VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT REGULAR BOARD MEETING
VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT OFFICE
NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Minutes of a Regular Board Meeting of the Virgin Valley Water District Board held on November 17, 2009, at the Virgin Valley Water District Office at 3:00 p.m. Attending were Vice-President Kenyon Leavitt, Secretary-Treasurer Cecil Leavitt, and Board Members Ted Miller and Robert “Bubba” Smith. President John Paul was not present. Also present were Michael Winters General Manager, Michael “Boomer” Johnson Chief Hydrologist, Eric Wilbanks District Administrative Legal Counsel and Mary Johnson taking minutes and other interested parties of agenda items.

Vice-President Kenyon Leavitt called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m.
Bubba Smith offered a Prayer and Cecil Leavitt led the pledge.
Public Comment – There was no public comment at this time.

Discussion: Board Comments – Kenyon stated that he would like to acknowledge Don Paff’s public comment, letter to the board and letter in the newspaper all addressed to the Virgin Valley Water District Board of Directors regarding legal counsel and would like to address Mr. Paff’s concerns and have this put on the next agenda.
President of Board Comments – Not present.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Bubba Smith made a motion to approve the consent agenda as listed below. Cecil Leavitt seconded this motion and it was unanimously carried. 4-0

1. Discussion & Action - Approve Agenda

2. Discussion & Action – Approve Minutes from 11/3/09 Regular Board Meeting

3. Discussion & Action – Approve Bills Paid - $361,822.84

** End of Consent Agenda**

4. Discussion & Possible Action – Consideration to Approve Anderson Heritage Electric Inc.’s Proposal to Provide Modifications to the Electrical Equipment on Well #27, Including Relocation of Transformer

Mike informed the board that since the site improvements had been made to well site #27 it was now necessary to provide some modifications to the electrical equipment located outside the building. The work would include moving the transformer, switch gear and new service panel to allow trucks access to the site if work on the well was required.

There was a question from Morris Workman on the District’s procedure or parameters for going out to bid and this was answered by legal counsel, Eric Wilbanks. Eric explained that according to NRS you are not required to go out to bid unless the job estimate is over $25,000. Kraig Hafen, former VVWD board president commented that he thought when he was on the board that it was decided to bid out anything over $2,500. Mike stated that we do follow that procedure on most bid projects, but that Heritage Electric has been doing the electrical on the District’s wells for over ten years and they are certified to handle high voltage and already have all the electrical drawings.

Ted Miller made a motion to approve Anderson Heritage Electric Inc.’s proposal to provide modifications to the electrical equipment on well #27, including relocation of the transformer not to exceed $24,077.00. Cecil Leavitt seconded this motion and it was unanimously carried. 4-0

5. Discussion & Possible Action – Consideration to Award Contract and Notice to Proceed for the 2009 PRV Project to the Lowest Responsible Bidder in the Best Interest of the Virgin Valley Water District

Mike explained that the engineers had identified several high pressure zones with the system model, along with complaints from customers, and hired Bowen & Collins to design the PRV stations. Mike further stated that the project went out to bid and the District had five (5) contractors who submitted bids and that Precision Pipeline, Inc. out of Cedar City was the low bidder with a bid of $193,588.50. Ted Miller commented that this was something that was very serious and needed to be done, but he questioned whether the board could award to the next lowest bidder, Trade West, since they were a local company and they were only over by $2,500. There was further discussion on the Nevada contractor’s preferential bidder status and whether this could be applied in this situation. It was discussed how contractors obtained the 5% NV preference. Eric informed the board on NRS 332 which is the Nevada Purchasing Statute. The board was informed that Joel Andrus with Bowen & Collins had looked up NRS regarding this subject and found that the bid must be over $250,000 and set out in the criteria of the bid packet; so for this reason, it was not put into the bid packet. There was further discussion regarding giving local contractors’ preference.

Cecil Leavitt made a motion to award contract and Notice to Proceed to Precision Pipeline, Inc. in the amount of $193,588.50 for the 2009 PRV Project. Bubba Smith seconded this motion and it was carried by a vote of 3-1 with Ted Miller opposed.

6. General Manager’s Report

Mike had not included a written report. Mike stated that the correspondence in the board member’s packets was from a UNLV Environmental Studies Graduate Student who was requesting to add a link to our website for a survey he is conducting for his studies. Mike didn’t believe it required board approval, but that the correspondence was more for information. Mike also stated that he would check with Tracy Lee regarding security.

Mike stated that the District has yet another unfunded mandate to comply with, ‘Red Flag Rules’, which deals with identity theft. Mike further stated that there are lots of things the District will be required to do better. We will definitely have to redo the front office and extra space will be required for secure storage. Mike was asking the board if there was a certain direction that they would like him to proceed with looking at different ideas to meet this mandate. Bubba stated that board meetings could be held at other facilities. Ted questioned the time limit on the bond money. Kenyon stated that his personal opinion was that we do something not as permanent in lieu of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mike stated that there are other meetings held daily at the District that would require a room.

Mike also informed the board that there has been some interest in leasing the Bunkerville water shares purchased from Cresent Hardy and it was the opinion of the board to auction these shares for lease.
Mike also stated that we have been working on the Rules & Regs and changes have been made and he wanted to know if the board would like to hold a workshop to review them or if we should just work with legal counsel and then bring back to the board for approval. The board stated that they would prefer Mike to work with legal counsel and then bring to board.

Mike further stated that we have been continuing to work on the Vanguard Pipe case and that he and Boomer had given depositions last week on the Vidler/Lincoln County water issue appeal. Mike finished by stating that we have the agreement to transfer and assignment of the lease of the 8 shares we purchased from Bunk Farms.

7. Hydrologist’s Report

Ted questioned again why we were involved with Lincoln County and Boomer proceeded to explain the Tule Desert Ruling and why we protested and why we are involved.

Boomer stated that there was a meeting last week regarding the aquifer recharge program with the City of Mesquite and the local golf courses. This was the first preliminary look and the report has not been finalized yet. This was only the first of many meetings to come.

The AquaGard process will begin on November 30th for the District’s wells.
Boomer also stated that on December 2nd and 3rd there would be depositions taken regarding Tule Desert and George has asked that Boomer attend.

8. Public Comment

Sandra Raymaker commented on the District’s expenses and low money flow and wanted to offer a couple suggestions.

9. Adjournment

Vice-President Kenyon Leavitt adjourned the meeting at 3:52 p.m.

The minutes of this meeting have been tape-recorded and will remain on file in the District office for a one-year period for public examination.

• Board Meeting Minutes: 2009-11-17 (.pdf 18K)