President’s Report June 2024

I want to say that it has been an honor and pleasure to serve as President. It’s been a relatively quiet year for the Water Company – after years of infrastructure improvements. In 2023, we had a record low water consumption compared to the previous 10 years due to both conservation and the new infrastructure. Thank you for your conservation. We encourage everyone to continue to use water wisely and conserve.

Our water supply is in very good shape. General Manager Tyler Mayo has been working closely with the CCWD to ensure that we can plan for any upcoming water rate increases from them.

About two years ago, the Long Range Planning Committee was divided into 5 committees – Finance and Rates; Infrastructure and Facilities; Investment Management; Personnel; and Water Supply, Conservation & Outreach.

This past year the Finance and Rates Committee members consisted of Shareholder Craig Lutz and Directors Bill Cover, Andy Rich, and Jon Dashner. They met several times in the Fall and worked closely with Tyler to recommend our new base rate and consumptive charge based on the cost to treat water that we produce as well as purchase. We purchase approximately half our water from the CCWD.

The Infrastructure and Facilities Committee was led by Shareholder Craig Lutz and included Directors Bill Cover, Dan Crosby, myself, as well as Tyler. This Committee looks at projects needed to be performed for improvements to the water system. Most of these projects are outlined in our Asset Management Plan.

The Investment Management Committee was led by Treasurer Bill Cover, along with Shareholder Craig Lutz and Directors Andy Rich and Dan Crosby. This Committee is tasked with ensuring the Water Company investments stay on track and, and the Committee makes recommendations to the Board for changes in investments.

The Personnel Committee consisted of Directors Andy Rich and Bruce Utter. This Committee focuses on the compensation and benefits for the Water Company employees, with input from Tyler.

The Water Supply, Conservation & Outreach Committee was led by Director Jeff Jones and includes Shareholder Joe Morgan and myself.

Thank you to all these fabulous volunteers (Directors and Shareholders). I appreciate all the time and effort that you give to the Water Company.

As you all know, last year we switched to online voting. This has made it much easier for the Shareholders to vote. In fact, for the second year in a row, we achieved a quorum for the election, which makes it possible for us to conduct business at the Shareholder meeting as well as elect directors to the Board. Thank you for voting.

I would like to recognize Tyler Mayo’s efforts as General Manager as we had another successful year. His strong leadership shows in the hard work and dedication of all the employees and their care and service provided to all of our Shareholders. It’s easy to take for granted the simple concept of turning on a faucet and water flowing out. During the winter storms, the field crew worked around the clock to make sure the water stayed flowing even when the power went out. Tyler also continues to plan for the future, including coordinating with all the committees so things stay on track while managing all the day-to-day activities. Thank you to Tyler and your team for all of your hard work this year keeping the water flowing.

Thank you to Jeannie Multhaup for always volunteering at the office for whatever needs to be done – including assisting with our elections.

I would also like to thank attorney Andrew Ramos for all his years of serving as our legal counsel. He will be greatly missed.

Thank you again to the Directors who have served and will be serving on the Board next year.

Thank you – and I hope everybody has a great Summer!

Sharon Tobias
President
Blue Lake Spring Mutual Water Company