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Home My WebLink About08-06-15 Regular Meeting of the La Porte Area Water Authority minutes LA PORTE AREA WATER AU'T'HORITY MINUTES August 06,2015 l. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by President Kenneth Schlather. Members Present: Kenneth Schlather,President;Doug Martin,Vice President;Charlie Perry,Secretary;Randy Woodard Members Absent: Excused absence:Dennis Steger Others Present: Corby Alexander, General Manager;Michael Dolby,La Porte Finance Director;David Mick, La Porte Public Works Director;Brian Schneider, City Administrator Morgan's Point 2. The Febrary 11, 2015 minutes were reviewed and unanimously approved with Randy Woodard making the motion to approve and Doug Martin seconding. 3. Michael Dolby,La Porte Finance Director,presented the proposal for the Authority to buy down the remaining portion of the bond debt utilizing the Authority's Cash reserve, currently estimated at $2,668,785.46, to fund debt service expenses estimated as follows: $16,450.50(2015),$692,850.00(2016),and$326,400(2017). The i cash reserve estimate for 2017 after the debt service payments is$1,665,040.22. David Mick also advised the Board that there is a$300,000 invoice from the City of Houston for the most recent Southeast Water Treatment Plant(SEWPP) expansion that is still under consideration. The cash reserve balance projection for 2017 may be adjusted downward by up to $300,000 depending on the final disposition of the invoice. The result of this action would be that the member cities would not be billed for the yearly debt service. For FY 2016,the yearly debt service totals were$593,495 (City of La Porte), $55,289 (City of Morgan's Point), and $44,065 (City of Shoreacres). A motion by Charlie Perry with a second by Doug Martin agreeing that the La Porte Water Authority would fund the remaining debt payments as outlined on behalf of the member cities was unanimously approved. 4. David Mick presented the proposed FY 2016 Authority Budget. Budget amount requested for FY 2016 is $1,149,726, a$20,245 increase(1.79%) over the current year budget. David Mick also updated the Board on recent events related to the SEWPP plant operations and billings and the potential need for the Authority to join other co-owners of the SEWPP to dispute portions of the FY 2016 budget prepared by the City of Houston. The dispute may involve the need for attorney fees that are not yet budgeted. Mr.Mick also noted that the final City of Houston (COH) budget cost that will be billed to the Authority is $0.6072/1000 gallons which is a slight increase over the COH preliminary budget estimate of$0.6035/1000 gallons. Upon completing the presentation, Mr.Mick recommended that the Authority consider budget approval with caveats that the charges to the member cities reflect the final cost of$0.6072/1000 gallons provided by COH,a$10,000 budget increase to 50-07 Other Professional Services for potential legal fees associated with the budget dispute with COH,and a corresponding $10,000 budget decrease to line item 80-21 Machinery/Tools/Equipment. Doug Martin made a motion to approve the budget with changes noted by David Mick,Charlie Perry seconded the motion,and the motion was approved unanimously. 5. Corby Alexander thanked the board and alluded to the City of Houston(COH)budget considerations and future discussions planned among the co-owners of the Southeast Water Purification Plant (SEWPP). David Mick provided the Board Members with a letter prepared by the co-owner's legal counsel,Ron Freeman, and signed by the largest three co-owning entities, Pasadena, Clear Lake Water Authority, and the Gulf Coast Water Authority. The co-owners plan to meet August 17,2015 to determine future steps forward and the potential for disputing portions of the FY 2016 budget prepared by COH. Staff plans to schedule another meeting with this LPAWA board within the next month to provide additional information. 6. There were no additional comments concerning the authority from the board. 7. There being no further business,the meeting adjourned at 6:55 PM. r r! � � .• r ( f Secretary PASSED AND APPROVED ON THIS DAY j ' �, .o President I I iN I I {I f