Highlights of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Raymond Irrigation District held Monday October 21, 2020 commencing at 9:35AM in the RID Board Room.
Attending: John McKee Chairman, Craig Palmer Vice Chair, Rod Wendorff director, Jason Miller General Manager and recording clerk, Cody Heggie Operations Manager.
Delegation: Tyler Simms and Darren Tanner from ATB Securities
It should be noted that Provincial Health guidelines were followed during this meeting due to the CVOID-19 pandemic concerns.
The Agenda for the October 21, 2020 meeting was approved on motion by Rod Wendorff and carried.
The Minutes of the, September 21, 2020 board meeting were approved on motion by Craig Palmer and carried.
BUISNESS ARISING
- RID AGM and Plebiscite Expansion – The seminar starts at 9:00 AM on November 19, 2020, with lunch served at 12:00 PM and the AGM to follow at 1:00 PM. The agendas and presentations for the seminar and AGM were reviewed. Jason confirmed Jollin Charest and Len Ring will be there as presenters at the seminar. Gordon ZoBell will be the moderator for the seminar and present the 2019 Manager’s report at the AGM. Joan ZoBell has agreed to cater lunch. COVID precautions were discussed for the event, especially to ensure lunch follows appropriate COVID guidelines.
The Plebiscite will be on November 26, 2020. The voting station will be at the RID office and open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM. An information package is available for irrigators on the RID website or for pickup at the RID office. Jason has notified the Irrigation Secretariat, Jennifer Nitschelm and the Irrigation Council of the plebiscite and provided them with the information package.
- IRP Update:
IRP 2341 – The contractor asked to move this project to the first week of November. As this fit well with the RID schedule, the RID agreed to move the project to the first week of November.
IRP 2356 – R8-1 – Cody Heggie reported the majority of pipe has been received and the crew has worked to string out much of the pipe. The two individuals hired to assist with the pipelining have been a great help.
- Monthly Operations and Maintenance report – Cody Heggie showed a slide presentation of work performed over the past month. Cody recognized the entire crew’s hard work and willingness to work above and beyond over the last month. They have worked hard on relocating the drain on SE5-7-20-W4 and they prepared out system for winter prior to the cold weather settling in.
- Irrican – Kelvin Kado was absent, but provided a written report:
“Report given to ICPC board October 8.
Income to date has been okay, not a great year, but not a poor one either. Income to the end of September is $5,052,262, adequate to cover 2020 expenses. There is still another $500,000 to come in for October, which includes Power generation, REC sale and Fortis Option “M”. There should be a carryover of just under $5,000,000 for next year.
Expenses for each plant is comparable to past years.”
- RID financial – Kelvin Kado was absent, but provided a written report:
“Steady flow of income from 2020 assessment coming in. There should be a busy last 10 days for more income to come in.”
Equipment Discussion – Jason discussed 3 equipment changes with the board:
Tandems – both of the RID tandems are getting older and have required repairs. Neither of them is able to pass a safety. There is a 2008 Sterling LT9500 at auction in Strathmore. The truck is setup with a pinto hitch Jason showed the board the online advertisement for the truck and discuss alternatives.
ON MOTION made by John McKee and carried, the Board authorized RID to purchase the 2008 Sterling LT9500.
Excavator – The board discussed purchasing a large excavator. Jason showed the board a 2006 Cat 330C at auction along with a couple of comparatives. The board would like RID staff to continue looking for a larger excavator.
Fuel Truck – The board discussed the current fuel truck. It is getting quite old and in rough shape. It is used primarily in the winter to fuel up equipment during pipelining, but the heater no longer works.
ON MOTION made by Craig Palmer and carried, the Board authorized the RID to purchase a new fuel truck.
- Sprayer – Nothing to report at this time.
NEW BUISNESS
- Directors Items – there were no directors items
- ATB Investment Management Inc. – Delegation (Tyler Simms and Darren Tanner)
Tyler and Darren were introduced to the Board. They discussed the Board’s investment risk tolerance and strategy. The RID is conservative and focused on growing our investment for future projects. The Board and Manager signed documents to update signing authority for the RID’s ATB investments.
- Modernizations – Jason updated the board on the status of the modernizations agreement with CIB and the Alberta Government. On October 9 a press conference was held in Calgary with Premier Kennedy, Minister Dresheen, and several other Ministers and MLA’s to announce the irrigation infrastructure partnership.
- Irrican and Main Canal Meeting:
Irrican – John, Jason and Kelvin attended an Irrican Board meeting on Oct 8. Kelvin presented a financial report (same report as presented to the RID board today).
Main Canal – John and Jason attended a main canal Board meeting on Oct 8. SMRID presented a financial report and a budget for next year. The budget showed a significant deficit due to required infrastructure repairs planned for next year. The Board discussed increase the district contributions increasing from $3.50/acre to $6.00/acre or even $8.00/acre. Jason and John questioned the wisdom of such an increase, although acknowledging, the main canal is need of repairs. There does not appear to be any help from the provincial government for such repairs and the main canal is vital for water delivery. Jason and John finally consented to a small increase.
- NW/NE3-6-21-W4, SE10-6-21W Drainage – Jason and Cody met with an irrigator to discuss drainage concerns on NW3-6-21-W4, NE3-6-21-W4 and SE10-6-21-W4. It appears their may be several sources of the water, including seepage from the Welling main canal and from drainage from neighboring parcels to the north. The irrigator is prepared to put in pipeline, at their own cost, to assist clearing the drainage from the land and asked if the RID could assist obtain AEP approval. Jason is looking into the matter.
- ERA – Jason was notified this week that we are a finalist in the ERA grant competition. A full proposal report is to be submitted by December 3, 2020 and an oral report is to be made to the ERA committee in January. Jason will begin working on the full proposal.
- RID Policy Manual – review deferred until the December Board meeting.
- Next meeting date – Wednesday November 18, 2020
- Motion to adjourn – There being no further business the meeting ended at 4:41 PM on motion by Rod Wendorff.