Summary of December’s board meeting

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Posted on Mar 06 2024 in Decatur County REMC

The meeting was opened by Chairman Steve AmRhein, and Brian Scheidler kept the minutes of the meeting.

All board members were present. Also, present was CEO, Brett Abplanalp, and employee Matt Raver.

Suzanne Parmer moved to approve the agenda. Clay Nuhring seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

SAFETY MINUTE AND COOL MOMENT

Brett Abplanalp spoke about general space heater safety and to place them only on a flat, level surface for the safety moment. For the cool moment, Brett Abplanalp congratulated Chloe Kramer who was awarded the Youth Power & Hope Award. Last, Brett Abplanalp spoke about the successful member event, Cocoa & Cookies @Your Co-Op.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

Jason Barnhorst moved to approve the minutes from the December 12, 2023, special board meeting and the November 22, 2023 board meeting. Steve Nobbe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

CEO UPDATE

Brett Abplanalp updated the board on strategic projects:

  • Rejected pole replacement program
  • Construction work plan projects completed
  • ROW pilot program
  • Website redesign is completed

Brett Abplanalp then covered November’s company metrics as prepared on CTO. November’s median temperature was up 3.4% from our five-year average.

Hoosier purchased energy was down -1.5% when compared to our five-year average with demand -1.6% lower than our five-year average. Year to date energy sales are -1.86% under budget.

There was no major storm for the month of October. Lost consumer hours were 2,798 compared to our 5-year average of 14,678. The number of outages was 33 compared to our five-year average of 72.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Matt Raver reported on November financials as prepared on CTO. Net utility plant increased $100,050 and our current equity is 62.34%. Revenues are over YTD budget and power costs are over resulting in a gross margin under budget of $1,395,423 YTD. Controllable expenses are under budget by $363,772. The cash flow statement shows a beginning balance of $641,663 and we ended the current month with a net increase in cash resulting in an ending cash balance of $1,823,490.

2024 BUDGET APPROVAL

The board went into executive session to discuss the budget at 6:12p.m.

The board then came back into general session at 6:41 p.m.

Jason Barnhorst moved to approve the 2024 budget as presented with a reduction in borrowing from $1M to $500,000. Carl Riedeman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Brett Abplanalp presented the work that’s been completed on Decatur County REMC journey from employee development to culture transformation. This has been a strategic initiative and company focus since 2018.

CRC AND NRTC VOTING DELEGATE

Steve AmRhein opened the floor for nominations.

Jason Barnhorst nominated Brian Scheidler as the voting delegate of CRC and NRTC. Suzanne Parmer seconded the nomination. The nomination passed unanimously.

Steve AmRhein closed after no further nominations were presented. Brian Scheidler was approved as the voting delegate for CRC and NRTC.

NRECA VOTING DELEGATE

Steve AmRhein opened the floor for nominations.

Jason Barnhorst nominated Carl Riedeman as the NRECA annual meeting voting delegate and Steve AmRhein as the alternative. Steve AmRhein seconded the nominations. The nominations passed unanimously.

Steve AmRhein closed after no further nominations were presented. Carl Riedeman was approved as the NRECA annual meeting voting delegate and Steve AmRhein as the alternative.

POLICY/BYLAWS REVIEWS AND REPORT OUTS

Policy 1–9: Director Participation in Political Affairs was updated with no material changes.

Policy 1–13: Whistleblower Policy was updated to include the board chairman as a route to report.

Policy 1–3: CEO & Employee Interrelationship was updated to include that the chain of command must be followed.

Steve Nobbe moved to approve the presented redline changes. Dale Wernke seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Suzanne Parmer reported to the board her take-a-ways from the conference she attended, Women in Energy.

Suzanne Parmer moved to adjourn the meeting. Steve Nobbe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned to executive session at 7:41 p.m.