June 11, 2003 Minutes-Board Meeting

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District was held on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 at 1:00 P.M., McDonald Hall- Room 120-Otero Jr. College, 1802 Colorado Avenue, La Junta, Colorado.

President Leroy Mauch announced a quorum was present.

DIRECTORS PRESENT:

John Singletary-Vice President
Pete Moore-Treasurer
Wayne Whittaker
Loretta Kennedy
Ollie Ridley- Secretary
Melissa Esquibel

DISTRICT STAFF:

Julie Scaplo-General Manager
Bart Mendenhall-Attorney
Kim Chavez-Administrative Assistant

EXCUSED MEMBER:
Leroy Mauch- President

VISITORS PRESENT:
Rodney Baird, Rocky Ford Daily Gazette; Phil Reynolds, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District; Kevin Stavely, La Junta Tribune Democrat; Donald L. Ullom, Ullom Brothers; Al Kreps, Jan Church, John Rose, Greg Knowles, Tom Tompky, Arkansas Valley Preservation Land Trust; Troy Lepper, CSU Water Lab; Bill Gates, Rocky Ford Publisher; Virgil Cochran, Lamar Daily News; Leo M. Eisel, Brown & Caldwell.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS:
Vice President Singletary welcomed each of the visitors to the meeting, and asked them to introduce themselves and identify the organization they represented.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Vice President Singletary asked if the members of the Board had received their copy of the minutes of the May 14, 2003 Board meeting, and whether there were any corrections or additions. Hearing the addition on page 5 as follows; (Adjourned the Executive Session at 4:40 P.M., and reconvened the District Meeting). Loretta Kennedy moved, seconded by Melissa Esquibel, to approve the minutes as stands corrected. Motion unanimously carried.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None

TREASURER'S REPORT:
Treasurer Pete Moore reported that the financial report for the month had been mailed with the Board meeting minutes of May 14, 2003 He reported the financial report to date total revenues $373,209.54 with expenditures totaling $192,880.97. Question was heard regarding Long-Term Liabilities, Kim Chavez will verify with an accountant the correct reporting format. Loretta Kennedy moved, seconded by Melissa Esquibel, to accept report. Motion unanimously carried.

LEGAL REPORT:
Attorney Bart Mendenhall reported there are a number of things going on at this point most are in a holding pattern. High Plains has two cases which he refers to High plains I and II. The time to file an opposition on II has past as of May 31, 2003. We are in the process of waiting to see what happens. Southeastern has filed a motion to re-refer back to the judge in High Plains I and we will have a conference for major objections tomorrow June 12 in the morning to specify how to proceed. High Plain's I; we are still waiting on a ruling from Judge Maes on the Ft. Lyon request that requires High Plains to go back to Ft. Lyon's board prior to proceeding in court. Mr. Mendenhall is unsure if the Judge would want an oral argument or to just rule on motions. We are waiting for a ruling from Judge Maes on High Plain's challenge to the District's existence. Mr. Mendenhall reports that the Ullom Option is moving ahead; there is less than two acres of land that will be excluded for Hwy 50 expansion. Bart Mendenhall is in the process of researching Doug Melcher's exclusion question the presented at the May Board Meeting. (Such petition must be acknowledged in the same manner as required in case of a conveyance of land and be accompanied by a deposit of money sufficient to pay all costs of the exclusion proceedings.) Mr. Melcher would like to know what that amount of money would be, as mention above.

WATER ACQUISITION COMMIITTEE REPORT:
Mr. Singletary reports that the Water Acquisition Committee has approved Julie Scaplo and Bart Mendenhall to negotiate future Water Proposals for Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District; which resulted from June 4th, Water Acquisition Meeting. The District also held a Conservation Easement meeting June 4th, in Lamar, Colorado; which had a panel in the field of tax, appraiser, etc. Loretta Kennedy would like the education process to continue; also she would like to thank Mr. Singletary for his work with Water Acquisition Committee.

CHANGE IN BOARD MEETING TIME:
Mr. Singletary asked for discuss on changing the Monthly Board Meeting from 1:00 P.M. to 10:00 A.M. on the second Wednesday of the month. Melissa Esquibel would be able to adjust her schedule in September 2003. Chairman Singletary asked for a motion to change time with start date in September. Mr. Wayne Whittaker moved, seconded by Loretta Kennedy, to accept the time change. Motion unanimously carried. Loretta Kennedy would like to have an addition to the agenda; which adds allotted time for agenda matters. Julie Scaplo took that action for future agendas.

