Draft

BRAZOS MUTUAL DOMESTIC WATER CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

May 25, 2014 Meeting Minutes

Meeting was brought to order at 8:05 a.m. at the Brazos Volunteer Fire Station

Directors Present: Tom Petersen

Mike Valdez

Deej Banister

Rubel Martinez

Paul Walenciak

Irv Lindemuth

Mike Doyle

Jim Walker

Karen Adam

Others in Attendance: Dennis Fahs

Jay Mason

Regina Hampton

Roger Shinnick

Michael Palmer

Gabriel Sandoval

Action items are in red.

Minutes of April 27, 2014 were read:

Mike Doyle made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Rubel Martinez seconded. Walker, Doyle, Walenciak, Petersen, Valdez, Martinez, and Banister voted in favor of the motion. Irv Lindemuth abstained. The motion carried.

Minutes of May 4, 2014 were read:

Mike Valdez made a motion to accept the minutes as read. Rubel Martinez seconded. Walker, Doyle, Walenciak, Petersen, Valdez, Martinez, and Banister voted in favor of the motion. Irv Lindemuth abstained. The motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

Bills are current

Bank accounts:

Community Bank checking as of April 30, 2014: $ 15,905.26

Fidelity cash as of April 30, 2014: $ 19,458.99

JASBX as of April 30, 2014: $ 107,069.45

Total $ 142,433.70

Nomination of Board Member:

Deej Banister made a motion to nominate Karen Adam for the interim period of one-month to fill the BOD position vacated by Clay Kilmer. Irv Lindemuth seconded. The motion unanimously carried.

Nomination for Office of Vice-President:

Mike Valdez has stepped down as Vice-President due to the pending sale of his cabin. He will continue to serve on the Board as a Director until the sale is final. Deej Banister made a motion to nominate Irv Lindemuth as Vice-President. Rubel Martinez seconded. Walker, Doyle, Walenciak, Petersen, Valdez, Martinez, Banister, and Adam voted in favor of the motion. Irv Lindemuth abstained. The motion carried.

Audit

Nick Loftis, our CPA, is now assigned to our audit. He received all the information needed for 2010-2013 and is proceeding with this action. Griego Professional Services LLC started our audit and then abandoned it because of employee issues. Rubel Martinez, Treasurer, has written several letters to Griego asking for a refund of the initial deposit for services with no response. Irv Lindemuth made a motion to delegate Mike Doyle to resolve the Griego issue. Deej Banister seconded the motion. The motion unanimously carried.

Membership Concerns:

Jay Mason expressed concern regarding a leak in a main line parallel to State Road 512. The leak appears to come from the Hopwood cabin and exit out of the ground close to the property line between Mason and Wells. Discussion followed. Mason was assured by the Board that Levi Sandoval will be working with Hopwood to isolate the leak and see that repairs are completed. At present it appears to be a shut-off valve issue at the Hopwood cabin. Hopwood will contact Sandoval when he comes to the Brazos so they can assess the situation. Currently, Mason and Wells have water to their cabins and are not affected by the leak.

Gabriel Sandoval, owner of Lot #32 Waterline Road next to our tank property, is attempting to procure the necessary amount of land to be approved for a septic. He has several possibilities that he is checking out to a acquire ¾ of an acre lot—purchase additional land and/or acquire easements. If he cannot increase his lot size, he could possibly procure a septic system designed for less than ¾ of an acre. Currently, he is attempting to negotiate the purchase of the land to the west of his lot. Although no formal action was taken, the Board was generally against allowing him an easement(s) on the BMDWCA lot that houses the tank above Well #3. Having an easement would increase his acreage. He also asked our assistance in locating other property that might be available to purchase. The Board suggested several alternatives for septic and assisted with additional property location. Deej Banister suggested that Sandoval complete his attempts to purchase additional land and/or easement procurements and clarify septic requirements from the State. Sandoval is to check with the NMED as to the correct stand-off distance for a septic from a commercial well. If he still has concerns, he may return to the Board for continued discussion. Sandoval was informed that a water membership would cost $6,000.00.

Annual Meeting:

Tom Petersen will submit the Annual Letter for editing and copying to the Secretary, Deej Banister. Irv Lindemuth, Vice-President, will critique the final draft. Distribution to membership will be made within the allocated time of our Bylaws.

Projected Budget for 2014-2015:

Rubel Martinez is designated to complete the projected budget for 2014-1015 for presentation at the Annual Meeting.

Upper Tank Property:

As discussed at the last meeting, the recent survey of the upper tank acreage shows that our property as plotted by Metes and Bounds infringes into Tom Melk’s property. Tom Petersen contacted Metes and Bounds regarding our boundary concerns and asked for their input for a land swap with Tom Melk. (A swap of land would allow our acreage to contain the upper tank and remain at .52 of an acre.) They suggested that we locate the corners we want for the swap with input from the UBPOA and the VFD because both of these organizations have an interest in getting water to the Pond. Once the new area has been identified, we need to present these corners to Melk and have a mutual agreement as to locations and present such to Metes and Bounds for a final survey for a legal transfer.

