Summary of June’s board meeting

By
Posted on Sep 02 2025 in Decatur County REMC

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Steve AmRhein called the regular meeting of the Decatur County REMC Board of Directors to order at 5: 32 p. m., and Steve Nobbe recorded the minutes. All board members were present, except Jason Barnhorst. Also present were CEO Brett Abplanalp and employee Matt Raver.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Suzanne Parmer moved to approve the agenda as presented. Brian Scheidler seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

SAFETY MOMENT AND COOL MOMENT

Abplanalp opened the meeting with a safety moment, noting that June 23-29 marks Lightning Safety Awareness Week. For the first cool moment, he shared highlights from the successful 2025 Annual Meeting. The event received high praise, with an average survey rating of 4. 75 out of 5.0 and 229 comment cards submitted. More than 400 members registered, and around 900 dinners were served.

The second cool moment was a recognition of the crews and employees who contributed to the restoration efforts following the June 16 storm, which brought wind gusts of 60-65 mph. Thanks to their hard work, no member was without power for more than 21 hours.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

Parmer moved to approve the minutes of the May 28,2025, regular board meeting and the May 28,2025, executive session. Dale Wernke seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

CEO UPDATE

Abplanalp provided updates for the fiber project, meter replacement project, and the pole replacement program. Budget forecasts were presented for the fiber and meter replacement projects.

Abplanalp also presented company metrics, which included the following:

  • The median temperature for May was 4.4% cooler than the five-year average.
  • Wholesale energy purchased was down 2%, and demand was down by 6. 1% compared to the five-year average.
  • Year-to-date energy sales were 1.44% above budget.
  • The major storm that occurred on June 16 was discussed.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Raver presented the financial update for May, noting the following:

  • The net utility plant increased by $449, 139 compared to the previous month.
  • Year-to-date revenues were $505,580 above budget.
  • Power costs are over by $163,222, resulting in a gross margin over budget of $342,358 YTD.
  • Controllable expenses were under budget by $220, 146.
  • The ending cash balance for the month was $338,554.

Raver then updated the board on the upcoming borrowing plan for the year, which will support various projects and the construction work plan.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

There was an election of officers. The following were nominated and elected.

CHAIRMAN: AmRhein was nominated on a motion by Nobbe and seconded by Parmer. Nobbe moved to close the nominations, and Parmer seconded.

The nominations were then closed, and AmRhein was elected Chairman.

VICE-CHAIRMAN: Following a motion by Parmer, seconded by Nobbe, Wernke was nominated. Nobbe then moved to close nominations, with Parmer seconding. The nominations were closed, and Wernke was elected Vice-Chairman.

Wernke moved to combine the Secretary and Treasurer positions during officer elections. Parmer seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The Secretary and Treasurer positions were combined, creating the Secretary-Treasurer position. Elections proceeded from there.

Secretary-Treasurer: On motion made by Parmer and seconded by Carl Riedeman, Nobbe was nominated. Riedeman moved to close nominations, seconded by Parmer. The nominations were closed, and Nobbe was elected Secretary-Treasurer.

Assistant Secretary-Treasurer: Scheidler was nominated through a motion made by Parmer and seconded by Riedeman. Wernke moved to close the nominations, which Riedeman seconded. With the nominations closed, Scheidler was elected Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.

Decatur County REMC Community Trust appointments

The following slate of candidates was presented to the board: Becky Metz of District 3 and Joyce Holtkamp of District 7. Parmer moved to approve the slate of candidates, Scheidler seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.

CFC AND NCSC VOTING DELEGATE

Parmer moved to approve Barnhorst as the CFC and NCSC voting delegate. Scheidler seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

BUDGET APPROVAL

The board discussed the next steps in evaluating the feasibility of remodeling or rebuilding the 1960s operations building.

The consensus was that the board would oversee the projects financial impact, establish clear budgetary limits for management, and delegate responsibility for exploring design options and building concepts to management.

POLICY APPROVAL

AmRhein provided an overview of compliance with Policy 1-7: Director Education; no changes were recommended.

POLICY 1-8: Director Fees and Expenses was reviewed along with supporting market data; no changes were made.

POLICY 12-2: Artificial Intelligence Usage was reviewed, and several changes were proposed. Action on this policy was tabled until the next board meeting.

The following policies were reviewed as part of the annual review, with no changes made:

  • POLICY 1-14: Conflict of Interest
  • POLICY 1-10: Director Code of Ethics and Oath of Office
  • POLICY 1-16: Director Conduct Policy

AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

Steve AmRhein provided an update on the recent Indiana Electric Cooperatives board meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

Scheidler moved to adjourn the meeting into an executive session. Parmer seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7: 23 p.m.