Summary of board’s meeting in June

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Posted on Aug 29 2018 in Decatur County REMC
  • Chairman Tom Crowe called the June 28, 2018, meeting to order at 6:30 p.m., and Jason Barnhorst kept minutes of the meeting.
  • All members of the board were present. Also present was DCREMC CEO Brett Abplanalp, and DCREMC personnel Karen Forshee, Crystal Greathouse, and Rachel Sullivan.
  • Upon motion by Lawrence Young, seconded by Steve AmRhein, and carried, the agenda of the meeting was approved by unanimous vote.
  • The financial report was given by Karen Forshee and reviewed on Call to Order.
  • Karen reported that the latest estimate (LE) for controllable expenses continues to be higher and are mostly attributed to increased payroll expenses.
  • DCREMC Billing and Member Services Manager Crystal Greathouse addressed the board, giving an overview of her department, personnel, their responsibilities, training, and new networking opportunities. She also updated the board with her departments projects: contact tracking, and prepaid metering. ViaSat Internet was also discussed, specifically the costs that DCREMC incurs for offering those services to our members.
  • Rachel Sullivan, DCREMC corporate relations manager, gave a wrap up of the annual meeting and new voting process. She reported that there were 1,385 early votes cast and 108 onsite votes cast for a total of 1,493. Of the 1,385 early votes, 1,252 were paper ballots. Overall the early voting process was well received. Some areas of improvement were also noted and will be taken into consideration for next year. There were 344 members that registered at the meeting.
  • Abplanalp welcomed newly elected directors: Dale Wernke (District 6), Brian Scheidler (District 5), and Michael Brelage (District 8). The following policies and guidelines were then reviewed and signed by all members of the board. Code of Conduct (Policy 1-16), Oath of Office (Policy 1-10), Conflict of Interest (Policy 1-14), and Director Electronic Communications (Policy 1-15).
  • The following directors were nominated and elected as officers. Upon motion by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, the current officers will maintain their positions, passed by unanimous vote.

Chairman-Tom Crowe
Vice Chairman-Steve AmRhein
Secretary-Jason Barnhorst
Treasurer-Jason Barnhorst
Asst. Sec-Treasurer-Lawrence Young

  • Upon motion by Lawrence Young, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, Steve AmRhein was elected IEC director, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Lawrence Young, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, Tom Crowe was elected Hoosier Energy director, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, Brett Abplanalp was elected Hometown Energy director, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Dale Wernke, and carried, Lawrence Young was elected Hometown Energy director, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Lawrence Young, seconded by Michael Brelage, and carried, District 1 Community Trust nominee is Jeff Emsweller, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, District 2 Community Trust nominee is Bonita Hellmich, passed by unanimous vote.
  • District 8 Community Trust nominee will by submitted at the next regular board meeting.
  • Upon motion made by Lawrence Young, seconded by Brian Scheidler, 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. He also reported that five projects have been completed since the last board meeting, including all building security measures. As DCREMC enters the midway point of its five-year right-of-way (ROW) reclaim program, tree related outages may dictate the need to reprioritize G1-K and W2 (St. Omer and Westport) areas.
  • Hoosier Energy report was given by Abplanalp. He reported that the search of a new CEO is nearing a close. There will be another meeting held Monday, July 2, at Hoosier Energy headquarters.
  • Top ten project list update was given by Abplanalp. 1.) Rate design and the Cost of Service Study, new max class demands will need to be determined for our three new rate classes, 2.) new insurance quotes for DCREMC employees will be in by September and will need to be decided before budget time, 3.) Line extension policy will be presented at the next board meeting or another scheduled time, and 4.) strategic planning event will be held Aug. 30 and 31, location TBD.

Old Business:

  • My Solar contracts and payback amounts were tabled until more information was available for review by the board.

New Business:

  • Upon motion by Jeff Lawrence, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, DCREMC’s agreement with the abandoned landfill will continue, passed by unanimous vote.
  • Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Lawrence Young, and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.