BOARD MEETING MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
A. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
President Baskin called the Special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Stinson Beach
County Water District to order on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, at 11:00 a.m., at the
Stinson Beach County Water District office, located at 3785 Shoreline Highway, Stinson
Beach, CA 94970.
Directors present:
Lawrence Baskin, President
Sandra Cross, Vice President
Barbara Boucke, Director
Morey Nelsen, Director
Jim Zell, Director
General Manager present:
Ed Schmidt
Staff present:
Office Supervisor - Helma Schwendig
B. PUBLIC EXPRESSION
President Baskin reminded the Board that a new Board President and Vice President for
calendar year 2016 would be elected at the December 19 Board meeting. He also confirmed
that the Employee Recognition Dinner will be held at the Breakers Café on December 16.
C. SETTING OF AGENDA
The agenda was adopted as presented.
D. GENERAL BUSINESS
-
Revisit the previous vote to purchase the Springbrook Utility Billing Software System
from Accela Corporation.
At the November 21, 2015 Board meeting, the Board unanimously approved that the General Manager proceed to purchase the Accela (Springbrook) utility billing system for $15,692. Accela issued a contract and requested payment, but stated it would be a period of 3 - 6 months before the District could begin the conversion process. This time lag is due in part to Springbrook's merger with Accela. The General Manager contacted several more individuals, including Springbrook's technology information person in order to achieve a shorter timeframe, but to no avail.
It is more advantageous for the District to install a new utility billing system before the purchase and installation of its new water meters. In view of this protracted delay, the Finance Committee recommended at its December 7, 2015 Committee meeting to purchase the CORE Utilities software system instead. Heather Riddle, of CORE Utilities Software, had previously stated she would be able to get the District started in 48 hours. The software for three users would cost $7,500 and four users $9,500.
The General Manager contacted Chris DeGabriele, the General Manager of the North Marin Water District, regarding the latter's experience in using the CORE Utilities billing software. Mr. DeGabriele stated North Marin Water has been using CORE for 13 years and is very satisfied with its performance. General Manager Schmidt also contacted Dave Bentley, the IT Manager for North Marin Water, who stated the CORE system would not take long to set up.
Several Board members expressed their concerns that the District would be unable to receive user support if Paul Smedshammer, CORE's creator in Petaluma, and Ms. Riddle in Utah were both unavailable to assist the District in case of program failure. The Board directed General Manager Schmidt to inquire from either Mr. Smedshammer or Ms. Riddle the name of their replacement in case of an emergency.
If necessary, a temporary person may be hired to assist with the data conversion to CORE.
Vice President Cross motioned to cancel the previous vote which approved the purchase of the Accela (Springbrook) utility billing software system and, instead, purchase the CORE Utilities billing software. Director Nelsen seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously by President Baskin, Vice President Cross and Directors Boucke, Nelsen and Zell.
The District's Financial Audit as of June 30, 2015 has not yet been finalized due to the findings by Cropper Accountancy Corporation, the District's current auditor, that the trial balance is out of balance. The matter had been discussed at the December 7, 2015 Finance Committee meeting. It was determined through research by the District's bookkeeper that the discrepancy had first occurred in the years 2004-2005 and is probably a result from the failure of the District's auditor at that time to report a fixed asset on the District's depreciation schedule. The Board directed the General Manager to contact John Cropper to complete the audit report and place a footnote therein, disclosing this item.
E. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The next regular meeting will be held on Saturday, December 19, 2015, at 9:30 a.m.