Summary of board’s meeting in December

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Posted on Feb 19 2018 in Decatur County REMC
  • The Dec. 21, 2017, meeting was called to order by Chairman Tom Crowe at 6:30 p.m., and Jason Barnhorst kept minutes of the meeting.
  • All members of the board were present, as well as CEO Brett Abplanalp, attorney Robert Wickens, and Accounting and Finance Manager Karen Forshee.
  • Upon motion by Jeff Lawrence, seconded by Steve AmRhein, and carried, the agenda of the meeting was approved by unanimous vote.
  • Directors from districts 6, 7, and 8 must submit two (2) qualified candidates to run for the nominating committee before the January board of directors meeting. Wickens explained that candidates must reside in the district, be in good standing, and have no other conflicts of interest with DCREMC.
  • A financial report was given by Karen Forshee and reviewed on Call to Order. Forshee compared the LE (latest estimate) and YTD (year-to-date) numbers to the budget for 2017. Currently operating margins are $251,000 ahead of budget and she expects to finish the year $180,300 above the 2017 budget. Operating revenue continues to be lower, but has been offset by lower payroll benefits, operations expenses, member services expenses, corporate relations costs, and lower administrative expenses. She also noted that our prepayments to Hoosier Energy for the power bill earns DCREMC approximately 2.49 percent.Inventory levels were also discussed. Abplanalp will look into this and report back to the board.
  • An update on the cost of service study was given by Forshee and Abplanalp. A projected timeline and spreadsheet were reviewed on Call to Order. Data is still being formatted so that Prime Group can utilize it. Abplanalp explained that using our own use data from our smart meters has been a very lengthy process, but should reflect our unique load characteristics. The current goal is to approve the new rates and/or classes by the March board meeting.
  • Upon motion by Dan Schantz, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, the capital credit retirements for 2017 will be paid as follows:
    • $346,512.13 for Hoosier capital credit repaid to DCREMC in January 2017.
    • $103,487.87 for DCREMC year 1993, the oldest outstanding year.
    • Motion carried by unanimous vote.
  • Abplanalp presented a legal recommendation to the board concerning the reallocation of 2015 capital credits. Upon motion by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Dan Schantz, and carried, the recommendation to not reallocate 2015 capital credits was approved by unanimous vote.
  • Policy 4-1 Check Signing was reviewed. Forshee proposed changes to the policy to simplify check signing, EFT, and all other electronic banking. Changes were reviewed and no action was taken.
  • Upon motion made by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Jeff Lawrence, and carried, the consent agenda of the meeting was approved by unanimous vote.
  • Abplanalp gave his CEO, safety, and outage reports as prepared on Call to Order.
  • IEC Board update was given by Lawrence Young.
  • Hometown Energy continues to work with Premier Companies on regulator safety checks. Premier will do the safety checks at their expense. However, future replacements will be done at the member’s expense.

Old Business:

  • Abplanalp updated the board on the priority project list, giving updates on each active project. The strategic pillars, goals, and competencies for 2018 will be presented to the board at the January meeting. He also announced a temporary organizational change to build a strategic execution system that will help provide vision, identify potential projects, manage project execution, and project planning with the budget. Abplanalp expects this temporary assignment to last 4-6 months.
  • Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, the updates to Policy 1-7 Director Training were approved by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, Policy 1-8 Director Fees and Expenses was approved by unanimous vote.

New Business:

  • Upon motion by Roy Friedersdorf, seconded by Steve Gasper, and carried, Lawrence Young is the voting delegate for NRTC and Roy Friedersdorf the alternate.
  • There was discussion concerning DCREMC’s board of directors meetings and attendance by the membership. It was decided that Abplanalp will make sure that our policy is in compliance with state law.
  • Upon motion by Jeff Lawrence, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:22 p.m.