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2005 12 21 BAWA MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BAYTOWN AREA WATER AUTHORITY December 21, 2005 The Board of Directors of the Baytown Area Water Authority, Harris County, Texas, met in regular session on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 in the Conference Room, 7425 Thompson Road, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Robert L. Gillette, President Dan Mundinger, Vice President Peter Buenz, Secretary Knox Beavers, Board Member Dan Conejo, Board Member. The meeting opened at 8:00 a.m. with a quorum present, and the following business was conducted: Consider approval of the minutes for the meeting held on November 18, 2005. This item was not ready for consideration. Consider awarding bid and authorizing contract for the annual purchase of liquid chlorine. The recommendation for the annual liquid chlorine contract is to Altivia for $582 per ton for approximately 133 tons ($77,406). Three bids were mailed out. BAWA received two competitive bids; one was returned to sender. The previous liquid chlorine bid went to Altivia. Board Member Mundinger moved award of the annual purchase of liquid chlorine bid to Altivia. Board Member Conejo seconded the motion. The vote follows: Ayes: Board Members Beavers, Buenz, Conejo, and Mundinger President Gillette. Nays: None. The motion carried. Consider awarding bid and authorizing contract for the annual purchase of ferric chloride. The recommendation for the annual liquid ferric chloride contract is to Genesis Chemical for $0.22109 per pound for approximately 500,000 pounds ($110,545). There were seven bids mailed out. BAWA received three competitive bids; four did not submit a bid or a no bid notification. The previous liquid ferric chloride bid went to Genesis Chemicals. Board Member Beavers moved award of the annual purchase of ferric chloride to Genesis Chemical. Board Member Mundinger seconded the motion. The vote follows: Ayes: Board Members Beavers, Buenz, Conejo, and Mundinger President Gillette. Nays: None. The motion carried. Page 2 of 3 • • Minutes of the Regular Meeting — December 21, 2005 Consider the financial statements for the period ending September 30, 2005 for the Baytown Area WaterAuthority. Nathan Krupke representing the firm of Sandersen, Knox & Belt, CPA informed the Board that the firm had issued a clean, unqualified opinion. Board Member Buenz moved to accept the financial statements for the period ending September 30, 2005 for the Baytown Area Water Authority. Board Member Conejo seconded the motion. Ayes: Board Members Beavers, Buenz, Conejo and Mundinger President Gillette Nays: None The motion carried. Receive and discuss an update on new laws concerning the Open Meetings Act, the Public Information Act, and conflicts of interest. During the Regular Session of the 79th Legislature, the Legislature enacted legislation which, among other actions, amended the Open Meetings Act, the Public Information Act and requires conflicts disclosure statements. SB 286 requires public officials who are members of a governmental body, including the Board of Directors of the Baytown Area Water Authority, to receive training concerning its responsibilities with regard to the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act. The bill becomes effective January 1, 2006, and generally requires the training be completed within a year for those officers who have taken the oath of office prior to January 1, 2006. HB 914 creates a new filing requirement for local government officers, including the BAWA Board of Directors, concerning certain relationships with persons with whom BAWA does business or may do business. Members of the BAWA Board of Directors will be required to file conflicts disclosure statements and persons doing business or seeking to do business with BAWA will be required to file conflict of interest questionnaires. Both forms have been adopted by the Texas Ethics Commission. The disclosure requirements for members of the BAWA Board of Directors go into effect on January 1, 2006, and are in addition to existing conflicts of interest laws. Please note that violations of either of the new bills may result in criminal penalties being assessed. Manager's Report. Travis Doughty gave a report on the purchase of electricity for the Baytown Area Water Authority. Electric rates have increased significantly over last year. Pricing went from $0.1015950 in early November to $0.0985898 in mid November trending ever so slightly downward to $0.0987020 in late November. Reports implied the downward trend might continue as production of natural gas continued to return to normal in the Gulf of Mexico and the reserves were holding steady at good levels. However, the first cold snap hit and prices spiraled upward. We were able to contract with MPower for a six month period at $0.1014300. Current pricing for this account is estimated at $0.125000. Rhonda Young gave a report on the impact of the increased electric rates on the budget. Staff calculated an estimated $113,000 expenditure in excess of the budget for electricity cost for BAWA which could be offset by deferring some planned expenditures to keep the total budget as it was adopted. Staff will continue to monitor the cost of electricity. Page 3 of 3 Minutes of the Regular Meeting — December 21, 2005 Adjourn As there was no further business to be transacted, the meeting adjourned at 8:17 a.m. elvin Knau , "nterim Assisj t Secretary •