Chairman Steve AmRhein opened the meeting, and Brian Scheidler kept the minutes until Steve Nobbe, the new secretary, was elected.

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

Suzanne Parmer moved to approve the agenda. Dale Wernke seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

SAFETY MINUTE AND COOL MOMENT

Abplanalp spoke about the dangers around meter tampering for the safety minute. The cool moment was the recent Annual Meeting. The highlight of the event was the great attendance this year. Additionally, employee Crystal Greathouse was acknowledged for being elected to serve on the member advisory committee for our software provider, NISC.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

Wernke moved to approve the minutes from the May 22, 2024, board meeting and the special board meeting on June 10, 2024. Jason Barnhorst seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

There was an election of officers. The following were nominated and elected.

Chairman: Upon motion made by Barnhorst, seconded by Parmer, AmRhein was nominated. Barnhorst moved to close nominations, and Parmer seconded. Nominations were closed, and AmRhein was elected chairman.

Vice-chairman: Upon motion made by Barnhorst, seconded by Parmer, Wernke was nominated. Barnhorst moved to close nominations, and Parmer seconded. Nominations were closed, and Wernke was elected vice-chairman.

Wernke moved to combine the officer positions of secretary and treasurer during officer elections. Carl Riedeman seconded the motion, which was passed unanimously. The secretary and treasurer positions were combined, creating the secretary-treasurer position. Elections proceeded from there.

Secretary-treasurer: Nobbe was nominated on a motion made by Barnhorst, seconded by Parmer. Barnhorst moved to close the nomination, and Parmer seconded. The nominations were closed, and Nobbe was elected secretary-treasurer.

Assistant secretary-treasurer: Upon motion made by Wernke, seconded by Riedeman, Barnhorst was nominated. Wernke moved to close nominations, and Riedeman seconded. Nominations were closed, and Barnhorst was elected assistant secretary-treasurer.

CEO UPDATE

Abplanalp updated the board on strategic projects, including filling organizational positions, completing a new pole attachment agreement, and working on the joint venture definitive agreement.

Abplanalp then covered the company metrics as prepared on CTO. May’s median temperature was 6% warmer than our five-year average. Wholesale purchased energy was up 8.3% compared to our five-year average. Demand was up 0.7% from our five-year average. Year-to-date energy sales ended 1.9% positive to budget. There was no major storm for the month of May. Lost consumer hours were 4,727 compared to our five-year average of 5,929. The number of outages was 42 compared to our five-year average of 58.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Raver gave the financial update. Net utility plant increased $475,907 in May and our current equity is 63%. Revenues are over the YTD budget, and power costs are over, resulting in a gross margin above the budget of $196,314 YTD. Controllable expenses are under budget by $365,885. The cash flow statement shows a beginning balance of $1,025,992, and we ended the current month with a net decrease in cash of $54,515, resulting in an ending cash balance of $971,447.

NEW BUSINESS

COST OF SERVICE STUDY TRAINING

Abplanalp conducted training for the directors on a cost-of-service study.

ANNUAL POLICY REVIEWS

The following policies were reviewed, and no changes were made: 1-14 Conflict of Interest, 1-10 Director Code of Ethics and Oath of Office, and 1-16 Director Conduct Policy.

ANNUAL MEETING WRAP UP

Abplanalp reviewed the statistics and survey data on the recent Annual Meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

FIBER PROJECT UPDATE

Abplanalp gave an update on the project tied to a NextLevel state grant awarded to Decatur County REMC. Raver discussed with the board opening a line of credit with CoBank, no action was taken. He discussed the need for a storage building with the board, no action was taken.

POLICY REVIEW

Policy 1-7: Director education was reviewed with recommended changes. The board tabled until the July board meeting. Policy 1-8: Director fees and expenses were reviewed with recommended changes to clarify that voluntary participation in a Decatur County REMC event would not qualify for a stipend to be paid. Barnhorst moved to approve the changes. Parmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Scheidler moved to adjourn the meeting. Parmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. and the board moved into executive session to discuss personnel matters.