WATER ACQUISITION COMMITTEE MEETING DATE SET:
Chairman Singletary asked for discussion from Board Member to set a date to hold Water Acquisition Committee Meeting. Loretta Kennedy thought the first Wednesday of the month at 1:00 P.M. Mr. Wayne Whittaker moved, seconded by Loretta Kennedy. Motion unanimously carried.

GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT:

• PSOP Storage Update: Storage Request has been sent to Jim Broderick, SECWCD; Julie Scaplo has not received a response to date.
• Letters to District Wide Economic Development Entities: Letters to District Counties of Economic Development have been sent just letting them know about LAVWCD capabilities. A letter was sent to the following people:Allison Cortner, La Junta Development; Toby Allenbaugh, Crowley County; Jeff Anderson, Prowers County; Kathy Finau, Bent County; John Galusha, Southern Colorado Economic Development District; Barry Shioshita, Otero County and Pueblo's PEDCO Group will receive a hand delivered letter June 12, 2003 at their monthly meeting by General Manager.
• Arkansas Valley Conduit Pipeline: Letters to State Legislators endorsing the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project Act of 1962 to include a cost-share provision for the Arkansas Valley Conduit. A letter was sent to the following State Legislatures: Honorable Marilyn Musgrave, Honorable Wayne Allard , Honorable Scott McInnis, and Honorable Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
• Memorandum of Understanding Arkansas Valley Conduit: The purpose of this MOU is to establish the intent and guidelines for Beneficiaries to participate in the mutual effort. Amend item 3 on MOU to say "Provide funding for 2003 in the amount of $10,000 to defray expenses for the foregoing". Wayne Whittaker moved, seconded by Pete Moore to make additions to MOU as mentioned above. Motion unanimously carried. Loretta Kennedy added the need for a cover letter; General Manager will structure the cover letter.
• Relocation: Remodel Agreement signed May 29, 2003 between Bill Gates and General Manager Julie Scaplo. The first half of the improvement cost was issued to Mr. Gates for $1,993.50. Bart Mendenhall has composed a lease which we hoped to approve today, but there are a couple of questions from the lease agreement still in question; such as, the East of the showroom Parking area that states, in the lease, use of the parking area, but it is unclear to Mr. Gates who can park in this area. There is a Food Vendor who uses the area. Further resolution is needed in order for the lease be approved. It was suggested by the Board that a handicap space be added in front of the building, also mentioned the Board would like to tour the office space and a time is set for later that day. Board directed Julie Scaplo and Bart Mendenhall to continue working out the lease agreement.
• Conservation Easement Groups: The District has joined two Conservation Easement Groups which are Colorado Coalition of Land Trust and Land Trust Alliance. In addition, Julie Scaplo ordered Conservation Easement videos and Brochures. Peter Nichols emailed Mrs. Scaplo an example of Deed of Conservation Easement Form for reference of a generic form. Bill Milenski can give a tour of the river and canal. He would need to know : where to start ( Pueblo Dam or more East), how many people plan on attending with the possibility of renting a van, and to approve a day to schedule the tour. Friday August 1, 2003 is set for the tour with starting in Pueblo. The possibility of press attending was offered.
• Furniture Cost Estimate: General Manager is currently working on optioning an estimate from RMRM (Rocky Mountain Records Managers), total estimate $ 6,088.12, compared to Viking Office Supply's total $ 11,125 and Office Depot $9,879. Aquila Inc. (Electric Company) has donated a computer to the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District.

DITCH PROFILE:
Mr. Mendenhall is in discussion with Mr. Peter Nichols regarding ditch profiles. There is a possibility that Brown & Caldwell might be the ideal group to do the work, since they have experience in the area. Julie Scaplo has made several other contacts and has found it may be difficult due to conflicts that may interfere with each other.

