Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District Meeting

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING CENTRAL OKLAHOMA MASTER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT Thursday, January 4, 2024 6:30 P.M. Location: 12500 Alameda Dr. Norman, OK 73026 A. Call to Order President Amanda Nairn called the meeting to Order at 6:30 pm. Roll Call Board Members Present: President Amanda Nairn Vice President Michael Dean Treasurer Jann Knotts Secretary Dave Ballew Edgar O’Rear Espaniola Bowen Steve Carano Board Members Absent: None Staff Present: Kyle Arthur, General Manager Kelley Metcalf, Office Manager Tim Carr, Operations & Maintenance Supervisor Others Present: Dean Couch Cole Niblett Carrie Evenson B. Statement of Compliance with Open Meeting Act Kelley Metcalf, Office Manager, stated the notice of the monthly board meeting had been posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Act. C. Administrative 1. Public Comment None Page 1 of 6 2. Treasurer Report- October and November 2023 financials Ms. Knotts stated there are two months of financials due to the last meeting being cancelled. She reviewed both months and the District is in a good financial position. Ms. Knotts noted in the October profit and loss portion, 3 months are shown and November profit and loss portion, two months are shown. The new provider is willing to format the reports to best suit the District’s needs. Ms. Knotts stated a virtual meeting is planned with Finely & Cook, Paxus, herself, and Mr. Arthur to discuss annual adjustments (done yearly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles). Ms. Knotts then gave a brief overview of November 2023 statements. Ms. Nairn asked about the Board’s preference on the profit and loss portion of the report. Everyone agreed they would like to see three months displayed. Mr. Dean said he would like to see a header or footer from the accounting firm stating they produced the report. Mr. Arthur said this is a valid point and would request that. Ms. Knotts asked if there were any questions. Mr. Arthur stated that a Treasury bill (T-Bill) is coming due on January 18th, and he will be getting yield numbers shortly. Ms. Knotts mentioned in November the Federal Reserve met, and inflation was decreasing, and a decision was made not to raise rates, resulting in positive impacts in the Market for stocks and bonds. Ms. Knotts asked the board to look at the November Balance Sheet. On the last page of the budget portion of the report, account 4930 (securities value adjusts) had been tracking negative security value adjustments for several months. In November the total change in value of assets is a positive $102,000, which means year to date the District is almost $18,000 in positive adjustments. Ms. Knotts explained the asset allocation summary on the LPL statement. Mr. Arthur stated the District has a bond that will mature in May. Mr. Dean stated in reviewing the District’s bond portfolio you will find very few bonds that are above 4 %. Mr. Dean suggested giving Mr. Arthur permission to invest more in T-Bills with return rates of 4% or better. Ms. Knotts clarified that the funds would be from either the maturing T-bill or the operating account, and not the LPL Financial account. Ms. Nairn agreed that Mr. Arthur and Ms. Knotts could decide as they see fit. Mr. Dean mentioned that certificate of deposits (CD) could possibly fail, due to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) only insuring actual deposit accounts. Mr. Dean voiced his opinion to invest in T-Bills versus CDs. Ms. Knotts stated she does not think CDs are excluded from the FDIC insurance guidelines, and that she would verify. Mr. Ballew would like to have a report that shows the weighted average return on the fixed income assets, to use as a guide to make informed decisions given that yield curves have been inverted. Ms. Knotts stated she would put something together. Mr. Arthur stated he would be happy to assist Ms. Knotts in Page 2 of 6 making an Excel spreadsheet. Ms. Nairn said maybe this information could be a part of the Treasurer Report each month. Ms. Nairn asked if there were any other questions or comments on the financials, hearing none she moved to the Action portion of the meeting. D. Action: Pursuant to 82 OKLA. STATUTES, SECTION 541 (D) (10), the Board of Directors shall perform official actions by resolution and all official actions including final passage and enactment of all resolutions must be approved by a majority of the Board of Directors, a quorum ing present, at a regular or special meeting. The following items may be discussed, considered, and approved, disapproved, amended, tabled or other action taken: 3. Minutes of the regular board meeting held on Thursday, November 2, 2023, and corresponding Resolution Ms. Nairn asked if there were any questions, comments, or edits. Mr. Ballew mentioned he was thankful for the presentation by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. He said it was very informative. Michael Dean made a motion seconded by Dave Ballew to approve the minutes, and corresponding Resolution. Ms. Nairn stated if the Board wanted a particular speaker, the District would try to accommodate that request. Roll call vote: President Amanda Nairn Yes Vice President Michael Dean Yes Treasurer Jann Knotts Abstain Secretary Dave Ballew Yes Member Edgar O’Rear Yes Member Espaniola Bowen Yes Member Steve Carano Yes Motion Passed 4. Authorization for the General Manager to develop and solicit Invitations to Bid for new equipment buildings, and corresponding Resolution Ms. Nairn reminded everyone that several months ago Mr. Carr gave a presentation on the construction of a new equipment building. Ms. Nairn stated there have been some general inquiries about