Discussion followed after reviewing the surveyor’s findings:

The creek passes through the upper property. We cannot lose the creek.

Why do we need a property transfer? It has been this way for many years.

Does Melk have concerns with our tank on his property?

Is it necessary to adjust our boundaries?

Could we just purchase the land on which the tank is located?

Is there enough land to drill a well?

One reason why we should not give up the creek and should keep it within our boundaries is a Property Agreement that was established in 1967 between the Brazos Estates and the Brazos Water Coop. The Coop was declared the responsible party for providing water to the pond from 1967 forward. At that time the pond was the main source of water for fighting fires. This water provision is a major concern.

The Gallery is outside our property area. It is on Melk’s property. At this time, we do not want to abandon this backup. It is our emergency water reserve.

Several Board members felt the main concern of Melk was cleanup of the area and keeping it pristine— Melk knew the upper tank was on his property at the time he purchased his land up top. Mr. Melk is concerned about the negative appearance from debris, the current creek structures and the ground-surface piping.

Tom Petersen suggested that we form a BMDWCA committee to collectively sort out the upper tank issues. Irv Lindemuth made a motion to appoint a committee. Mike Doyle seconded. The motion unanimously carried. A committee of three (3) was formed. The committee is to appoint a chairman. Committee members are: Irv Lindemuth, Deej Banister/ Karen Adam (alternate), and Paul Walenciak. The committee findings will be submitted to the BOD for final review. Also the committee will work in conjunction with the UBPOA and the VFD in a joint effort to clean up the area. It was suggested that the Committee contact Levi Sandoval and ask his assistance in finding outside help in the clean up.

Water Rights and Two-Year Plan:

Rubel Martinez reported that as of August 20, 2012 the water-rights adjudication fees total $14,844.70. Irv Lindemuth made a motion to appoint Mike Doyle as the BMDWCA point-of-contact with Jeff Albright, adjudication lawyer, regarding our water rights needs. Paul Walenciak seconded. Walker, Walenciak, Petersen, Valdez, Martinez, Banister, and Adam voted in favor of the motion. Doyle abstained. The motion passed. Mike Doyle is delegated to research to-date authorizations and payments, ascertain status of adjudication process, determine next steps, and report back to the Board by our next meeting.

Stop/Waste Valve Issue:

The BOD designated Jim Walker, Paul Walenciak, and Karen Adam to identify possible shut-off valve problems. If a compliance issue is verified, Irv Lindemuth will correspond with the owner regarding the shut-off valve concern. If not in compliance, the owner is subject to a lock out. Deej Banister will provide the list of owners in question. Members were notified by correspondence in 2012 and by a General Meeting announcement in 2013 of the shut-off valve regulations.

Membership Concerns/Applications/Transfers:

Rubel is to check the following membership concerns:

J. Romero needs an invoice.

Have we received Cauthen payment for 2014?

Liability Insurance Coverage:

Discussion on current liability insurance coverage for tanks and property was tabled until the next meeting. This action is assigned to Mike Doyle, who is to evaluate our present coverage.

Non-User Fees

Discussion on non-user fees was tabled until a later meeting.

Well #1 Maintenance:

Rubel Martinez reported Well #1 is in full operation. The pump was pulled and replaced with a larger

1 ½ HP pump. We are receiving water at 5 gpm. The timer and clock were changed. Rubel elaborated on the immediate response by Levi Sandoval to our water needs and his expertise to the Board in well issues.

Other Issues:

Board positions up for 2014 election are: Paul Walenciak, 3-year term; Jim Walker, 3-year-term; Karen Adam, 1-year term.

Jim Walker is to look into outside communications techniques, such as Skype and telecommunications, for use at our Board meetings when circumstances prevent Board members from attending meetings. He is to report on these findings at our next meeting.

Rubel is to contact Levi Sandoval to schedule the flushing of hydrants.

Rubel Martinez returned BMDWCA file materials he received from Clay Kilmer. These materials consisted of hard copy files from Ron Stafford and a DVR from Clay Kilmer

The BMDWCA owes the VFD for half the costs of installation and/or repair of fire hydrants located on Spruce Lane and Dr. 1759 across from the Cliffview Restaurant. Rubel Martinez is to obtain invoices from the VFD and submit payment to the VFD.

The next meeting is set for June 29, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. at the VFD. The Annual Meeting Report will be critiqued at this meeting.

Tom Petersen expressed the need to have members volunteer to serve on the Board.

The meeting adjourned at 11:22 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Deej Banister

Secretary