BROWN AND CALDWELL:
Mr. Leo Eisel of Brown & Caldwell explains he has been asked to give an appraisal for a number of ditches and canal companies for the value of their shares. These appraisals will be similar to Otero Land Trust and the Arkansas Valley Preservation Land Trust had earlier conducted appraisals of the ditch companies in Otero County. The appraisals will be done in three phases, with the Amity, Bessemer, Ft.Bent, Lamar, Buffalo, Las Animas Consolidated Canal and Las Animas Extension to be included in Phase I. Phase II would included Collier, Graham, Hyde, Keesee, and Manvel Ditch Companies, Phase III would included Sisson, X-Y, and Excelsior Ditch, also with the appraisals, Brown & Caldwell will also provide the district with a profile of each canal company, which includes profile of the companies such as number of acres, location of head gates. The information would be valuable for Conservation Easements. Estimated cost for appraisal would be around $2,700 per ditch for a total for seven ditches $18,704, estimated time of completion would be around six to eight weeks for Phase I, Phase II will complete 45 days after completion of Phase I, and Phase III will be 30 days beyond completion of Phase II. The appraisal given is less expensive due to prior work previously done with Otero Land Trust. Update of Appraisal for all seven ditches that includes Las Animas Extension would run around $800. Ollie Ridley moved, Melissa Esquibel seconded to approve Phase I of proposal. Motion unanimously carried. Leo Eisel will send a revised proposal including Las Animas Extension for a total of $18,704.

ARKANSAS VALLEY PRESERVATION LAND TRUST:
John Rose reports Arkansas Valley Preservation Land Trust will be able to accept Conservation Easements in November 1st, 2003. The Land Trust is a non-profit organization able to deal with Conservation Easements in the Arkansas Valley. Mr. Rose introduced Al Kreps who is the Board President of the Arkansas Valley Preservation; in return Mr. Kreps introduced the board members which are Greg Knowles, Tom Tomky, and Jan Church. The Land Trust states the importance of both LAVWCD and AVPLT working together. It is important to use the same Criteria and procedures of the Land Trust if the District would like the Land Trust to monitor Conservation Easements. Mr. Kreps would like to have a pool of Colorado taxpayers with a large tax obligation for the purpose of Conservation Easement credits. Wayne Whittaker would like to know the cost if the Arkansas Valley Preservation Land Trust would do the Conservation Easements for the District to ease with the familiarity of Easements. Mr. Rose is unsure of the dollar amount due to the several different types of Easements. If the District adopts the criteria of the Land Trust it would be easier and able to make things happen. Mr. Singletary would like to know who does baseline inventory reports, Mr. Rose does his own, but there is someone in Colorado Springs, CO. who charges $900. He also found on the Web someone who does them for $1,500 and up to $5,000 if you are dealing with GOCO it brings the cost up even higher. Ollie Ridley asked how the back logs on appraisals are; Mr. Rose explains workshops in the valley for area appraiser with the IRS to verify information needed. Mr. John Stroh has offered to teach a class in the area for interested appraisers.

ULLOM BROTHERS OPTION AGREEMENT UPDATE:
Mr. Don Ullom reports he has retained an Appraiser and Surveyor with the possibility of submitting the Easement on September 1, 2003. He states concern over the District being able to accept the Easement when the time comes with additional time for correction. Mr. Singletary explains the need of a baseline report. Julie Scaplo and Bart Mendenhall will work with John Rose and Peter Nichols.

NEW BUSINESS:
Loretta Kennedy would like to have a 15-20 minutes Power Point Presentation for different groups; also she would like Press Releases to ease with disseminate to other counties. Open House possibility when we are in new office building. Video needed, Melissa Esquibel put in a call to the media dept at CSU and she hasn't received a return call, other contacts are Scott Richards at PCC.

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:
Members of the press that are in the audience would like packets of information pertaining to the Board Meeting before meetings. Mr. Singletary would like the press to attend the river tour on August 1st, 2003.

Mr. Mendenhall recommended the Board enter into Executive Session for the purpose of : C.R.S 24-6-402(4)(e): (Determining Positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiation; developing strategy for negotiation; and instructing negotiators), Loretta Kennedy moved, seconded by Ollie Ridley to enter into Executive Session. Motion unanimously carried. Mr. Singletary recessed the District meeting to convene into Executive Session at 3:05 P.M. to discuss legal matters.

Vice President Singletary adjourned the Executive Session at 3:25 P.M., and reconvened the District Meeting.

Melissa Esquibel thought a small donation or T-Shirts could be good advertisement for the District now that the Valley Fair is just around the corner.

ADJOURNED:

Presiding Vice President Singletary asked if there were any other questions or other matters to come before the Board. Hearing none, Melissa Esquibel moved, seconded by Pete Moore to adjourn meeting. Motion unanimously carried. Meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm.