Board Minutes May 22, 2025
The Board of Directors of the Snake River Water District (SRWD), Summit County, Colorado, met at the district offices at 0050 Oro Grande Road and via online Zoom conference on May 22, 2025, for their regular quarterly meeting. The meeting was called to order by Scott Price at 3:58 p.m.
ROLL CALL
The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting, constituting a quorum: William Bergman - President; William Bowerman - Vice President; Randy May - Treasurer; Stephen Bushkuhl - Assistant Secretary. Also present: Scott Price – District Administrator; Ron Mentch – Superintendent of Operations; Donna Svenson – Financial Manager; Alec Bry – Lead Engineer; Kristin Herndon - CEGR Paralegal; Laura Puca - Auditor; Jon Drees - Project Manager.
2025 BOARD
Mr. Bergman was not elected in the last election cycle due to term limits. A motion was made by Mr. Bushkuhl to appoint Mr. Bergman to the board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bowerman and passed unanimously.
Mr. Price stated that Joe Norris recommended all officer positions be re-established after each election. Mr. Price presented a list of directors and officer roles for the consideration of the Board. Mr. Thisted had expressed his willingness to take on the role of Secretary during a conversation with Mr. Price about rescheduling the meeting. Mr. Bergman expressed his willingness to serve as President again. A vote was taken to approve office designations as follows:
• William Bergman - President
• Willam Bowerman - Vice President
• Randy May - Treasurer
• Scott Thisted - Secretary
• Stephen Bushkuhl - Assistant Secretary
All board members present voted in favor of approving the officer designations.
CONSENT AGENDA
The board reviewed the consent agenda, which included the approval of the minutes from the Regular Meeting of February 11, 2025, and the transaction reports for February, March, and April.
Mr. Bergman motioned to approve the consent agenda in its entirety. Mr. May seconded. The motion passed unanimously with Mr. Bushkuhl abstaining from the vote because he was not present at the February meeting.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE 2024 AUDIT
To begin the conversation, Mr. Price noted that the board will be accepting and not approving the audit because it is the work of an independent party who documents specific findings according to industry standards.
Ms. Puca presented the findings of the 2024 audit. She highlighted several key aspects of the financial review. She explained that the audit process included a thorough examination of the District's financial statements and accounting practices, with particular attention given to the implementation of accounting standards regarding last year’s bond offering. Ms. Puca noted that the District had successfully adopted practices for tracking prepaid software subscriptions, which is now required under governmental accounting guidelines. She stated that the amount of work has increased significantly for the auditors because of the increase in capital project activity, bond issuance, grant revenue, the SBITAs, and the new billing system. The bond testing and disclosure was more involved than anticipated with the arbitrage, compliance and continuing disclosure.
She encouraged the board to ask questions regarding the audit findings, emphasizing the importance of transparency and understanding in the financial reporting process. Mr. Price stated that two new bank accounts were opened with Board approval to meet Ms. Puca’s recommendations. One account was a Colo Trust account created for holding monthly contributions to be used semi-annually for bond payments. Tom Peltz, attorney at Kutak Rock for the bond offering, had advised Mr. Price to set aside funds monthly in the amount calculated by two factors added together:
1. One-twelfth of the upcoming March amount on the bond repayment schedule, and
2. One-sixth of the upcoming September amount on the bond repayment schedule.
The second new account was a FirstBank checking account for making payments related to capital projects. After the monthly Transaction Detail of invoices to pay is approved by the Treasurer, the exact amount of total capital expenses is to be transferred directly from the Colo Trust Bond Proceeds (7224) account into the FirstBank Capital Projects account (2916). New checks will be used to pay invoices for capital expenses from this account.
Mr. May made a motion to accept the audit as presented. Mr. Bushkuhl seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
UPDATED 2024 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AFTER AUDIT
Mr. Price presented the updated financial statements for 2024 post-audit. The board discussed the adjustments made. Mr. Bergman asked about the additional cost this year to complete the audit. Mr. Price responded that he expects a larger total cost of audits this year and future years because there is additional work necessary, as Ms. Puca explained during her review.
Mr. Bushkuhl made a motion to accept the updated financial statements. Mr. Bowerman seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
CAPITAL PROJECTS UPDATE
Mr. May provided a comprehensive overview of the new storage tank project, emphasizing the progress made in securing necessary permits and approvals from the U.S. Forest Service. He reported that the permitting process has been successfully completed, allowing for the temporary road to be roughed-in. The temporary road will facilitate the transport of boring equipment for soil testing at the designated tank site. Mr. May highlighted the importance of conducting geotechnical assessments to ensure the site’s suitability for the tank and guide engineering design of the tank. He expressed optimism about the project's timeline, noting that the team is poised to begin preliminary work soon. The board discussed the significance of this project in enhancing the District's water storage capacity and ensuring reliable service and adequate fire flow to the community.
In addition to the new storage tank, Mr. May also addressed the Base 2 Water Treatment Plant improvements. Mr. May noted that Hyder Construction was selected as the primary contractor for the project. The Board noted their appreciation for the alternative method of approaching this project, which included purchasing a skid steer, as opposed to making structural changes to the pump house for material handling.
ADMINISTRATOR'S DISCUSSION ITEMS
Mr. Price opened the discussion on cybersecurity, emphasizing its growing importance for water districts because the EPA is very concerned about foreign bad actors targeting U.S. infrastructure - particularly drinking water. He reported that Quality Water Management has engaged a cybersecurity consultant to guide the team in assessing vulnerabilities and enhance the overall security posture of the District's systems. Mr. Drees is the Project Manager, and he provided updates on the current state of the project and the plans moving forward.
