL MEETING]

July 27, 2021 – 10:00 am MDT

Type of Meeting: Regular annual meeting of HWUA Membership

Location: Estes Park Public Library

Meeting Facilitator: Don Piepgras

Board Members Present: Don Piepgras, Ralph Turner, Randy Hall, Beth Coulson, and Jim Redman

Call to order at 10:00 am by Board President Don Piepgras

Agenda items:

  1. Welcome Membership and Introductions of Board: Don Piepgras introduced himself and the current board members.
  2. Reading/Approval of 2019 Minutes (2020 meeting cancelled due to COVID): Ralph Turner, Board Secretary, read the minutes from the 2019 Membership Meeting. Bill Rawsky moved to approve, second by True Morgan: approved unanimously by the 26 property owners present, it was requested that the minutes be made available to the Membership. They will be posted on the website.  Special District: Don Piepgras reported that he had investigated using a Special District for funding for HWUA and found that only Colorado residents can vote on such an initiative and that there are a lot of hoops to go through. A Special District would require a separate board made up only of Colorado residents whose properties are not held in trust. Don did not feel that it seemed practical to pursue at this time. There was not money spent on this investigation.
  3. Financial report: Randy Hall, Board Treasurer, provided a financial report.
    • Current financial status: The Association has a current cash balance of approximately $56,700.
    • Billing/Payment issues and status accounts receivable:
      • Randy clarified to the group that there are two annual billings: one in the spring for $250 and another in the fall for $250. In November, the actual water usage and prorated electric use (pumps) are also invoiced. The meters have been tested for accuracy and are in good working order. Three units have not fully paid the spring $250 with a total Accounts Receivable of $560. These owners have been charged the finance charge. Don Piepgras gave some background on the past accounting mess before the board took over the record-keeping from Frank Huffman that has been cleaned up and thanked everyone for helping to get this accomplished. Don also asked that you periodically check your meter to see if you have a leak.
      • Don Piepgras reported that there were some problems with the pressure dropping on the system. A new pump was ordered back in March, but it hasn’t arrived yet. The new pump will be installed as soon as it arrives. Another pump is being ordered to have on hand since it has taken so long for the initial order to arrive.
      • Jeff Cahill offered to set up a Next Door Group for HWUA so that information can be shared more easily.
  4. Overview of activity since last Membership Meeting:
  • AWWS (Alberts Water & Wastewater Specialists) of Ft. Collins, a licensed water system operator has continued to be the system operator and perform monthly water testing and reporting to the State on our system. Bill Harvey has continued to be the “feet on the ground” for Hondius with more frequent checks of the system. (Notify Bill or Board members of leaks or other system issues.)
  • Renewal of RMNP Lease: Don contacted RMNP reps about the lease renewal and performed the local “leg work” concerning the lease extension. Don, Beth, and Ralph participated in the conference call which was successful in obtaining a 10 year lease extension for the continued use of the tanks and storage building within the Park’s boundaries.
  • Small Communities Water and Wastewater Grant: Jim took the lead for determining the requirements, obtaining the required information, and preparing the application for a Small Communities Water and Wastewater Grant. While it became apparent that it was unlikely for our system to obtain the grant (the criteria for obtaining grants favored those systems that had more significant issues and/or open violations from State inspections), the application was completed and filed with the State. As expected, Hondius did not score high enough on the “deficiency” scale to obtain a grant. In completing the form, the Board members performed a “general audit”, or SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) of our system relative to other systems and to the standards in the state.
  • Monitoring the System: At least monthly, and more often as any issues are noted, Jim discusses with Bill Harvey, his work monitoring the system for proper normal operation. This includes the discovery of leaks, the coordination with Hondius members when their service lines are discovered to have issues (for which then Bill may be recommended to fix the issue at the members’ expense), and the coordination of annual meter readings, etc.
  • Interaction with Contractors Concerning New Construction in the Hondius Area: Jim has met with contract Mike Aldrich on several occasions to discuss issues related to members’ water. One issue related to a member on the east side of the system requesting to obtain future water service from the Town with a new service line, and discontinue Hondius service. Follow-up involved communication with State authorities to determine propriety. Another issue involves new construction on a lot that has two service lines serving 4 members crossing the lot. Movement of those lines was required, including alerting the members to the fact, and communications and coordination required with Aldrich and the new owner as well regarding hooking up to the Hondius system and where and how to do so.
  • Drilling Requests: Jim and Don assisted with property owners within the Hondius water district regarding requests to drill water wells, including coordination with State authorities on the proper way to do so.
  • Acquisition of a New Pump: While Don does most of the coordination with AWWS regarding their services, when we determined a new pump was required for the vault, AWWS provided cost estimates and Jim was able to find another source via an internet inquiry, which resulted in Hondius paying $500 less than the quote provided by AWWS for purchase of the pump.
  • Monitoring of Past Due Billings: Board members monitor and participate in contacting delinquent members.
  • Accuracy Testing of the Water Meters: Meters pulled after the 2019 season were taken to Loveland (by Jim) to be checked for accuracy and any meters found to be off by over 5% variance were retired and new meters were used in their place in 2020 (and 2021). Don coordinated the town of Loveland to assist us with the testing and picked up the meters and brought them back when the testing was complete.
  • System Opening and Closing: Communications with members regarding timing of system opening and closing are generally provided by Don.
  • Postings and Updates to the Hondius Web Site: These are done by Jim (including communications noted above, annual meeting notices, etc.).
  • Water Quality Reports: Don receives these monthly (during the applicable months of approximately May to December) indicating results of testing.
  • Annual Backflow Prevention Test: Testing for prevention of backflow of water into the Town’s water system is required annually and is coordinated by Randy.
  • Email Communication: Throughout the year all board members are kept up-to-date in the general performance of board functions. There are numerous other topics that have been discussed in email threads in the last year that are not listed above.

There was a question from the floor in regard to new hook-ups. The board has established fees associated with new hook-ups, but have not addressed those that have left the system.

  • Landmark Preliminary Study: A copy of the Landmark study was sent to all owners via email. This study included several options in regard to upgrading the current system.
    1. Just replacing and relocating the tanks to Don’s property will cost approximately $523,000 for shallow line, or $632,000 for deep line. These costs do not include service lines to members’ homes. This option just moves the tanks out of the park.
    2. Replace and relocate the tanks to Don’s property and replace the seasonal lines would cost approximately $922,000 for shallow line, or $1,360,000 for deep line. Again, these costs do not include the service lines to members’ homes. There is no funding available for this and it may not qualify for USDA funding. To replace all of the lines (including lines below the blue line – 7950 feet) would be another $500,000.
      • Beth has scheduled someone to come out to her property to estimate how much it will cost to replace the lines from Hondius line to her house. She will let everyone know what she finds out.
      • A question from the floor asked if it would be feasible for the Town of Estes Park to do an annexation. Don said that he would discuss this with the town the next time he is in town.

5.  Motion came from Christen Shaw to increase the annual fee from $500 to $1500 starting 01/01/2022 payable in increments of $750 each; the additional $1000 annual fee per property to be reserved for catastrophic occurrence or system change, second by Diane Goddard. Unanimously approved.

6.  Motion from Bill Rawsky to approve the current board for another year, second by Gene Barnett. Unanimously approved.

Meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm by Board President Don Piepgras