where the District is in that process. Ms. Nairn reminded the Board that the District has been given the opportunity to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Page 3 of 6 Mr. Arthur stated the COMCD Staff had a meeting and discussed the new building or buildings. Mr. Arthur would like to have the Board’s input and thoughts as well. He then made a presentation on the proposed location and footprints of the proposed structures. After the presentation several options were discussed, which included moving the primary equipment building location back to the northeast some distance to provide more space between the existing equipment building and the new one, shifting the primary building to the south and moving one or more of the storage containers, increasing the height of the building to 16’ and the garage doors to 12’, evaluate plumbing the building for water and sewer, adding insulation, and abutting the primary building to the carport/leant-to structure. Mr. Arthur said he would consider these changes as he drafted the bid specs. Steve Carano made a motion seconded by Edward O’Rear to approve the Resolution to authorize the General Manager to develop and solicit Invitations to Bid for new equipment buildings. Roll call vote: President Amanda Nairn Yes Vice President Michael Dean Yes Treasurer Jann Knotts Yes Secretary Dave Ballew Yes Member Edgar O’Rear Yes Member Espaniola Bowen Yes Member Steve Carano Yes Motion Passed 5. Authorization for the General Manager to proceed with appropriate actions, including the solicitation of Invitations to bid, if necessary, to develop firm cost estimates for cleanout of the Relift Forebay, and corresponding Resolution Ms. Nairn stated the District is responsible for the cleanout of the Relift Forebay. Mr. Arthur gave a brief overview and description of the purpose of the forebay, including the location. He then presented some of the current challenges with the clean-out project including layout of the site, the volume of sediment and the need to work around the two cities’ schedules during downtime. Mr. Arthur stated that he researched and found that the last time the forebay was cleaned was February 2007. Mr. Arthur noted that, prior to that, cleanout was performed every 1 to 2 years. Mr. Arthur stated now the task is not a simple, routine matter due to the amount of sediment. Mr. Arthur informed the board that in the future this task will be yearly. Ms. Nairn stated there is no excuse for not cleaning the tanks annually and the District will not ignore this again. In order to better understand options and costs for cleanout and disposal, Mr. Arthur has met with six companies. Interestingly, each company had different ideas of how to perform the task. But primarily, it involved vacuum trucks. Page 4 of 6 Mr. Arthur stated that COMCD staff took the Jon boat and did a rough estimate of the depth of the sediment. Best guess is approximately 1 foot, which equates to approximately 60 thousand gallons of sediment. Several ideas were exchanged, including possibly trucking the sediment to Midwest City’s sludge field. Mr. O’Rear mentioned that when the forebay is empty, it may be beneficial to have a foundation inspection performed. Mr. Dean, and Mr. Ballew suggested utilizing a skid-steer in the forebay itself. Mr. Arthur stated he was hesitant to do that for fear of cracking the concrete floor of the forebay. Mr. O’Rear suggested talking to the Corp of Engineers who may have experience with similar circumstances. Mr. Dean recommended checking the cleanout valve to ensure it’s working properly once the forebay is cleaned. Mr. Arthur concurred. Further discussion was held regarding the approach of utilizing different services individually to coordinate the cleanout effort or to have one “general contractor”. Mr. Arthur said his inclination, right now, is to request quotes or bids for one company to coordinate the entire project. Dave Ballew made a motion seconded by Espaniola Bowen to approve the Resolution. Roll call vote: President Amanda Nairn Yes Vice President Michael Dean Yes Treasurer Jann Knotts Yes Secretary Dave Ballew Yes Member Edgar O’Rear Yes Member Espaniola Bowen Yes Member Steve Carano Yes Motion Passed E. Discussion 7. Legal Counsel’s Report Nov 2 Attend monthly meeting of Board of Directors Dec 13 Conference with Assistant General Counsel Richard Cole at Oklahoma Water Resources Board about District’s term permit application to use water from flood pool and forward copy of Bureau of Reclamation temporary water use contract Dec 20 Initiate review of copy of draft rules from Oklahoma Water Resources Board sent from Collins Balcomb at Bureau of Reclamation to Kyle Dec 21 Receive email communication from Kyle Arthur about anticipated need to acquire services for forebay clean out and purchasing policy compliance and response concerning potential need for bidding Jan 4 Prepare and send Legal Counsel report to Kelley Metcalf Page 5 of 6 8. General Manager’s Report Please see document titled “Manager’s Report” in the packet. 9. President’s Report Ms Nairn stated the Oklahoma Governor’s Water Conference was held November 29th and 30th. Ms. Nairn plans to do a better job of giving the board advanced notice of the 2024 water conference. 9. New business (any matter not known prior to the meeting, and which could not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the posting of the agenda) Mr. Dean drove by the Tinker Air Force Base and noted the construction ongoing for the relocation of the Del City line. He requested that the District perform a site visit to inspect the progress of the project. Mr. Arthur agreed and stated he would get one scheduled. . F. Adjourn There being no further business, President Nairn adjourned the meeting at 9:18 P.M. Page 6 of 6