Minutes of Prudential Committee Meeting
Jericho fire district No. 1
November 18, 2014
Attendees: Brian McDonald, Ann Kroll Lerner, Brian Stevens, Fred Lavenberg, Les Allen
Ratified electronic decisions: Three decision made via e-mail between meetings were ratified by the P.C. These were for SOS requests to; hire a plumber to check out the filter building heater, to purchase a sludge judge for measuring the back wash tank sludge level and to purchase a back wash tank lid that a single person can remove.
Reservoir building gas conversion: The installation and hook-up of natural gas was completed. Les will contact Suburban Gas to remove the existing propane tank and discuss compensation.
Sludge in the back wash holding tank: Les reported our SOS operator measured the sludge level to exceed the allowable and that P & P Septic pumped out 3,000 gal. of manganese sludge on 11/12. This is the second pump out in 2014, within a little less than 6 months. From this it was decided that we need to plan for three pump outs per year, going forward.
Stuck shut-off valve: at #6 Ridge Rd. Our operator reported that more often the connecting pin assembly corrodes and can be replaced. This shut-off needs complete replacement and due to the lateness of the season, recommended that this work be postponed until Spring of 2015. A shut-off of water for all of Ridge Rd. and re-flushing will be required. The PC agreed with the recommendation from our operator to defer this work. Les will contact the absent owner to notify that our water system operator has proposed that we (they) conduct an all customer shut-off valve assessment next summer. Some of these valves are nearing 40 yrs. old and may have corroded beyond usability, as shown by the valve at #6 Ridge Rd. The P.C. approved this proposal.
Water scale/sediment: reported at #15 Ridge Rd. Fred will contact the customer to investigate further and provide recommendations.
Bill collecting proposal: The pending 1st qtr. 2015 billing will occur in the normal manner. Beginning with the 2nd qtr. Of 2015 Mac Lippert will try electronic billing notification and offer the option for electronic transfer for the payment. To do this will require a new, dedicated bank account from which the payments can be monitored and then swept into the treasurer’s account. The Prudential Committee approved this proposal and authorized Mac Lippert to set-up this new account at the Merchants Bank.
Financials: Brian Stevens presented the current balance/prior year comparison, and the income and cash flow summary. The planned expenditures tracked reasonably well with priors except for three unplanned expenditures which have depleted our reserve fund, as reported previously. This reserve fund was planned to accumulate sufficiently to accommodate six significant expenses (in excess of $28,000) within the next three years.
After considerable discussion of the implications and how to meet potential consequences of this short-fall in the reserve fund, the P.C. agreed that our proposed budget for 2015 will include a 15% increase, to begin with the second qtr. Billing. The P.C. will prepare a sufficient presentation of this need at the annual meeting. Anyone wishing to discuss this earlier can plan to attend the Dec. P.C. meeting on 12/16 at 7:00 PM, Rawson library.
Annual meeting preparation: The Fire District annual meeting will be held; 7:00 PM, January 20, 2015 in the conference room Ann and Fed will continue their terms as P.C. The P.C. will nominate Brian McDonald for a three year term as P.C. member. The P.C. will nominate Brian Stevens and Les Allen, each to a one year terms as Treasurer and Clerk respectively.
Respectfully submitted,
Les Allen, Clerk, JFD#1