Mr. Drees apprised the Board that CISA will be on site to conduct an initial assessment on July 16. This assessment will include a comprehensive review of existing protocols and recommendations for improvements for both Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT). Mr. Drees additionally discussed a grant that he applied for on the District’s behalf through SIPA. He also discussed an opportunity for an additional assessment through the SDA that can potentially boost the District’s cybersecurity insurance sublimit to $1,000,000 for a year. The current expectation is to present a written cybersecurity plan at the November Board meeting.
The conversation shifted to PFAS, with Mr. Bry providing updates on the District's efforts to address these contaminants in the water supply. He explained that the District is currently conducting a feasibility study to explore various treatment options for PFAS removal with additional treatment capabilities. Another option is to find a new uncontaminated water source; specifically, a clean well. Mr. Bry made the point that adding additional treatment capability would be very expensive. He also discussed that there may be options for additional water sources, for example the Key Base well is currently not being used. Another option is to drill monitoring wells near a currently uncontaminated water source in Base 3. Mr. May noted that this option will require site use approval from Vail Resorts, which is easier to obtain than an easement. Mr. Price stated that finding clean water is preferable to building a new treatment facility, but there is risk of the contamination plume spreading from its currently known location. Underground water is unpredictable, and a new well within a few hundred feet of the known contaminated wells may not provide a long-term solution.
Mr. Price discussed the success in obtaining grants for PFAS. The team of Quality Water Management and AE2S has researched and applied for several grants from different sources. So far, the District has been awarded nearly $600,000 in grants for addressing the PFAS problem. Mr. Bry briefly mentioned that there will be additional opportunities to apply for grants later this year as well. Mr. Price and Mr. Bry expressed their optimism that there are currently enough funds in the CDPHE EC-SDC grant program to cover the entire project to remediate PFAS. However, federal funding for grants has been volatile and inconsistent this year.
Mr. Bry noted the regulatory landscape surrounding PFAS is evolving. The EPA is planning to extend deadlines for PFAS remediation by two years and reduce the total scope of PFAS contaminants they will be regulating. The Board agreed that it will still be important to address the issue as soon as possible before potential funding resources are exhausted.
The discussion then turned to the ongoing legal matters concerning water rights. Mr. Price provided an update on the current legal proceedings, highlighting that the case is scheduled for water court in August. He discussed the recent expert witness testimony from Eric Kuhn, a former employee of the Colorado River District. Mr. Price expressed his optimism regarding winning the case.
Mr. Price addressed the situation with Kindred, an important customer of the District. He explained that there is an agreement signed between Kindred and SRWD to allow the entire development to have one account (one meter). It is a requirement of the agreement that Kindred create a new legal entity that has responsibility for the account. Although the entity has not yet been created, the developers are paying their water bills. The attorneys representing Kindred recently sent a letter confirming their intentions to fulfill their contractual obligations.
SUPERINTENDENT'S DISCUSSION ITEMS
Mr. Mentch reported on water production and unaccounted water issues. He expressed skepticism regarding high unaccounted water figures and noted that a leak survey had been conducted with no significant findings. His current theory is that there is an issue with the main meter at Base 3.
REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF FIRST QUARTER FINANCIALS
Mr. Price presented the first quarter financials. He explained that the current format presented to the Board was created in a spreadsheet to comply with the direction of a previous SRWD Treasurer about 10 years ago. The spreadsheet must be updated each time from a data export from the QuickBooks accounting system. This manual process is tedious and is error prone. He showed the Board a copy of the Profit & Loss Report and the Balance Sheet that is produced directly from QuickBooks. Mr. May expressed his desire to eliminate the special spreadsheets by using the reporting produced by the accounting system. The Board agreed that it was unnecessary to continue presenting the financial reports in a special way, and they determined that utilizing QuickBooks reports would be a better method. Mr. May directed Mr. Price to provide standard accounting system reports to the Board going forward and discontinue mapping to custom spreadsheets.
Mr. Bushkuhl made a motion to accept the first quarter financials. Mr. May seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
RESOLUTION FOR SIGNATURE AUTHORITY
Mr. Price introduced a resolution to clarify signature authority for board members. There have been situations recently when the President and Vice-President were both traveling, and it was unclear if the Secretary or Treasurer was authorized to sign an agreement related to a capital project contractor. The attorney, Joe Norris, drafted the resolution to allow any board member to sign contracts, and he recommended increasing the signing authority limit for the Executive Director to $50,000.
Mr. Price asked the Board if they would be comfortable utilizing digital signature services. The District subscribed to the Adobe Pro software that facilitates sending PDF documents for signature through the Adobe servers directly to the signer’s email. The Board expressed its support for using digital signatures and directed Mr. Price to use that method whenever appropriate. Mr. Price stated that some agreements require a notary, and that he would coordinate those separately. The Board agreed that the change to digital signature services does not need to be included in the resolution.
Mr. Bergman made a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Bowerman seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Mr. Bergman announced his plans to relocate later this year from Keystone to a lower elevation for health reasons. He expressed his intention to remain in leadership of the board until his house is sold. The Board discussed the need to recruit additional members to fill upcoming vacancies. Mr. Bergman stated that the work done by Mr. May and Quality Water Management makes the role of President very easy for him. He encouraged the other board members to consider accepting the role of President when he steps down.
There was also a brief discussion about potential board members to recruit. There is a person recommended by Mr. Thisted, and they directed Mr. Price to reach out to the candidate.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Bushkuhl and seconded by Mr. Bowerman. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:42 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Scott Price
Recording Secretary
Approved by the Board of Directors
Scott Thisted
Secretary