Sterling, Colorado, January 8, 2010
MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Directors of The North Sterling Irrigation District held at their office in Sterling at 12:00 P.M., January 8th, 2010.
Directors David Hernandez, David Breidenbach, James Aranci, Secretary James Yahn, and Leon Rose were present.
The group left for lunch at the open house of the Sterling office of the Division of Water Resources and returned at 1:20 p.m.
Minutes of Board meeting held December 8th, 2009 were approved as received.
Expense for the month of December was allowed in the total amount of $257,288.08 and ordered paid as shown on sheets attached to and made a part of these minutes by due action of the Board, all Directors present voting aye. As part of explaining the bills Mr. Yahn gave an update of the progress of the spillway construction and also relayed a request from the contractor asking to have the retainage lowered from 10% to 5% since the project is nearing completion. It was the consensus of the board to leave the retainage at 10%.
With no further business for the year 2009 to be considered by the Directors, the Board as organized for the year 2009 adjourned sine die.
With Mr. David Breidenbach, being the newly elected Director and duly qualified to serve as the Director in and for Division No. 1 of the District during the ensuing three year term, the new Board was then duly organized for the year 2010 with David A. Hernandez as President, David Breidenbach as Vice-President, and James Aranci as Director. James Yahn was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Board.
The board reviewed the legal update from our attorney that outlined the timeline for the cases in which the North Sterling is involved. Secretary Yahn stated that the most recent resume was not available, however he had received notice of an application filed in water court by United Water and Sanitation District for the ability to exchange up to 225 cfs in the South Platte from Beaver Creek to the Denver metro area. Mr. Yahn recommended the North Sterling file opposition to the filing. It was moved by Director Aranci and seconded by Director Breidenbach to file the opposition. Upon being put to a vote the motion passed.
The board reviewed an audit engagement letter from Lauer, Szabo, and Associates. In the letter, Lauer, Szabo, and Associates proposed to perform the audit of the District’s 2009 account at a cost of $2,550. Mr. Yahn informed the board that Lauer, Szabo, and Associates performed last year’s audit for $2,400. After some discussion it was the consensus of the board to have Secretary Yahn talk to Mr. Szabo about the annual rising cost of the audit. Mr. Yahn was also authorized to sign the audit engagement letter if Mr. Szabo was willing to perform the audit at the same price as last year.
At 1:50 p.m. Joe Frank with the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District and Mike Groves, a farmer from the Weldona area arrived at the meeting. Mr. Groves briefly addressed the board concerning a water coop idea, Secretary Yahn then gave an explanation of the coop, why its important, how it could benefit the North Sterling and other ditch companies, and how it would operate. Mr. Frank then gave a power point presentation providing amount of excess recharge credits available in the river and the potential to exchange those credits upstream closer to a municipal need or for upstream agricultural use. The board had questions that were answered by the group and also voiced an initial interest in the idea. At 3:00 p.m. Mr. Frank and Mr. Groves left the meeting.
Mr. Yahn informed the directors that he had hired Herman Neiman, who had previously worked for the District, to fill the position of inlet ditch rider. Mr. Neiman desires to live in the District’s house near Merino; therefore Mr. Yahn gave the current tenant in the house until February 12th to vacate the premises.
Mr. Yahn informed the board that Dave Lebsock had inquired about the possibility of receiving water from the inlet canal for recharge on property he had recently acquired from the Rex Monahan Estate. Mr. Yahn told Mr. Lebsock that some investigation of the soil in the area would need to be done in order to determine whether the site would be acceptable for recharge.
Mr. Yahn requested that he be allowed to attend the annual Colorado Water Congress Convention in Denver on January 27 through the 29. It was moved by Director Breidenbach and seconded by Director Aranci to allow Mr. Yahn to attend.
Secretary Yahn stated that current storage in the reservoir is 54,646 acre feet and that currently the flow in the inlet is approximately 250 cfs due to ice, with 140 cfs reaching the reservoir.
Director Aranci brought up the concern of employees working on the river dam during ice conditions. Mr. Aranci suggested the district purchase two safety harnesses for employees use on the dam. It was the consensus of the board to purchase such equipment.
With no further business to come before the Board the meeting was adjourned at 3:45 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
James T. Yahn, Secretary